As Reiki practitioners, we are all familiar with the Reiki Principles of Dr. Mikao Usui. They were written around the turn of the century and have a beautiful message. We are taught to live by these principles when we are attuned to Reiki, and they have been a guiding force in the lives of Reiki practitioners for many years. The Reiki Principles were written in Japanese and the most popular English translation is as follows:
Just for Today, I will not worry;
Just for today, I will not be angry;
Just for today, I will do my work honestly;
Just for today, I will be kind to my neighbors and to all living things;
Just for today, I will be grateful for my many blessings.
It is now the year 2008 and many Reiki practitioners have been guided to incorporate the Law of Attraction into our work. We understand how like attracts like and that the way we state things matters in terms of what we manifest in our lives. I had been thinking about this in relation to Dr. Usui's Reiki Principles for a while, when in my last Reiki Master Training, one of my students brought it up. He asked why Dr. Usui had stated the first two principles in the negative instead of the positive. I had to agree and said something like, "maybe we should update the Reiki Principles for today, given what we know of the Law of Attraction". We all laughed and I didn't think about it again until the next time I stated the Reiki Principles aloud during a Reiki Share. Than it hit me. I felt a strong need to state the principles in positive, current terms. At first it felt almost sacreligious to think I could improve upon Dr. Usui's words in any way. I then went into a meditation, placing my hands in ghasso position, as I always do, and called upon Dr. Usui for guidance. Dr. Usui is one of my guides and I knew he would help me to decide what I should do. Needless to say, Dr. Usui was very supportive and guided me to write the updated version of the Reiki Principles. At the end of the meditation, I was even moved to share my updated Reiki Principles with others. My updated version of the Reiki Principles are as follows:
In this moment, I am peaceful;
In this moment, I am happy;
In this moment, I offer my work in service to Spirit;
In this moment, I honor the Divinity present in all life;
In this moment, I am grateful for my many blessings.
I fully realize that this post may offend some people, but I feel moved to offer it anyway. Reiki has empowered me to speak my truth. I offer these words not to be arrogant or to assert that I know better then anyone else, especially a Master like Dr. Usui. I offer these words only as an alternate perspective. Everything changes in life. Reiki has changed greatly in the years since it was discovered on the mountain. I only ask that, if you are drawn to my words, you give them a try. In addition, if you are drawn to write your own version of the Reiki Principles, even better!
Mary Riposo received her PhD in Child and Family Studies from Syracuse University. She is a NY State Licensed Professional Counselor and Certified School Psychologist. Mary has also completed training in a variety of healing modalities; she is an Usui Reiki Master/Teacher, Polarity Therapist, Soul Realignment Practitioner, and Divinely Guided Life Coach. She owns and runs the Center for Integrated Energy Healing, which offers energy healing sessions, transpersonal counseling, intuitive readings, intuitive development training, and Reiki certification classes. She has written a book, "Using Reiki with Children: A Guide for Parents and Professionals," which is available through her website. For more information, go to www.IntegratedEnergyHealing.com.