If the reason for the symbols is intent & focus, something doesnt' make sense.

they came from Japan. A place spiritual, from a spiritual path, taught by an exceptionally spiritual man. It's limited my understanding, but knowing what i do bout the Japanese 100 years ago, i find it curious they'd need something to help them focus. Hehe, were folks that 'backward' mentally up to 100 years ago, that they needed this kinda assitance to focus?

Going totally opposite now, but just as curious. Its' weird how many folks in the west are saying they're only for intent & focus. And it's surprising we know the difference. After all, our whole lifestyle is so very fast, and non-focused.

It would seem to me, that folks in the west would need the symbols more now, by virtue of the lifestyle. And folks in Japan 100 years ago, would have needed it less. What is commonly portrayed is that the folks in Japan needed the symbols, and now the folks in the west are saying they don't!

Perhaps it's one's ego that wishes to think they no longer need the symbols? ( I know that was the case with me)

Let's hope this kicks up a hornets nest!

Take care
Wayne

Maybe the answer is that Usui sensei knew the symbols would be needed, and that if he empowered them before he died then, when the time was right for the symbols, they would be embedded in the system.

Milarepa wrote:If the reason for the symbols is intent & focus, something doesnt' make sense.

they came from Japan. A place spiritual, from a spiritual path, taught by an exceptionally spiritual man. It's limited my understanding, but knowing what i do bout the Japanese 100 years ago, i find it curious they'd need something to help them focus. Hehe, were folks that 'backward' mentally up to 100 years ago, that they needed this kinda assitance to focus?

Assistance to focus is both ancient (otherwise, why use a mandala in various practices?) and modern.

Going totally opposite now, but just as curious. Its' weird how many folks in the west are saying they're only for intent & focus. And it's surprising we know the difference. After all, our whole lifestyle is so very fast, and non-focused.

It would seem to me, that folks in the west would need the symbols more now, by virtue of the lifestyle. And folks in Japan 100 years ago, would have needed it less. What is commonly portrayed is that the folks in Japan needed the symbols, and now the folks in the west are saying they don't!

Perhaps it's one's ego that wishes to think they no longer need the symbols? ( I know that was the case with me)

Without weighing in on whether the symbols are absolutely needed, I observe that shortcutting is now widespread among people in many practices that they claim to be esoteric. And that the silliness of such shortcutting can be demonstrated by bringing the discussion back to a flesh-and-blood level.

Here's a non-reiki example. A bit over 20 years ago, someone showed up on a taijiquan (t'ai chi ch'uan) message board claiming to teach his own style of taijiquan. When asked who his teacher was, and whether that person approved of his claiming to teach his own style, he said his teachers were the Dao De Jing (Tao Te Ching) and the Yi Jing (I Ching) and his "own personal enlightenment" and that they would approve. Under repeated questioning, he finally admitted that he had taught himself from a book. And he also asserted that the traditional styles had it wrong. Uh huh.

But he justified his position by further claiming that he knew about yin and yang and the other theories that are incorporated into taijiquan. (Uh, as if the the heads of the traditional styles don't?) So I asked whether the same sort of reasoning would justify someone learning acupuncture from a book and then working as an acupuncturist. Really, would you trust yourself to be needled by someone who had just taught himself from a book?

Bruce

Bruce wrote:

Milarepa wrote:If the reason for the symbols is intent & focus, something doesnt' make sense.

they came from Japan. A place spiritual, from a spiritual path, taught by an exceptionally spiritual man. It's limited my understanding, but knowing what i do bout the Japanese 100 years ago, i find it curious they'd need something to help them focus. Hehe, were folks that 'backward' mentally up to 100 years ago, that they needed this kinda assitance to focus?

Assistance to focus is both ancient (otherwise, why use a mandala in various practices?) and modern.

Hehe, this is the second time i've to elaborate on what i'm saying! Perhaps i should have worded it along the lines of, 'if the reason for the symbols is only intent & focus....' . Even more specific.. 'if the reason for the symbols is only intent & focus in healing'. Sometimes the obvious reasons/uses, arn't the only purpose.

Take care
Wayne

Milarepa wrote:...i find it curious (ed. the Japanese) need something to help them focus. Hehe, were folks that 'backward' mentally up to 100 years ago, that they needed this kinda assitance to focus?

The Japanese had a fairly cut-throat society--literally. Up until the 1800's, Samurai were authorized to kill anyone on impulse, which meant a lot of people lost loved ones to the Samurai's blade.



