Episode 164 Nicholas Pearson Where Science Meets Spirituality: The Reiki Journey

Nicholas Pearson radiates enthusiasm as he shares his Reiki journey that began in 2006, spanning traditional Japanese styles and Western forms. With the heart of a true scholar and practitioner, he dismantles one of the biggest misconceptions about Reiki: that different systems represent fundamentally different energies.

"There is only one Reiki," Nicholas explains with gentle conviction. "The energy or phenomenon doesn't adhere to our concept of energy from Newtonian physics." This perspective invites us to see beyond labels and recognize the common source connecting all Reiki practices. Rather than competing traditions, Nicholas sees branches from the same tree, nourished by identical roots.

The conversation takes a profound turn when discussing the Reiki precepts—those simple yet powerful guidelines to refrain from anger and worry, practice gratitude, work diligently, and be kind. Nicholas illuminates their significance through his knowledge of Japanese language and culture, revealing that these principles aren't meant merely for morning and evening recitation but as a framework for living. "Let your whole day be an expression of them," he suggests, comparing this approach to Saint Francis's wisdom about preaching the gospel through actions rather than words.

What's most surprising about Reiki? Nicholas offers a paradoxical truth that captures the essence of practice: "The less we do, the more happens. The more we get out of our own way, the more there is space for healing." This surrender allows practitioners to experience what he calls "the numinous, the mystical, the ineffable"—the transformative potential that emerges when we stop trying so hard.

For those navigating the diverse landscape of Reiki traditions and teachings, Nicholas offers grounded advice about selecting teachers, integrating practices like crystal healing, and maintaining a lifelong commitment to learning. His upcoming book "Reiki Rituals" promises to build bridges between lineages by revealing the common heart behind different ritual expressions.

Whether you're new to energy healing or a seasoned practitioner, this conversation invites you to look beyond technique to the deeper essence of Reiki—connection with source, presence with others, and the embodiment of simple, profound principles. Experience this illuminating discussion and discover how Reiki continues to evolve while remaining true to its essential nature.

Nicholas Pearson is an award-winning author and Reiki teacher. He began his Reiki journey in 2006 and has trained in traditional styles of Japanese Reiki, including Usui Reiki Ryoho, Jikiden Reiki, and Komyo ReikiDo, as well as traditional and non-traditional forms of Western Reiki, like Usui Shiki Ryoho, Usui/Tibetan Reiki, Reiki JinKeiDo, Shamanic Reiki, and others. Nicholas is also a Certified Medical Reiki Master and a Let Animals Lead® Animal Reiki practitioner and teacher, and serves on the Board of Directors of Shelter Animal Reiki Association. He formerly served as board member of the National Reiki in Healthcare Certification Initiative and is a member of the International Association of Reiki Professionals and Reiki Healing Association. His seminal Reiki book, Foundations of Reiki Ryoho: A Manual of Shoden and Okuden, is available in English and Italian.

Nicholas offers an online Reiki share each month. He has delivered keynote speeches at numerous conferences, including the Wisdom of Reiki Conference, Celebration of Reiki, and the Vermont R

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 2 (00:21):
This is Ready Set Reiki a podcast about Reiki and
all energy work, from thecurious beginner to the seasoned
master teacher, welcoming allsystems, all lineages and all
levels.
Reiki is a journey and not adestination, and on this Ready
Set Reiki journey, I refer tomyself as a guide rather than a
host, as I, too, am traveling,helping, supporting others and

(00:42):
learning on this Reiki journeyas well.
And with that said, I am yourguide, tracy C Wright.
And this is Ready learning onthis Reiki journey as well.
And with that said, I am yourguide, tracy C Wright, and this
is Ready Set Reiki.
Hello, beautiful listeners,welcome.
Another edition of Ready SetReiki.
Now, today, I have one of myfavorite people in the whole
wide world.
What an amazing journey Reikihas been for me.
I never would have imagined 20years ago, 15 years ago, even

(01:06):
three years ago, the connectionsthat Reiki has brought into my
world, and one of thoseconnections is Rose.
So she's going to be myco-guide today on the podcast
here.
So welcome, rose, to Ready SetReiki.
And along this journey, she'sgoing to introduce someone who's
absolutely amazing that sheconnected with.
How wonderful that we havethese amazing connections, that

(01:29):
we're expanding out ourterritory here.
So, rose, welcome.

Speaker 1 (01:34):
Oh, tracy, thank you so much.
I love being here with you andthe energy is always so vibrant
and beautiful.
So I just want to share quicklyhow I met Nicholas Nicholas
Pearson.
I was at a Wisdom of Reikiconference at Omega, walking a
labyrinth, and we just casuallymet and had a conversation.
We connected.
I actually talked about youright away, about your wonderful

(01:55):
podcast and would be on it, andhe graciously accepted and I
also will have him on my podcastsoon.
So I just adore him and he'sjust amazing.
So let me talk a little bitabout Nicholas.
Nicholas Pearson is anaward-winning author and Reiki
teacher.
He began his Reiki journey in2006 and has trained in

(02:16):
traditional styles of JapaneseReiki, including Usui Reiki,
ryoho Jikiden Reiki I hope I sayall these right and Komyo Reiki
Do, as well as traditional andnon-traditional forms of Western
Reiki like Usui Shiki, ryohoUsui, tibetan Reiki Reiki,
jinkei Do, shamanic Reiki andothers.

(02:37):
Nicholas is also a certifiedmedical Reiki master and Let
Animals Lead animal Reikipractitioner and teacher and
serves on the board of directorsof Shelter Animal Reiki
Association.
He formerly served as boardmember of the National Reiki in
Healthcare CertificationInitiative and is a member of

(02:59):
the International Association ofReiki Professionals and Reiki
Healing Association.
His seminal Reiki bookFoundations of Reiki
Professionals and Reiki HealingAssociation.
His seminal Reiki bookFoundations of Reiki Ryoho a
Manual of Shodan and Okudan, isavailable in English and Italian
.
I have the book and I love thisbook.
Nicholas offers online Reikishare each month.

(03:21):
He has delivered keynotespeeches at numerous conferences
, including the Wisdom of Reikishare.
Each month.
He has delivered keynotespeeches at numerous conferences
, including the Wisdom of ReikiConference, celebration of Reiki
and the Vermont ReikiAssociation's annual conference.
Nicholas offers seminars oncrystal healing, reiki and
flower essence therapy onlineand worldwide.
He is the author of nine booksand I know he has a new one

(03:43):
coming up soon that he will talkabout, and he lives in Orlando,
florida.
So welcome Nicholas.

Speaker 3 (03:51):
Thank you so much for having me.

Speaker 2 (03:53):
Well, we are so excited to begin this journey
with you.
What an amazing list ofaccomplishments, Well done.
Thank you so much for all ofthe things that you are doing
for Reiki.
It's my pleasure and you know,Reiki is just things that you
are doing for Reiki.

Speaker 3 (04:05):
It's my pleasure and you know, reiki is just
something that has been atremendous blessing in my life
and because of that I'menthusiastic about it, and so I
try to give back and share andteach and just build bridges
wherever I can.

