Usui Retreat- Week Two, December 28, 2006

Welcome back to the 2nd week of the Usui Retreat.

A special note: The Life Training Program is now The More To Life Program

Since writing about The Life Training program last week I have been asked by several people just what it is. The name has been changed since I did the training in 1983 to the More to Life program. More To Life courses teach practical tools and skills that help you connect with your best self whenever you choose and grasp more of the creative possibilities in every life situation. I highly recommend this program to everyone…it certainly gave me the tools to have more to my life.


I am sharing a process that a gifted spiritual teacher named Ken Page and his wife teach. It is excellent and naturally follows on from our first week together.


This Holiday season, you are being given a GIFT. Each Holiday past holds a memory, good or sad. Some of you may even hold the memory of one holiday that was truly wonderful, often comparing each following holiday season. The holding on to that memory can bring about disappointment, resulting in the emotion of sadness. This holiday season, let go of ALL memories of holidays past by using the following simple 'Pattern Release Technique':

Old energy patterns can keep you out of the present moment. A good time to use this technique is while taking a bath, so plan for fifteen to thirty undisturbed minutes. Take off your jewelry, including your rings. Light a candle to represent a spiritual person you admire, such as Krishna, Sai Baba, Moses, Jesus, Mother Mary, or Buddha. Picture them with you. Feel the unconditional love this spiritual person reflects and recognize that place of love inside yourself.

Stare at the flame and release old feelings, thoughts, programs, issues, and fears. Allow them to flow through you. Say them either out loud or in silence. Your intention to clear yourself is most important.

Begin by releasing the things you are afraid of, such as losing your job, getting older, being poor, sick, or alone. Next release thoughts, feelings, and emotions you are holding, such as guilt, anger, hate, abandonment, separation, betrayal, grief, sorrow, or sadness. Release feelings of being helpless, hopeless, used, or trapped. Release feelings of pain and jealousy. Release all the feelings and projections of others that you have bought into. During the release, make an intention to keep the wisdom gained from these events and your feelings. Above all use your Reiki hands to respond to areas in your body that are cold, warm and/or dense (this is where reactive energy has been stored)

Once you've released all the charged negative and positive experiences from your past, shower or bathe with fresh water. Give thanks for the opportunity to let go and make more space in yourself. It may help to journal about your experience…once you are dried off and all bundled up after your bath that is.

Here is a wonderful site with a beautiful and meaningful song to hear. Follow this link;
http://www.ichooselove.org/ I choose Love!


I am looking forward to being with you next week. Have a wonderful entry into the New Year.

Love, Mari

Usui Retreat - December 21, 2006

Bird calls

Present with bird calls
We fly together
Beyond spaciousness
and words....,

(Songbird)

Rather than giving you three different meditations this retreat. I have decided to give you some areas to focus on and work through. I like to think of it as spiritual weeding the garden time in order to plant new flowers for next year. Perhaps your mind is saying that you do not have time to do this or that you want to wait until after the retreat that is fine. We live in exciting and fast times however, doing this is a great gift that you give yourself; and you are worth doing the work for.

Annual Life Review

At the end of every year I do a annual life review to see how much of my energy is devoted to what makes me feel alive and also on the things that drain my energy that do not support me.

For a long time I have felt that the winter months have been given to us so that we can take the time to go more inside of ourselves. Just as in the winter when the branches on the trees are bare, the life is deep inside the branch. By being inside ourselves and taking the time to review our lives we can then make internal and external changes, because we see that the old structure, beliefs or time spent that does not nourish us and is not what we want or need. We then can move forward in a new year which is filled with promises that we can keep.

In cultures through out the world people make a resolution for the New Year to bring about change. Often times this may be the resolution to lose the extra weight that we seem to put on with all the Christmas cookies and rich food we eat during the holiday time. We begin the year full of good intentions and ending up mentally beating ourselves up because we did not keep our promises. I went through that for many years until I started doing the annual life review. With this information I could see and feel the necessity for change and move into those changes out of a strong desire to live my life in a different way.

So I have decided to share the process of the annual life review with you. Perhaps you will want to take the time to answer these questions. It is worth regularly spending time on the exercise. Be careful to distinguish what YOU want from what your family, friends or partner think you should want. Bear in mind that we can keep changing our goals, but unless we have a destination in mind, we are unlikely to set off on the journey at all.

Make a list of any activities that make you feel really alive, activities that absorb you so that time seems to dissolve, or which give you a sense of inner peace and satisfaction. What do you really enjoy? What makes your heart glow and your spirit dance? IS it a walk in the forest, gardening, reading a novel, and writing poetry? Listening to music, chatting with friends, and painting, jogging, making love or traveling to new places? Perhaps it is doing charity work or playing with children? Could it be certain aspects of your job? Which PEOPLE make you feel good? Make sure the list is based upon how you feel now, not upon what you used to enjoy, or think you should enjoy, or what other people like to do.

Next make a second list of any activities (or People) which deaden or deplete you, which leave you feeling tired, board or under stress.

Now assess how much of your life is devoted to each list. Does this reflect how "alive" or "dead" you feel? How might you begin to change the balance so that you feel more and more energized?

2) Review your life, and where it is going:
* What are your secret ambitions (large and small)?
* What are your strengths, talents and abilities?
* What does, or would, give your life meaning and purpose?
* What personal qualities do you wish to develop?
* What is your ideal lifestyle?
* What do you wish to experience in life?
* What do you need- physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually?
* Is your work (whether paid or unpaid) just a way of paying the rent, or is it important to you as a person?
* Are you learning and growing in everyday life?
* Is your life challenging enough? Relaxing enough? Loving enough?
* If you knew you only had five years to live, what would you do?

Remind yourself that: this is not a dress rehearsal for life. This is IT! How do you want to create your life now?

What you can do, or dream you can, begin it: Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.
(Goethe)

The other part of the annual review that I do at the end of the year is to undertake a process that I learned in the "Life Training" program. I write down a list of all the people I have had a judgment about, or not forgiven for something. In fact anyone I have had the least amount of ill will towards. Beside each name I write the result of this action (payoff) and how I have behaved, it could be one of the following or more: victim, superior, confused and what was the cost of holding on to this anger, resentment or pain in terms of my own energy, how has this situation affected me mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually. I allow my self to feel the pain of separation, the cost of being so right in my judgments.

Then I write a letter to each person and tell them how I have reacted. I take full responsibility for my part in any and all of the situations and I ask for their forgiveness, while also forgiving them for what I think they have done to me. If it is possible I go and speak to them face to face and to be heart to heart. Wiping the slate clean, putting forgiveness where there was judgment, light where there was darkness.

Your mind may be saying that it is nearly impossible to do any of this, but it is not impossible. I had thoughts like that myself the first time I did this review, but soon realized how much better I felt and how much clearer my life seemed to be afterwards. It had been worth all the effort so that the past was truly past. The future is ahead and I am in this moment in the NOW.

The beauty and power and the joy in life is not in what happens, it is in the motion, in the movement, and in the constant process of change. Joy is the incredible dance of life. We always know what the next step of our lives should be; which area of our lives needs to be resolved, and where we need to find the courage and self love to start moving.

I encourage you to stop dragging your past along with you as you try to create a future. It is almost time to make those New Years Resolutions for 2007. Take the time to stop and review your life and make the changes necessary so that you can truly enjoy the dance of life and all the pleasure life brings.

Looking forward to being with you next week……I would love to hear what you discovered and how you were feeling.

Love, Mari

A December Message from Mari

Hello my Dear Friends and Family,

I want to remind you that the Usui Retreat will start on the 21st of December…just a few days away. I am doing something a bit different in the retreat space this year. I will be giving you a little spiritual gardening to do.

With all the hustle and bustle of the holidays also comes searching for that perfect gift. The following article is meaningful and will give you some great suggestions. Why not take some time to just chill out and read the newsletter and give yourself permission to recharge your batteries and touch back into your spiritual wellspring.

Expressions of the Heart
Creating Meaningful Homemade Gifts

The gifts we craft with our own hands are often the most significant because the love that drove us to create is infused in the products of our creation. And the recipients of these homemade offerings receive a token of our willingness to invest ourselves in their joy. Allow these ideas to inspire you:

1. When you craft a beautifully decorated prayer box (or jar) for loved ones, you give them the gift of spiritual awareness. As you share this gift, explain that it should serve as a receptacle for their hopes, dreams, and loves—as well as worries—and thus a reminder of who they were, are, and will someday be.

