The 4 Reiki symbols that Usui sensei's student passed onto Takata sensei can mean much more than at first glance appears. Throughout known history, in many mystery schools, or wider spiritual groups, many things have been hidden. In plain sight. Quite often it's simply stories specific to the path in question. Sometimes though, the very teachings of the path are there, or the deeper mysteries, including the workings and purpose of the whole path...

What if Reiki was like so many of these other paths? Would a well travelled, extremely well educated, dedicated spiritual person, know the value of this? I dunno. Here's a little slant on the possibility...

• CKR can be translated as 'direct spirit'. Or, in the 'presence of spirits'.
  
  
• SHK can be translated as 'spiritual composure'.
  
  
• HSZSN can be translated as 'correct thought, is the essence of being'. with 'Hon' meaning 'source, origin, essence, true', among other things.
  
  
• DKM can be translated as 'great bright light'. Possibly Implying a spiritual being.

So what?

What if in these symbols, through their kanji we were always being told exactly what is going on in Reiki, and exactly what was the purpose for the system? Would that be worth a little time to us?

Throughout the examples in this post, we can see that spirit (and sometimes not our own) comes up time & time again. It's the common theme that links them all together. In particular it links CKR & SHK.

Eh? How does it link HSZSN then?

It links HSZSN cause it's a call to ourselves to remember the true essence of our being. The Kanji, in part, is telling us of our true origin, our true essence. It tells us how to achieve this, by mindfullness. and if we remember what does 'just for today..' mean? What happens when we realise our true nature? We 'see the light'. Become enlightened. Experience that 'great bright light' that is our birthright from the divine, DKM. Meaning, purpose, instructions, we got it all.

This is all gonna be obvious to many, but it's good sometimes to openly highlight it, else we forget it altogether.

Let's dig the deeper well..

Warmest wishes
Wayne

Footnote: The implications here are purely my own, and in no way the reflection of anyone else's opinions. However, thanks goes to James Deacon for his research on the symbols, in which he's made public on his site, and which i relied heavily upon.

not in a serious mode at the moment, a bit naughty thought on this extremely serious stuff runs as follows !

CKR is the introduction to something hitherto unknownn (or unaccessible), SHK is the brewing in the effects of this introduction (or access) so as to attain a composure, and what is the result ? a true thought (or HSZSN) and when this true thought prevails for a while, the final result is the state of enlightment (DKM)....


this is the logical chronology... but, this raises a point maybe.. when we are already on the path of a true thought, why would we need HSZSN anyway? okay, maybe to capitualte it on our non-conscious planes ?


have to write in detail Wayne, but this evening probably

take care

salamn

(an applause on the thread, by all means )

Lambs-Wool wrote:

this is the logical chronology... but, this raises a point maybe.. when we are already on the path of a true thought, why would we need HSZSN anyway? okay, maybe to capitualte it on our non-conscious planes ?

it's not a path of 'a' true thought, it's the path of true being, which is correct thought, and the correct thought is mindfullness. It's easy to say we're on the path of mindfullness, but if we look at ourselves, it's another thing to actually do. It can take years of constant practice.

so, imo, this is a reason why we are initiated into this symbol. It's placed within us, and it embeds in our sub-conscious, giving us a real help. It's a fantastic gift we've been gave!

Warmest wishes
Wayne

and now bit detailed on my previous shift:


if we go to the roots of reiki within us, we might have to acknowledge that our achievement

of reiki ability has started with symbols... the reiki master who had initiated us into

reiki has used the powers conferred to him/her.. did these powers of initiating existed

separately of DKM ? would that be an 'initiation' that uses the 'intent' but not symbols...

it is generally believed that initiation is incomplete without symbols..