The Japanese, like most societies and cultures that I am aware of, were just as human as everyone else. When a human being loses someone he or she loves, to the best of my knowledge it is usually accompanied by a lot of pain. As impromptu killings lessened and Japanese cities grew in size, people began to live longer. Living longer resulted in diseases that accompany the aging process, many of which were so painful that people sought what relief they could through what means they had available.

Looking to the gods for relief was one method of finding relief from pain. Visiting a temple may have offered a large statue adorned with symbols where the person could seek refuge from the pain and pray for relief.



http://buddhaonthewall.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/thousand-armed-avalokitesvara-hrih-1280.jpg

Being present in a temple may have helped the person free their mind from their pain, but returning home would inevitably bring back the memories of the lost loved one and a return of the pain. Perhaps a part of the temple could be brought home to help keep the emotions of relief and feeling better present, but statues are not necessarily the most convenient item to bring home (even with today's transportation machines).

Letters, however, are relatively easy to draw in comparison to lugging home an 8 foot tall statue of a Buddha... and that may be one reason why "symbols" are important tools to help intent and focus in healing.

Good point Buck! Maybe the symbols aren't just for focus on healing. Maybe there's more we're not aware of.

I think theres a whole lot of information we are not aware of regarding the symbols and the system of Reiki...so much was kept secret within esoteric societies, particularly the esoteric societies of eastern Asia!...look what a struggle bruce Lee had bringing Kung Fu to th West!!..... just being facetious but you get the picture ahahahaha

I think like anything in life we are to take from a certain teaching what applies and let go of the rest....many people have had such incredible spiritual awakening through Reiki.... that they have the foresight and insight, to use the symbols in a way that is appropriate to them....spiritual teaching throughout the ages and in all the cultures and traditions are there to act as pointers to the way, they are signposts and arrows.... they are not meant to be held on to but are there to act as bridges for crossing over from one plane of existence to another....

Hi,

When it comes to discussing the original teachings of Usui-sensei you often hear people saying that many was kept secret.
I strongly feel that it wasn't so much about secrecy (for Usui-sensei wanted his teachings to be available to all people), but rather about only giving a student a meditation or technique when they were ready.

It is very common for spiritual teachings like this that at the beginning a teacher hands the student just one technique or meditation. The student is to practise and practise and sometimes the teacher and the student meet.. so the teacher can check on the student's progress.
Once the student has mastered the technique/meditation sufficiently, the teacher hands him or her the following technique/meditation.

Usui-sensei's way of teaching was no exception.

Moreover, it's of no use to know what a following meditation or technique is about or what you possibly could experience beforehand. Foreknowledge (is that really a word?) can only be a blockade at your path. It would influence your experiene.. more created by your own mind than by the actual experience itself.

Symbols are just training wheels (very good ones though), they have no power of their own. Because of the human nature, we think in symbols, the symbols work. They only have the power we give them.
You would first get to know a certain energy or energetic experience - become one with the energy - and then you would connect that to a symbol (it is just a visual representation of something). Because we think in symbols (or at least our subconscious) we trigger the experience.

*Gasshō*
Frank

Hi Frank,

Symbols are just training wheels (very good ones though), they have no power of their own. Because of the human nature, we think in symbols, the symbols work. They only have the power we give them.
You would first get to know a certain energy or energetic experience - become one with the energy - and then you would connect that to a symbol (it is just a visual representation of something). Because we think in symbols (or at least our subconscious) we trigger the experience.

While I can not comment on original teaching of Dr. Usui for I do not know what his original teaching was, I agree with you about symbols.

Regards,

Resko

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I've been taught that the symbols heals in certain ways, so you can direct the healing with the intent of the symbol.

I have later on learned that the symbols can be used in reaching Oneness in meditation and connecting with them in certain ways. I can find an articel about it if you want to read it.
CKR/earth in hara, SHK/heaven in mind, HSZSN in heart, brings it all together. You start with the first for some months or more, then the second for some months or more and so on....
That seems right to me. I use Reiji Ho for healing, so Reiki don't need me to intent anything more then being a channel, so I don't need the symbols for healing (for distant healing only).
So for me the symbols must be for something other - a way to connect yourself to some higher energies to utimately reach oneness

Lisel wrote:I've been taught that the symbols heals in certain ways, so you can direct the healing with the intent of the symbol.