2. If you love journaling, share your writing joy with family and friends by giving each a unique, handmade personal journal. A simple spiral notebook dressed up with paper, fabric, photographs, or other embellishments will give your loved ones a special place to record their private thoughts.

3. Erase the distance between yourself and your far away loved ones by presenting each with a photo journal documenting how your life has changed in the past year. Or introduce them to your locale with a homemade guidebook that highlights everything you love about your town or city.

4. When you sew medicine bags for the people you care about, you can rest assured your gift will always be close to their hearts. A small pouch can be filled with many meditative or symbolic items, such as quartz crystals, sage, or magical objects.

5. A progressive photo album, wherein pictures tell the story of your relationships from the past up to the present, can be a simple yet poignant reminder of the many wonderful experiences you and your loved ones have shared over the years.

6. Give the gift of serenity with a guided meditation you create and record to CD or tape. Your loved ones will take pleasure in being led through tranquil landscapes by the soothing sound of your voice.

7. Hand-crafted ornaments that can be hung on trees, in windows, and on walls afford you an opportunity to surround the important people in your life with beauty. Whether you prefer to work with clay, crystals, fabric, baked dough, or natural objects, your gift can serve as a calming focal point in your loved ones’ homes. Whether you choose to give a gift or simply share your friendship and love, remember that it is the intention behind the thought that is most important.


Hidden Gems
Experiences We Don’t Understand

Sometimes we have an experience that we don’t understand, but if we look deeply, or wait long enough, a reason for that experience will usually reveal itself. All the events in our lives lead to other events, and all that we have manifested in this present moment is the result of past events and experiences. We cannot easily tease apart the many threads that have been woven together to create our current reality. Experiences that don’t make sense, as well as any that we regret, are just as responsible for the good things in our lives as the experiences we do understand or label as “good.”

This is especially important to remember at times when we feel directionless or unsure of what to do. It is often at times like these that we take a job or move to a place without really knowing if it’s the right thing to do. We may ultimately end up leaving the job or the place, but often during that time we will have met someone who becomes an important friend, or we may have an experience that changes us in a profound way. When all the pieces of our life don’t quite make sense, we can remember that there may be some hidden gem of a reason that we are where we are having the experiences we are having.

It’s fun to look back on past experiences with an eye to uncovering those gems—the dreadful temporary job in a bland office building that introduced you to the love of your life; the roommate you couldn’t tolerate who gave you a book that changed your life; the time spent living in a city you didn’t like that led you into a deeper relationship with yourself. Remembering these past experiences can restore our faith in the present. Life is full of buried treasures. Chances are, you’re sitting on some right now.

Let Go And Let Flow
Taking A Leap Of Faith

Many people, in heeding the guidance of their souls, find themselves contemplating goals that seem outrageous or unattainable. In the mind's eye, these individuals stand at the edge of a precipice and look out over the abyss at the fruit of their ambition. Some resist the urge to jump, paralyzed by the gap between their current circumstances and the life of their dreams. Others make a leap of faith into the unknown, unsure of what they will encounter but certain that they will gain more in their attempts than they would bowing to self-protective instincts. This leap can be exceedingly difficult for individuals with control issues because the act of embracing uncertainty requires them to trust that surrender will net them the rewards they seek. Yet when you make a leap of faith, believing without a doubt that you will land safely on the other side, you can accomplish almost anything you set out to do.

There have no doubt been times in your life when you chose to go where the universal flow took you. Yet you may encounter instances in which your objectives require you to step outside of the boundaries of your established comfort zone so that you may freely and actively jettison yourself into a new phase of your life. While you may fear what seems to be the inevitable fall, consider that in all likelihood you will find yourself flying. A successful leap of faith requires your attention, as it is the quiet and often indistinct voice of your inner self that will point you toward your ultimate destination. Understand that the leap across the chasm of ambiguity may challenge you in unforeseen ways but you will make it across if you trust yourself.

If your mind and heart resist, you can dampen this resistance by building a bridge of knowledge. The more you know about the leap you are poised to take, the smaller the gap between "here" and "there" will appear to be. Your courageous leap of faith can lead you into uncharted territory, enabling you to build a new, more adventurous life. Though you may anticipate that fear will be your guide on your journey across the abyss, you will likely discover that exhilaration is your constant companion.



Working From Center
In The Thick Of It

When we are "in the thick of it," overwhelmed by too many things that need our attention, it's important to remember that we are never given more than we can handle. When life's challenges make us question this, our best coping mechanism is to follow the reliable and well-known course to our calm center and anchor ourselves there. It is for these times that we have been practicing regularly, so that our mind, body, and spirit will know how to find the peace within. Even in the midst of seeming chaos, a deep breath can help us turn within to find the space to work from, the calm at the center of the storm.

Tapping into our inner resources we begin again, bringing our focus to the needs of the present moment. Asking "why?" shifts our energy away from the task at hand. We can seek answers to those questions once we get to the other side of the present challenge. For now, we accept what is. Once we have collected scattered energy and created space, inspiration will strike, help will arrive, and what seemed impossible will either become possible or we will find it has become unnecessary. The flow of the universe and its perfect order has room to move in our lives when we get ourselves and our extraneous thoughts out of the way.

After the thick has become thin again, we have the opportunity to learn from the situation with a better idea of our true capabilities. We can now ask ourselves the "why" questions with the goal of fine-tuning our lives. Perhaps we have taken on more than is ours to do or made commitments out of obligation rather than insight. It could just be the ebb and flow and life, or we may be receiving life lessons on a fast track in preparation for something wonderful to come. But when we have a chance to make new choices, we know the best ones are made when we work from center.


Life
Your Perfect Teacher

Many of us long to find a spiritual teacher or guru. We may feel unsure of how to practice our spirituality without one, or we may long for someone who has attained a higher level of insight to lead the way for us. Some of us have been looking for years to no avail and feel frustrated and even lost. The good news is that the greatest teacher you could ever want is always with you-that is your life.

The people and situations we encounter every day have much to teach us when we are open to receiving their wisdom. Often we don't recognize our teachers because they may not look or act like our idea of a guru, yet they may embody great wisdom. In addition, some people teach us by showing us what we don't want to do. All the situations in our lives, from the insignificant to the major, conspire to teach us exactly what we need to be learning at any given time. Patience, compassion, perseverance, honesty, letting go-all these are covered in the classroom of the teacher that is your life.

We can help ourselves to remember this perfect teacher each day with a few simple words. Each morning we might find a moment to say, "I acknowledge and honor the teacher that is my life. May I be wise enough to recognize the teachers and lessons that I encounter today, and may I be open to receiving their wisdom." We might also take some time each day to consider what our lives are trying to teach us at this time. A difficult phase in your relationship with your child may be teaching you to let go. The homeless person you see every day may be showing you the boundaries of your compassion and generosity. A spate of lost items may be asking you to be more present to physical reality. Trust your intuition on the nature of the lesson at hand, work at your own pace, and ask as many questions as you want. Your life has all the answers.


A beautiful site that explains a spiritual experience, take the time to be inspired.

http://www.support4change.com/spirit/explaining.html



Serving The Higher Self
The Ego

In most spiritual circles, the ego gets a pretty bad rap. The reason for this is that the ego, to some extent, is the principle in our psyches that separates us from one another, while spirit is the principle that shows us that no such separation exists. Sometimes the ego is depicted as an almost demonic figure that keeps us from realizing our true nature. But at its most basic, the ego is simply a tool that helps us organize the various aspects of our personality so that we can function in the world. In this sense, the ego is simply a way for us to understand and attend to ourselves at the same time as we understand and attend to the world around us. The ego is a tool that we use to navigate the world.

Perhaps the problem is that the ego sometimes gets out of control. This happens when the higher-self loses control of the psyche. The psyche then falls under the leadership of the ego, an entity that was never meant to lead. The ego is meant to be definitively in the service of the higher self. When this relationship is functioning, the ego is a useful intermediary representing the whole self but not thinking that it is the whole self. Then, it is almost as if the ego is the self playfully pretending to be the separate entity called “I.” Like an actor, the ego plays the roles that the world asks us to play in order to be part of the program. In this way, the ego can be a tool enabling us to be in the world but not of it.

As long as we are in touch with our higher selves, our egos are not a threat. They are simply useful tools in the service of spirit. We keep our egos in check when we continually nurture our awareness of who we really are. Then our egos are free to serve without trying ineffectually to rule. It is healthy to have ego, but like all things in life, ego functions best when it is in balance and harmony with your whole self. "Go back to those times in your life when you came to a crossroad. Your life changed abruptly. You lost someone you loved. You found and committed to a new partner. You had a new baby. You moved geographically. You ran into someone that completely changed your belief system with the fullness and richness and total unconditional-ness of their love for you.

