Here is an insightful view of symbols in the practice of Reiki and in our lives generally from Phyllis Furumoto on her Radio Show:

http://www.reikitalkshow.com/shows/view/73/archive_page:2

It is very enlightening and the symbols are the topic for the whole month of April so it will be interesting to hear the other programes in this series.

There is a lot of food for thought in what she says (and does not say!).

Colin wrote:Here is an insightful view of symbols in the practice of Reiki and in our lives generally from Phyllis Furumoto on her Radio Show:

http://www.reikitalkshow.com/shows/view/73/archive_page:2

It is very enlightening and the symbols are the topic for the whole month of April so it will be interesting to hear the other programes in this series.

There is a lot of food for thought in what she says (and does not say!).

Thanks Colin, She never identified
the symbols I guess that is part of
the way Takata taught her.

The symbol of a cross took me so
far in the opposite direction of
the Reiki symbols. I saw violence
that I do not connect to the Reiki
symbols. I can relate to doodling

I agree that there was so much that
she did not say. It seemed to me that
keeping Reiki a secret/mystery is part
of the puzzle trying to guess what was
or was not being said,leaving open
sentences.

I do give her a lot of credit for tackling
a radio show by herself as she under goes
chemo treatment. what a huge challenge that
has got to be

chi_solas wrote:
Thanks Colin, She never identified
the symbols I guess that is part of
the way Takata taught her.

The symbol of a cross took me so
far in the opposite direction of
the Reiki symbols. I saw violence
that I do not connect to the Reiki
symbols. I can relate to doodling

Yes, Phyllis refers in the next show (and maybe in this one too?) to the "private" teachings of Reiki, i.e. symbols and initiations, and the "public" teachings.

The cross can mean so many things as it is such an ancient symbol - much older than its Christian use. Back in my Rosicrucian days I was taught that it originated in ancient times when people would greet the morning sun, standing with their arms outstretched in gratitude. They formed the symbol of the cross with their body and the shadow which was cast upon the ground.

It is also symbolic of the joining of opposites, or the merging of duality into unity, at the point where the horizontal line crosses the vertical line. The Rosicrucians placed a rose at that point to emphasize (among other things) the purity of Oneness that blooms when we perceive the this state where there is no up or down or vertical or horizontal etc.

chi_solas wrote:
I agree that there was so much that
she did not say. It seemed to me that
keeping Reiki a secret/mystery is part
of the puzzle trying to guess what was
or was not being said,leaving open
sentences.

I do give her a lot of credit for tackling
a radio show by herself as she under goes
chemo treatment. what a huge challenge that
has got to be

One of the things she did say about how she thought of the Reiki symbols was as keys to other realms of being, to experience the Absolute Universe rather than our everyday Relative Universe. They give us the opportunity to do this whenever we want to use them rather than having to wait for a specific set of circumstances t fall into place.

I also liked the idea that even though there are no symbols overtly taught in Reiki 1 (in Usui Shiki Ryoho) they are still taught covertly - as in the symbol of placing your hands on the body. She says it is symbolic of a mother's nurturing touch and also symbolizes our connection to each other. Taken a step further I can also interpret it as having significance with all 3 Reiki 2 symbols. When we touch someone as part of our practice of Reiki we become focused, compassionate and connected - which, to me, are also key words for each of the Reiki 2 symbols.

Going even further, we could also say that when we reach the state of focus, compassion and connection then we are able to allow the divine within us to emanate, creating balance, harmony and wholeness.

It will be interesting to listen to what her guests have to say about the symbols, without actually mentioning them(!), in later programs.

When I have time I will check out the other shows.

I like the idea of greeting the morning sun with
hands outstretched forming a shadow of the cross;
over the INRI christian cross symbol

When Phyllis spoke of her childhood it reminded me
that after the rains when a rainbow appeared, kids
in my neighborhood would find twigs and make an X
with the twigs then spit into the center where the
twigs crossed and watch the rainbow disappear. In
hind site this might have been some sort of Pagan
ritual. I know the Priests/nuns did not teach this
rainbow ritual.

I did like the way she presented her thought that
symbols can be experienced as the absolute Universe
and we can use them spontaneously when ever we need
to.....also I had not thought of the hand positions
as symbolic in place of a visual symbol for Reiki 1,
that makes a lot of sense.

focused, compassionate and connected

your use of these words really are key to our own
balance & harmony that taps into our divine spirit.