It is widely accepted that we all filter our reality according to our own experiences, knowledge, perceptions, feelings & understandings. Of course, this is true of Reiki as well. Since no two people share the same filters it only makes sense that no two people share the same filters where Reiki is concerned. Therefore it is and means something completely different to each of us.

This is of vital importance when we are trying to explain and/or understand Reiki. It goes a long way towards explaining where something so simple has so many derivative styles and so many interpretations of each of those styles.

Dr. Usui’s own perceptions of Reiki would have been vastly different than any of our own perceptions due to the vast differences in experiences, knowledge, perceptions, feelings & understandings. Dr. Hayashi, who was much nearer to Dr. Usui than the rest of us (physically and culturally speaking) also had entirely different filters and so his own Reiki was also very different from that of Dr. Usui.

It’s kind of like that exercise where one person tells another a story, and then that person shares it with the next person in line, and so on down the line until the final version is remarkably dissimilar. This is how your Reiki was passed down to you. It’s no wonder so many people disagree about so many various aspects of Reiki. Its amazing we agree on anything!

Translations from the original Japanese are also an area where these filters can color things so that the prepared version is markedly different from the original. Take the Reiki Principles for example, I’ve seen so many variations of these simple five directives making it almost seem like completely different words were being translated.

Lao Tzu penned in the epic Tao Te Ching that “all words are lies”, that each and every word is colored by the different filters of the user and the receiver… and that these are never the same, resulting in completely different interpretations of each and every word.

The example of this I usually use to clarify this is the word ‘honey’. The word ‘honey’ is not honey. It is just the signal people use to refer to honey and everyone has different interpretations of exactly what that word means. The example of Buddha’s Finger pointing at the moon is also apropos. Once you see the moon, you don’t need the finger any more. Yet it is amazing about how many people still stare at the finger, as if it is the important thing, and completely disregard the moon. Kind of reminds me of a few dogs I’ve had the pleasure of keeping… 

I’ve always found Lao Tzu’s statement quite fascinating. Even more interesting is that after he made it, that is, after he pointed out that all words are lies, he then filled many pages using these ‘lies’ to explain the way things really are… quite effectively I might add. 

The words on this page are no exception. It really is amazing that people can communicate at all with this given. So I guess the whole point of these ‘lies’ I am sharing with you today is that we should always be endeavoring to read between the lies, or lines rather. It is the space between the words that hold the truth. That is where you will find ultimate understanding… not in the words.

So we should pay attention to these spaces and allow for the filters of others to color their understandings just as we allow our filters to color ours. Doing so will take you a lot closer to Total Reiki Mastery.

For further explanation or discussion, your thoughts are most welcome and highly encouraged, please feel free to comment below!!!