Dr. Mikao Usui, as stated earlier, has formed five principles to be followed by every practitioner of Reiki so that he/she can reduce the intensity of the level of negative emotions one has been withholding. These principles can enhance the positive attitude in a person.
1. Just for Today I will Live with the Attitude of Gratitude
“A thankful heart is not only the greatest virtue, but the parent of all other virtues ”
– Ciero.
Strictly speaking, gratitude is not meant for public or personal gratification and yet it strangely gladdens the heart of the receivers.
A great Roman statesman and orator, named Marcus Tillius Ciero lived in the first century before Christ. He was a very popular teacher and respected man in the society. He was well known among statesmen, officials, philosophers and other important people, but he maintained his simplicity. Once Ciero’s students invited him for dinner. Though he avoided such invitations normally, as a special case he attended. Students were very happy with Ciero’s presence. After the great dinner, he thanked everyone and finally went to the bearer and thanked him. He said, “Thank you, the food was wonderful, but it became tastier by your more wonderful service.” Tears rolled down the cheeks of the slave, because nobody had thanked him before.
So before starting the Reiki practice, each day we always follow this principle of’Attitude of latitude’.
I thank myself for being here, I thank Reiki for being here, I thank Dr. Mikao Usui for being here (one should feel his presence), I thank my Reiki master for being here, and so on. We can thank all those people to whom we want to express our gratitude.
We should be thankful to (rod that he gave us such a beautiful life. We can never be happy if we compare ourselves with people who are wealthier. Compare yourself with those who do not have enough to eat, enough to wear and no place to take shelter. You will realize how rich you are in all these respects.
We normally are not living with an attitude of gratitude because we are not satisfied with what we have. Not to be satisfied with what we have, seems to be part of human nature. We rarely like the present set of circumstances but appreciate those of others.
Once I read a story, which I would like to share with my readers.
When God started His creation, he was deciding the life span of all the animals. Man was sitting at the last, and by the time his turn came, only 25 years were left. He was very unhappy and said that at that age the real life starts. Then the ox sitting nearby was generous and gave 25 years from its lifespan. God did not have any objection. Still man was not happy and kept grumbling. This time the dog gave 25 years from its life span. Still man was unhappy. Next the owl gave 25 years from its life span. So man got an average life span of 100 years, but the original 25 years of his age is the best period. After that, between 25 and 50 years, he leads the life that of an ox, struggling for the family. The next 25 years from 50-75 years he leads the life like that of a dog, watching the house after his retirement, and from 75-100 years he is like an owl sitting at one place and is unable to see and move properly.
The attitude of gratitude is an inner state of being thankful for everything. The inner feeling is more important than mere saying the words.
2. Just for Today I will not Worry
Worry is the root cause of any disease. Worry leads to physical ailments like ulcer, headache, and mental diseases like depression. In many people, worry leads to stress. It is very easy to say not to worry, but very difficult to practise the same. Every person, these days, is exposed to occupational, environmental, mental, physical, emotional and dietary problems. These situations lead a person towards worry. The worry may be acute or chronic. The acute worry is sudden and lasts for a short period, whereas a chronic worry is a long-time worry, which is nagging. Chronic worry is dangerous. The best way to overcome worry is to train the mind in a proper way, because according to Bhagawad Gita, “Mind is the root cause of man’s freedom from slavery of worldly shackle.” When the mind accepts the circumstances, we are happy and when it doesn’t, we are worried.
Once Sikh Guru Govind Singh went to the battlefield with his four sons and returned alone after defeating the Mughal army. His wife, who was waiting eagerly for her husband and four sons, asked the whereabouts of sons, bul she could not get the reply for her repeated questioning. Then she realized thai her sons will never return, and this led her to worry. She could not hold it. Tears rolling down, she kept worrying aboul ha children. finally, Guru GovindSingh said, “Our sons are immortal, consider our sons of our soil as our children. Please train your mind thai way.”
Normally, most of us worry either brooding about the past or fearing about the future. This happens only because we normally do not live in the present. When you surrender yourself to the Supreme Being, you can release yourself from worry.
3. Just for Today I will not Get Angry
“Anybody can he angry, that is easy but to be angry with the right person and to the right degree and at the right time and for the right purpose, ami m the right way, that is not within everybody’s power and is not easy. ”
— Aristotle
“There are three gateways to hell leading to the ruin of the soul — lust, anger and greed. Therefore, one should abandon these three. ”
— Bhagawad Gita
“When anger comes, think of the consequences, it will soon subside. ”
— Confucius
A person normal ly gets angry when his ego is not satisfied, when the other person does not agree to what he said, when anything goes against his wishes or instructions. Whatever may be the reason, when anger is expressed, whatever may be the degree of anger, it creates an unpleasant situation, and more importantly, it even harms the body and mind of the angry person. Anger makes a person tense, causes hyperactivity of the adrenal glands, which increase the heartbeat, sugar level etc. All these changes utilize energy. So a person who gets angry very often loses a lot of energy. Besides, he spoils his relationship with others. Anger also affects his work power.
But at the same time, anger should never be suppressed, because suppressed anger also leads to diseases like skin irritation. Instead, a person should resolve his or her anger by different methods like going for a long walk when the situation is leading to an argument or misunderstanding. Doing physical exercises removes all the tensions of the mind and makes a person relaxed.
Lord Buddha always admonished his disciples and followers to restrain from getting angry. The best way to do so is to see good in everything that appears to be harmful. If you cannot control your anger, you act like a driver who does not have control on his powerful vehicle, which results in the destruction of his own self.
Once Lord Buddha was taking his disciples to a village, which was notorious for its ill-tempered, arrogant people. He told his disciples to remain cheerful even if the villagers do not welcome them thinking that they have not abused. Even if they abuse you, remain cheerful thinking that they have not beaten you. Even if they beat you, remain thinking that they have not killed you. Even if they kill you, remain cheerful as they can never destroy your spirit.
4. Just for Today I will do My Work Honestly Honesty is Quality of Heart, Head and Soul
“An honest man is the noblest work of God. ” — Pope
“The bread earned by the sweat of brow is thrice blessed and it is far sweeter than the tasteless loaf of idleness. ”
— Alfred Craw Quill
Duty if not performed is bad and sinful, but duty performed without honesty is worse and more sinful. To earn as much money as possible in as little time as possible is a common feature of the society for all times. So that pleasure of honest work and honest money is lost.
Shri M. Visweswaraiya, world renowned Indian engineer, once went to the USA where he had to lecture before the faculty of engineering. Due to lack of time, he gave all technical details to a professional writer to prepare his lecture. He was very happy to see the script, which was prepared very well. He gave $8 as his fee and one more additional dollar as gratification money to the writer’s secretary as the writer was not present at that time.
The next day the writer returned the dollar saying, “It is not earned out of my sweat. If I form such a habit I will miss the real pleasure of earning the money by my own perseverance.”
5. Just for Today I will Respect my Parents, Teachers and Elders
“Selfless service to humanity is the foremost duty of the youth. ”
— Bhagawan Swaminarayan
“Honour the guru! He has shown us the way to perfection,”
Alexander did not obey his teacher’s words and crossed the river first. Aristotle was more surprised than hurt because it never happened before. On reaching the other bank, when Aristotle enquired, Alexander said, “Sir, your life is more precious than mine. The world will have many more Alexanders, not another Aristotle.”
The same way. Arum, who went to inspect the mud wall of his teacher’s field, found that the walls were getting washed away. As he could not seal it with mud chunks, he placed himself there carefully to slop the damage.
These examples show great respect for the guru. To show love and respect for others is to love and respect ourselves.