Two-two-two reiki principles in one

First, I just wanted to remind you that if you want to see the reiki principles in their entirety, you can go here.  I have to also state that this translation from the original Japanese is the one that I favor.  There are quite a few other translations but this is the one that suits me.  I like it because each line focuses on what I am going to do. It is a truism that you can't change anything in the world but yourself, so that is what I focus on.  How am I going to operate in the world?  If I am faithful to my principles, then any greed, selfishness, meanness, or worse that I encounter can't shake the framework on which I live my life.

Anyway, getting to the principles themselves, here are the first two:

Just for today . . .

I will not anger.

I will not worry.

I group these two together because both worry and anger are lower emotions that bring down our vibration rather than elevate it.  Most often we become angry when our egos are challenged.  Someone doesn't respect our position in society or our views of ourselves.  We don't get what we were expecting or what we think we deserve.  Someone hurts us or someone we love.  We respond with anger.

Worry, on the other hand, comes from focusing on the future and what might or might not happen rather than on the present.  If I had my druthers, I would insert not to regret either, since regret is really worry about what has already happened and is just as useless.

For the reiki person, adhering to these two gokai do not mean one never gets angry or never worries, but it is our intention not to dwell on these emotions.  When we find them creeping in we deliberately take steps to cease focusing on these feelings.  We breathe deeply and try to get back to a point of equilibrium and calm.  I know, beyond any question of doubt, that all I need will be provided for--not necessarily in the way I want or the way I think things should go--but either way I will be okay.  So I don't need to be so attached to a particular outcome or fuss over every little detail.  Things will work out fine.  I am a firm believer in the saying, "let go and let god (goddess, the Universe, Source or even karma) take care of the rest."  Or in more commercial terms--"set it and forget it."  Do all you can to put your plans in place and then step back and see what happens.

When it comes to writing, same rules apply.  You do as much character work, plotting, world building or whatever and then let your creative mind fly.  Leave some room for inspiration as well as perspiration.  Raise your hand if some of your best writing has come from out of the ether somewhere, from a source you had no idea was influencing your work.  I bet there are a lot of hands raised.  I can remember working on one of my last stories where I wasn't sure what one of my characters full motivations might have been, but hey the best way to find out your characters is to write them, so I did.  He throws something in the mix regarding my heroine I would never in a million years have considered putting in there on a conscious level--okay he blurts out that the heroine had once been pregnant with his child.  My first impulse was to say, "no she wasn't" and start deleting, but I left it in.  For me it made the story, because it deepened both his and my heroine's motivations for what they were doing, made my heroine way more sympathetic to the hero and added another layer to a complex story for the reader to digest.  Fun stuff!

But if I had been attached to getting the words on paper exactly as I had imagined them--to suit my ego rather than my muse--I would have missed out on exciting possibilities for my story.  This is to some degree why characters behaving badly is a good thing, since it shows you are leaving yourself open to whatever results from your characters energies getting stirred up.

Anger, worry and regret are major components in that blasted internal editor droning in your ears.  They feed our fears, increase self-doubt and keep our minds whirring with needless agitation to no purpose.  When you find your mind or your heart being taken over by these emotions, remember your intention to keep these emotions at bay.  Take several deep breaths, inhaling light and energy into your tanden (or second chakra area just below the navel).  Quiet the thinking mind and let the gut brain take over.

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