Speaker 2 (04:18):
Beautiful.
So let's begin our journeytogether.
So Rose shared with us just alittle bit about you.
So tell us, tell us a littlebit about you.
So tell us, tell us a littlebit about yourself.

Speaker 3 (04:27):
So I am.
I often self-identify first andforemost as a nerd.
I love to learn.
My love of teaching is anextension of that.
My love of writing is anextension of that.
So I love the intersection oflots of different things.
I love language and culture andhistory.
I love science, I love nature,I love spirituality and

(04:50):
thankfully I get to make thatkind of my full-time focus.
My exposure to Reiki began kindof distally, to other things I
was exploring, but it's been areally big impact in my life.

Speaker 2 (05:05):
Beautiful.
I love how you said like a nerd.
I was going to a massagetherapist and he was learning a
new technique and he stopped andhe peered over his notes and I
said, don't take this the wrongway, but like you could tell,
like you're a nerd, like youlove it, like you love it so
much that you're just thirstyfor it.
You can't get enough of it.
I love it, I love it.
So the energy here with ReikiDid you find Reiki or did it

(05:30):
find you?

Speaker 3 (05:32):
You know, I think, oh gosh.
I can't remember the source ofthis quote, but it's something
along the lines of what you seekis seeking you.
I don't think it's either, or Ithink it's both and

(06:06):
no-transcript.
I had friends who werepractitioners and big fans and
proponents of it, but it wouldbe a couple more years before I
got the opportunity to actuallysit down and study.
And it's because one of theearly venues that I was invited
to to come and teach at down inSoutheast Florida, where I'm
from, the owner of the shop wasa really avid Reiki practitioner

(06:28):
and teacher.
And you know, finally, kind ofseeing where I was at in my life
as a young adult, going away tocollege, dealing with all of
the stresses that come with that, figuring out my life's purpose
and mission and identity, whichwe should not be doing as
teenagers, if you ask me.
She said you know, I thinkReiki could be a really big help

(06:50):
for you, and so we made thathappen, and that was in May of
2006.
I think July of that same yearis when I took second degree and
I have been a perennial Reikistudent ever since.
It was just this immediatesense of relief.
I am an introvert by nature, Icertainly tend to be a little

(07:15):
high strung, and Reiki has beenjust about the only thing I can
do without any external help.
That brings me inordinaterelief, immediate relief, and
helps me see the light at theend of the tunnel.

Speaker 2 (07:29):
Beautiful, beautiful.
Now you have studied varioussystems of Reiki Western,
non-Western.
When I started peeking intoReiki in 2006, I just thought it
was one thing, and as I startedgoing down the rabbit hole,
whoa, how many different systemsout there.
So what system of Reiki do youuse in your own practice?

Speaker 3 (07:52):
You know, here's the thing there is only one Reiki
the energy or the phenomenon,because it doesn't really adhere
to our concept of energy fromNewtonian physics.
However, however we engage withit, we engage with it.
Usui mikao, the founder of thesystem, tells us that everything
in the universe, withoutexception, possesses reiki and

(08:12):
that his approach to workingwith it is an original one that
you know comes to him in the1920s, um, and we have lots of
things that have branched offthe family tree from there, but
they're all.
They're all branches connectedto the same trunk which has the
same roots dug into the samesoil.
So I don't necessarily think ofit as there is a system that I

(08:33):
practice.
What I do is informed by myperennial scholarship, my
perennial practice.
There are things that my veryfirst teacher taught me in my
certificate says Usui TibetanReiki, ryoho, through the
International Center for ReikiTrainings Lineage, and there are
elements of my practice.
I think of Reiki, as I envisionit, as I practice it, as I hope

(08:57):
to inspire in others, as beingan eminently simple practice,
and if we get too concerned withlabels, then we're not doing

(09:18):
the practice.
That being said, I fancy myselfa homemade scholar as well as a
practitioner.
So the labels are useful.
They help us identify wherecommon elements are, where less
common elements are.
So you know, what I do is arespectful amalgamation, but
since I don't necessarily onlydo one thing, it gives me a

(09:43):
chance to kind of adapt andchange and integrate new
information as it comes up.

Speaker 2 (09:51):
Beautiful, beautiful.
Now, if someone is questioningdifferent systems of Reiki, some
different systems out here usedifferent symbols, for an
example, like animal Reiki,different symbols.
For an example, like animalReiki.
They have the symbol of life,kid Reiki, they have the symbol

(10:15):
for kid Reiki.
So would you consider that?

Speaker 3 (10:17):
a different system or still under the umbrella of one
Reiki.
With that I mean Reiki.
The energy is described asbeing infinite.
We can't.
If we change the data set, thatis infinity.
It is no longer infinity.
We can't have infinity plus one.
We can't have one half ofinfinity.
There's no end to what Reiki isand where it can go.
There are different expressionsof how we might tap into that.

(10:39):
There are different, we'll say,ritual elements in our practice
of Reiki that are going toappeal to different lifestyles
and appeal to different mindsand appeal to different
rhetorical goals in our practice.
But Reiki the energy is Reikithe energy.
And once we get into the kindof philosophical debates about
this Reiki is more powerful,this Reiki has more energy, then

(11:01):
we're missing the point of whatReiki is.
Reiki is about union with thesource of everything and that
means there's only one energy.
That is reiki.
As as far as like the additionof uh, different symbols, those
are non-traditional elements.
Those are, those are thingsthat we can only start tracing
to about the 1980s.
That doesn't make them good,doesn't make them bad, it just

(11:22):
means that they trace to the1980s going forward.
Um uh, reiki.
As I practice, it looks fairlytraditional, at least from the
outside, um, and and that's whatis meaningful and important to
me, and therefore that is what Icarry on.
But you know, it's like when yougo to the grocery store and you
go down the ice cream aislethere are all these different

(11:42):
flavors of ice cream.
Maybe, maybe I'm reaching forthe green tea flavored ice cream
.
I'm more than happy to sit downat the same table as you and
you can have your Neapolitan oryour Rocky Road or whatever you
want, because at the end of theday it's still all ice cream.
So that's kind of how I feelabout the different systems and
approaches to Reiki.

(12:03):
We can have different elements,we can do things differently,
but we're still connected to thesame source and therefore
you're welcome at my tablealways.

Speaker 2 (12:10):
Beautiful.
Thank you for clarifying that.
There seems to be.
I don't want to say it's atrend, but those that have
become masters feel their callto create their own system, and
so for one who's beginning on ajourney here, maybe a little bit

(12:39):
overwhelming of where do I go,but just the focus of the energy
, so to say.

