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FAQ
1. Arjava, can you tell us a bit about yourself, your background with Reiki, whom you trained with and what service you provide now?
2. How would you interpret the word 'Reiki'?
3. What do you think is happening, at a basic level, in a Reiki attunement/initiation/Reiju?
4. What do you think is happening in a Reiki session?
5. Do you think Reiki can be used to help situations and inanimate objects as well as living things?
6. Reiki is now becoming popular within the medical system. What role do you believe Reiki plays in the traditional medical system?
7. Distant Reiki and permission has always been a topic with many pros & cons what's your view on this given the earthquake disasters in Haiti and Chile?
8. Many Reiki practitioners say you can go back into the past and heal it. What's your take on this issue?
9. Have you had any notable experiences concerning Reiki that you could tell us about?
10. Can you describe your relationship with Reiki, and how it's affected you?
11. Do you feel that Reiki needs standard guidelines across the board for practitioners to obtain certification?
12. What are your hopes & aspirations for the future of Reiki?
Copyright © 2010, by Frank Arjava Petter
Frank Arjava Petter lived in Japan for twelve years where he operated a language school, a translation/interpretation service and a therapy centre. He presently lives with his family in Eressos, Lesbos Island, Greece and teaches Reiki, Meditation and Family Constellations (family therapy) worldwide.
Arjava is originally German, but has been lived and worked abroad most of his adult life. His professional career has taken him from being an organic farmer to working as a motion picture set decorator, from being a photographer to upgrading and repairing computers. He has worked in construction, as a therapist as well as being one of the personal body- guards and gardeners of the Indian Mystic and Meditation Master, Osho.
This wide variety of jobs has taught him how to work with people of all ages from different races, cultures and backgrounds.
Arjava has been teaching Reiki since 1993 but his deeper and internationally celebrated involvement with Reiki began when he "discovered” the grave and memorial of Reiki founder Mikao Usui in Tokyo and original documents by Usui and his students.
His research culminated in the publication of his six international bestselling books "Reiki Fire”, "Reiki, the legacy of Dr. Usui”, "The original Reiki Handbook of Dr. Mikao Usui",“The Spirit of Reiki”, “Reiki best Practices”, “The Reiki techniques of Dr. Hayashi”,“Glücklichsein” and “Reiki ganz Klar”, His latest book is titled “ Das ist Reiki” and will be available in English by the end of 2010.
Presently he spends his days writing inspirational texts and fiction to be published in the near future.
Answer: I am the same as everyone else. At the moment I am at home with my wife and our two kids, so I am partner, fellow traveler, husband and father. In every minute of life I am given the chance to express my love and compassion. Sometimes I fail and sometimes I succeed on this mission. The most valuable lessons are the failures, they keep us awake and provide us with the energy to coninue…
Within myself I am a marriage of poet and farmer, of recluse and public person, a dance of the opposites. We live on Lesbos Island in Greece in a breathtaking place filled with tremendous energy, beauty and silence and if you are in need of either one, please come. The next Reiki Teacher Training in the Takata lineage takes place from July 17- 26 in Eressos. Lesbos, Greece.
My Reiki training began in Germany in 1993 with my brother. After a disagreement I continued with another teacher and dear friend in Hamburg, Ageh Popat. Meanwhile I had made contact with a Shihan (teacher) of the Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai in Shizuoka City Japan, Ogawa Sensei who taught me through one of my students and passed on original documents to me, which I later published. In the course of the years I published eight books on Reiki and the last and final one will be published in English by the end of the year. So far it is available only in German under the title “Das ist Reiki”. It is the culmination of my work, my love song to Reiki.
In 1999, after Ogawa Sensei’s death I met my third teacher, Chiyoko Yamaguchi and she accepted me as her student in the year 2000. I re-trained with her from the beginning and in 2002 we began the teacher’s training. This continued after the her death in 2003 with her son, Tadao and this May I was given the final permission to train other teachers in her lineage, called Jikiden Reiki. At the moment it is only Tadao Yamaguchi and myself who are permitted to do that worldwide.
