Reiki: What is it? Part Four

MY OWN EXPERIENCES WITH REIKI ATTUNEMENTS

When searching for a quality definition of universal energy (rei-ki) – what it is and how it operates – there are many researchers and healers who have provided fascinating insights. But for this attempt to provide an adequate definition, I thought I would reflect on my own awe-inspiring experiences while being attuned to Levels 1 and Master Level. Those direct experiences with universal energy changed my life for ever.

Though having already been trained in Traditional Chinese Medicine, I recall being very uncertain prior to undertaking my Level 1 reiki initiation. I didn’t know what to expect, and was anxious about going through the attunement process.

But I clearly remember that during the Level 1 attunement I began feeling a kind of “sparkling” in the palms of my hands. I recall feeling that it was a bit like plastic cellophane (the kind you wrap a present in) crackling and bristling in the centre of my hands. It felt wonderful, warm and natural.

After that attunement, the warmth and “sparkling” in my palms continued. I used it for countless hours treating myself, laying on my back and placing my hands over abdominal organs. It brought me so much peace and good health. As they say, “the more familiar you become with reiki, the more familiar reiki becomes with you”.

I was sold. Devoted.

The experience I had during my Master Level attunement was the most powerful experience of my life. Again, I recall feeling uncertain and anxious prior to the initiation. But during the attunement (although I had my eyes closed) I clearly ‘saw’ the most phenomenally bright white light surrounding my torso, my chest, my shoulders and arms – my whole upper body, centered around my heart.

Most importantly, I could feel the energy directly – the universal energy in its purest form. It was scintillating, indescribably powerful, and I felt as if I wanted to jump into the sky, knowing that I would never have to return to the ground; or jump into water and swim across an ocean without fatigue. The energy was limitless, boundless. I was feeling a kind of unity, a continuum, an unbroken energy source without beginning or end.

In my own mind, I believed that what I was experiencing during that attunement was “the Holy Spirit” or Brahman. I recall that I was feeling so much energy that I felt like I was about to explode, lovingly and joyously. I continued seeing and feeling the white light for the duration of the attunement, and I shall never forget its magnificence, its purity and power.

I believe that white light, that re-ki or universal energy, was the true omnipotent oneness, the ‘collective’ spoken about by so many people throughout history, such as Carl Jung.

Reminding me of my attunement experience are the thoughts of Dr. Fritjof Capra in his book The Tao of Physics:

“When the rational mind is silenced, the intuitive mode produces an extraordinary awareness; the environment is experienced in a direct way without the filter of conceptual thinking… the experience of oneness with the surrounding environment is the main characteristic of this meditative state. It is a state of consciousness where every form of fragmentation has ceased, fading away into undifferentiated unity.”

The Tao of Physics, by Dr. Fritjof Capra https://www.bookdepository.com/Tao-Physics-Fritjof-Capra/9781590308356?ref=grid-view&qid=1632268543239&sr=1-2

Also reminding me of my attunement experience are the words of renowned physicist, Prof. Guy Brown:

“Energy is the one constant conserved through all change. Everything can be created from or dissolved into energy, including even matter itself: which is demonstrated by atomic explosions and Einstein’s famous equation E = mc². In this rather abstract scheme of things, energy is that ultimate substance and fabric of the world, from which all else evolves and into which all else ultimately dissolves.”  

And…

“Brahman is said to be the sole reality, a transcendent intelligence beyond all attributes: unchanging, infinite, immanent; the Divine Ground of all matter, energy, time, space, being, and everything in this Universe and whatever others there may be… Consciousness is the root of everything, because it is the essence of both God and ourselves, and secondly that the consciousness of God and our own consciousness are identical.”

The Energy of Life by Prof. Guy Brown https://www.amazon.com/Energy-Life-Science-Makes-Bodies/dp/0684862573/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=the+energy+of+life+guy+brown&qid=1632303880&rnid=2941120011&s=books&sr=1-1

And also, from Laura Alden Kamm:

“There you will find the nonlocal mind and a fully expanded intuitive sense – a world in which there is no past, present or future, since there is only one moment in space and time. This moment is a place where everything is knowable and tangible through your intuitive senses. It is a place where you are at peace knowing, in a deep bodily way, that you are one with the universe.” 

Intuitive Wellness by Laura Alden Kamm https://www.bookdepository.com/Intuitive-Wellness-Laura-Alden-Kamm/9781582701486?ref=grid-view&qid=1632304089683&sr=1-3

And finally, from Sogyal Rinpoche:

“As I have explained, in death all the components of our body and mind are stripped away and disintegrate. As the body dies, the senses and subtle elements dissolve, and this is followed by the death of the ordinary aspect of our mind, with all its negative emotions of anger, desire, and ignorance. Finally nothing remains to obscure our true nature, as everything that in life has clouded the enlightened mind has fallen away. And what is revealed is the primordial ground of our absolute nature, which is like a pure and cloudless sky.

This called the dawning of the Ground Luminosity, or “Clear Light,” where consciousness itself dissolves into the all-encompassing space of truth.

I find it extremely suggestive that modern physics has shown that when matter is investigated , it is revealed as an ocean of energy and light. “matter, as it were, is condensed or frozen light… all matter is a condensation of light into patterns moving back and forth at average speeds which are less than the speed of light.” Remarks David Bohm. Modern physic also understands light in a many-sided way: “It’s energy and it’s also information – content, form and structure. It’s the potential for everything.” 

At the moment of death, the Ground Luminosity or Clear Light dawns in all its splendour. The Tibetan Book of the Dead says:” O son/daughter of an enlightened family… your Rigpa is inseparable luminosity and emptiness and dwells as a great expanse of light; beyond birth and death, it is, in fact, the Buddha of Unchanging Light.”

The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying by Sogyal Rinpoche https://www.bookdepository.com/Tibetan-Book-Living-Dying-Sogyal-Rinpoche/9781846041051?ref=grid-view&qid=1632304196035&sr=1-1