Speaker 3 (12:41):
So thank you for that .
Now you are also an animalReiki practitioner of life.
I love nature at large, andthat extends to, let's say, all
of its kingdoms animal, plant,mineral and so on and so forth.
And some years ago I just kindof happened to befriend a couple
of folks from the Let AnimalsLead Method at a conference in

(13:03):
Vermont.
I was the keynote speaker oneof two for the Vermont Reiki
Association that year, and I hada wonderful time attending
everybody else's panels andseeing what was going on.
And the animal Reiki panelreally, even though it wasn't a
focus in my practice, it wassomething that really spoke to
me and so over the years we justkind of got friendlier and I

(13:33):
took the first degree in thattradition.
I got to hang out and spendsome time with the founder of
the Lead Animals Lead Method,kathleen Persaud, and also Leah
D'Ambrosio the two of themtogether co-founded the Shelter
Animal Reiki Association andwhenever they come here to
Central Florida to teach at theCARE Foundation, which is an
exotic animal rescue andsanctuary here in Central
Florida, I get to go alongeither as a student or as a

(13:55):
participant or observer and it'sjust amazing seeing how well
animals respond to Reiki.
The way we practice with the LetAnimals Lead method is kind of
approaching Reiki through thelens of its Japanese origins or
its Japanese inflected origins.

(14:18):
We might talk about thescholarship on that a little bit
later and really frame what wedo as a practice of mindfulness
with animals rather than asenergy medicine done to animals.
So we view them as equalpartners, equal teachers,
participants, leaders in in thepractice.
Uh, we only ever initiate touch.

(14:38):
We only ever practice touchwhen animals initiate it rather
and um, it's.
It's just this really affirmingway to work with reiki and there
are a lot of elements from thisthat I've been able to take
into other places.
When I had a friend, um uhnearing the end of her life, um

(15:00):
uh from from a terminal cancer,uh, my, my animals, my animal
reiki training was reallypivotal in that moment, just
because there's only so much youcan do.
Right, you can't give a fulltreatment when someone is hooked
up to a million differentmachines and when you would just
want to prioritize comfort.
So it's learning to be reallypresent and when we are that

(15:25):
aware and that in the moment webecome these beacons of Reiki.
So it's not even necessarilywhat we do with our hands or our
eyes or our breath.
It's how and where we place ourheart, our minds, in
relationship to the animals, toour loved ones, to the earth at
large, and it's really openedthe door for me to experience

(15:45):
Reiki as this numinous presence,rather than just as an energy
of eternal Beautiful and whatwonderful energy too.

Speaker 2 (15:54):
I have six Cavalier King Charles, and they're all
underneath me here, so they'rejust sucking up all of this
wonderful, beautiful energy.
So they're just sucking up allof this wonderful, beautiful
energy.
So, as you've been out workingwith their energy since, 2006,.

Speaker 3 (16:15):
What are some of the common misconceptions you find
that people think about Reiki?
Well, actually, one that youmentioned right off the bat was
one that got me early on, whichis that we kind of assume as
beginners that it all looks thesame, that my reading looks like
yours, because we don't knowany better in the beginning
probably, and that is a blessingand a curse.
It can give us the blessing ofassuming we can just fit in

(16:38):
anywhere, and really we ought to.
But human nature does somefunny things from time to time.
But you know, human nature doessome funny things from time to
time.
I think some other ones thatyou know are really widespread
can relate to facets of Reiki,history and the kind of
developing scholarship.
I know you recently interviewedJustin Stein.

(16:59):
I'm such a big fan of his workand have been for a while, and
you know his book is just soimpressive Alternate Currents.
I highly recommend that.
But you know, one of thebiggest myths that I see that
we're kind of working hard tobreak down on a really
widespread level is that myth ofJapanese essentialism, that

(17:23):
Reiki is essentially and purelya Japanese practice.
I think it is uniquely Japanesein the way that Japanese
culture synthesizes things fromdifferent places and puts its
own spin on it and makes itunique from that point onwards.
But you know, we've got reallyhard evidence of this

(17:46):
transnational exchange ofbringing in ideas and practices
from Western so-called WesternEurope and North America and we
see this really interesting wayof synthesizing that in Reiki.
And currently a big part of myresearch that I'm working on

(18:07):
right now is looking at theactual practices in Reiki and
how they have evolved over time,the kind of ritual structure of
things that we do in the systemof Reiki, and absolutely there
are roots that are inherentlyJapanese to a lot of these, but
also there are some that veryclearly come from publications
written by American folks andEuropean folks.

(18:30):
So it's interesting to see howall of that kind of gets woven
together in our broader tapestry.
I think another like really bigmyth that I'd love to see kind
of fizzle out one day is thisidea that we place so much
importance on the title of Reikimaster.

(18:52):
I seldom use that word formyself, except for when it's the
word my audience is going tounderstand best, because at the
end of the day, clearcommunication is the most
important thing that we can kindof lean on.
But I just remember my firstteacher, patricia Williams,
really focusing on practice, andpractice came first, and she

(19:13):
would identify as a Reikipractitioner first and foremost,
or at least that's how it kindof struck out in my mind, and I
remember being a relativelynewly initiated Reiki master.
Being a relatively newlyinitiated Reiki master, I was in
Japan in 2009, and I receivedmy first Reiki master initiation
in Inaricho in a Buddhisttemple in Tokyo, with an

(19:34):
international Reiki group there,and that was Usui Shiki Ryoho,
like Takata lineage Reiki, whichI received the initiation for
in Japan.
And I received my very likeconservative, unchanged,
japanese style initiations incentral Florida, because I do
everything backwards, it seems.
But having received thattraining and that initiation,

(19:55):
and then, like the followingmonth, doing the same thing with
my teacher, patricia, and kindof going out into the world, and
every time someone would saythe word Reiki my ears would
kind of perk up and I heardsomeone mention Reiki and and I
turned to address him and I said, oh, you're a Reiki
practitioner too, and he just helooked down at me and said, no,
I'm a Reiki master, and withoutmissing a beat, I said well,

(20:18):
I'm so sorry, you don't practiceanymore then and all of a
sudden he figured out what hewas saying, like what he was
implying, and kind of the weightthat had.
You know, when we enter thethird degree, no matter how our
lineage kind of breaks it up Iknow sometimes we learn it over
several parts but when we enterthe third degree, we are still
students of the first degree, weare still students of the

(20:40):
second degree, we are stillpractitioners, first and
foremost, of the second degree.
We are still practitioners,first and foremost.
Yamaguchi Chiyoko.
She and her son co-founded theJihiden Reiki Institute.
Her teacher was Hayashi Sensei,whose teacher was Usui, the
founder of Reiki.
She used to say if you are aReiki teacher and you don't
practice, then what are youteaching your students?

(21:00):
So we really have to come atthings from this practical
perspective and really thinkabout how we engage with the
system as a whole, rather thanjust we attended a class, we got
a certificate, we have a title,and that makes us more
important.
By lineage alone, bycertification alone, we are not

(21:22):
a more or less effective Reikipractitioner.
It was only by practice alone,and that's such a big thing that
I'd love to see go out theremore.
And to that ends, if we looktoward the language of origin,
for a lot of these terms InJapan the equivalent of master
would be shihan, which looselytranslated we could say means

(21:46):
instructor.
But if we really look at theelements of it, it connotes the
expression good example.
So when I call myself a reikishihan, I'm not saying I'm a
master of anything.
I just say that I'm aiming tobe a good example of what the
practice is like, and thatreally is something that I carry
with me.