I have later on learned that the symbols can be used in reaching Oneness in meditation and connecting with them in certain ways. I can find an articel about it if you want to read it.
CKR/earth in hara, SHK/heaven in mind, HSZSN in heart, brings it all together. You start with the first for some months or more, then the second for some months or more and so on....
That seems right to me. I use Reiji Ho for healing, so Reiki don't need me to intent anything more then being a channel, so I don't need the symbols for healing (for distant healing only).
So for me the symbols must be for something other - a way to connect yourself to some higher energies to utimately reach oneness

Lisel, I use the symbols as a tool to direct.
I see myself as a facilitator rather than
a channel. The Reiki system uses ULFE and
that contributes to innate healing.

Hi,

One thing is for certain. If you close your mind to the possibilities of all that the symbols may encompass, then you have limited yourself in this experience. If you are sure they are only "training wheels" or "tools of intent and focus" then surely this belief will limit the symbols to just that.

Personally, I believe them to be much more...for one...a magically empowered form that makes us aware of different paths of perception and understanding in the Universe we occupy....there may be many more....

James Deacon said something a while ago that I`m not sure everybody realized the significance of. I think he said it as a joke in passing, but it stuck to certain thoughts that i was having on my own. Not word for word, but it was something like..."it`s not how you use the symbols that counts, but more so how the symbols want to use you."...James, please forgive and correct me, if i have twisted your words or intentions in anyway...
I have a tendency to feel that the symbols operate with little control from, or concern for, our intent. The origin/center/construct...of a certain symbol, for lack of a better term, may have it`s own agenda for putting things right in the Universe. Sometimes we can see the affects directly and sometimes we just are not able to comprehend the complexities.

Jim

I see the symbols as a tool
to focus on the energy they
represent.

Lisel wrote:So for me the symbols must be for something other - a way to connect yourself to some higher energies to utimately reach oneness

From my perspective and experience with the more original Japanese teachings: the symbols are not meant for healing others.
First: a student would get to know a certain energetic experience by using a mantra (in meditation). Only when the student was able to become one with a certain energy of to attain a certain state of mind, a symbol would be given. The student would then connect the energetic experience or the state of mind with that symbol, so the symbol would represent that experience/state.

Actually, it is something psychological rather than something mysterious.

Because we associate a certain experience with a symbol (it is nothing more than a meaningless drawing, unless you associate something with it!), we trigger the experience by seeing/drawing the symbol.

It's just a quicker way to become one with an energy or to alter your state of mind. It can be quicker than meditating and chanting a mantra, that is their purpose from my point of view. (But only after the student had learned how to become one with an energy the symbol would be given.)

*Gasshō*
Frank

Reikijim wrote: Hi,

One thing is for certain. If you close your mind to the possibilities of all that the symbols may encompass, then you have limited yourself in this experience. If you are sure they are only "training wheels" or "tools of intent and focus" then surely this belief will limit the symbols to just that.

Personally, I believe them to be much more...for one...a magically empowered form that makes us aware of different paths of perception and understanding in the Universe we occupy....there may be many more....

James Deacon said something a while ago that I`m not sure everybody realized the significance of. I think he said it as a joke in passing, but it stuck to certain thoughts that i was having on my own. Not word for word, but it was something like..."it`s not how you use the symbols that counts, but more so how the symbols want to use you."...James, please forgive and correct me, if i have twisted your words or intentions in anyway...
I have a tendency to feel that the symbols operate with little control from, or concern for, our intent. The origin/center/construct...of a certain symbol, for lack of a better term, may have it`s own agenda for putting things right in the Universe. Sometimes we can see the affects directly and sometimes we just are not able to comprehend the complexities.

Jim

The symbols certainly are magical. They allow us to imagine something powerful that we can utilize to help create what others might view as a miracle. This magic is very powerful. For without starting with this symbol that allows us to stretch our understanding of the world, to imagine something different and powerful that is "other than ourselves", then we certainly would have an even more difficult time reaching the same conclusion.

And you are also absolutely correct. It is certainly very valuable to keep our mind open and if we wish to, study as much as we can about the full meaning behind each symbol. Sometimes this study may be simple meditation on each symbol and let the universe reveal new information and meaning to us. This can be incredibly valuable, for it only helps us broaden our imagination into new frontiers we might not have even known existed until we did so.

But the question remains. If we are seeking oneness, and we understand (even if only on a logical rather than experiential level at first) that the oneness actually comes from within, rather than without; that there is no "other than us." Then what are the symbols really? If there is no "other than us?"