okay, which symbol ? if we take the simplest example (level 1), we can see that across all

variants of initiations, CKR is a symbol that is certainly used in level one, as far as the

attunee's side is concerned...apart from the general notation 'power symbol' or 'focus

symbol' we can see that CKR is truly a 'reiki symbol' firstly... reiki starts with CKR when

it is placed, in a certain way, within the attunee or, depending upon the point of view,

when the attunee is programmed with CKR...


although, while later in level 2, we are initiated to use CKR to boost focus or power, we

are then initiated to use CKR in a certain way.... the difference being that in level one,

we are initated with CKR and in level 2, we are initiated with 'use' of CKR alongwith other

symbols Seiheki and honshozehshonen..


it might be of interest that if, even for level one, we minus CKR from the equation,

whatever is left is something we cannot call Usui Reiki Ryoho... interestingly CKR has two sides.. one is its essence, and that is equivalent to reiki, and the second is its powers to put focus, for which we take initations in level 2...


in my pesonal views, i dont agree with the version that CKR and SHK represent different

'flavours' of a same energy... we possibly cannot selectively pick one aspect of reiki while excluding the other... if ever we wish to emphasize on 'designated' aspect of reiki (e.g., emotional healing) we were given a symbol for it... that symbol does not, in my views, take a selective portion of reiki, rather it has its own abilities that make use of reiki for becoming 'enabled'... this is further supported by fact that Takata Sensei told to put CKR over SHK for making it work better.... it was perhaps not in the manner of putting CKR over SHK to boost it up, rather to put CKR over SHK to 'enable' it in some way ? other way round then, what is CKR ? a power force or an enabling force ?


no wonder if we go considering the view that CKR enables us to experience reiki and in

intiations DKM is used on the master's side to recall his initiation powers, and on the attunee's side it is only CKR that is being passed to attunee of level one...


so what we conclude ? CKR is reiki ? perhaps?



and finally the HSZSN... we say it transcends time and space... and that reiki can be sent to past and future... personally, i have some reservations with this model...time is impossible to be conceived without a point of reference, that is matter, time is a reality since we have surrounding space or matter within which time is housed... if we say past exists as independently as it used to exist in that year (for example, 1950), we have to simultaneously assume, that we have a post WW2 globe earth exactly the same that was existing in 1950...


year 1950 cannot exist without space / matter creating that year 1950 a reality in 1950! if that is considered to be remote to be reality, how we can send reiki to past... we can, however, send reiki to our present which no doubt contains effects/experiences/impacts of whatever happened in year 1950...

and same is with sending reiki to future... lets say i have an appointment tomorrow, and i have to appear for an interview... i send reiki to 'envelope' the interview room and the interview table so that when i appear there, all is already 'set' to make the best.... okay, what if i, for some reason, cannot reach the place tomorrow, or say, some interviewer on the panel requests to postpone the interview to some later date... then where has gone the reiki i supposedly sent to that interview ?? evaporated ? gone to higer self, or to highest good ? or whatever ?


the other two aspects of HSZSN are 'oneness' and a 'call to mindfulness' HSZSN is not a quick fix to attain oneness at any moment we possibly wish (again personally speaking)... it is however a conscious effort on our part to move an inch closer to oneness.. and this will go on gradually, not in a movie-like fashion...


a call to mindfulness is, on the same pattern, not a call to concentration of our mind, rather it is like moving one inch closer to the mindfulness of our true being... (our Bhudda nature, some can say for convenience, depending).... so what we do in invoking HSZSN, we are making ourselves consciously 'open' to anticipate the achievement of awareness of our true being... and interestingly, this awareness is also coincident with oneness... invoking HSZSN is important, since it opens us possibilities, and not (in my views) since it 'brings about' possibilities of oneness 'instantly'


here i feel a very visible shift of my earlier beliefs! once i felt so much 'energized' to feel that once i invoke HSZSN, i drift immediately into "oneness" as if i had played the play button on my DVD player after inserting the right DVD.. but now, i feel that it does not work like this... when i invoke HSZSN, i m taking a step to oneness, and not a leap !


hey Wayne i just wish comments on these lines... so that i know the 'objectivity' of these thoughts!


take care

salman

Lambs-Wool wrote:
in my pesonal views, i dont agree with the version that CKR and SHK represent different

'flavours' of a same energy... we possibly cannot selectively pick one aspect of reiki while excluding the other... if ever we wish to emphasize on 'designated' aspect of reiki (e.g., emotional healing) we were given a symbol for it... that symbol does not, in my views, take a selective portion of reiki, rather it has its own abilities that make use of reiki for becoming 'enabled'...