Speaker 2 (22:05):
Beautiful.
Thank you for sharing that, yes.

Speaker 1 (22:09):
I want to just say quickly that I'm starting to
move away from using that termas well, because I think I'm
just a perpetual student.
I'm here learning from you,from Tracy, from Justin, from
everyone that I encounter, aswell as my students, as well as
my clients.
You know, sometimes I even usethe term more so Reiki mentor,
because I tell my students I'malways here for you.

(22:35):
I'm not a master, I'm more oflike you're just.
You could come to me wheneveryou need help, assistance,
guidance.
So I'm starting to use thatmore versus, and also teacher
versus master, because we'renever really truly masters.

Speaker 2 (22:49):
I've been using energy coordinator.
Yeah, I love that too.

Speaker 1 (22:52):
Or I use energy alchemist as well.
So it depends on what modalityI mean.
It's all energy work, right?

Speaker 2 (22:58):
Well, Nicholas, as you sit here today and looking
back on your journey in Reiki,what has surprised you about the
energy?

Speaker 3 (23:09):
You know, I think the most surprising thing is that
the less we do, the more happens.
The more we get out of our ownway, the more there is space for
healing.
The more surrendered we are,the more likely we are to
experience the miraculous, thenuminous, the mystical, the

(23:31):
ineffable, and that there's nolimit to that, within reason, of
course.
If you undergo a horrificaccident and you've lost an
appendage, you don't say oh, I'mjust going to send Reiki to
this situation and it's going toget better.
Obviously, we use all of thetools in our toolbox to support

(23:52):
us, but you know, on that deepkind of soul level, reiki is
alchemical.
It is a synthesis that isgreater than the sum of its
parts, and that includes us.
We are part of that equation,and when we really give
ourselves to the experience ofReiki, whether it's through

(24:13):
hands-on healing, whether it'sthrough meditation, whether it's
through the recitation of theprecepts or any of the other
practices that are in there, werecognize that we aren't so
separate from Reiki, from theuniverse, from all other beings
in it, and this sense of oneness, I think, is really the point

(24:35):
of Reiki.

Speaker 2 (24:37):
Love that.
Now, in your book, theFoundation of Reiki Rahiho, you
write about the importance ofthe Reiki principles, how they
should be central focus point toour practice.
And why do you think that is?
Why should we make this a focalpoint?
To bring those in?

Speaker 3 (25:06):
says so.
Um, he made it a very clearpart of his practice and um, the
the precepts are such beautifuland simple expression of the
spirituality that is reiki.
I often think of them as aroadmap and um, they, they
aren't the end goal, but theytake us to the end goal and I
think all the different partsthat fall under the Reiki

(25:26):
umbrella can lead us to the samespace.
But the precepts do it soeloquently.
The core of them as we knowthem in English.
There's so many differentiterations of them and I won't
even call them all necessarilytranslations, because it's not
just translating words from onelanguage to another, it's
translating cultural concepts aswell.

(25:47):
We see this in several of theversions that exist from Hawaii.
Takata and her 23 or more Reikimasters that she trained that
we do a little bit ofsubstitution among some of the
original to ones that kind ofimplant some new values in
students.
But I mentioned earlier, I'm abig old nerd and I love language

(26:10):
.
So I love engaging with thetext in its original Japanese
and I find there's so much depthto some of these words and some
of these expressions, even justlooking at the semantics of it,
looking at their origin and howthey actually come from, a very
popular text that was publishedsome years before Usui ever
climbed the mountain, whichitself was a kind of adaptation

(26:32):
of the New Thought and ChristianScience movement, and that
there are other practices inJapan, other healing systems
that use very similar poems tothe Gokai, to the Five Precepts,
that use very similar poems tothe Gokai, to the Five Precepts.
But there's magic in them andwe see that.
You know from top to bottom inthe original version and Usui's
own handwriting and his ownbrushmanship, if you will, his

(26:52):
calligraphy.
It opens with this double titleShofuku no Hiho, manbyo no Reaku
, the secret art of invitinghappiness, the spiritual
medicine of all illness or thewondrous medicine of all that
ails us Today.
Only refrain from anger,refrain from worry, practice

(27:15):
gratitude or show appreciation,devote yourself to what you do.
This one's a hard one to render, render succinctly and be kind
to people.
And he actually gives usinstructions, he tells us what
to do with this.
He says morning, evening, putour hands into gassho, hold
these in our heart, mind andcontinue to chant them out loud.

(27:37):
And and this is, you know, know, just really sage advice.
And I think there's somethinghidden in this.
There is an ahistoric renderingof this.
That certainly isn't literallywhat Usui was saying, but I
think the essence of it holdstrue If, instead of those first
two words asa, you, morning,evening being two separate words

(28:00):
there's a compound word we canmake in Japanese, chūoseki,
which means from the morningthrough the evening.
In other words, don't just getup in the morning and say these
things out loud, and before bed,say them out loud, but let your
whole day be an expression ofthem.
Live your whole life as if itwere the ingashō.
Live your whole life as ifthese words are in your heart.

(28:21):
Let everything you say out loudbe an approximation of these.
And thinking of it in that wayalways reminds me of a quote
from Saint Francis that Ibutcher frequently, but it's
something to the effect of likego into the world and preach the
gospel, but only if necessaryuse words.
So go into the world and livethe precepts, and only when

(28:42):
necessary say them out loud.
If you can manage that, you'redoing pretty good.

Speaker 2 (28:48):
Beautiful.
I know of all the differentmodalities and things I have
studied just that simplicity ofbringing hands to heart and just
saying those precepts reallyhelps me reset, recalibrate.
And even if I have to pause inthe middle of my day and just
for today, and if I get to theend of my day and I realize, wow
, I blew it, I'm worried.

(29:10):
Today I just send a prayer outthat tomorrow I'm 1% better than
I was today.

Speaker 1 (29:17):
Yeah, I love that and a lot of people always refer to
the Four Noble Truths out there, but we really should start
marketing these precepts alittle bit more so that more of
the world will recognize thatthere's other, you know things
that we need to live by, otherwords, to live by our practices,

(29:38):
to live by, or practices, yeah,and they're so simple that
they're available to us.

Speaker 3 (29:42):
You know, kyuldake wa today only just invites us to
do this for right here, rightnow.
It's not forever and always.
Never get angry again, neverhave another worry.
If that was what the expressionwas in Reiki, I would have
taken a look at the manual andsaid this isn't possible.
So clearly this isn't for me.

(30:02):
I may as well not botherbecause I'm going to fall short.
But the inerrant humanness thatwe see embedded in Reiki,
embodied in our practice, makesit available.
Makes it accessible.
It's not become this perfect,idealized version of a human and

(30:23):
then you can achieve healing.
It's.
Let's just try.
Let's just in this moment, lookat what anger is telling us,
look at what worry is telling us, look at where we can show
appreciation, look at wheremaybe we're less committed to
our life, our practice, ourjourney, and where can we be
more kind.
And if we can do that and it'sincrementally better, we're

(30:45):
succeeding.

