Quantum Physics and Reiki / Manual for Climbing Mountains

This month I am giving you an article, a manual and a bit of wisdom at the end...enjoy!

Quantum Physics and Reiki
by Shellie Newell

Most practitioners report physical sensations of heat and/or tingling in their hands as they proceed through the gentle placement of hands on a subject during a Reiki session. Some attribute the way they feel when providing Reiki in terms of a mystical “oneness with the universe,” a sense of inner peace, and “energizing.” No matter how it is described, there is no denying the feelings of well-being in both practitioner and subject during and immediately after a session. But, what is going on scientifically? Can science explain the healing phenomena of Reiki?
Mathematicians roll their eyes when non-experts talk about their complex field of deep study of the universe. However, think about the dramatic advances in mathematics and medicine of the last decades and the possibilities of a future unified theory of existence. Could these theories be headed towards explaining the Reiki healing phenomenon?
Throughout the ages, scientists and spiritual adepts have sought to define Truth from seemingly opposite directions. The mystic’s experience of spiritual energy (such as Reiki) is quite real to the individuals involved, and yet that reality has not been measured or quantified by a mathematical equation or scientific theory. So, the question remains, what is real? Can the Reiki energy be explained?
Our perception of the definition of Truth changes with enlightenment, education, and experience. Historically, that perception of truth fiercely battles against established mindsets before a new paradigm can break through.
For example, when Galileo challenged the world view of a stationary flat earth (Ecclesiastes 1:4–5) and fixed stars, with the sun and moon revolving us (Psalms 104:5), in his 1610 manuscript, Sidereus Nuncius, the Holy Roman Church responded in an uproar. Galileo faced excommunication and damnation for heresy, and was brought before the Papal Inquisition to denounce his findings under threat of torture and probable death. His work was entered into the Papal Index Librorum Prohibitorum (Index of Prohibited Books; in effect until the 1960s) and the persecution of the Holy Roman Church continued for most of his life.
An entirely different mindset was challenged not too long ago, when two Australian physicians tried to change established medical treatment protocols about peptic ulcers. Barry Marshall and Robin Warren discovered in 1983 that it wasn’t spicy foods and stress that caused stomach ulcers, but the Helicobacter pylori bacterium. More than a decade would pass before the medical community, insurance companies, and pharmaceutical corporations abandoned the multi-million dollar industry of acid-blocker medications for a simple antibiotic cure for stomach ulcers.
Many theories have challenged the established world view of molecular structure, light, and the movement of energy since Galileo’s time. However, what is amazing about these leaps of supposition and practical application is they seem to be unfolding at a much faster pace in the last 50 years. Considering the rapid pace of these theories, could it be that science in the next few decades will be in harmony with Reiki?
Revolutionary Concepts
Consider a few of these revolutionary ideas. Since the absolute physics of Sir Isaac Newton in the early 1700s, scientists had believed that all events happened because of simple interactions on the physical or chemical level. Point A moves to point B because C (physical or chemical action) pushed it there. In theory, any object always had a precise position in space and time. This precision began to fracture when the Danish scientist Hans Oersted first described the relationship between electricity and magnetism in his 1820 experiments. This “electromagnetism” found practical application with the invention of the telephone in 1876 by Alexander Bell.
Researchers at the turn of the last century were actively searching for the building blocks of life. The discovery of the electron by J.J. Thompson in 1897 sparked new experiments on the atomic level. The hypothesis that total energy is comprised of indistinguishable energy elements, the so-called “quanta of energy,” was proposed in 1900 by Max Planck. After many studies examining the photoelectric release of electrons from metal semiconductors by the action of light, in 1915 Albert Einstein published his famous General Theory of Relativity, and was able to prove it by solar observations. Isolated from Western thinking, in 1924 the brilliant S.N. Bose in Calcutta furthered the understanding of light quanta by his mathematical equation for radiation. Shortly afterwards, the Austrian physicist Erwin Schrödinger published his equation for the hydrogen atom, and thus wave mechanics was born. Wave mechanics describe how a tangible energy wave associated with subatomic particles (such as an electron) varies in time and space as it moves under various forces. The electron moves from one point to another at a specified speed up to the speed of light.
The apparent paradox of the Schrödinger equation—that these “matter waves” can be calculated, yet physical experiments showed that the electrons actually scatter in different directions—was reinterpreted by the German physicist Max Born. Basically, Born said that the “matter waves” that occur with an event move in “probability amplitudes,” meaning there is: (1) more than one probability; (2) the sum of all the alternative amplitudes is the total amplitude for an event to occur; and (3) that the intensity of the wave (absolute square of the overall amplitude) has to be the probability that the event will happen. This means that the electron doesn’t move from one point to another in a predicted path at a specified rate and time, but it moves in a “cloud of possibilities.”
What if the movement of subatomic particles can be intentionally directed by an observer-participant? This might be a metaphor for the Reiki phenomenon. By using intention, that is, visualizing the mental Reiki symbols in a specific, directed manner, could the concentrated thought pattern cause a type of energy to flow out of the hands and into the subject, actually helping the body’s cells and systems to align to health?
Thousands of experiments and proofs have been published since the 1950s, and we have witnessed the advent of new fundamental particles (“quarks”) as well as new theories (Electroweak Theory, Superstring Theory, and Calabi-Yau space, among many others) and the theorems to elegantly solve them. While the atmosphere where all of these brilliant thinkers operate is far too rarified for most of us to understand, it’s clear that we are living in an amazing era of a global explosion of knowledge. Whether the Reiki phenomenon will be mathematically defined in the future is up for grabs. For now, we must be content with our personal truth.