Yeah. I went through the 'symbols have different energies' thing also. It's taught that really, that's the be all & end all of it all. Once you get that sorted, you no longer need to draw them, so can set them aside. Just switch vibration at will. It's BS, imo. I'm able to feel things inisde real easy, so at different major steps of my Reiki path, i felt Reiki at different parts of my body entering me. I also felt able to switch the energies of symbols. All this was cause my perception allowed me to do these different things. If i felt Reiki came in form the crown, that's what i felt, for example.

It's always real good to go see what the heck someone is talking bout. After my assuemd demonic possession on 4all, i decided to see what the heck sharon was always saying bout protectin not being needed. And it wasn't needed. Likewise, i decided to try what was said on James' website bout going beyond our need for the symbols, but still using them. Form then, my Reiki path & experience devled deeper than i'd ever dreamed possible. So for me, there's much more afterthe 'different energies' thing. and i really, really, am only a novice at this.

Lambs-Wool wrote:
no wonder if we go considering the view that CKR enables us to experience reiki and in

intiations DKM is used on the master's side to recall his initiation powers, and on the attunee's side it is only CKR that is being passed to attunee of level one...


so what we conclude ? CKR is reiki ? perhaps?

Salman, how did you come to this conclusion?

Lambs-Wool wrote:
and finally the HSZSN... we say it transcends time and space... and that reiki can be sent to past and future... personally, i have some reservations with this model...time is impossible to be conceived without a point of reference, that is matter, time is a reality since we have surrounding space or matter within which time is housed... if we say past exists as independently as it used to exist in that year (for example, 1950), we have to simultaneously assume, that we have a post WW2 globe earth exactly the same that was existing in 1950...


year 1950 cannot exist without space / matter creating that year 1950 a reality in 1950! if that is considered to be remote to be reality, how we can send reiki to past... we can, however, send reiki to our present which no doubt contains effects/experiences/impacts of whatever happened in year 1950...

Sure. This is my take also. It's still highly theoretical sceince, the multiple universe string theory stuff. But for there to be a 'past' accessible somwhere it has to be housed somewhere physical, as in a 'space'. for the future, that's real tricky. cause of multiple possibilities, the seperate space needed is mindblowing.

Time itself isn't what we think. Time is change. i'm 35 years old, but scientists stil can't even agree on where that 35 years is. It's not something that we can hold, or even see. We can see the culmination of something changed for 35 years, but not see the 35 years.

This is very important, and i feel it goes against fundamental spiritual laws, adn thanks god it's not permitted...

For us to be able to change our past, knowing as we do know that everything really is connected, we could be changinhg untold things for many folks, even the world, by simply changing when i had the pain of my cocaince addiciton, for example. we can't change our issues, without changing other things. For example, if i chahnged my addiction history, and stopp all my pain, and the pain i caused others, we wouldn't even be here now talking on here. we wouldn't have shared stuff Salman, and i wouldn't be doing other things, like be in england doing work with kiids (which i don't wanna go into, but you get my poinnt).

Every single event in our lives, no matter what way it seemed at the time, has lead us to this moment right now, and who we are right now. with the seeds of who we'll become as we go on.

