Article by Angie Webster
One thing that struck me after a horrible mass shooting last year was that many people said prayers for the deceased and for their families. It was a time for healing the grief, loss and damage they all felt. This is usually what is seen in a tragedy. People gather and offer their support to each other through prayer, kind words, and healing of spirit.
I notice the intense rage felt toward the young man who killed those people and then himself. The rage was such that everyone seemed to be filled with hate toward him. I saw no one offering prayers for him. I felt it was critical to pray for him, to heal any situation that caused such a deep tear in his heart that he would commit the act of harming others.
Those that hurt others are in terrible psychic and emotional pain. They need our offering of healing as much as those they harm. Perhaps they need it even more. They need mental and emotional healing in order to mend whatever situations led them to feel they needed to hurt others. Healthy people don’t cause harm.
When we see something upsetting on the news, the precepts are important to remember. “I will not anger, I will not worry, I will be grateful, I will be kind to every living thing.” Saying these to ourselves can clear our minds of the sense of horror and anger that tends to arise in response to violent crimes. Then we can clearly see that the entire situation needs our healing care.
Image by GollyGforce
When sending Reiki to a tragic situation, intend that it flow to all involved, not just the victims. Intend that it flow to the witnesses, all who see coverage on the news and to the person or persons that caused the harm through their actions. Healing applied to the whole situation is much more complete than that which is offered to a select few. This can heal the mental and emotional wounds that led to the event in the first place.
Sending Reiki to a bad situation does more than heal those we send Reiki to. It heals our own hearts. We can become hardened and callous toward other peoples pain when seeing so much violence in the media. We want it all to stop and we become angry at those we believe caused it.
But if no one offers to heal those that are in such pain they become violent, then the cycle never ends. If we believe they are unworthy of healing, we have now made our own hearts violent. We need to have peace in our own hearts if we expect it to be in others’ hearts. We have to want all hearts to be healed, not just those we love and find favor with.
When we see a tragedy, it would offer such a service to the world if we would pause and send Reiki to the entire situation, to our own hearts and to those involved—including the “bad guys”. Offer it to their past and their future, healing anything in their lives and their minds that set off the chain that led them to commit violence. Offer it to everyone who has to see it and hear about it. Offer it to anyone in the world contemplating violence. Offer it to the world for its violent history, that it may heal.
We can’t undo the event once it has happened, but we can help undo some of the damage, past, present and future. In doing so, we open the possibility that change may take place for the better. We may even help prevent future harm by healing the present and the past. At the very least, we undo the harm in our own hearts.
Angie Webster made a significant contribution to the Reiki community, with a particular focus on Animal Reiki, which she had a deep affection for. As a knowledgeable Reiki Master Teacher and Author, she conducted online courses on energy healing, herbalism, flower essences, and personal growth.
She is the author of “Animal Reiki: How it Heals, Teaches & Reconnects Us with Nature” and “Reiki from A to Z”. Currently, Angie has decided to retire from her professional life to devote more time to her health, family, and the little joys of life.
It is nice to see that I’m not the only one who feels this way. The “bad guy” is a victim, too.
Thanks, Deb! I’m glad the article resonated with you.
This is absolutely true. I have been making visits to someone I know in prison. I have sent distance Reiki to the entire facility and have let Reiki flow through the room during my visits. I have been told the atmosphere has changed for some of the inmates. I have asked for past and currents traumas, harms and hurts to healed so upon the inmates release they can function in society. Remember we are all “ONE”.
Michelle, Thank you for doing this wonderful service to humanity and society, as well as the men in the facility you are sending Reiki to.
I don’t understand Reiki, however I agree with everything you say Angie. I believe compassion is the answer to a hurting, desperate world. Hurt people, hurt people but as you say, healthy people don’t cause harm. Great post.
Grace, thank you! It’s true, the world and ALL it’s people need healing. Until all of us are healed and whole, we will keep experiencing hurt in one way or another. Compassion is the key.
I prayed fro the bombers of the the boston marathon & anyone who does harm…we never know their story & whay they did what they did! They deserve love too!
Suzanne, yes! Even if we feel terribly upset and hurt by the harm someone does to us or another, we can only mend the situation by healing our own hearts and the hearts of everyone involved, including the one that did the harm.
Prayers should always be focused to “All Involved.” The more we become awakened, the more we realize that our perception of what is happening is very limited. Universal Energy does not judge any living thing, but is the source of all energy… providing it for the use of all. Using nature as an example, seeking balance is a major goal. What would the world be like if we could all share universal love and energy for just one day?
Frank, I couldn’t agree more! Thanks for sharing.
I totally agree with you on this one. It is so important to share compassion with all beings. So many people do the shadow dance, projecting their own unacknowledged parts onto external villains, who then become subhuman… It is healing to realize that unhealthy people do unhealthy things, and that these “villains” really do need our love. I love the idea of sending Reiki to even the news viewers who are affected as well. Reiki is such a gift!
Jessica, Thank you for your comment! I agree, it is necessary to heal ALL in a situation–ourselves included.
Super like it rreally open our eys to wards the mesg tube energy n people who needs more !!
Thanks for sharing amazing post 2014 so v can heal
So
Many in this coming full year
I have been a Reiki Master for many years now but it was during my NLP training that I learnt that the subconscious mind will never let you do something it thinks is wrong. The subconscious mind is the one that has been conditioned from birth. So as soon as I hear of any tragedy with a perpetrator my compassion flows as something in his/her subconscious mind told them that their actions were right and then I move into gratitude that I am not in the same state of mind as the perpetrator. I do not think that the energy that we channel from source would see anyone as a ‘bad’ or ‘good’ guy – just a spirit having a human experience which it would not judge. <3 <3 <3
.I am reiki master for two years.i realized that “bad guys need to be corrected in the interest of society as whole.Timely advise for me when I was in confusion,How to face the situations when we are spectator.
Many Thanks Angie.
Kind regards and gratitude..
vasant sarolkar
Eho is “good” and who is “bad” is a matter of perspective. There slwsys has to be someone to hold the negative (bad) pole, as well as the positive (good). To the earth, or the univetse , energy is simply energy, there is no value to it except that which we attach ourselves. Go ahead and give all the unconditional Love you can, for that is the only way it will change the world.