Shellie T. Newell
Reiki II
Graniteville, SC, USA


And now from Paulo Coelho

Manual for Climbing Mountains

A] Choose the mountain you want to climb: don’t pay attention to what other people say, such as “that one’s more beautiful” or “this one’s easier”. You’ll be spending lots of energy and enthusiasm to reach your objective, so you’re the only one responsible and you should be sure of what you’re doing.

B] Know how to get close to it: mountains are often seen from far off – beautiful, interesting, full of challenges. But what happens when we try to draw closer? Roads run all around them, flowers grow between you and your objective, what seemed so clear on the map is tough in real life. So try all the paths and all the tracks until eventually one day you’re standing in front of the top that you yearn to reach.

C] Learn from someone who has already been up there: no matter how unique you feel, there is always someone who has had the same dream before you and ended up leaving marks that can make your journey easier; places to hang the rope, trails, broken branches to make the walking easier. The climb is yours, so is the responsibility, but don’t forget that the experience of others can help a lot.

D] When seen up close, dangers are controllable: when you begin to climb the mountain of your dreams, pay attention to the surroundings. There are cliffs, of course. There are almost imperceptible cracks in the mountain rock. There are stones so polished by storms that they have become as slippery as ice. But if you know where you are placing each footstep, you will notice the traps and how to get around them.

E] The landscape changes, so enjoy it: of course, you have to have an objective in mind – to reach the top. But as you are going up, more things can be seen, and it’s no bother to stop now and again and enjoy the panorama around you. At every meter conquered, you can see a little further, so use this to discover things that you still had not noticed.

F] Respect your body: you can only climb a mountain if you give your body the attention it deserves. You have all the time that life grants you, as long as you walk without demanding what can’t be granted. If you go too fast you will grow tired and give up half way there. If you go too slow, night will fall and you will be lost. Enjoy the scenery, take delight in the cool spring water and the fruit that nature generously offers you, but keep on walking.

G] Respect your soul: don’t keep repeating “I’m going to make it”. Your soul already knows that, what it needs is to use the long journey to be able to grow, stretch along the horizon, touch the sky. An obsession does not help you at all to reach your objective, and even ends up taking the pleasure out of the climb. But pay attention: also, don’t keep saying “it’s harder than I thought”, because that will make you lose your inner strength.

H] Be prepared to climb one kilometer more: the way up to the top of the mountain is always longer than you think. Don’t fool yourself, the moment will arrive when what seemed so near is still very far. But since you were prepared to go beyond, this is not really a problem.

I] Be happy when you reach the top: cry, clap your hands, shout to the four winds that you did it, let the wind - the wind is always blowing up there - purify your mind, refresh your tired and sweaty feet, open your eyes, clean the dust from your heart. It feels so good, what was just a dream before, a distant vision, is now part of your life, you did it!

J] Make a promise: now that you have discovered a force that you were not even aware of, tell yourself that from now on you will use this force for the rest of your days. Preferably, also promise to discover another mountain, and set off on another adventure.

K] Tell your story: yes, tell your story! Give your example. Tell everyone that it’s possible, and other people will then have the courage to face their own mountains.



Peace - it does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble or hard work, it means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart.

Author unknown