Revisit each of those times in your past to uncover 'godwinks' that were sent to you even if you weren't paying attention; make a list of these 'coincidences' and answered (even if to unexpressed) prayers. This is what you'll discover: when there were multiple paths that your life could've followed, there were always signposts of reassurance - godwinks of personal communication - to you and to no one else on Earth.Here's more good news! The map of winks from God will continue to unfold long into your future if you just look for them. They are experienced to the extent you're open to and seeking them. And acknowledge, finally, that He is communicating directly with you."

-- Squire Rushnell, in When God Winks at You


Have a beautiful and meaningful Holiday Season,

Love, Mari

The Full and True Beauty

Dear Friends and Family,

They say fall is here, yet it is still warm in Texas so that it does not feel like it. I have been longing to see the brilliant colors of autumn leaves and find myself thinking of New England and Eastern Europe as both places have colorful falls and crisper air.

I was in Fredericksburg, Texas over last weekend and contented myself with the landscape and green, graceful Live Oak trees. I remember as a girl jumping in piles of brightly colored leaves. I would always gather as many different colors as I could find and press them in a book. It is still something that I do when I find myself in fall color. There is beauty everywhere when we choose to see it…looking in Fredericksburg last weekend I was graced with a silver rose bush in full bloom, a lovely fluffy cat asleep on the front porch step and the smell of newly mowed bailed hay. I enjoyed them all immensely. I will let you know when I have gathered my leaves!

Love and Blessings,
Mari

"People are a lot like stained glass windows -- the full and true beauty can only be seen when there is abundant light shining from within, and when the viewer is standing back enough to take in the whole view, the big picture, what the 'artist' actually had in mind. Up too close, with a critical eye, you see only the imperfections in the glass. Standing back, taking everything in, you see the stunning artistry of the Maker's intended message. Also, and not coincidentally, the darker the night on the outside (in the form of the world's chaos, conflicts, death, fear, and struggles), the brighter and more beautifully the windows show up."

--Elizabeth Kubler-Ross

Our Inner Image

We can be so hard on ourselves regarding our self-image and surface appearance - are we beautiful enough, sexy enough, slender enough, smart enough, strong enough, successful enough? It can be exhausting, how harshly we measure ourselves, when underneath it all God made us equally precious (and yet unique) masterpieces.

This becomes most visible to others when we remember the truth of it, allowing our inner light to shine, and when the darkness of the world surrounds us, challenging us to "effulge." In the ordinary light of an ordinary day, where we often tend to go unconscious, we rarely truly see each other and often miss the point of life entirely. So, what does this naturally suggest?

Maybe it means that the key to life is "to shine forth most brightly, to radiate, or to beam" (the actual dictionary meaning of the word, "effulge"), consciously and proactively, from your depths, and to find the world's most bitter darkness that waits just for you in which to brighten and cheer things up with your own unique light and the very personal message that God gave you to share. He came here to teach us that - to let our light shine into the darkness of the world - but first we must find it, find Him, within ourselves, amidst our self-doubt and self-hate, and turn it on.
--Jim Spivey

Blessed With a Purpose

Your Life's Work

Many people are committed to professions and personal endeavors they never consciously planned to pursue. They attribute the shape of their lives to circumstance, taking on roles they feel are tolerable. Each of us, however, has been blessed with a purpose. Your life's work is the assemblage of activities that allows you to express your intelligence and creativity, lives in accordance with your values, and experience the profound joy of simply being yourself. Unlike traditional work, which may demand more of you than you are willing to give, life's work demands nothing but your intent and passion for that work.

Yet no one is born with an understanding of the scope of their purpose. If you have drifted through life, you may feel directionless. Striving to discover your life's work can help you realize your true potential and live a more authentic, driven life. To make this discovery, you must consider your interests in the present and the passions that moved you in the past. You may have felt attracted to a certain discipline or profession throughout your young life only to have steered away from your aspirations upon reaching adulthood.

Or you may be harboring an interest as of yet unexplored. Consider what calls to you and then narrow it down. If you want to work with your hands, ask yourself what work will allow you to do so. You may be able to refine your life's work within the context of your current occupations. If you want to change the world, consider whether your skills and talents lend themselves to philanthropic work. Taking stock of your strengths, passions, beliefs, and values can help you refine your search for purpose if you don't know where to begin.

Additionally, in your daily meditation, ask the universe to clarify your life's work by providing signs and be sure to pay attention. Since life's journey is one of evolution, you may need to redefine your direction on multiple occasions throughout your lifetime. For instance, being an amazing parent can be your life's work strongly for 18 years, and then perhaps you have different work to do.

Your life's work may not be something you are recognized or financially compensated for, such as parenting, a beloved hobby, or a variety of other activities typically deemed inconsequential. Your love for a pursuit, however, gives it meaning. You'll know you have discovered your life's work when you wake eager to face each day and you feel good about not only what you do but also who you are.

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Learn and Let Flow

We Don't Need To Suffer

The idea that we have to suffer or live in poverty in order to be spiritual is an old one and can be found in the belief systems of many philosophies. Most of us carry this idea around subconsciously, and we may be holding ourselves back from financial or emotional well-being, believing that this is what we must do in order to be virtuous, spiritually awake, or feel less guilty for the suffering of others. While it's true that there can be a spiritual purpose to experiencing a lack of material well-being, it is rarely intended to be a permanent or lifelong experience.

What we are meant to find when material or emotional resources are in short supply is that there is more to our lives than the physical realm. Intense relationships and material abundance can distract us from the subtler realm of the spirit, so a time of deficiency can be spiritually awakening. However, once we recognize the realm of spirit, and remember to hold it at the center of our lives, there is no reason to dwell in poverty or emotional isolation. In fact, once our connection to spirit is fully intact, we feel so compelled to share our abundance that lack becomes a thing of the past.

If you find that you are experiencing suffering in some area of your physical life, perhaps your spirit is asking you to look deeper in your search for what you want. For example, if you want money so that you can experience the feeling of security but money keeps eluding you, your spirit may be asking you to understand that security is not to be found through money. Security comes from an unshakable connection to your soul. Once you make that connection, money will probably flow more easily into your life.

If relationships elude you, your spirit may be calling you to recognize that the love you seek is not to be found in another person. And yet, ironically, once you find the love, your true love may very well appear. If you feel stuck in suffering to live a spiritual life, try to spend some time writing about it. The root of the problem will appear and it may not be what you expected. Remember, the Universe wants you to be happy.

Following the Current

Going with the Flow

The expression going with the flow is a metaphor that applies to navigating a river. When we go with the flow, we follow the current of the river rather than push against it. People who go with the flow may be interpreted as lazy or passive, but to truly go with the flow requires awareness, presence, and the ability to blend one's own energy with the prevailing energy.

Going with the flow doesn't mean we toss our oars into the water and kick back in the boat, hoping for the best. Going with the flow means we let go of our individual agenda and notice the play of energy all around us. We tap into that energy and flow with it, which gets us going where we need to go a whole lot faster than resistance will. Going with the flow doesn't mean that we don't know where we're going; it means that we are open to multiple ways of getting there. We are also open to changing our destination, clinging more to the essence of our goal than to the particulars. We acknowledge that letting go and modifying our plans is part of the process. Going with the flow means that we are aware of an energy that is larger than our small selves and we are open to working with it, not against it.

Many of us are afraid of going with the flow because we don't trust that we will get where we want to go if we do. This causes us to cling to plans that aren't working, stick to routes that are obstructed, and obsess over relationships that aren't fulfilling. When you find yourself stuck in these kinds of patterns, do yourself a favor and open to the flow of what is rather than resisting it. Trust that the big river of your life has a plan for you and let it carry you onward. Throw overboard those things that are weighing you down. Be open to revising your maps. Take a deep breath and move into the current.

Managing the Power of Choice
Carolyn Myss, Ph. D., in Anatomy of the Spirit

"Managing the power of choice, with all its creative and spiritual implications, is the essence of the human experience. All spiritual teachings are directed toward inspiring us to recognize that the power to make choices is the dynamic that converts our spiritual intent into matter, our words into flesh.

