Dear all

Many of us have different ways of teaching Reiki and we come from different lineages.

I am just couriuos - What are your 5 Precepts??

Mine are:

Just for today:
Do not Anger
Do not worry
Be Thankfull
Be Honest in everything you do and say
Be Compassionate to Yourself and Others

Lisel I have see so many versions

The one I teach is the same as the one
displayed at the top of this page.

"Just for today"...........

The precepts I learned are the principles Usui-sensei taught.

Kyō dake ha (Today only)
Ikaru na (do not get angry)
Shinpai suna (do not worry)
Kansha shite (be grateful)
Gō wo hageme (literally: work diligently; meaning: be diligent in the things you do)
Hito ni shinsetsu ni (be kind to others)

There are of course other translations, bu the difference is only slight. "Just for today" and "do not anger" are just as good. As long as they have the same meaning.

*Gasshō*
Frank

Same here


Kyō dake ha (Today only)
Ikaru na (do not get angry)
Shinpai suna (do not worry)
Kansha shite (be grateful)
Gō wo hageme (literally: work diligently; meaning: be diligent in the things you do)
Hito ni shinsetsu ni (be kind to others)

Spirithealer and Frank wrote:Same here


Kyō dake ha (Today only)

I've not come across that version before!

I use Kyō dake wa

Colin wrote:

Spirithealer and Frank wrote:Kyō dake ha (Today only)

I've not come across that version before!

I use Kyō dake wa

I already expected such a remark

The reason why you never came across that 'version' before is because most people don't understand Japanese.
Or because people just copy what they learned.

I don't want to say I know a lot about it (hell no, I know very little), but I have tried to come up with my own translation of the Gainen/Gokai. I tried to understand some of the grammatical structures. There is a lot about Japanese that I don't understand, but I do understand some aspects.

The Japanese use kanji or kana (hiragana/katakana). There is also something called rōmaji; rōmaji is used when people want to transliterate kanji/kana into our Western script based on the Latin alphabet.

"Today only" in kanji and kana looks like this: 今日丈けは
(Hope you have installed kanji/kana on your computer)

In rōmaji it is: kyō dake ha

Why do I write "ha" in stead of "wa" ?
Because the character used for "ha" is a particle (it has a grammatical function - states what the subject is you talk about) and in rōmaji it is spelled "ha".
However, the pronunciation of the particle is "wa".

So, it should be spelled "ha" and it should be pronounced "wa".

Something similar happens with "Gō wo hageme".
"Wo" should be spelled "wo" in rōmaji. It is, however, pronounced "o".

Sometimes pronunciation is different from the way one should write a word.

I hope this helps

*Gasshō

Frank wrote:

Colin wrote:

Spirithealer and Frank wrote:Kyō dake ha (Today only)

I've not come across that version before!

I use Kyō dake wa

I already expected such a remark

The reason why you never came across that 'version' before is because most people don't understand Japanese.
Or because people just copy what they learned.

I don't want to say I know a lot about it (hell no, I know very little), but I have tried to come up with my own translation of the Gainen/Gokai. I tried to understand some of the grammatical structures. There is a lot about Japanese that I don't understand, but I do understand some aspects.

The Japanese use kanji or kana (hiragana/katakana). There is also something called rōmaji; rōmaji is used when people want to transliterate kanji/kana into our Western script based on the Latin alphabet.

"Today only" in kanji and kana looks like this: 今日丈けは
(Hope you have installed kanji/kana on your computer)

In rōmaji it is: kyō dake ha

Why do I write "ha" in stead of "wa" ?
Because the character used for "ha" is a particle (it has a grammatical function - states what the subject is you talk about) and in rōmaji it is spelled "ha".
However, the pronunciation of the particle is "wa".

So, it should be spelled "ha" and it should be pronounced "wa".

Something similar happens with "Gō wo hageme".
"Wo" should be spelled "wo" in rōmaji. It is, however, pronounced "o".

Sometimes pronunciation is different from the way one should write a word.

I hope this helps

*Gasshō

Thanks for that explanation, Frank!

What with ikaru/okaru, shinpai/shimpai etc. it certainly is complicated!

Well at least I've been reciting it correctly (or at least pronouncing it the same as Chiyoko Yamaguchi, Tadao Yamaguchi and Hyakuten Inamoto!)

