I‘ve been mulling over some of the various interpretations of the Reiki Principles, and the 2nd Principle begged some attention. When taken with its intro it reads… Just for today, don’t worry… and I found this mulling quite an enjoyable Reiki exercise in and of itself.

First I think its important to remember to always include the intro for each of the principles, sometimes we take the “Just for today” part and incorrectly keep it quarantined from the rest. While I was at one of Doi Sensei’s recent Koryukai, he played a beautiful recording of a musical rendition of the 5 Reiki Principles (in Japanese of course) and the refrain of “kyo dake wa” (Just for today) kept resounding at various intervals reminding us of this. The thought that came to mind was that we really don’t know what tomorrow will bring, so just for today, everything is okay, don’t worry (and that sentiment can be carried over to the other precepts as well).

Of the various interpretations, such as…

• Worry Not
• Thou Shalt Not Worry
• Do “not worry”
• Don’t Be Worried
• Don’t Cause Worry
• Etc.

… I really have to stick with Don’t Worry, but that’s just me… if one of the other variations suits you better, by all means, feel free to use it.

A while back there was a movement (I believe it was started by the well-intentioned NLP folks) to change all of the negative precepts to positive statements rather than negative ones. I recall seeing some Japanese transliterations of the same sort as well. Something about the mind processing negative statements differently than it does positive statements. In my opinion that is completely changing the spirit of the Reiki principles. Changing it from “Don’t Worry” to “Be Happy”, or whatever they had in mind, changes it from a principle to a checklist based ‘okay what’s next’ kind of attitude which, I’m fairly certain, is NOT what Dr. Usui had in mind.

Worry not is probably acceptable, its just not the way we (at least I) talk. As was discussed in my post on the 3rd Reiki Principle Revisited the dual understanding inherent in this type of language, i.e., don’t worry as in don’t be worried, and don’t worry as in don’t cause other people to worry is interesting, although I’m not sure it reflects the true nature of the principle, which is no doubt more concerned with one’s own spiritual well being than that of others who may or may not be on a spiritual path at all (at least not consciously).

Thou Shalt not Worry rings a bit too biblical for me, and in an attempt to draw a clear line between religion and spirituality I would tend not to use language that confuses the two. God can use words like thou, but as for us mere mortals I’d try to avoid a holier than thou attitude.

I find Do “Not Worry” an interesting alternative as well, although when spoken its hard to distinguish it from ‘do not worry’. The prospect of “not worrying” as a practice in and of itself is appealing. Practicing ‘not worrying’ is perhaps closer to what Dr. Usui had in mind, but I think the same attitude is included when we just say “Don’t Worry” which includes the practice of not worrying as well as the specific action of not worrying… if that makes any sense.

Likewise, Don’t Be Worried refers to, at least by my understanding, the specific action of not worrying… and not necessarily the practice of not worrying and, although its just a matter of semantics, it doesn’t ring as clear to me.

As stated above, I find Don’t Cause Worry a bit too presumptuous. I tend to allow others to follow their own spiritual path without imposing my own beliefs on them. Some people love to worry… who am I to deprive them.

If you have any other interpretations or if there are any major ones I’ve missed, please feel free to shout them out. I’d love to include them in the discussion.

Also be sure to check out my post on The Reiki Principles – Don’t Worry if you haven’t already. I just wrote it in February but it seems like a lifetime ago, and the cloud-like nature of time is uniquely intriguing.

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