Speaker 2 (30:49):
I love weaving the precepts into teaching yoga
because it's in that momentexactly what you said how can we
be in the awareness of the nowand not thinking too far ahead
or reminiscing of the past?
Because when we're in thatstillness, some people you know
it's a challenge sometimes Ourmind wonders.
But we want to make friendswith that ego, right?
We want to make friends and notbe triggered.

(31:11):
So bringing those precepts inare really instrumental.
And I know, when I began myjourney, I studied Ricky Rahio
and it was a 21 day.
We had to do the precepts over21 days and that 21 days I met
back with my teacher to get mycertificate and I thought, oh, I
don't have to do this.
And now, as I've gone through,I'm like, yeah, I really have to

(31:31):
bring this, really make it apart of life.
So, as you are out here, asyou've, you know, interacted
with so many individuals, whatqualities do you look for in a
Reiki practitioner?

Speaker 3 (31:48):
You know, I look for someone who lives their practice
.
Just plain and simple.
What does Reiki mean to you anddo you show that with what you
do, not just in the treatmentroom but in life in general?
Do you aim for reducing youranger and your worry?
Do you aim for kindness anddevotion to your work?

(32:09):
Do you show appreciation?
In other words, are you livingby the precepts?
Um, I look for someone who'salso not not aiming for dogma.
For a long time, we had aversion of Reiki's history and
development and that splintered.
It didn't take long, but it didsplinter and as it did, you

(32:32):
start to see people who got oneversion of that story and are
unwilling to hear any otherversion of any other story, that
are not willing to look atevidence, that are not willing
to move the benchmark as newdata comes out and helps us
establish maybe some newparameters, some new evidence

(32:54):
that gives us insight into thefounder and his story and other
key players in Reiki history.
I look for someone who'swilling to admit that they're
wrong or willing to admit thatthey don't know something.
I think this applies not onlyto practitioners, but especially
to teachers.
That being said, I have thisthing that I started a few years

(33:17):
back where I intentionally onceevery year or so, uh enroll in
a class that looks so differentfrom my own Reiki practice and
it causes me to do a few things.
One, to suspend disbelief,because I want to be really
present and get the most out ofthe class.
I can't be going.
Well, actually, we know better,or you know, such and such

(33:39):
publication from 1928 actuallysays this.
Like that's not useful.
So I have to check my ownbaggage at the door and it gives
me the opportunity to be abeginner again, and that kind of
flexibility is super helpful.
So, you know, I I do like tolook for people who do things
differently than me, because wecan all learn from one another,

(34:00):
we can all enrich one another'sexperience of Reiki, and because
of that I will never stoptraining.
Doesn't matter how long I'vebeen teaching.
I will remain a first degreestudent and a second degree
student and a third degreestudent, and so on and so forth.

Speaker 1 (34:18):
So can I just ask a really quick question?
It may not be a quick answer,but you studied in Japan.
Not everyone does that, sothat's a big.
I mean you're saying you knowyou've studied with, you take
different classes, but whatencouraged you to do that?
And if you said it earlier, I'msorry I may have missed it, or

(34:38):
maybe in the past, but whatmotivated you to go to Japan and
learn there first?

Speaker 3 (34:46):
Yeah.
So I would say Reiki was a bigpart of that.
There were a lot of things,some of them very selfish and
personal and some of them, we'llsay, more noble.
I definitely wanted to visitReiki's birthplace.
We spent a day in retreat onKurama Mountain.
If I could go back in time andspend all three weeks that I had

(35:06):
on Kurama, I probably wouldhave.
I spent quite a lot of time atSaihoji, where Osu's memorial
stone is, where his family graveis.
So, part of the personalmotivations, my then partner was
teaching English in Japan andhad moved over there to teach
about nine months prior.
So that's a long time to spendapart.

(35:28):
And then I have always, I meansince a very early age, felt
quite a strong connection toJapan and its culture, japan and
its culture.
When my father was aboutcollege age, his family took a

(35:48):
massive trip through lots ofEast Asia, mostly in China and
Japan, and so my grandparents'house was filled with
memorabilia from this.
You know, beautiful carvedtables and chairs from china,
and cast iron teapots, statuesof buddhism, bodhisattvas
although they were, you know, um, you know good catholics, I'd

(36:11):
say maybe not the the most umregular at attending any kind of
church, but you know they, theykind of had that, you know,
catholic sensibility.
Um, they still really loved theculture of East Asia at large,
and so I grew up around thesethings with people who didn't
know enough about them except totell me where they found them

(36:32):
or stories of this trip.
And so I don't know if it wasthe aesthetics, I don't know if
it was the beauty, I don't knowwhat first drew me into loving
Japan more than any otherculture and nation represented
in their collection.
It was Japan specifically.
And then, when the opportunitypresented itself so I could go

(36:53):
in 2009, I jumped at the chanceand it was marvelous.
We packed a lot into threeweeks.
I've had some Japanese peopletell me that I have done more
sightseeing in Japan in 21 daysthan some people do their whole
lives, and that's what travelingwith my friend Richard is like.

(37:14):
You do a lot, so I'm grateful,but I'd love to go back, and
I've just never quite made thathappen yet.
All right, well, you need to doa go back, and I've just never
quite made that happen yet, allright.

Speaker 1 (37:22):
Well, you need to do a retreat and Tracy and I maybe
will come along.
You have a couple of retreats.
I want to go on.
I'm sure that you'll do themall, but anyway, thank you for
answering that question,beautiful.

Speaker 2 (37:32):
So, as you're watching, Reiki change and shift
.
Social media has really changedit.
It's become really very muchmainstream.
What are some red flags forsomeone who is like, yes, I want
to start doing Reiki?
What are some red flags towatch for when you're choosing a

(37:53):
teacher?
Do you have any advice or kindof things to like maybe do a
little bit more research beforeyou move ahead with someone who
does that.