Lambs-Wool wrote:
and same is with sending reiki to future... lets say i have an appointment tomorrow, and i have to appear for an interview... i send reiki to 'envelope' the interview room and the interview table so that when i appear there, all is already 'set' to make the best.... okay, what if i, for some reason, cannot reach the place tomorrow, or say, some interviewer on the panel requests to postpone the interview to some later date... then where has gone the reiki i supposedly sent to that interview ?? evaporated ? gone to higer self, or to highest good ? or whatever ?

Yeah, there's as much evidence it went to my higher self, as it went to genghis khan, .

Lambs-Wool wrote:
the other two aspects of HSZSN are 'oneness' and a 'call to mindfulness' HSZSN is not a quick fix to attain oneness at any moment we possibly wish (again personally speaking)... it is however a conscious effort on our part to move an inch closer to oneness.. and this will go on gradually, not in a movie-like fashion...

Yeah. We've beenb spiritually empowered with a phrase that has, hehe, itself been spiritually empowered. and that phrase is about mindfullness, the first step on many spiritual paths. How many clues we need.

you're right, there's no way it'd be an instant 'ok, i'm there'. Cause if it was, with no work on our part, we'd not value the damn thing. When we actually achieve something, ther'es a lot fo worth in it We're built this way, and it's a good strength.

Warmest wishes
Wayne

hi Wayne something interesting i had to comment, hope you dont mind if i disagree with you in some things... since disagreement gives rise to opening of more doors for us... and i m rightly included within the rule

Milarepa wrote:
Yeah. I went through the 'symbols have different energies' thing also. It's taught that really, that's the be all & end all of it all. Once you get that sorted, you no longer need to draw them, so can set them aside. Just switch vibration at will.

interestingly, i also got that information from various sources and tried them myself... and tbh, i see human inclination more at work in making this theory rather than active theorizing...

lemme explain... we have an emotional symbol called Seiheiki... with the mention of emotions, our mind jumps to moon, waves, water tides, and similar things... and most things out of list have a subtle, semi-physical outlook... so we are inclined to believe in the end that SHK deals with non-physical stuff.... according to law of contradiction, we are inclined to find out that if SHK prompts towards non-physical healing, what symbol would prompt to the physical healing ?? and our first/nearest choice is the CKR... and we futher go on reaffirming ourselves that yes CKR is the symbol of earth energies or better saying physical energies, since it has also been associated with words like 'boost', 'power' and other terms of this genus...


my view (quite interesting though) is that had SHK been not associated with emotional healing, CKR could also possibly not have been associated by many of us with physical healing..... when this thought process took its momentum, we possibly ended up with a very common view that CKR and SHK represent different forms of energy within reiki...

you can appreciate the working of associative tendencies in the developmen of this philosophy

Wayne wrote:
i felt Reiki at different parts of my body entering me. I also felt able to switch the energies of symbols. All this was cause my perception allowed me to do these different things. If i felt Reiki came in form the crown, that's what i felt, for example.

while this is truth, this has its own benefits too Wayne.. dont you agree ? if we are taught to feel that during hatsurei ho, energy is flooding into Crown and then downards to naval, this whole process has some objectives in the first place... this develops awareness, isnt ? okay, then onwards, if we dont dig deeper and keep on 'sticking' to those initial feelings, and hence sticking our reiki experience to just what we felt/expereinced initially, then of course this is a matter of personal choice and comforts... what do you say here ??

Wayne wrote:
i decided to see what the heck sharon was always saying bout protectin not being needed. And it wasn't needed. Likewise, i decided to try what was said on James' website bout going beyond our need for the symbols, but still using them. Form then, my Reiki path & experience devled deeper than i'd ever dreamed possible.

you see, our perceptions are coined on the basis of what we hear or read or being taught in the first instance...then we put those perceptions to practical tests / personal experiences, then keep on adding personal beliefs to them, confirming and dispelling things in the process... this is how we keep tracking on the path...


starting something over with a pre-thought is never a bullshit however, if we become deaf and indifferent on what we discover along the experiences, then we are doing a big disservice.... to whom ? to our own selves mostly !