Choice, and the intention and words that naturally follow, is the process of creation itself. The fact that our choices weave our spirits into events is the reason the major spiritual traditions are formed around one essential lesson: Make your choices wisely, because each choice you make is the genesis of a creative act of spiritual power for which you will be held responsible. Further, any choice made from faith has the full power of heaven behind it - that is why 'faith the size of a mustard seed can move a mountain.' And any choice made from fear is a violation of the energy of faith and will result in the experience of chaos, no matter what circumstances ensue.

We are both physical beings in a spiritual body and spiritual beings in a physical body, but since the physical world cannot be controlled, the task before us is to master our inner spiritual responses to the external world - those being our thoughts and emotions. Nevertheless, we all struggle in a seemingly never-ending cycle of disappointment in which we attempt to control our lives and the lives of others. We search endlessly for the one grand choice that will put everything in our lives into permanent order, halting the natural motion of change long enough to establish final control over everyone and everything. Is that the right career move? Is this the right marriage partner? Are we in the right location? In seeking this one right choice constantly, we give form to our fear of the changing rhythm that is life itself.

In looking for this single external circumstance, community, person or thing that that will forever bring us stability, peace, love, or health, we dismiss the more authentic power that lies 'behind our eyes and not in front of them.' The truth contained within the paradoxical nature of dualism is this: It is not what or who we choose that matters; our power to influence an outcome lies in our motivation or reasons for making the choices we make.

In learning about our motivations, we learn about the content of our spirits. Are you filled with fear, or are you filled with faith? Every choice we make contains the energy of either faith or fear, and the outcome of every decision reflects to some extent that faith or fear. This dynamic of choice guarantees that we cannot run away from ourselves or our decisions. And in order to learn about our motivations - to discover our own personal 'false gods' - we need relationships.

To form a relationship, we use some of our energy or personal power. Once the relationship is formed, we may ask, often unconsciously: Is this relationship drawing power from me, or am I drawing power from it? Where do I end, and where does the other person begin? What is my power, and what is the other person's power? Am I compromising myself, in exchange for status, safety, peace, or money? While these questions are essentially healthy, in most relationships we begin thinking in terms of psychologically divisive and conflict-inducing opposites: me or you, mine or yours, good or bad, winner or loser, right or wrong, legitimate or not, rich or poor.

Symbolically, these conflicts represent most people's relationship to God: my power or yours - are you really with me here on this earth, or must I try to control and manage things myself? And even if I do believe God is maneuvering behind the scenes, how do I know what choices to make? This primary conflict in and crisis of faith is present in every one of our relationships.

Paradoxically, our challenge in managing these conflicting energies is to maintain them in the consciousness of the inherent oneness of all that is. We begin this journey by exploring the conflict within our relationships: Relationships naturally generate conflict, conflict generates choice, choice generates movement, and movement generates more conflict. We break free of this vicious cycle only by making choices that transcend dualism and the perceived divisions between ourselves and others, and between ourselves and God.

So long as we focus on trying to control another person and forget that that person is a mirror reflecting back to us our own qualities, we keep conflict alive within ourselves. Seeing ourselves and others in symbolic union, however, help us to better first accommodate and then celebrate our perceived differences."

Exploring Divinity- the Reiki Way
V.N.Mittal

As a child I would sit through the ritual of Yagya (Hom) with my father for more than an hour as a passive participant The Vedic mantras chanted in the yagya, though, appeared musical to my innocent ears, yet were of little interest to me ,then, as I would understand neither their meaning nor their significance. What kept me waiting patiently as a silent witness was the Halwa (sweets) Prasad distributed after the observance. I failed to understand as to how could one conceive and meditate on something which was formless and not perceptible.

My visits to local temples further added to my dilemma rather than connect me to the Divine. Confusing images of God would conjure up in my adolescent mind, after noticing different deities installed on the altar. The Ram Leela enacted in my small town as an annual feature erected images and lasting imprints of Ram as God , the Mahabharata of Lord Krishna , Shiva’s lingam in a local temple that of Lord Shiva and so on. I was left completely mystified.

As I grew up, my quest became stronger and stronger. I sincerely looked for answers to end my confusion, whether to worship the deities or offer my prayers to a formless God. Just in that moment of my bewilderment, I invoked Reiki to guide my path, awaken in me the Divinity and ferry me to the realm of truth. With my self awareness thus provoked and stimulated by Reiki, I was on my way to experience the unfolding of the mystery.

In my usual prayers every morning, I would sit in my backyard doing my Gassho Meditation but this one proved fateful. While I sat there meditating on Mikao Usui’s Reiki precepts – the secret Mantra for achieving happiness, my eyes fell on a mango tree and its branches shooting out from its stem in all directions like the hands of a damsel dancing with joy. As I was appreciating the beauty of the form, my mind took me beyond the form through the vacant spaces between the branches. The sight of the passing clouds on the blue sky sent a thrill into me when I found surreal shapes rising out of the clouds and dismantling into formless again. And yet, the bizarre forms seemed to gather light in the dark dim centre of my mind to appear as real, full of life and blood, I could feel His presence emerging from formless to form and melting into formless again.


Shapes after shapes in all things that He has sculpted flashed upon my inward eye. Did God conceive and pre design them or they just emerged as gifts of His ingenuity to the mankind? The appearance of forms and then their melting into formless motivated me so much that I picked up my chisel and a flat piece of wood lying in my garden to carve out some unknown shape. Soon, I found myself sculpting the wood not knowing or conceiving in advance what would come out of my exercise. And lo, a meaningful form started emerging as I would dig deeper and deeper. Every stroke of the chisel seemed to bare the hidden beauty of the sculpture. A form was evolving from the formless converging into Nirakar [formless] again like the melting sculptures in the drifting clouds.

The two episodes obviously motivated by Reiki, made me realize that God is formless but assumes a form that a human mind conceives of. In fact God is beyond form and could be reached either through forms or without form. It is immaterial how one approaches Him, whether through form as a crutch or without form. What is important is to get started and sincerely explore Him with devotion, without reservation of any kind. Seek the blessings of Reiki to open the doors of your soul to the realm of bliss and to experience your true Divinity.


Check it out!
A web site dedicated for children in Reiki. It is so great to see little hands at work.

http://www.reikikids.com/


And finally take a few minutes click on this link and see this beautiful message.

4 Candles

I wish you Faith Hope Love and Peace today and everyday.

Blessings, Mari

Fall Synchronicity

My Dear Friends and Family,

In Texas I can’t say that fall is in the air with temperatures of 100 plus. The only thing fall like is that my grandchildren have gone back to school. Of course when I was their age we went back to school after Labor Day and the air was certainly crisper in the North East of our country. But of course that was way back when. So there is a peace that has descended on the house during the day as the cats and I fill the space until they come home again. Stretching ahead is autumn and then winter; cycles of life to enjoy in so many various forms.

I love how synchronicity plays with me. I had been upset for not being able to do more of “The Work” and wondering just what “Life” was calling me out to do when this came to me today. It is an excerpt but certainly timely…it is about partnership and enrolling others into this beautiful dance of life.

“…as you inspire others to participate in charitable action, you cease to be an individual striving for a massive cause and become a member of a network of humanity championing for a manageable cause. You’ll see the results of your efforts immediately and take pride in your ability to recruit aides. When you ask others to become a part of your efforts today, you’ll be able to accomplish more than you believed possible.”

I have been having conversations lately with several people about self-forgiveness and that the real job is allowing that forgiveness into us. It seems that it is easy for us to forgive others, but harder to take their forgiveness in or to forgive ourselves for what we “Know” we did in the past or how we “Know” we are. I also received this reminder this morning…

"Many promising reconciliations have broken down because, while both parties came prepared to forgive, neither party came prepared to be forgiven."
-- Charles Williams

All I can say is Yes I am listening and I will do my work. Come join me in BEing the love and peace we wish to see and experience in the world!



The Wisdom Of Sharing
Stone Soup

There are many variations on the story of stone soup, but they all involve a traveler coming into a town beset by famine.

The inhabitants try to discourage the traveler from staying, fearing he wants them to give him food. They tell him in no uncertain terms that there's no food anywhere to be found. The traveler explains that he doesn't need any food and that, in fact, he was planning to make a soup to share with all of them.

The villagers watched suspiciously as he builds a fire and fills a cauldron with water. With great ceremony, he pulls a stone from a bag, dropping the stone into the pot of water. He sniffs the brew extravagantly and exclaims how delicious stone soup is. As the villagers begin to show interest, he mentions how good the soup would be with just a little cabbage in it. A villager brings out a cabbage to share. This episode repeats itself until the soup has cabbage, carrots, onions, and beets-indeed, a substantial soup that feeds everyone in the village.