Speaker 3 (38:04):
You know a big one and I'm going to be repeating
myself here but someone whodoesn't practice.
If someone's whole model inReiki is teaching others and the
only hands-on time they'regetting is maybe in those
classes, I would reconsider.
It doesn't mean they have to bea professional Reiki

(38:25):
practitioner who are seeingclients sunup to sundown.
I am not that person.
It's complicated to do that inthe state where I live as well.
But do they practice forthemselves?
Do they practice for loved ones?
Do they practice as folkmedicine?
Do they have a long-distancepractice?
Do they have an in-personpractice, whatever it can look
like, just as long as they'redoing that?
Also, someone who doesn't offerany kind of ongoing community

(38:47):
support, do you take the classand you never hear from them
again?
Because that's not really, Ithink, an effective teacher.
I really love that.
Rose said she identifies a lotwith the term Reiki mentor and
this reminds me of a talk thatPhyllis Furumoto, the
granddaughter of Hawaii Takataand former lineage bearer in the

(39:08):
Suishiki Ryoho and the kind ofReiki Alliance lineage.
She talked about these fivefacets of mastery and it
includes a lot of differentmantles that we wear, so student
is one of them, lineage bearerand tradition keeper.
These are facets of them, butalso mentor is one of them,

(39:30):
which shows us that what we dois more than just in the
classroom setting, which is whatthe teaching part is, but
extends to life in general.
Maybe that is just by beingavailable to answer a phone call
or an email, maybe it'soffering an in-person or remote
Reiki share or Reiki circle,whether it's just for students
or open to the public, findingways that they make space for

(39:54):
people to continue to developand practice.
And then, you know, my otherred flag is it's basically when
people are like it's my way orthe highway, um, and and I mean
that very respectfully, becausethere are certainly forms of
practice that have, we'll say,rigid guardrails on them and to

(40:16):
engage with that practice, thatsystem, it's only within these
guidelines to learn that lineageyou have's only within these
guidelines.
To learn that lineage, you haveto be within those guidelines.
That's certainly fine.
But someone who doesn't like ifyou go to study with other
teachers, or someone who doesn'tlike that you have a background
in other systems of Reiki, orsomeone who doesn't like that
you already practicearomatherapy or any other

(40:37):
elements, those are things thatalways make me go, hmm.
And the flip side is also true,because everything's a spectrum
.
People who have no guardrailson anything, who don't disclose
what is a Reiki practice andwhat is not.
I have absolutely had theexperience where I've given a
Reiki session and someone hasgotten off the table and we're

(40:59):
checking in afterwards andyou're like how are we feeling?
Oh, it's really good.
How was the session for you?
It was nice, but I don't thinkyou learned everything.
And I go oh, that's interesting, tell me why you think that.
I'm like well, you know my Reikipractitioner back home before I
moved here.
They always use the Singh bowlsand the essential oils and all
this other stuff.
And you know, it's just, youdidn't have any of that.

(41:24):
So you must, you must not havegotten that in your training.
So then then we have to havethe awkward conversation about
where Reiki begins and ends andhow flexible and beautiful of a
system it is to welcome in otherthings.
So it's just just being able todisclose where elements of
practice come from.
I'm not saying don't teach themor don't use them.
By all means, use all the toolsin your toolbox that are
meaningful to you, but representReiki in an ethical and

(41:46):
meaningful way, and that justmeans being transparent.

Speaker 2 (41:50):
Beautiful and I like how you call it a spectrum,
because when you really thinkabout it you have those that
have just the simplicity just ofReiki, then others that bring
in the drums right and thearomas and all those things as
well.
So, yeah, it's a nice widespectrum there.
So what books do you recommend?

Speaker 3 (42:09):
Oh I, you can see behind me.
I love books.

Speaker 1 (42:13):
You have a lot of books.

Speaker 3 (42:16):
What you see behind me.
These are just my crystal booksand there are more that don't
fit.
Um, so I um.
So my reiki section iscurrently divided.
Um, maybe, maybe two-thirds ofit is in this room and it takes
up four shelves, and a third ofit is in my second desk, which

(42:39):
is our dining room table,because I'm writing a reiki book
right now.
So every time I begin a newchapter I'm pulling books back
and forth to shuffle for theprimary research I'm doing.
So I have a lot of books andit's really hard to give you a
concise recommendation.
I would say we'll do theshameless self-promotion first
and just get it out of the way.
If anyone wants a really solidkind of overview of Reiki, you

(43:01):
can check out my bookFoundations of Reiki Ryōho.
It's a manual shown in anokuden.
One little caveat newscholarship has come out since
this was published, so of coursebooks are a snapshot in time.
Just take some of what's inthere with a grain of salt and
then go read some of the booksI'm about to recommend to you,
one of them being Women in Reikiby Amanda Jane and Silke Klemon

(43:23):
.
It's a really wonderful,beautiful, moving book, the
first of its kind to really dothese kind of very expressive
monographs on important figuresin Reiki history, some very
well-known, like Hawaii Takada,and some much less well-known.
Very well known, like hawaiitakara, and some much less well

(43:46):
known, like hayashi chie the,the wife of hayashi sensei, who
took over his institute when hepassed away.
It's also got these beautifulinterviews with nine women
practitioners in the jikiden reInstitute and just seeing how,
as women, they carry so manydifferent roles in their lives

(44:07):
and seeing how that impactsReiki and vice versa is I think
it should be required readingfor all people, all lineages,
all styles.
Of course I've alreadymentioned Alternate Currents by
Justin Stein.
It is such a great read.
Unlike a lot of books that arepublished via the kind of
academic publishing model, it isvery readable.
It is a beautiful narrative.

(44:29):
It's so engaging.
I'm on my third read-through ofit and this time I'm kind of
going through all of thefootnotes and every time I find
an interesting footnote then I'mreferring back to the core text
because there's a lot of stuffthat's hidden in there.
Olaf Bum's new book Reiki AJourney to Oneness with the
Universe, which is thisbrilliant collection of early

(44:52):
documents connected to Reiki,early publications of the Usui
Rekiri Hougakkai Usui's originalfoundation, where we're looking
at some texts that are in there, that are discussions of Reiki,
of Usui, postcards andcommemorative texts and other

(45:12):
publications that came out inthat era, and it's just, it's
full of all these juicy littletidbits you have to like, really
digest and come back to it toread between the lines because
there's a lot of subtext inthere.
I also really love Frank ArjevaPetter's.
This is Reiki.
All of his books are reallywonderful.
I think that is the one I goback to over and over again.

(45:35):
I've had the joy of studyingwith Arjava and that was quite a
wonderful experience.
It is not every day that youenroll in a first and second
degree course that is 40 hourslong and that's what it is like
with Arjava and I think it'sgreat.
And then I think anunderappreciated gem is a book

(45:57):
originally published in 2014 injapanese called gendai dekiho um
.
It is a follow-up to hiroshidoi's first book, iyashino
gendai dekiho, a modern reikimethod of healing um.
So this, this uh second bookit's one of several that he's
published in Japanese wasrecently translated by Rika
Sarahashi, who is a Genderikihoteacher and she is multilingual,

(46:21):
so she's translated this workfrom Japanese into English.
I think she may have alsoproduced a Spanish translation,
if memory serves, and we justgot a revised edition of it
fairly recently.
Also, I think, a reallyvaluable text to us, still kind
of a snapshot in time.

(46:42):
I think there's a little bit ofhistorical data in there that
we can question just becausewe've got more stuff coming out.
But I think it's a really goodcomplement to his first book,
iyashin no Genrei Rikihou.

Speaker 2 (47:00):
But I think it's a really good complement to his
first book Iyashin no GenreRikihou, which the ICRT produced
a second revised and expandededition, which is also a really
valuable resource.

Speaker 1 (47:11):
Beautiful, Thank you for that, just seeing you light
up when you talk about books.

