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2008•www.reiki.org
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in Tokyo,Dr. Usui’s Five ReikiIdeals read:
The secret art of inviting happinessThe miraculous medicine of all diseases Just for today, do not be angryDo not worry and be filled with gratitudeDevote yourself to your work and be kind to people Every morning and evening join your hands in prayer, pray these words to your heart,and chant these words with your mouthUsui Reiki Treatment for the improvement of body and mindThe founder. . . Mikao
If we look at the fifth Ideal,
be kind to people,
it appears tobe fairly straightforward. It is pretty obvious to us as Reiki prac-titioners that one of the most important things in this world isto love and respect others, to show compassion and to be tol-erant, to have patience and to give understanding. Inherent inthe words of the ideal is the implication that, if we are to bekind to others, we must also be kind to ourselves. After all, weare
people
, too. It then follows that we must be kind to EVERY
living
thing.The statement
be kind to people
is straightforward—and it isprofound. The profoundness of the principle, if we truly thinkabout it, opens the door to an entirely new way of perceiving theups and downs of our lives, of relating to circumstances in whichwe feel we have been wronged by someone, or taken advantageof, even purposely hurt or embarrassed, or injured in any way. Itprovides us with a different way of relating to the many differentpeople who come into our lives. It is an invitation for us to acceptand embrace all that is sent our way by God and the Universe.
If we consider the fifth Ideal in paraphrase—
“Just for today I will be kind to people…including myself,” or,“Just for today I will love and respect every livingcreature…including myself!!”—then two questions arise, which I believe we must answer if wewish to live this Ideal:
1.
Can we truly love and respect others if we don’t love andrespect ourselves?
2.
Can we truly be expected to love and respect
EVERY
ONE??Before going any further into the idea of loving even thosewhom we perceive as causing us pain or wishing us ill, let us, justfor a moment, think about our relationship with ourselves. Con-sider the following questions:•Do you love yourself?•Are you proud of yourself?•Do you respect yourself?•Do you take yourself for granted?•Do you put yourself down?•Do you say unkind things about yourself? Just for the next week, repeat this principle each day during yourdaily prayers, meditation, or spiritual practice, and then pay atten-tion during the day to the thoughts that you have regarding thethings you do. Notice when you have the impulse to criticize your-self or to be compassionate with yourself. Note how you feel whenyou make a wrong decision, or get lost on the highway, or break adish you are washing, or burn the supper, or simply forget to do some-thing important. What feelings do you have; what words fill yourhead at the moment? What sensations do you feel physically in yourbody? Where in your body do you feel them? Are you automaticallyhard on yourself, or are you compassionate and understanding? Notice your thoughts for a week, and you may be quite sur-prised at what you discover. Many of us cannot even say outloud “I love myself”; “I think I am great”; “I am perfect just asI am.” Even those of us who can say these things and trulymean them, are still too often overly critical of ourselves. If wedo not GENUINELY love and respect ourselves, our pretense
Just for Today, I will BeKind to People - and Myself
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