The Proof is in the Practice

Last October, I embarked on two distinct (yet very related) practices that have since changed my life. And not just internally changed — I mean, I have specific physical repercussions that continue to emerge even today. But the physical effects are actually the later manifestations of actions that began as new a-ha’s of understanding in the mind — they are just the effects of specific thoughts, words and actions I have started re-programming in myself.

The first practice stems directly from the Reiki Shinpiden course I took with Frans and Bronwen Steine of The International House of Reiki. This course changed everything about how I understand Reiki as a practitioner and now teacher (as it has for everyone I’ve met who has taken this course) — the Steines have done tremendous work on themselves in accordance with the true, pure path of Reiki, and have dedicated themselves to bringing its roots to light for those of us who first learned Reiki as it evolved (or as some may say, devolved?) in the West. They have helped clear away the brambles of confusion about what Reiki really was in its origins and can be today, and I felt so much lighter and clearer and more focused after that weekend course. I will not delve too deeply into my experience with Shinpiden, other than to recommend that other Reiki practitioners of Level II or above take this course with the Steines when they are presented with the opportunity, and to also comment that because of this course, my personal Reiki practice now breathes with me. It is not stagnant; it is an ancient tool I can access for my own growth and empowerment. The more I practice and work on myself, on a daily basis with commitment and discipline and understanding, the more I can access the Reiki energy within myself, and clear the flow of my energy stream.

Word of the second practice, outlined in a book, arrived to me first via my friend, Sarah, last summer, but I chose then to put off reading it, for whatever reason. During Shinpiden, a fellow classmate mentioned the same book Sarah had raved about, and I knew it finally was time to read it. This book is The Diamond Cutter: The Buddha on Managing Your Business and Your Life, by Geshe Michael Roach. Somewhat controversial in traditional Buddhist circles due to its unconventional approach to Buddhist principles, primarily because Roach packages the message with a (very non-Buddhist) material bent to draw in a Western, non-Buddhist audience (along the lines of “Want to make more money and be more successful? Then understand and implement these principles into a daily personal practice.”), the book nonetheless helped me understand very clearly how the universe, and energy itself, works with us and our actions, words and thoughts. I had an interest in but only periphery understanding of Buddhist principles (via limited studies of what Master Usui brought to the system of Reiki), so being able to read about these Buddhist principles as they can be applied in our Western society of ingrained commercialism and business truly opened an entirely new understanding and application for me.

That is understating this book’s impact on me, though. The teachings in this book have gripped me in such an awakening, and as I started applying them as I read, I began to notice subtle, and then not-so-subtle shifts. First these shifts occurred only in my mind. I started paying attention to my thoughts much more than I used to (and I am normally on the introspective side to begin with), but more than just acknowledging each thought running through my mind, I started transforming the kinds of thoughts that would arise. A message at the core of this book is that reality can be perceived in many different ways, depending on one’s perspective. What I may perceive as “bad” may be perceived by another as actually quite a good thing for them. So essentially, effects are neither good nor bad. They just are. To take this a step further, whatever I perceive right now is based on a past thought, word or action of mine. If I did something good for someone in the past, I will at some point be able to see and perceive someone doing something good for me. Or if I acted out of anger toward someone in the past, I at some point will perceive someone acting out of anger toward me. For another example: if I want to be successful in my endeavors, I should recognize and express gratitude as much as possible (sound familiar, all those following “The Secret”?). And these past actions (and our current actions now that later become “past” actions!) magnify and ripple out like waves on a pond — kind of like the power of compounding interest when investing money, only in this we invest energy! And I can take full responsibility for my reality, by first understanding the nature of how this works, and then implementing the principles and monitoring myself. Since I do not want someone to be angry toward me, I can cultivate a peaceful, compassionate mind that bypasses anger. Instead of allowing myself to become upset or angry because of some external circumstance, which puts me in the role of victim, I can instead understand situations as 1) effects of my past actions, and 2) opportunities to end the cycle of violence and plant positive seeds for my own (and others’) futures. Even more, I can then consciously plant positive seeds (what Roach calls “Imprints”) to cultivate a positive perception of my reality for the future. To me, this concept sums up the true meaning of a word that has been thrown around incorrectly under other definitions and confused the hell out of many people, including me: Karma.

Sound simple? Well, it kind of is. But to really understand the concept and the whys of it all, I do suggest you read the actual book, which delves much deeper and into more areas than I just did in my simplistic overview. Roach outlines many different areas on which one can focus, and recommends that we work with a few at a time, and keep track daily, and even more than daily, in a notebook, our progress. Not to judge or feel bad, but to really track ourselves, in each moment.

I feel like so much has shifted since I read The Diamond Cutter and started consciously implementing new imprints. And to tie this back into my new understanding of Reiki as a personal practice, this truly gave me a greater depth of understanding of Reiki’s first precept, “Do not anger.” This book has quickly become a number-one handbook — as my friend, Sarah, says, this book should be required reading by anyone who has a life — or basically, everyone!

Between Shinpiden and The Diamond Cutter, my perspective, and in turn, life, has truly changed, and the way I approach everything is so much lighter, with so much greater awareness of imprints and present actions. From even the first day I started implementing not only what I learned in Shinpiden, but also 3 of the principles I focused on from the book, I started noticing the difference. Impacts in my daily life: My life (some aspects of which I used to view as an annoyance and with not just a little frustration) started to feel so much simpler. People whose actions and words once had a tendency to really get under my skin soon became…still there, with them probably still acting in the same manner as before, but my reaction became so much more compassionate, and so much more focused on my own actions and what I bring to the table in each moment. I started to feel that in taking responsibility for every moment as a co-contributor, I could be so much more empowered — and free — to create the positive side I wanted. I let go of attachment to specific outcomes of what I thought I wanted, and instead just focused on what I could control — my thoughts, words and actions, and how to more closely embody the Reiki precepts and the principles of The Diamond Cutter.  Two months later, after I had decided (after reading The Diamond Cutter) to not run from my job, but to stay and work on myself instead, a recruiter called me, seemingly out of the blue. “Oh, I’m not looking for anything right now,” I said, and meant it. But I listened to what she had to offer, in case something sounded right for a friend. And then she mentioned what could be a dream job for me in my design field. It was a stretch from what I was doing at the time, but it was something about which I was and am passionate, and something I can be really great at.

And now? Now I am working at that dream job. I’m working on myself with my daily practices: those from my new Reiki studies, and the tracking of my thoughts and words and actions in accordance with principles outlined in The Diamond Cutter. And I am re-reading the book again.