Wayne wrote:

Lambs-Wool wrote:
no wonder if we go considering the view that CKR enables us to experience reiki and in

intiations DKM is used on the master's side to recall his initiation powers, and on the attunee's side it is only CKR that is being passed to attunee of level one...


so what we conclude ? CKR is reiki ? perhaps?

Salman, how did you come to this conclusion?

CKR has been said to be in Japaneese cultural roots from times immemorial.. different things have been said about its cultural and spiriutal associations even before Usui times....

(reference to page http://www.aetw.org/reiki_symbolsP.html )

..........When written in one particular set of kanji, Chokurei refers to an Imperial Edict, Proclamation or Order ("by command of the Emperor").

...........Yet, written in a different set of kanji it can be translated as 'direct spirit(s)', or more conceptually as something like: 'In the presence of the spirit(s) [ie: kami ] ' [This is one reason some people consider the symbol to be of Shinto origin.]


.........Takata-Sensei translated Choku Rei as 'put the [spiritual] power here', and there is also a possiblilty (I stress the word 'possibility') that the symbol is a calligraphic stylisation of the kanji character choku itself - which has many meanings, including: direct; in person; at once; & near by...

it would be startling to me to discover that in every of the above phrases, i can easily replace the reference of CKR with a reference of Reiki, without making the phrases meaningless


plus, one more thing Wayne... no other symbol makes direct inclusion of 'spirit' except CKR (hence the word cho ku 'rei')... and when we come visiting the word (and the essence of ) reiki itself, we find the most prominent factor in reiki is 'rei' instead of 'ki'... so isnt too wild to assume, among other reasons of course, that CKR has two manifestaitons...

in essence, it represents Reiki, or more precisely it represents something that generates reiki (circular reference to my belief that reiki is actually 'spirit in action' )

and in traits, it represents a super feature of 'command'... if we put CKR on SHK, aren't we commanding SHK to do the things more through CKR ??


like i already said bro, i m just trying to think multiple possiblities (may be trying to build for my satisfaction a working model of reiki) please take my words in direction of an 'effort' instead of any 'proclamation'

Wayne wrote:
Time itself isn't what we think. Time is change. i'm 35 years old, but scientists stil can't even agree on where that 35 years is. It's not something that we can hold, or even see. We can see the culmination of something changed for 35 years, but not see the 35 years.

This is very important, and i feel it goes against fundamental spiritual laws, adn thanks god it's not permitted...

you must have seen the old classic "back to the future" starring Micheal J Fox... i saw that movie about 15 years back maybe... i made that discovery what you have shared above... it has been seen that in order to bring Micheal to birth, his mom and pa must have had affair... and how they would have affair if she was all the time inclined towards another buddy ? so what Micheal does, he arrangces a courtship of his would to be mom and pa, so that they meet and give him his existence... the existence that he has in the 'now'


a superb conclusion, btw isnt ?

your following quote is also weaved in the same direction buddy

For us to be able to change our past, knowing as we do know that everything really is connected, we could be changinhg untold things for many folks, even the world, by simply changing when i had the pain of my cocaince addiciton, for example. we can't change our issues, without changing other things. For example, if i chahnged my addiction history, and stopp all my pain, and the pain i caused others, we wouldn't even be here now talking on here. we wouldn't have shared stuff Salman, and i wouldn't be doing other things, like be in england doing work with kiids (which i don't wanna go into, but you get my poinnt).

Every single event in our lives, no matter what way it seemed at the time, has lead us to this moment right now, and who we are right now. with the seeds of who we'll become as we go on.

Wayne wrote:

Lambs-Wool wrote:
the other two aspects of HSZSN are 'oneness' and a 'call to mindfulness' HSZSN is not a quick fix to attain oneness at any moment we possibly wish (again personally speaking)... it is however a conscious effort on our part to move an inch closer to oneness.. and this will go on gradually, not in a movie-like fashion...

