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ReikiDharma NewsletterVolume#30, October 25, 2010
Dear Friend! Hello again from your friend, Frank Arjava Petter. I hope that you have spent a delightful summer and that you were able to take some time off to spend with your family and friends- or just by yourself. As you probably know from the previous newsletters, we moved to Eressos, a small village on Lesvos Island/ Greece last winter. Every new chapter in life shapes and molds you into a new form; the new environment touches unknown strings in your heart and the instrument begins to play a new tune. We spent the summer in electronic hell and personal heaven. My computer crashed several times and I lost all my emails/addresses and a lot of other creative stuff that I had not backed up… If you have not received a reply to an email to me for a while, please don’t take it personally and send it again. And the heaven part is too beautiful to describe, please come and visit us some day and see for your self…the next scheduled Reiki group happens from December 8-12 in beautiful Eressos. Looking back over the past 10 months, and looking into the mirror (the actual bathroom mirror as well as the mirror of my wife and kids) I noticed some profound changes within me and I would like to talk to you about this today. We lived in Germany for the past seven years and the new cycle found us quite tired and involved in what you may call “the world”. Life became increasingly complex and the desire for simplicity intensified on a daily level. To illustrate what I mean, I have written a text about it: The World You don’t seem to mind me leaving, when I pack my bags as I have done so many times before. Each departure releases its own flavor, yet in essence they are one and the same. I tire of you and your busyness and try to get as far away as possible. But your invisible leash is long and flexible. It stretches beyond my imagination and soon I forget its existence. Under the impression that I am finally free, you make me dance with you in an unorthodox way. In the past I ran in so many directions. As a child, I left my parents and my home. I discarded the familiar for the excitement of the unknown. The illusion to have broken my bonds with the past lingered around my actions and decided their course in secrecy. Back then I thought that I knew better. Later on I slipped out of the dry skin of my religion. It held no mysteries for my passionate heart and left me bored and oblivious. I failed to realize that the material of body and mind is made up of the rays of the sun and the moon of the ancestors, and that nothing in life is coincidental. Then I cut the frozen tongue of my language. It confined me behind the metal bars of a million years, and one glimpse through the spaces in between, gave rise to a promise of long ago. The words that stalled in my heart hibernated for while and what was left utterly unattended grew into a strong and vigorous vine. Each winter is followed by spring, and the grammar thawed up like a crocus through the snow. The pillars of my culture crumbled painstakingly slow. Out of the rubble emerged a new structure, held together by the laws of emptiness. This filled up again in the later years. I left this country for that and that culture for this. By trusting myself in their care with totality I learned to see the other and myself. At first they remained separate and as the years passed by, I found myself in everything. The religions of the world invited me into their hearts one by one and in turn I accepted and refused all their offers. Not one of them should have me, but all of them. I fell in and out of love numerous times. Then I married and divorced, divorced and married again. The love for the one and the love for the many merged in their own time, regardless of my desire. But deep down, you never let me go. You are a master of disguise and I fail to recognize you whenever you change into a new costume. You tempt me with your foolishness so seriously, quite certain of my return. And then, one day I come home to you and your concerns tear at my heart with a well- rested vengeance. But it is not only you who are rested. I too am fresh again after the rain of blessings have showered my soul, and I am ready for the next round. Sometimes I wonder if it is me who is attached to you, or you who are attached to me. Perhaps it is neither this nor that and the truth lies somewhere in the middle between your temptation and my renunciation… Time for a Change It all began in June of 2010 when I woke up in hospital with heart attack-like symptoms that seemed to have no physical cause. After a few days of rest I was released home. Physically I was in (near) perfect health, but I knew that I had to make a change in my life. It was then that we decided to move to Greece. As far back as I can remember I have been dreaming of moving to the countryside, to be in a natural environment. I wanted to wake up in the morning looking at a beautiful landscape. You might think that being well- known in the Reiki community may have made my life more complicated, but quite the contrary is the case. By nature I am a simple- minded person, and the Reiki practice has amplified this natural tendency to the point that I almost worry about it! I find pleasure in the simple things of life and this shall be our theme for today. Simplify your mind It is no doubt useful to simplify your life, to re-evaluate the way you live, what you do and with whom and where you do that. But the best way to begin the process of cleansing is within your own mind. Your mind and your life are one. Whatever happens in your life is born out of thought and emotion. To keep things simple and manageable begin by living in the present. Don’t think of what may or may not be, don’t consider what may go “wrong” or “right”- simply enjoy the ride. Forget the outcome of whatever it is you do and do it simply for the pleasure of doing it. I just returned from a delightful Reiki Tour of Japan with 18 friends. At Ryoanji Zen temple in Kyoto we found an inscription that reads: “If I have learned one thing it is to be content”. When you are content with yourself and with what is happening in your environment, all the energy that is usually fed into desires, complaints and discontent becomes free and in this freedom you open your wings… The first step in this journey is to accept yourself- totally. Imagine that you look at yourself through the eyes of your beloved: look into the mirror of your eyes and see love manifest. This is how I look at every one I meet- with love and tenderness for this miracle of life. I often remember when my children were born. Suddenly they were here and there were no conditions for their being alive. They did not have to be a certain way to earn the right to Be. Just being born was enough… and it still is. On a bigger scale every child is born to mother Earth like this: you are simply perfect the way you are, with all the silliness and wisdom, with all your mistakes and all your skills. If I may ask one thing of you right now, it is to let go all of your suffering and be free…This does not take time, because there are no pre- requisites. You don’t need to be enlightened or spiritual. All you need is to be alive, and to be here and now. Please don’t think of me as having reached some kind of spiritual achievement for being able to say this. I am as normal and simple as anyone you may meet in the bakery in the morning (you can ask my wife!) But I promise you that it is possible and it is possible right now. Let it go…now! Forget the past and forget the future; bury your memories and your aspirations and be present in whatever you do. When you walk, walk, when you clean your house, do just that. Think of spirituality and your day to day life as one. Think of your joys and sorrows as one; This is abundance: when everything is just enough as it is… In terms of our Reiki practice, Usui Sensei has given us two keys to happiness and contentment in the Reiki principles:
Workshop News
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Frank
Arjava Petter |