It is my practice to embody the Reiki Principles as well as I can and this is what I provide as a service to my students and to everyone else I meet. By living what I teach, I show them that all the good things in life are just around the corner and that every one of us can find awareness, happiness, love and compassion. I teach Reiki world- wide, for more info please check my schedule at www.ReikiDharma.com
2. How would you interpret the word 'Reiki'?
Answer: The original meaning of the word Reiki is soul or spirit energy. It is comprised of two Kanji, or Chinese characters. The first one, Rei means soul/spirit and is a conglomeration of three relatively simple Kanji. The first one is Ame-rain. In Shinto thought, rain represents the cosmic blessings. The second one is a simplification of the word Utsuwa- container or human body. And the third one is again a simplification of the word Miko that means female shaman or medium.
In Japan the soul is thought to be lodged in the forehead, just in the middle of the eyes. This soul- aspect is asleep in most of us and needs activation. Once this is activated, the person becomes like a Miko- someone who understands the language of the divine and is able to translate that for his fellow men. It also entails that a Miko is connected to the cosmic and therefore the cosmic energy flows through her/his body and into whomsoever he/she touches.
The second character is Ki, which means energy. Energy in Japanese culture is a not an esoteric concept, but something that everyone understands at a natural level. For example when you want to say that you are well you call it Genki, which means “original energy”. When stating that you are unwell you say Byoki, which means “sick energy”. The word ki is made up of two characters. The first one is Yuge or Kigamae which means steam or ether. The second character is Kome and means rice. Rice is the staple food of all the Asian people and it gives energy.
In the word Reiki the principle of heaven, the cosmic, the universal is put together with the principle for Earth, rice. When heaven and earth unite in the human, the circle is complete and the result is a human being living his true potential.
3. What do you think is happening, at a basic level, in a Reiki attunement/initiation/Reiju?
Answer: If the teacher has learned how to activate the soul of the student, the miracle happens, and from that moment on the student is properly connected to the cosmic forces. There is no need to open channels or chakras or any of that stuff: every human is equipped with a soul and that’s enough. The energetic pathway entering the top of the head and leading to the soul might be clogged up and needs a little chimney sweeping, that’s all. Once this has been done, Reiki flows because the student has returned to his natural state. This, of course, does not mean spiritual enlightenment, but it is the first condition for the unfolding of the inner treasure. After the Reiju the practitioner has to do his work, which entails understanding and discontinuing old patterns. Reiju is an invitation to come home, but the student has to make his own way…
4. What do you think is happening in a Reiki session?
Answer: On the spiritual level what happens is similar to receiving Reiju (giving, granting the soul). On the physical level the body is energized by Reiki and immediately begins to respond to the energy by detoxifying. This detoxifying or healing process is the perception you feel in your hands when you touch someone. The Japanese call this Byosen.
5. Do you think Reiki can be used to help situations and inanimate objects as well as living things?
Answer: Energy works on all levels. In fact energy is all there is. Yet Reiki was originally meant for personal transformation and the understanding of emptiness, the dissolution of the imaginary self. All else is child’s play.
6. Reiki is now becoming popular within the medical system. What role do you believe Reiki plays in the traditional medical system?
Answer: Reiki is the natural ability of energizing the body so it can heal itself. Every mother and every child know that, therefore all healing begins with something like Reiki. Mother and child are still in their natural state and the energy between them flows freely. In Reiki we put the spotlight of awareness on our natural ability, and bring it to consciousness. I think that the two most important areas of Reiki training are the family and the hospital. If mothers and fathers, doctors and nurses know how to understand their natural ability to facilitate healing, the world will be a better place. We are planning to open a holistic health center in Germany in the future, where Western medical science and natural methods work hand in hand. If you’d like to invest in this project please send me an email for additional info.
7. Distant Reiki and permission has always been a topic with many pros & cons what's your view on this given the earthquake disasters in Haiti and Chile?
Answer: It is lovely to be concerned for your fellow travelers well- being and to send them love, energy and more importantly money! As far as Reiki is concerned, I don’t think this is the solution, unless you pack your bags and go to those places to do hands on treatments.
Peace and wellbeing begin within and they radiate from the inside out you when your inner work is done. I am not saying that we should not help until this task is accomplished, but it is vital that you begin with yourself before trying to change the world.