Yeah. We've beenb spiritually empowered with a phrase that has, hehe, itself been spiritually empowered. and that phrase is about mindfullness, the first step on many spiritual paths. How many clues we need.

bold scripting being mine, do you feel how important things you have said just so casually

Wayne wrote:
you're right, there's no way it'd be an instant 'ok, i'm there'. Cause if it was, with no work on our part, we'd not value the damn thing. When we actually achieve something, ther'es a lot fo worth in it We're built this way, and it's a good strength.

sure that is a wisdom behind every spiritual 'rule'

take care

Salman

Lambs-Wool wrote:hi Wayne something interesting i had to comment, hope you dont mind if i disagree with you in some things... since disagreement gives rise to opening of more doors for us... and i m rightly included within the rule

I'd prefer you to disagree, then you're making your own mind up bro,

Lambs-Wool wrote:
my view (quite interesting though) is that had SHK been not associated with emotional healing, CKR could also possibly not have been associated by many of us with physical healing..... when this thought process took its momentum, we possibly ended up with a very common view that CKR and SHK represent different forms of energy within reiki...

What is Reiki? If Reiki is the spiritual effect, then the way it materialises could be classed as many things. imo, the symbol in itself isn't this effect, cause the effect is being dictated by the recipient. The symbol is an instruction, a request, even a command, if one wants to use that word.

Can you see the difference? If folks say that the symbols are actual Reiki, as in the energy, yeah, they can easily say different flavours of that energy. BUt if folks say Reiki is a spiritual happening, thne how can the symbols be such static 'flavours'? since the spiritual happening is dictated by the response of the recipient, there would need to be multitudes of variations in frequency. This is really important, and to me, shows an error in the 'different frequency' idea. I trust you can see the technical thing i'm saying?

Lambs-Wool wrote:

Wayne wrote:
i felt Reiki at different parts of my body entering me. I also felt able to switch the energies of symbols. All this was cause my perception allowed me to do these different things. If i felt Reiki came in form the crown, that's what i felt, for example.

while this is truth, this has its own benefits too Wayne.. dont you agree ? if we are taught to feel that during hatsurei ho, energy is flooding into Crown and then downards to naval, this whole process has some objectives in the first place... this develops awareness, isnt ? okay, then onwards, if we dont dig deeper and keep on 'sticking' to those initial feelings, and hence sticking our reiki experience to just what we felt/expereinced initially, then of course this is a matter of personal choice and comforts... what do you say here ??

For sure, it has benefits, but it's not the end of the journey. A person can be content with what they have, and never look or experience something else. What would you advise? I know you're answer, so it's rhetorical buddy.

It says in the text books Reiki moves tihs way, that way, in hatsurei ho. It doesn't move at all. It's our awareness that moves to any one place. and the only way we can make sense of it is by thinking it moves in linear way. Did you know that when you walk across a room you actually vanish & reappear in & out of existence very, very, fast? you disappear at point A, and reappear at point B. Our mind must makes sense of this as if we are always here, moving as we think we do. This is also how science ties in with Reiki not moving anywhere. Cause nothing moves anywhere, hehe. it appears. it explains absent healing also.

Lambs-Wool wrote:
plus, one more thing Wayne... no other symbol makes direct inclusion of 'spirit' except CKR (hence the word cho ku 'rei')... and when we come visiting the word (and the essence of ) reiki itself, we find the most prominent factor in reiki is 'rei' instead of 'ki'... so isnt too wild to assume, among other reasons of course, that CKR has two manifestaitons...

in essence, it represents Reiki, or more precisely it represents something that generates reiki (circular reference to my belief that reiki is actually 'spirit in action' )

It's interesting how you come to this conclusion. I can't comment on it though, you're going into detail i'm not able to speak about. It's real encouraging to see your attempts to join the dots though!