This story addresses the human tendency to hoard in times of deprivation. When resources are scarce, we pull back and put all of our energy into self-preservation. We isolate ourselves and shut out others.

As the story of stone soup reveals, in doing so, we often deprive ourselves and everyone else of a feast. This metaphor plays out beyond the realm of food. We hoard ideas, love, and energy, thinking we will be richer if we keep to them to ourselves, when in truth we make the world, and ourselves, poorer whenever we greedily stockpile our reserves.

The traveler was able to see that the villagers were holding back, and he had the genius to draw them out and inspire them to give, thus creating a spread that none of them could have created alone. Are you like one of the villagers, holding back? If you come forward and share your gifts, you will inspire others to do the same. The reward is a banquet that can nourish many.


The following piece has the ring of truth.


The Choice is Ours.

With momentum building toward the election in November, I have been reflecting on “freedom,” “power,” many of the “rights” of which our forefathers spoke.

First, perhaps we need a mature, social consensus on what “freedom” and “power” really mean, not one that has been shaped by separated egos intent on using them to achieve their personal goals. What does “freedom” and “power” mean in a society that is evolving, having learned the lessons of the past and moving toward a future that is open and invites us to create something new.

We cannot project the undesirable state of affairs today onto those “in power,” which are making decisions that affect the world. This power could be better described as “force” as David Hawkins discusses in Power vs. Force. We each have god-given power waiting to be used for the good of the whole. When we, as a people, agree on a vision that serves all humankind, and merge that energy with that of others who share the vision, we have the power to make it happen. We have the freedom to choose. Will we continue to “pass the buck” or will we stand up and “be the change we wish to see in the world?”

We are at a critical crossroads. We are witnessing the breakdown in all the systems we have taken for granted in our love affair with acquisition and extravagant consumption of the world’s goods, which belong to all inhabitants. That which served us in the past is no longer working – its time has passed. We are invited to confront our feelings of fear and impotence, to discover who we really are and to discover those others who are ready to write a new script for the human family. Claiming, or reclaiming, our own power can produce results beyond anything we might imagine. We are limited only by our imagination. All that we take for granted today was once only a figment of someone’s imagination.

The media has a responsible role in our re-education. We cannot continue to allow the old script and trying to “fix” it, to drain us of energy that is waiting to be freed to give birth to the new vision that is rising. Around the world some amazing shifts are taking place (see www.evolve.org), which are rarely reported by the media. We need more of the “good news” to encourage, inspire and validate what is rising within the hearts and minds of those who are awakening, an awakening that would move us from adolescence to adulthood as a species.

The time is now and we are the ones. If not us, who? “Because we have the means and the opportunity to achieve an evolutionary bounce [rather than an evolutionary crash] being alive at this time confers on us a unique opportunity…. We are the leaders we have been waiting for…. We can get there together…. There is promise ahead.” (Promise Ahead; A Vision of Hope and Action for Humanity’s Future, Duane Elgin)

We are both the cause and the cure for what is happening in our world today. We have the power and the potential to change things. The choice is ours.

From the SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE - 8.4.06
By Kelley Kelsey kelleykelsey@sbcglobal.net

Week Three Usui Retreat- Detachment

Detachment

Jim Spivey is a coach and trainer here in Houston that sends out daily e-mail thoughts. Often I find that what he is writing about will dovetail with issues I am going through at that moment in my life. Our demands and expectations, I.E. attachments give cause to so much unhappiness in our lives that I have decided to use this as the final weeks focus in this our 10th anniversary of the Usui Virtual Retreat. Jim’s contact information is at the end of this letter.

Note: It will be helpful to have a journal and a pen ready to use after the meditation. It is also great if you can have someone read the meditation to you or that you prerecord it and play it back for yourself. When I first did this meditation I wrote down in my journal what I knew I was attached to and wanted clarification about.

But first some wise words on the subject of Attachment that Jim had shared...

"If you look carefully you will see that there is one thing and only one thing that cause unhappiness. The name of that thing is attachment. What is an attachment? It is an emotional state of desperate clinging caused by the belief that without some particular thing or some person you cannot be happy."

Anthony de Mello

"The fear of loss is a path to the dark side. … Attachment leads to jealousy. The shadow of greed, that is. Train yourself to let go of everything and everyone you fear to lose. And yet, still love and give of yourself...”

Yoda, Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith

"Whenever you start to mention detachment, there is the severe risk of being misunderstood. More than that, it is a concept that takes living with and studying a long, long time before it clarifies. My present understanding is clouded by the fact that as much as I would like to lay claim to it, I am mostly anything but detached. ...Many seem to think that detachment basically means deprivation. ... For many, the Lenten practice of 'giving something up' serves as a useful penance and reminder of the sacrifice made for us. However, if most are like me, a great deal of thought is lavished on what is given up. That is, we feel the occasional craving for chocolate, or cigarettes, or whatever it is that we have given up, feeling the strong need we have for these enjoyments. We resist giving in, but have the promise that in another couple of weeks we can be back to normal.

While giving things up is training and strengthening the will in what detachment is about, it isn't detachment. And it has occurred to me that detachment is never an end in itself and it is a goal that is achieved only by means other than seeking it. ...

...detachment boils down to a right ordering of loves. ...

I am thinking more about it, and detachment may also be a training in the right ordering of thoughts and of ourselves in the universe. Detachment teaches us that what is 'ours' is really not ours and is only lent to us as we need it. Even 'my child' is 'the child who, through the grace of Creator, I hold in trust.'

Detachment teaches us to look through the surface of things and see behind them to the true wonder of the fact that they exist at all, all sustained by Creator’s gentle breath and will. ... I rejoice in the rose not for the rose but for what the rose whispers about who made her. I rejoice in the moment, because Creator is with me and within me, sustaining me and helping me see. That is detachment -- learning to love as Creator loves and because I abandon the need to own what I love, I can let it be what it truly is in Him, with no attachment."

Steven Riddle


Meditation on Attachments and Detachment
Using the Awareness of Your Breath

Sit or lay in a comfortable position. Have your journal and pen nearby so that it is easy to reach once you have finished. It is important that you do not fall asleep, but that you are relaxed. Have the intention in this meditative experience to come into a deeper and meaningful relationship with your attachments and becoming detached.

Close your eyes and begin to take deep, slow breaths. Inhale for a count of seven, hold your breath for a count of three, and then exhale for a count of seven. Do not force air from your lungs; allow it to gently leave you. Each in breath brings you to a deeper state of relaxation, each time to exhale you are letting go of all cares, thoughts, and concerns. In this space of time allow your body and mind to fully relax, your energy to expand knowing that you are perfectly safe…supported…and peaceful. If you hear any noise, it will not disturb you. In fact, it will help you to intensify this experience.

Anytime you feel yourself slipping from this state of relaxation, just take a slow, deep, inhaling breath and as you release it, mentally repeat the word “relax” and you will move back into a deep, abiding state of perfect peace.

Whatever thoughts you might have, allow them to drift past you as your mind empties of its chatter and relaxes even more. Do not resist anything. Acknowledge it and release it, allowing it to float away as you move into a deeper, more peaceful state of being…Nothing outside of how you feel right this moment even exists. You are at the deepest, most relaxed state of body and mind that you have ever experienced. You are totally relaxed… your heart rate, blood pressure, and number of breaths have been reduced significantly, leaving your body in a very relaxed state of perfect health and harmony.

Your breath is your lifeline to your physical body and connection to Spirit. Begin to visualize your breath coming in the top of your head and then out of your heart. Do this several times until it feels natural. Then breathe in through the middle of your forehead, which is called your Third Eye, bringing your breath down through your heart and out of the palms of your hands until this pattern feels natural.

Now breathe through the bottoms of both feet, allowing this breath of life to course through every cell in your entire body and out the top of your head. Take note of how you feel. Notice what you are feeling and what thoughts and emotions are coming up for you as you continue to breathe in this pattern.

Shift your attention from your breath and allow yourself to fully experience that you are traveling on a path that is loving and comfortable… Allow yourself to be fully aware of all your senses as you continue your journey… What do you see? Feel the weather on your face as you are walking. Do you feel a slight breeze, the warmth of the sun; what are you feeling and smelling as you continue your journey? Take in all the information about your journey, what all your senses see, feel, touch, and taste.

