The Gokai (five principles) are one of the most important elements of Reiki.
I have talked in a previous post about how having Reiki come into my life was a turning point for me. After benefitting from receiving Reiki I decided to learn how to do it, too. And I learned from an amazing teacher, Mari Okazaki. Well, Mari also put me in touch with my friend, Sue. At the time Sue was taking her Jikiden Reiki to the next level and was training to become a Shihankaku (assistant teacher). To do this she needed to practice Reiki on a certain number of people in addition to practicing for a certain number of hours.
Mari put me in touch with Sue because I live not too far from her and she needed more practice people/hours. Of course, I happily volunteered but I had the problem of not necessarily having someone to watch my daughter while we could do this. Sue nicely offered for her 12 year old son to play with the girly. I wasn’t sure a 12 year old boy would want to play with a 3 year old but it seemed like he had fun. I know my girly did. I believe it was the end of the first day that she started calling him her brother. They also had a dog and a cat so basically she was in heaven and Sue and I could get down to the business of Reiki.
Fast forward some time and Sue is now a Shihankaku and I have started my Etsy shop for my signs. We hadn’t seen each other since Sue took her course but we kept in touch online. Sue had some extra strawberry plants and kindly offered them to me which I was coincidentally looking to get some. I was feeling very grateful for the strawberry plants and the babysitting and the Reiki that I really wanted to give something in return. After chatting with Sue over the pick up of the strawberry plants I realized that I could do a sign for her. So it was agreed I would attempt to do the Gokai.
The Gokai is the five principles:
Just for today:
Do not be angry,
Do not be worried,
Be grateful,
Do your duties fully,
Be kind to others.
They are an important element to Reiki so I thought it would be the perfect sign for Sue because she is starting up her own Jikiden Reiki practice. (If you are in the Langley area and want to give Reiki a try you should go see Sue. She is in Brookswood, her website is here and her Facebook page is here. She is lovely). The challenge in this sign is that it is written in Japanese. When I finished the sign I was scared to show Sue because I was afraid I made a mistake to make it say something completely different. I wouldn’t be able to see a glaringly obvious spelling mistake like I would in english. To my relief she loves it and she says it says what it is supposed to.
As for Reiki itself, a great explanation can be found on Mari’s website here. I realize that for a lot of people Reiki is not something you can see or touch so therefore people don’t believe in it. However, I have tried it myself and know that it has helped me and also, others that I have practiced on. As well, I believe the most relaxed I have ever been is during a Reiki session …even more so than sleep or even massage. And I always sleep so much better after I have had Reiki. I really can’t recommend it enough.
And, if you are wondering, Jikiden means “directly from” so Jikiden Reiki is Reiki that is passed down directly from the teacher using the Japanese traditional methods. (And they take their traditions seriously).
I am really happy Mari introduced me to Sue because we became fast friends (coincidentally she has 3 chickens, too!) and I have someone close by that I can exchange Reiki with if we can get our schedules to match up. I hope she does well in her business and that lots of people realize the amazing benefits of Reiki, emotional and physical.
*Edited to add a link to Sue’s website. (I didn’t realize she had a great website in addition to her Facebook page).
Babayaya 