On the other hand love and compassion sent to your fellow men does not need anyone’s permission. It is selfless, and there is no possibility of abuse. In a normal distant healing session, the permission should be obtained, not because of the danger of manipulation, but for technical reasons. It is best for the client to sit or lie down at the appointed hour, to be able to receive the healing consciously, to take his healing in his own hands and to begin being responsible for his own wellbeing. When you send Reiki to someone who does not know it you will not have these essential benefits.
If you work distantly, I suggest that you work with one client at a time. When you are properly instructed you will be able to understand the state of the client’s body and you will be able to send Reiki to the body parts that need to detoxify.
8. Many Reiki practitioners say you can go back into the past and heal it. What's your take on this issue?
Answer: There is no need to go into the past, because everything is here and now. The soul records all experiences from this and previous lives, and with the help of the so- called Sei Heki Chiryo
(Sei Heki: habit- Chiryo: treatment), the negative patterns can be healed without time travel. Seen in this light there is neither past nor future but only the eternal now.
9. Have you had any notable experiences concerning Reiki that you could tell us about?
Answer: I have literally seen hundreds of clients get well, even when it was totally unexpected. Yet it is always a surprise when you see someone heal as the result of the treatments and my heart is filled with gratitude when I witness that. But most impressive is the change that people go through. It is my impression that most people never change and there are only a few techniques and special teachers that are able to facilitate that. Reiki and Usui Sensei are an explosive mixture for real change. Once you are connected to the cosmic all your problems are solved and you can focus upon your essence. To me, this is all that matters.
10. Can you describe your relationship with Reiki, and how it's affected you?
Answer: It is difficult to divide myself from Reiki, because it is almost all I do, except for a little writing, meditation and family therapy. But whatever I do, and wherever I go- if I manage to pay attention- there it is. I find Reiki in everything I do and in everyone I meet. I see it in nature, in the wind and the rain…this may sound like an obsession, but I am not a Reiki missionary. You can sit with me and talk about football or the weather. I am a very simple man who appreciates the little things in life.
11. Do you feel that Reiki needs standard guidelines across the board for practitioners to obtain certification?
Answer: I think this is generally a good idea if it is done the sake of the prospective clients. It would be desirable if anyone receiving a Reiki treatment will be treated by someone who knows what he or she is doing. Therefore we need teaching standards, good training, and teachers that have reached a certain level of crystallization before they go out to teach.
12. What are your hopes & aspirations for the future of Reiki?
Answer: Practicing Reiki to me is all about finding the oneness in the universe, and to find ones place in this orchestra. It is not for me to want something from or for Reiki. The heartbeat of the Universe beats in the rhythm of love and compassion and everything that comes out of that is good…
Copyright © 2010, by Frank Arjava Petter
Frank Arjava Petter lived in Japan for twelve years where he operated a language school, a translation/interpretation service and a therapy centre. He presently lives with his family in Eressos, Lesbos Island, Greece and teaches Reiki, Meditation and Family Constellations (family therapy) worldwide.
Arjava is originally German, but has been lived and worked abroad most of his adult life. His professional career has taken him from being an organic farmer to working as a motion picture set decorator, from being a photographer to upgrading and repairing computers. He has worked in construction, as a therapist as well as being one of the personal body- guards and gardeners of the Indian Mystic and Meditation Master, Osho.
This wide variety of jobs has taught him how to work with people of all ages from different races, cultures and backgrounds.
Arjava has been teaching Reiki since 1993 but his deeper and internationally celebrated involvement with Reiki began when he "discovered” the grave and memorial of Reiki founder Mikao Usui in Tokyo and original documents by Usui and his students.
His research culminated in the publication of his six international bestselling books "Reiki Fire”, "Reiki, the legacy of Dr. Usui”, "The original Reiki Handbook of Dr. Mikao Usui",“The Spirit of Reiki”, “Reiki best Practices”, “The Reiki techniques of Dr. Hayashi”,“Glücklichsein” and “Reiki ganz Klar”, His latest book is titled “ Das ist Reiki” and will be available in English by the end of 2010.
Presently he spends his days writing inspirational texts and fiction to be published in the near future.