Hi Frank,

I`m fairly sure that Inamoto sensi is very fluent in Japanese. I do believe in Komyo he changed Ikuruna to Okuruna saying that the language has evolved since Usui sensi`s time. Okuruna is a closer representation to the original, or so he felt personally. I guess I`m puzzled that he made no mention of replacing wa with ha. After all, I think japanese is his native language....puzzling.

Jim

Hi,

"Ikaru na" can also be pronounced as "okoru na", that's true.
(I used to prefer "okoru na")

Whether Ikaru na or okoru na is closer to how Usui pronounced it, I don't know.
Someone I know (who is a student from Hyakuten Inamoto, Hiroshi Doi and Chris Marsh) says "ikaru na" is closer to the original. I used to say "okoru na" but since he told me that, I use "ikaru na".

And "ha" and "wa" is not about replacing. It's the same.
It should be proncounced "wa", but we use the hiragana "ha".

See: http://www.freejapaneselessons.com/lesson01.cfm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXaHW91L7XM

*Gasshō*
Frank

Frank wrote:Hi,

"Ikaru na" can also be pronounced as "okoru na", that's true.
(I used to prefer "okoru na")

Whether Ikaru na or okoru na is closer to how Usui pronounced it, I don't know.
Someone I know (who is a student from Hyakuten Inamoto, Hiroshi Doi and Chris Marsh) says "ikaru na" is closer to the original. I used to say "okoru na" but since he told me that, I use "ikaru na".

And "ha" and "wa" is not about replacing. It's the same.
It should be proncounced "wa", but we use the hiragana "ha".

See: http://www.freejapaneselessons.com/lesson01.cfm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXaHW91L7XM

*Gasshō*
Frank

Hi Frank,

Wow...my Komyo teacher is Japanese as well, taught by Inamoto...she says the exact opposite...I remember it from her teachings...Wonders never cease...must run parallel with confusion...lol

thanks for the japanese lesson peace

Jim

I love both topics!

Let's please keep this thread to Lisel's original question, "What are your 5 Precepts??" and if necessary, continue and/or elaborate on the Japanese Language here:
http://www.reikilearninglounge.com/general-discussions-about-reiki-f24/japanese-t1165.htm#12530

Recently I found myself drawn to a much-overlooked Japanese version of the 5 Precepts.

Just as is the case with the 'common' Japanese version,
with this version there is also a potential for slight variation in pronunciation,
due to different readings of the written characters.

Basically though, it goes something like this:

Kyō ikaru nakare
Yū furu nakare
Kansha seyo
Gyō wo hage me
Hito ni shinsetsu nareto

Rlei_ki wrote:Recently I found myself drawn to a much-overlooked Japanese version of the 5 Precepts.

Just as is the case with the 'common' Japanese version,
with this version there is also a potential for slight variation in pronunciation,
due to different readings of the written characters.

Basically though, it goes something like this:

Kyō ikaru nakare
Yū furu nakare
Kansha seyo
Gyō wo hage me
Hito ni shinsetsu nareto

Hi James

Thanks for all your detective work (and eyestrain ) on interpreting the wording of the Gokai on Usui's memorial stone!

http://www.aetw.org/reiki_gokai_original.html

Do you think one of the reasons that the wording is different on the memorial stone is because the ever-secretive Gakkai may not have wanted to share the original wording with the general public? If we believe that the more familiar Japanese wording had been specifically chosen for its kotodama value then the members of the Gakkai may have not wanted that version so publically available. Thus, the meaning of the words may be very similar but the kotodama is quite different!

Thank You James & Colin,

This is indeed an amazing article!!! With this being said though it raises a question that probably many of us have. Based on the idea or maybe the fact that principles do consist of or maybe are kotodama would that than mean that when translated to English or any other language they would become “useless” for they would lose that “sound effect”

Thank You!

Hi,

Although I'm not Colin or James, I would like to respond to your question.
Gokai is supposed to be used as a mantra, in Japanese. The sounds have a specific energetic effect. If you change the sounds (in other words, if you change the mantra), you change the energetic effect.

That's what I can say, but the real answer lies in practising.
Practise is the only way to really experience the answer to your question.

*Gasshō*
Frank