Speaker 2 (47:13):
I love it.
It's like so contagious, like Ijust want to go out and buy
every single thing that yourecommended.
I wrote them all down.
Every single thing that yourecommended.
I mean, I wrote them all down.
I know it's like the energy.
I love it.
I love it.
Thank you for that.
Um, so, what other things doyou offer?
Do you offer classes, sessions?

Speaker 3 (47:25):
events, trainings, all of the above.
Um, I do a lot.
I wear a lot of hats in my life.
Uh, some related to this, a lotof them not, so finding that
balance can be a challenge.
As far as community supportgoes, I offer a free online
Reiki share each month.
I have my next one coming uppretty soon, I think somewhere
around mid-August, and, exceptfor when I'm traveling, I try to

(47:48):
keep that a constant so that itis always happening.
Any money raised from it eithersupports just the cost of the
platform and any overage goes tovarious uh, mostly reiki
related causes.
I've used some of that money toraise money for, um, uh, some
medical reiki research and foranimal reiki organizations and,

(48:10):
um, you know, similar situations.
I do offer Reiki training.
I don't get to do it as much asI would like because I have a
lot of things that I do with mylife, but I do have one coming
up pretty soon.
In September, up inMassachusetts, I'm going to be
doing a three-day intensiveReiki master teacher training or

(48:32):
Shinkiden training at Circlesof Wisdom, and I'll have more of
those throughout the year.
I'm also busy when it comes toteaching other things.
I teach about crystals andflower essence, therapy and
other esoteric topics.
Quite regularly, I speak atconferences, both online and in
person, and so I've got somemore great things planned,

(48:53):
particularly with the launch ofmy next book coming very soon.
I'm I've got some more greatthings planned, particularly
with the launch of my next bookcoming very soon.
I'm going to have some specialevents coming up in tandem with
that.

Speaker 2 (49:02):
So where can we find you Website, social media?

Speaker 3 (49:06):
Absolutely.
Thank you for asking.
So my website istheluminouspearlcom and my
social media is the luminouspearl, so you can track me down
in most places like thatfacebook, instagram.
Instagram is definitely whereI'm the most active.
I do at least once a week on agood week I'll do live q a

(49:26):
sessions where I might mix insome storytelling and some show
and tell new rocks, new books,new other things, um, and know
it's another way that I try tooffer community support.
But you know, if anyone isinterested in what I do,
everything that I do should bein one place on my website, at
least after I get it updatedeach month.

(49:49):
And then I also put out anewsletter once or twice a month
which you can sign up for onthe website.

Speaker 2 (49:55):
Beautiful.
Well, thank you, and it wasfascinating.

Speaker 1 (50:15):
And so I want to segue into a question around
integrating crystals in a Reikipractice.
And I know you know we talkedabout people doing sound bowls
and drumming and integratingother things into the practice.
But since I love crystals and Iknow you do too, nicholas,
since you are a mineralist andhave written many wonderful

(50:38):
books on crystals how cansomeone maybe really simply
integrate some crystals intotheir?
It doesn't even have to betheir Reiki practice, even their
life.
But since we are a Reikipodcast, we'll do that.

Speaker 3 (50:51):
Yeah, thank you.
So you know, I like to start myorientation to the practice
through the kind of historicallens, and we have some anecdotes
I've never been able to findvery firm evidence to confirm
them, but they seem to comethrough reputable channels that
tell us that Usui used to givereiju like initiations or

(51:13):
attunements to clear quartzspheres that he could then send
off to people who wanted to usethem in lieu of visiting a
practitioner regularly becausethey didn't have access to one.
And you can lay thisreiju-ified, reiki-ified crystal
wherever you needed.
That Hiroshi Doi also shares ananecdote of in Hayashi's

(51:37):
research center.
So before the Hayashi ReikiInstitute there was the Hayashi
Reiki Kenkyu Shou, which was aresearch center that was still
affiliated with the originalorganization founded by Usui,
and one of the experimentalthings that he did was add
quartz crystals.
We don't know that itnecessarily lasted very long.

(51:59):
I don't think there's anyrecord of Takada having
experienced this, and shecertainly worked in that clinic
quite a lot.
But it is an anecdote thatDoi-sensei shares in his writing
, and so I see that there is atleast a limited precedent for it
, and that gives me permissionto want to experiment a little
bit more.

(52:20):
But I will say that my averageReiki session is pretty basic.
But if you come visit me youare also surrounded by crystal
energy.
I mean, right here on my desk Ican lift up just a few rocks
that keep me company at alltimes.
If there's a horizontal surfacein this office, there are rocks
on it.
You know, if I point over myshoulder to some of these

(52:41):
bookshelves, they're filled withrocks.
My kind of sacred space is inhere.
My crystal storage is in here.
There are rocks around my neck,so there are always crystals
supporting me in the work that Ido.
So if you want a very easy andnon-invasive way to invite
crystal energy into your Reikipractice, add them to your
environment, wear them on yourperson, find something that

(53:03):
helps you stay in the flow.
Again, referring back to sourcematerial, usui tells us in this
little question and answerbooklet, originally published
independently but now part ofthe manual that his organization
still publishes today.
It's called the Kokai DenjuSetsume Shou, or the Explanation
of Public Teachings.
He tells us everything in theuniverse, without exception,

(53:26):
possesses Reiki.
We can look at a newlytranslated work that Justin
Stein edited, translated workthat um justin stein edited, um
reiki, taijin jutsu, or reikiand the benevolent art of
healing, um, written by tomitakaiji in 1933, um, and he tells
us that, you know, reiki issomething originally taught by
nature itself and and theoriginal text actually has that

(53:48):
in bold.
So that implies it's not justone facet or element or aspect
of nature, but all of natureresonates with Reiki.
So that extends, of course, tothe mineral kingdom and it's not
necessarily going to interferewith our Reiki practice.
We can embrace whatever that'sgoing to be, but just again,

(54:10):
being transparent.
You know, again beingtransparent.
If we're inviting crystalhealing by laying on of stones
or making of grids or otherthings, just you know, let our
clients know, let our studentsknow, these are additional tools
and that's all it takes.
It's just as simple as here'san additional tool that I like
to use in my practice.
We don't have to go into longexplanations about the

(54:30):
philosophy of what.
What makes a tradition atradition.
That's a big conversation wedon't necessarily have to engage
with.
But you can have crystals inyour space.
You can make a grid in the roomthat you're in by putting
crystals in the corners oraround the walls or under the
table.
There's a lot of really cleverways we can let crystal energy
be part of the backdrop so itdoesn't take away from our

(54:54):
hands-on time and our reallyintimate and deeply spiritual
practice of hands-on Reiki.

Speaker 1 (55:02):
I love that, thank you.
I know sometimes people findsomething tangible, comforting,
you know.
So I mean, I often talk aboutcrystals, because I am
surrounded by crystals in myroom that I practice and people
will start to ask.
And when they do, I feel thatReiki has guided them to ask

(55:23):
about a crystal so that they canmaybe integrate it or
incorporate it in their ownpersonal healing practice.
It's something they're like oh,I can carry this and when I rub
this I feel good and I don'thave to worry, or something like
that, you know, like a worrystone, so.
But thank you.
So you do have an upcoming bookcalled Reiki Rituals and I did

(55:44):
you want to share somethingabout that.