Ahead you see a door. Notice where it is and what it looks like, what it is made of. As you walk towards the door, you may feel as if this door is familiar, as if you have been here before. You feel perfectly safe and relaxed. How large is the door? Describe the door in your mind’s eye…Is it open or closed? Touch it. What does the door feel like? You know in all your being that the meaning the word you have chosen and how it applies in your life of will be clearer for you once you choose to see what is on the other side of the door. In order to do this, the door must be open and you must step through. Are you ready? Open to your highest and greatest good and step through….allow your mind’s eye to focus as you look around. What do you see? Is there someone there for you? … Feel yourself in the presence of a Being of Light and Love. In your mind’s eye there is someone stepping forward to guide you through your time here. You are open to this experience. Remember in detail how he or she is dressed and anything else that might help you to recognize them in the future.

Your guide motions you to follow and takes you into a space in a clearing. Many other beings are there emanating a great sense of peace and love that you intimately remember. They have taken their place with you to assist you with quick and easy processing of your question about attachments and becoming detached. You tell them that you are questioning about what you are attached to and why and how to become detached; ask them for guidance. They encircle you radiating loving energy to you and ask that you understand about loving and showing love in every aspect of your mind, body and spirit. You look at each aspect of your thoughts and experience thus far, accepting, loving, healing and integrating all of this “knowing” into you. You have some time in silence to experience this work (allow about two minutes to pass) When the process is complete, thank all who are there for the assistance they have given you. Now take a deep, cleansing breath and exhale …you will find yourself back at the doorway. Your guide is no longer there; however, you know that you can come back here at any time. You remember everything. You are expanded, full of wisdom, and ready to return and write in your journal about your experience.

Take a deep breathe and allow yourself to feel where you are sitting or lying. Feel your connection to this space and how your body feels in the present. Keeping your eyes closed, stretch your body slowly, then move your toes, fingers, and stretch out your arms and legs. When you are ready, slowly open your eyes. Immediately pick up your pen and begin to write in your journal while it is all fresh in your mind.

Honor yourself for your work…Being detached from others and out comes gives so much freedom to love and certainly opens the door to so much possibility. I appreciate the time you have taken these three weeks to work through the meditations, send energy to Mother Earth and be with yourself. As we know it is so important to take time to reconnect to our source and clear the space for more light to be there. I hope to see you in the near future. The next 21-day Virtual Usui retreat starts on December 21st

I am leaving you with a few more thoughts:

"Love is but the discovery of ourselves in others, regardless of the surface appearance of their circumstances, and the total delight in the recognition."
-- Alexander Smith

"There is a story about a rich father who takes his son on a trip to the countryside to show him how poor some people are. They find and spend time with one particular family in their very simple home. The child is quiet through the whole trip and visit. On their way home, the father asks his son what he learned from it all, to which his son responds: 'Dad, I saw that we have one dog, and they have seven. We have a nice swimming pool in the back yard, but they have a really cool creek running behind their house, with fish and frogs and rocks and flowers. We have many fancy lights and colorful lanterns all around our property, but they can see countless stars at night. We have high walls for protection, but they have lots of good friends all around to look after them. Thanks, Dad, for showing me how poor we are.”
Fr. Jerry Orbos


Love and Blessings,
Mari

Jim SpiveyRevolution Consulting2219 McDuffieHouston, TX 77019(713) 854-4848www.revolutionconsulting.com

"helping people come ALIVE, and thrive,in their personal and business relationships"

If you would like to listen to an interview with Mari with Bronwen Stein in Australia follow this link: http://www.reiki.net.au/copy.asp?id=PodcastMariH

Week Two Usui Retreat- Changing is Easy-Sustaining change is Hard

Note: It will be helpful to have a journal and a pen ready to use after the meditation. It is also great if you can have someone read the meditation to you or that you prerecord it and play it back for yourself. When I did first did this meditation I also wrote down in my journal what points I wanted to include when I redefined my dream while still remaining open to what life slotted in.


Changing is easy. Sustaining change is hard.

Remember how few New Year's resolutions you have actually kept. Now think of 'change initiatives' in the business world. Change has become a way of life at work. Yet, for many of us somehow, the changes never seemed to really matter or last.

Could it be that expectations are part of the problem? We know most people live either in the past or in the future, hoping to dodge the responsibilities, opportunities, limits, and demands of the present moment.

I would like you to think of the handful of people you may know who had been through real change. Not a small adjustment that might have felt big at the time, but the real thing - dramatic, life-changing, to-the-core stuff. Probably in every case that you can think of, the person affected had grown significantly, especially in wisdom, tolerance, relational maturity, impact, and overall life effectiveness.

Constructive, real change made people BOTH stronger AND more loving. It helped them become better, healthier, more relational human beings. They moved forward in life with more confidence, peace, and a profound sense of purpose.

Perhaps it is time to redefine your dream. Not of what you'll do ...but of who you'll become.Remembered that famous question from your childhood: what are you going to be when you grow up? No one ever asked us who we would be when we grew up.

As an adult, the first question strangers usually asked us was, what do you do? I wondered why. Maybe it has to do with the need for visible success, and how we define it. This makes sense because almost everyone in business defines success by the balance sheet.Success is neither good nor bad. Success is neutral. How we define it leads us to goodness or deceit.

If the what precedes the who, we will more likely connect to a misguided personal meaning of success. Most often, it'll be tied to position and money.Don't misunderstand, there's nothing wrong with money or position. It's just a question of whether they are our means or our end. If they become our desired end, we will have most likely developed a subtle, but powerful addiction. This is not intentional; addictions are not deliberately created. But intentional or not, the results are the same. Most addictions become increasingly hard to support.

In the case of addiction to material success, we create a certain exclusive lifestyle within a certain exclusive community. If going up is seen as success, I can guarantee you that going down is seen and felt as a painful failure. We begin to need what we want, rather than want what we need. And much like the greyhound at the dog track, we will never catch the rabbit. That is, unless we are living intentionally.

Remember, no one's doomed forever in this life when they find themselves lost in this way. But it does take extraordinary courage to change directions. Addictions are always painful to abandon. The cure itself is always a challenge, and might seem more painful than the problem, but that's an illusion which reveals itself in time when everything starts to unravel in the world of relationships. It takes a disciplined mind to give up anything. There's a tremendous resistance that we must break through to move forward.

Think of the immense energy and momentum that it takes to launch a space shuttle and the resistance it met as it tried to leave, and then reenter Earth's atmosphere.It takes a strong person to define success by who (vs. what) he or she wants to become. You may reflect on the very few people you have known who had taken this road. Perhaps you know someone who had walked away from enormous financial gain to follow their heart in other ways. I remember Dave, one of the most brilliant individuals I met, who turned down lucrative offers from top law firms to join the navy in order to use his incredible mind to serve his country.

Work is only an arena where you can bring the who to life. Where you are is not nearly as significant as who you are. Life on the surface doesn't need a lot of documentation, it is when we take the time to dive deep we discover who we are.

The concept taken from…John G. Blumberg, in Silent Alarm


Perhaps it is time to redefine your dream. Not of what you'll do ...but of who you'll become.


Meditation on redefining your dream of who you will become
Using the Awareness of Your Breath

Sit or lay in a comfortable position. Have your journal and pen nearby so that it is easy to reach once you have finished. It is important that you do not fall asleep, but that you are relaxed. Have the intention that this meditative experience will help you redefine your dream of who you will become.

Close your eyes and begin to take deep, slow breaths. Inhale for a count of seven, hold your breath for a count of three, and then exhale for a count of seven. Do not force air from your lungs; allow it to gently leave you. Each in breath brings you to a deeper state of relaxation, each time to exhale you are letting go of all cares, thoughts, and concerns. In this space of time allow your body and mind to fully relax, your energy to expand knowing that you are perfectly safe…supported…and peaceful. If you hear any noise, it will not disturb you. In fact, it will help you to intensify this experience.

Anytime you feel yourself slipping from this state of relaxation, just take a slow, deep, inhaling breath and as you release it, mentally repeat the word “relax” and you will move back into a deep, abiding state of perfect peace.

Whatever thoughts you might have, allow them to drift past you as your mind empties of its chatter and relaxes even more. Do not resist anything. Acknowledge it and release it, allowing it to float away as you move into a deeper, more peaceful state of being…Nothing outside of how you feel right this moment even exists. You are at the deepest, most relaxed state of body and mind that you have ever experienced. You are totally relaxed… your heart rate, blood pressure, and number of breaths have been reduced significantly, leaving your body in a very relaxed state of perfect health and harmony.

Your breath is your lifeline to your physical body and connection to Spirit. Begin to visualize your breath coming in the top of your head and then out of your heart. Do this several times until it feels natural. Then breathe in through the middle of your forehead, which is called your Third Eye, bringing your breath down through your heart and out of the palms of your hands until this pattern feels natural.

