Reiki and the Part We Play

Article by Phillip Hawkins

We come into this world with nothing more than our first and last breath and an indeterminate time between to make our journey through life. Without even a rudimentary idiot’s guide to help us find our way the yellow brick road we search for is often no more than crazy paving made up as we go along struggling as we do to find our personal Reiki wizard of Oz with the answer to our questions, and the solutions to all of our problems.

The path to understanding is very rarely if ever paved with gold; more often than not it’s a journey of hardship and compromise, a path forged out of necessity and only made possible by the steps that we are willing to take. It’s this journey of discovery that we call life and not a particular destination that provides us with the answers we seek. Those who stumble blindly in search of the one true way face disappointment on learning there is no definitive way to self knowledge and understanding, different is not just ok, it’s vital for our development as an individual and as a species as a whole. Each of us must find our own way breaking new ground and old beliefs in the process, lessons we draw to ourselves like our footprints in the sand will in time disappear with our passing only to be ‘rediscovered’ by others on their personal journey of discovery.

With birth and death as our parameters we are instilled with a sense of urgency and with the belief that ‘time waits for no man’, this urgency creates impatience and a desire for instant results and a prescriptive one size fits all solution to our problems. Yet in many cases progress is perceived to be slow and laboured when we compare it to our desire for answers, we want the answers now without really understanding the questions that we ask, and as the old song goes ‘there are more questions than answers, and the more I find out the less I know’.

Progression is defined as the process of developing gradually towards a more advanced state and by this definition we move from one level of awareness to another, but true progress must build on what has gone before, being incremental and transitional it allows us to make sense of the processes and fit together the pieces in the jigsaw. As each piece of information comes together to be collectively known as knowledge and understanding so a single footstep can claim its rightful place in the journey before us that we call life. While Reiki may not be the Wizard of Oz we searched for it does have the ability to help us seek out our own answers and discover the solutions to problems real or imaginary.

A problem we face when looking at the progress we have made is that we are limited to what we can see at any one time; a moment, minute a day week or a year are nothing more than brief snapshots of our life at any given time. Although we may be able to look back with hind sight, what it gives in clarity it lacks in perspective for its difficult if not impossible to see the progress made retrospectively, yes we may remember individual highs and lows that can act as mile markers but the individual steps of our progress tend to be obscured and covered by the dust and debris of more recent experiences that grab and hold our attention. Yet paradoxically its only when we look back are we able to measure how far we have travelled.

Reiki has taught me to take nothing for granted or automatically accept anything as gospel no matter what the source, the search for knowledge and understanding demands that we hold accepted wisdom and new truths up to the light of scrutiny. Even the Reiki story itself for as new information emerges as it must, for Reiki can’t exist outside of the laws of creation that brought it into existence, what we may at this time consider a complete story simply becomes another chapter in the annuls of healing, knowledge understanding and spiritual development.

History are collective stories written by those with the ability and power to do so and human nature being what it is those who chronicled these events tended to enhance the role they played, and show that their actions were motivated for the highest good regardless of the integrity of their actions. This has happened throughout time and continues today in all walks of life, and each and every one of us are guilty to one degree or another when it comes to the way we live our lives, the image of ourselves we create for the world to see and the motivation for our actions. History is a story and we are characters in this play we call life. Progress offers us the opportunity to play many roles; hero, villain, judge jury and in some cases our own executioner when through inappropriate life choices we reject knowledge and understanding to such an extent that illness and dis-ease are created.

Continuing with this analogy; Reiki takes the role of a wise and experienced director that acts as a mentor and coach who asks us to step back from our performance and observe what is happening free from judgement or criticism. It also asks us to answer the age old actor’s question ‘what is my motivation for this role’. With the answer come knowledge and understanding, and hopefully the ability to bring a deeper level of awareness, sensitivity and maturity to the role of parent, partner healer, teacher and friend, or whatever role we choose to play.

Progression is defined as the process of developing gradually towards a more advanced state and by this definition we move from one level of awareness to another or from one role to another. In doing so it’s important that we do so with an open mind free from criticism and judgement and motivated by the desire for knowledge and understanding which forms the basis of healing for oneself and of one another. Our progress as individuals and as Reiki practitioners should always be kept in perspective for while our current level of awareness may be viewed as an advanced state in relation to those who have gone before us and on whose shoulders we stand, those who come after us must find us wanting in our limiting beliefs and actions. Better that we let go of judgement or misplaced self satisfaction and accept that we are doing what we can and when we eventually know better we will do better, and our progress becomes truth demonstrated.

Phillip Hawkins

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A Reiki practitioner since 1999, Phillip started teaching Reiki in 2000 and using those skills and abilities he has spent the majority of the last seventeen years working with a wide range of social and educational needs including Autism and ADHD. Working with addicts dependent on alcohol and drugs, people whose lives were extremely violent and abusive, and others who had to deal with severe mental health issues. This has enabled him to work extensively in the private sector, schools, colleges, education and care in the community, the prison service and psychiatric units.

In 2016, Phillip decided to semi-retire from full-time employment to concentrate on developing his career as a published author and the setting up of his Reiki personal development programme at the Chilton Community College.