Lambs-Wool wrote:
and in traits, it represents a super feature of 'command'... if we put CKR on SHK, aren't we commanding SHK to do the things more through CKR ??

yeah, so words like focus & power are apt.


warmest wishes
Wayne

Wayne wrote:
since the spiritual happening is dictated by the response of the recipient, there would need to be multitudes of variations in frequency.

yes, receipient is who gives an outward flavour to the experience

Wayne wrote:
Did you know that when you walk across a room you actually vanish & reappear in & out of existence very, very, fast? you disappear at point A, and reappear at point B. Our mind must makes sense of this as if we are always here, moving as we think we do.

thats a profound insight Wayne.. me being at Point A in a room at moment no. 1, and me being at point B in the same room at next moment no. 2 are two separate happenings...

since we have an overlapping device (time, or indivisbility of time in nano seconds to our conscious mind), we feel them in one single episode...


this theory adds to my knowledge about Psychokinesis in a certain way... thanks again


salman

Hi,

I would like to react to the opening post of this topic.

I feel you did a great job at describing the message you discovered.
Your conclusion is that we should realise our true nature, see the Light and to become enlightened.

That is the ultimate purpose of Usui-sensei's teachings!

The aim of his teachings was to achieve/maintain: happiness, harmony, balance, spiritual development (with attaining enlightenment as its final possibility).
It is only logical that everything within Usui-sensei's original teachings directs towards these goals. Every technique, every meditation and every other aspect of the teachings is only there to help you on your personal path to harmony, happiness and enlightenment.

Only a few things (symbols, precepts) survived when Usui-sensei's teachings were brought to the West (by Hayashi and Takata). Most aspects were forgotten and the focus of the teachings shifted to "hands on healing".

Although the symbols and precepts survived, that doesn't mean they are taught in the way Usui-sensei intended it. However, we can still see a bit of the original purpose in some aspects.

Fortunately, there appear to be more and more people interested in the origins of Reiki and I am very pleased with that.

It was a pleasure to read your thoughts on the message behind the symbols.

*Gasshō*
Frank

Frank wrote:
It is only logical that everything within Usui-sensei's original teachings directs towards these goals. Every technique, every meditation and every other aspect of the teachings is only there to help you on your personal path to harmony, happiness and enlightenment.

i couldnt help but giving you yet another contribution point

i feel Usui system starts with Gokai, and Gokai is the end objective... all the technniques, practices, concepts are part of the 'package'...

as you said on the other thread "ultimate purpose", it is very understandable to assume that by gifting the relics of his spiritual experience to us, through the symbols, Usui invariably meant us to try to live up to that personal climate which he had developed after years of practice... yes, it makes a very good sense

Only a few things (symbols, precepts) survived when Usui-sensei's teachings were brought to the West (by Hayashi and Takata). Most aspects were forgotten and the focus of the teachings shifted to "hands on healing".

yes, thats true Frank... we look at the apparent things.. things that pronounce themselves... disease is one of such things... when disease is gone, we feel thats the end, but we have to give immense attention to what is going on spritual fronts... therapeutic side of Reiki gains prominance, since it is attached with outward/apparent things.. spritiual side of Reiki is often not given equal importance, maybe since spiritual aspects are not so 'pronouncing' in our lives... we have to pay attention to them in order to realize their presence..

Although the symbols and precepts survived, that doesn't mean they are taught in the way Usui-sensei intended it. However, we can still see a bit of the original purpose in some aspects.

although i totally agree with the general thought here, but wish to add one thing... symbols can be taken at analogy with double helica strings of our DNA.. they contain the information and guidance, they contain empowerments too... and all that resides in the spiritual realms, not physically inside the symbols... so even when we are not paying attention to symbols, their qualities are invariably already 'at work'... however, when we start paying attention, we import the results of that 'work' on our conscioius planes, and make it readily 'available' to all of our physical/mental faculties... thats a beauty of the system !


take care

salman