Now breathe through the bottoms of both feet, allowing this breath of life to course through every cell in your entire body and out the top of your head. Take note of how you feel. Notice what you are feeling and what thoughts and emotions are coming up for you as you continue to breathe in this pattern.

Shift your attention from your breath and allow yourself to fully experience that you are traveling on a path that is loving and comfortable… Allow yourself to be fully aware of all your senses as you continue your journey… What do you see? Feel the weather on your face as you are walking. Do you feel a slight breeze, the warmth of the sun; what are you feeling and smelling as you continue your journey? Take in all the information about your journey, what all your senses see, feel, touch, and taste.

Ahead you see a door. Notice where it is and what it looks like, what it is made of. As you walk towards the door, you may feel as if this door is familiar, as if you have been here before. You feel perfectly safe and relaxed. How large is the door? Describe the door in your mind’s eye…Is it open or closed? Touch it. What does the door feel like? You know in all your being that the question you have and how it applies in your life of will be clearer for you once you choose to see what is on the other side of the door. In order to do this, the door must be open and you must step through. Are you ready? Open to your highest and greatest good and step through….allow your mind’s eye to focus as you look around. What do you see? Is there someone there for you? … Feel yourself in the presence of a Being of Light and Love. In your mind’s eye there is someone stepping forward to guide you through your time here. You are open to this experience. Remember in detail how he or she is dressed and anything else that might help you to recognize them in the future.

Your guide motions you to follow and takes you into a space in a clearing. Many other beings are there emanating a great sense of peace and love that you intimately remember. They have taken their place with you to assist you with quick and easy processing of your question. You tell them that you wish their help to redefine your dream of who you will become; ask them for guidance. They encircle you radiating loving energy to you and ask that you understand about loving and showing love in every aspect of your mind, body and spirit. You look at each aspect of your thoughts and experience thus far, accepting, loving, healing and integrating all of this “knowing” into you. You have some time in silence to experience this work (allow about two minutes to pass) When the process is complete, thank all who are there for the assistance they have given you. Now take a deep, cleansing breath and exhale …you will find yourself back at the doorway. Your guide is no longer there; however, you know that you can come back here at any time. You remember everything. You are expanded, full of wisdom, and ready to return and write in your journal about your experience.

Take a deep breathe and allow yourself to feel where you are sitting or lying. Feel your connection to this space and how your body feels in the present. Keeping your eyes closed, stretch your body slowly, then move your toes, fingers, and stretch out your arms and legs. When you are ready, slowly open your eyes. Immediately pick up your pen and begin to write in your journal while it is all fresh in your mind.

Honor yourself for your work….Redefining who you will be and not what you do gives space for deeper connections and possibilities. See you here next week.

Love and Blessings,
Mari


Contact for Jim Spivey: Revolution Consulting2219 McDuffieHouston, TX 77019(713) 854-4848www.revolutionconsulting.com

"helping people come ALIVE, and thrive,in their personal and business relationships"

If you would like to listen to an interview with Mari with Bronwen Stein in Australia follow this link: http://www.reiki.net.au/copy.asp?id=PodcastMariH

Usui Retreat Week One- Relationship to Love

Welcome to the 10th Anniversay of the 21 day Virtual Usui Retreat.

As a Teacher/ practitioner of Reiki I have been asked how long should I be in the practice of Reiki before I teach. My reply is that your answer comes in time because it is a process of surrender so that when you are with your students you embody the message of Reiki. Somehow what you do touches their soul with love because you are that love and are Reiki. This morning I received this from Jim Spivey and am passing it along to you. It is another way to look at it.

Rickie Byars-Beckwith said it this way, "To have soul, you must somewhere be connected to divine presence. People who 'have soul' have a certain way of expressing themselves. What they're saying is real for them, and they have the facility, the ability to touch you with it. There's this sense that they're not trying to transmit anything to you, but transmission is taking place. They're in tune with themselves and their Creator. They have flowing rhythm in their message. They have an understanding of the way things really are, and what they're here to do about it. There is a strong heart commitment and a natural way of being, and in their way of being, there's something that is universally on point, whether they know it or not. Soulful people love with a big love, with 'THE' BIG LOVE!"


Relationship to Love

Note: For the meditations we will be doing for this 10th Anniversary Usui Retreat it may be handy to have someone read the meditation to you or that you prerecord the meditation before hand and play it to yourself, also to have a pen and journal or paper handy to write what came up for you after you have done the meditation.


Genuine relationships are God's greatest gift. Think about how many people you have been blessed to know and bring them to mind. There are so many wonderful people. Love is what matters most.

There are so many kinds of love, and most of us find we have failed to love in so many ways. Love and busyness don't mix too well. Think about the pace of life in America, do you wonder if anyone really remembered how or had time to love.

Can you think about how connected you think you are to so many people? Do you have a lot of networking contacts, but do those contacts amount to a real community of friends. Do you think other people are in similar situations?

Who do you know you love? Do your actions always show it? Do you really love others? Can you love others? Are you capable of love?I want to suggest that the answer is sometimes, if you choose. And yes.We tend to forget about many whom we ought to love. We are so busy building a network that we are forgetting to love and cherish the relationships we already have. As we work to add more and more people to our network, we undermine our ability to enjoy the people we already know.

So many people suffer from a desperate need to be interesting in the world. Celebrities want to be interesting and everyone else follows their lead, if only through the kind of attention they pay them. Everyone is trying to outdo everyone else so as not to fall behind in the race for visible success and a visible audience.Interest is the answer. But it's about being a person who is interested in others, rather than a person who is interesting.

The concept of love has been greatly misunderstood and abused by so many. We are not alone here. It's not about how busy we are, although that sounds like an excellent excuse. There are many busy people out there who love. It's about motive. Busyness is only a problem when love requires you to stop and pay attention to another and you can't, when you're too addicted to other things.

Think of all the workshops and training you have attended in your career: negotiating skills, customer service, team-building, handling tough clients, effective communications, executive development, motivating others, and more. It is strange that these workshops represented so many ideas and strategies for developing skills, but that not one instructor had ever mentioned the importance of being loving.

Perhaps the best workshops could be presented in no more than fifteen minutes. You may laugh as you imagine this scenario: 'Do you want to give incredible customer service? Love your customers. Do you want to retain your best employees? Love them. Do you want to build better relationships with tough people? Love them. Do you want to have more effective leadership teams? Love your teammates.'"

This concept has been taken from --- John G. Blumberg, in Silent Alarm


Meditation on Love and Loving
Using the Awareness of Your Breath

Sit or lay in a comfortable position. Have your journal and pen nearby so that it is easy to reach once you have finished. It is important that you do not fall asleep, but that you are relaxed. Have the intention in this meditative experience to come into a deeper and meaningful relationship with how you love and if your actions always show it or not.

Close your eyes and begin to take deep, slow breaths. Inhale for a count of seven, hold your breath for a count of three, and then exhale for a count of seven. Do not force air from your lungs; allow it to gently leave you. Each in breath brings you to a deeper state of relaxation, each time to exhale you are letting go of all cares, thoughts, and concerns. In this space of time allow your body and mind to fully relax, your energy to expand knowing that you are perfectly safe…supported…and peaceful. If you hear any noise, it will not disturb you. In fact, it will help you to intensify this experience.

Anytime you feel yourself slipping from this state of relaxation, just take a slow, deep, inhaling breath and as you release it, mentally repeat the word “relax” and you will move back into a deep, abiding state of perfect peace.

Whatever thoughts you might have, allow them to drift past you as your mind empties of its chatter and relaxes even more. Do not resist anything. Acknowledge it and release it, allowing it to float away as you move into a deeper, more peaceful state of being…Nothing outside of how you feel right this moment even exists. You are at the deepest, most relaxed state of body and mind that you have ever experienced. You are totally relaxed… your heart rate, blood pressure, and number of breaths have been reduced significantly, leaving your body in a very relaxed state of perfect health and harmony.

Your breath is your lifeline to your physical body and connection to Spirit. Begin to visualize your breath coming in the top of your head and then out of your heart. Do this several times until it feels natural. Then breathe in through the middle of your forehead, which is called your Third Eye, bringing your breath down through your heart and out of the palms of your hands until this pattern feels natural.

Now breathe through the bottoms of both feet, allowing this breath of life to course through every cell in your entire body and out the top of your head. Take note of how you feel. Notice what you are feeling and what thoughts and emotions are coming up for you as you continue to breathe in this pattern.