Speaker 3 (55:46):
I would love to.
Usually, when I am writing abook, I try to keep it under
wraps, and this book has beenlike seeping through the cracks
at every opportunity.
So now I'm just talking quiteopenly about it.
I'm approaching the halfwaypoint on this book, so I'm not
entirely sure when it will comeout, but the working title is
Reiki Rituals, healing andTransformation Through Embodied

(56:09):
Practice, and it's probably themost fun I've had writing a book
in a while, and I say that onthe tail end of having had a lot
of fun on what will be my nextbook to come out.
So this is an intersection of alot of different things.
It's, in some cases, almost asociology or an anthropological

(56:35):
look at how our hands-onpractices in Reiki differ among
different traditions, but howthey often stand from similar
sources or the same source.
It is an exploration of thecultural and historical and
sometimes spiritual influenceson the elements in our practice

(56:58):
and, at the end of the day, allof that is well and good, but it
needs to be practical to beuseful.
So it explores how, when weengage with these separate
practices, we really elevatewhat we do as humans, but also
as Reiki practitioners.
We really elevate what we do ashumans, but also as Reiki

(57:20):
practitioners.
So the idea behind a Reikiritual is that it is a practice
that occurs with frequency andor regularity.
Those two things don't alwaysmean the same thing.
If I, you know, if I wash thesheets on my bed once a week,
that is regular.
If I wash them once a month,that is regular.
But one is more frequent thanthe other, right?
So we might have rituals thatwe engage with frequently and

(57:41):
others that are regular but lessfrequent.
But the goal of it is theyhappen at this kind of recurring
interval, whether that's once aday, once a week, once a class,
whatever it might be.
And there are thresholds thatwe cross into the numinous.
When we experience ritual forthe sake of ritual, not as a

(58:02):
means to some other ends but asan ends unto itself, we have an
opportunity to mark sacredpoints in time and space.
We transcend ordinaryconsciousness and step into
non-ordinary consciousness, theritual consciousness, the kind
of, we'll say stuporconsciousness that we often

(58:24):
experience in those reallytranscendent moments in our
practice.
And the ritual elements of ourpractice are also framework to
develop this, almost likeshortcut to achieving that
altered state of being.
So some of them are reallysimple.

(58:45):
We don't think of it as aritual itself and really embrace
the depth, the symbolism, thetradition that comes with it.
It becomes so magical, maybehands-on healing becomes a

(59:05):
ritual for us and the simple actof laying the hands and
surrendering can change ourlives.
Of course there are some, shallwe say, more obvious rituals in
Reiki, like the ritual ofinitiation, called Neiju in
Japanese.
We might call it an attunement,empowerment, ignition or
whatever it is in our varianttraditions.
This is a pretty obvious ritual, but reciting the five precepts

(59:30):
is a ritual.
The meditative practice iscalled Hatsudei Ho, the methods
for cultivating Reiki energy.
They become a ritual Innon-traditional forms of Reiki.
We also have some prettyinteresting rituals that have
emerged.
Things like creating sacredspace is something that I still
do, that I learned in my firstReiki training with my teacher

(59:51):
Patricia, where we might use thesymbols or another tool to kind
of clear and cleanse and blessand elevate the space that we
practice in.
And when we start to examinehow these things evolve, how
they might be related to oneanother, how different
traditions might embrace thesame concept but with different
actions might embrace the sameconcept but with different

(01:00:14):
actions, we also start to noticesomething else.
So one of the ulterior motivesI have for the book I'll be real
transparent, I do have ulteriormotives ultimately, it is to
recognize that we have a lotmore in common than we thought
we did when it comes tointerlineage conversations.
Just because the externalmorphology, the shape of our

(01:00:36):
rituals looks different at adistance, the heart and soul of
them is one and the same.
And when we recognize thatinnate oneness, when we see that
we're all branches on onecommon tree fed by the same
roots, then it's so much easierto want to build bridges, to
want to exchange our practices,to learn from one another, to

(01:00:58):
uplift one another.
I don't believe in competition.
In Reiki I celebrate cooperationand collaboration, and a big
part of my platform in Reiki Iterm interlineage outreach,
because I don't owe allegianceto only one school.
There's not only one way I dothings.

(01:01:18):
I get to be a rebel and breaksome rules from time to time and
have open conversations withpeople, and that's why I love to
learn from folks whosepractices look different to mine
, because it helps keep thatconversation going and even when
I might disagree with thesemantics of something, I can

(01:01:39):
appreciate that Reiki is stillguiding this process and one of
the most inspiring things aboutdoing the research for this book
is, over and over again, I findexamples of elements, ritual
elements, in in the big, youknow reiki umbrella um that
evolved independently indifferent parts of the world in

(01:01:59):
different time frames.
There's no way these folkscould have shared their
practices with one another andyet they rely on similar
symbolism or the ritual actionsare almost identical or you know
.
Just so many things pop up andI really enjoy seeing the
commonality and it's almost asif maybe the intelligence of
Reiki is a real thing, becausethat's what's guiding all of

(01:02:21):
this in the first place.

Speaker 1 (01:02:23):
Wow, that's beautiful , oh my gosh.
And you do light up when youtalk about this, and I just want
to thank you for being theperson who's doing all this work
, because it takes a specialperson, someone with your
passion and your motivation andjust your talent, to bring all
this information together andshare it with the world.
So, thank you, nicholas.

(01:02:43):
I think this is a good time tohand it back over to Tracy.

Speaker 2 (01:02:50):
All right, Nicholas, as we've been talking.
Is there anything else that youwant to share or something you
might have forgotten?
The floor is yours, to all ofthe listeners.

Speaker 3 (01:02:59):
Thank you for spending your time with me as
well.
If anyone is interested inreaching out or learning more
about my work, I definitelyinvite you to do so, and I look

(01:03:20):
forward to sharing the Reikispace with any and all of you
again soon.

Speaker 2 (01:03:23):
Thank, you and Rose, do you want to let listeners
know where they can find you?

Speaker 1 (01:03:28):
Sure, you can find me at rosewippagecom.
I'm also on Instagram at RoseWhippage and my podcast, chat
Off the Mat, and I know Nicholaswill be coming onto my podcast
in the next several months totalk about his next book, the
Witching Stones, which I'mreally excited to read soon, and
we'll talk more about crystalenergy in that podcast.

(01:03:51):
So thank you, thanks for havingme, tracy.
I always love being here withyou.
So thank you, thanks for havingme, tracy.
I always love being here withyou.

Speaker 2 (01:03:55):
And thank you both for taking this journey with me.
I appreciate it.
All right, my wonderfullisteners.
If you would like your questionfeatured on Ready Set Reiki,
reach out wwwreadysetreikicom orcheck me out on social media.
I'm Tracy Seawright and thishas been Ready Set Go.