Shift your attention from your breath and allow yourself to fully experience that you are traveling on a path that is loving and comfortable… Allow yourself to be fully aware of all your senses as you continue your journey… What do you see? Feel the weather on your face as you are walking. Do you feel a slight breeze, the warmth of the sun; what are you feeling and smelling as you continue your journey? Take in all the information about your journey, what all your senses see, feel, touch, and taste.

Ahead you see a door. Notice where it is and what it looks like, what it is made of. As you walk towards the door, you may feel as if this door is familiar, as if you have been here before. You feel perfectly safe and relaxed. How large is the door? Describe the door in your mind’s eye…Is it open or closed? Touch it. What does the door feel like?

You know in all your being that the meaning the word you have chosen and how it applies in your life of will be clearer for you once you choose to see what is on the other side of the door. In order to do this, the door must be open and you must step through. Are you ready? Open to your highest and greatest good and step through….allow your mind’s eye to focus as you look around. What do you see? Is there someone there for you? … Feel yourself in the presence of a Being of Light and Love. In your mind’s eye there is someone stepping forward to guide you through your time here. You are open to this experience. Remember in detail how he or she is dressed and anything else that might help you to recognize them in the future.

Your guide motions you to follow and takes you into a space in a clearing. Many other beings are there emanating a great sense of peace and love that you intimately remember. They have taken their place with you to assist you with quick and easy processing of your question about loving. You tell them that you are questioning about how you love and if your actions always show it; ask them for guidance.

They encircle you radiating loving energy to you and ask that you understand about loving and showing love in every aspect of your mind, body and spirit. You look at each aspect of your thoughts and experience thus far, accepting, loving, healing and integrating all of this “knowing” into you. You have some time in silence to experience this work (allow about two minutes to pass) When the process is complete, thank all who are there for the assistance they have given you.

Now take a deep, cleansing breath and exhale …you will find yourself back at the doorway. Your guide is no longer there; however, you know that you can come back here at any time. You remember everything. You are expanded, full of wisdom, and ready to return and write in your journal about your experience.

Take a deep breathe and allow yourself to feel where you are sitting or lying. Feel your connection to this space and how your body feels in the present. Keeping your eyes closed, stretch your body slowly, then move your toes, fingers, and stretch out your arms and legs. When you are ready, slowly open your eyes. Immediately pick up your pen and begin to write in your journal while it is all fresh in your mind.

Honor yourself for your work….Loving others and yourself opens the door to so much possibility. See you here next week.

Love and Blessings,
Mari



Contact for Jim Spivey:
Revolution Consulting2219 McDuffieHouston, TX 77019(713) 854-4848www.revolutionconsulting.com

"helping people come ALIVE, and thrive,in their personal and business relationships"

If you would like to listen to an interview with Mari with Bronwen Stein in Australia follow this link: http://www.reiki.net.au/copy.asp?id=PodcastMariH

Five things I Like about Myself

Dear Friends and Family of Mari Hall and Wisechoices

The 21 day Virtual Usui Retreat will start in just 10 days from now on June 21, 2006. It is our 10th Anniversary. I do not believe that we had any idea when we started this retreat where it would take us or for how long. There have been profoundly deep moments coming together as a group that have benefited our earth and certainly all of the earth’s inhabitants. It has always been our intention that you choose the amount of time that you wish being part of the retreat. Each moment you hold the focus of love for the world is precious. If you would like refresh your mind on the purpose or practice please follow this link to the main Usui pages. http://www.wisechoices.com/usui.asp

Please invite your friends, family and support groups to join with us to celebrate Usui’s message, honor our past and look forward to the future together. People can go to the http://www.wisechoices.com/ page and look on the left side of the page for the newsletter link, fill it in to get their own notification.

I was interviewed last week by Bronwen Stein of the International House of Reiki in Australia. You can listen to the interview by following this link. http://www.reiki.net.au/copy.asp?id=PodcastMariH

To get us ready for the Retreat I have provided an exercise for us to do for this next week…after a few wise words from a lovely man and trainer here in Houston; Jim Spivey. There are some more pearls of wisdom and an invitation and then Jim's contact information following the exercise.

Note: Really take the time to do the exercise …you are worth it!

"There is overwhelming evidence in the world that we human beings do our best work and get the most, if not the impossible, done when we feel good about ourselves. When we do the right things and gain (or regain) our own forgiveness, healing, self-respect, etc., it unleashes tremendous positive energy that gets the most important things in our lives done, and done well. Doesn't it make sense to build communities and companies and families that focus their energies on each individual's effectiveness and well-being, such that great results get produced for all - customers, employees, family members, owners and society as a whole? Anything less produces less. In whatever capacities or roles we find ourselves in, let's always put and keep the things in place that let us do our best work.

When we forgive others…it sets them and us free. Remember: "Holding onto resentment of another person is like taking poison and waiting for them to die."
Jim Spivey


Listing Magnificence
Five Things I Like About Myself

Our primary relationship in life is with our selves. No one else goes through every experience in life with us. We are our one permanent companion, yet we are often our worst critic. To remind ourselves of our magnificence, we can do this exercise: "Five Things I Like About Myself."

Begin by writing down at least five things that you like about yourself. This is not the time to be modest. If you are having trouble coming up with a total of five items, you know that this exercise can really benefit you. Be sure to include more than your physical attributes on your list, since our bodies are only part of who we are. If you are still struggling with what to include on your list, think of what you like about your favorite people, because these traits are probably qualities that you possess too.

Another way to complete your list is to think of five things you don't like about yourself and find something about these traits that you can like. Continue this process for a week, thinking of five new things you like about yourself everyday. At the end of the week, read the list aloud to you while standing in front of a mirror.

Instead of looking for flaws to fix, allow the mirror to reflect your magnificence. You may feel silly about standing in front of a mirror and reading aloud a list of your admirable attributes, but it might just bring a smile to your face and change the way you see yourself. Remember, it is when you feel the most resistant that this exercise can benefit you the most.

Because we are constantly looking at the world, instead of looking at ourselves, we don't often see what's magnificent about ourselves that others do. When we take the time to experience ourselves the way we would experience someone we love and admire, we become our best companion and supporter on life's journey.


Power In Numbers
Sending Our Collective Light To The World

Like tiny ripples that merge to form great waves, combined human intent is worth more than the sum of its parts. A single individual can initiate worldwide improvement by emitting conscious frequencies of love, beauty, goodness, and wisdom. A group of people focusing their energy on sending out light to the world can set the stage for positive global transformation.

All of us possess the ability to channel love energy, to heal, to be a conduit for white light, and to positively influence our fellow humans from afar. Yet one person can only do so much. Imagine if each one of us took a few moments at the start of each day to send out light to the world from our hearts. Mother Earth would be quickly eased and the planet, as well as every organism and being on it, would be bathed in loving light. The world would be an infinitely beautiful place.

You can help bring about an earth where love triumphs over violence, air and water are nourishing in their purity, and people take pleasure in simply being alive. Alone, the light you emit is a wonderful healing tool, but when you join with others who share your intent to shine compassion and positive energy over the world, a powerful force is created. Your collective consciousness and collective light will wash over the planet, enveloping people, communities, cities, countries, and continents.

Inviting others to send light with you can be a daunting task. People may question the benefits of sending light to an already broken world. You will likely need to explain that each person's light joins with every other, and through the joining all are strengthened. Assure them that what matters is not technique or what religion or beliefs you hold but intent. As more people come in mindfulness to send their collective light to the world, the power of their planetary gift will increase exponentially.

You may already be affiliated with groups that would gladly participate in such a noble project. Children, who often feel incapable of influencing their world yet are reservoirs of innate power are usually enthusiastic about sharing their collective light. As you gather together willing people, your individual intent will become a great and powerful wave, and you will see results in your fellow humans, in the news, and in your daily life.

Note: This is what we are doing in the Reiki Retreat, coming together and sending LIGHT, LOVE and REIKI (it is all the same)


Attitude

There once was a woman who woke up one morning, looked in the mirror, and noticed she had only three hairs on her head. "Well," she said, "I think I'll braid my hair today."

So she did and she had a wonderful day.

The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and saw that she had only two hairs on her head. "H-M-M," she said, "I think I'll part my hair down the middle today."

So she did and she had a grand day.

The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and noticed that she had only one hair on her head. "Well," she said, "Today I'm going to wear my hair in a pony tail."

So she did and she had a fun, fun day.

The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and noticed that there wasn't a single hair on her head. "YEAH!" she exclaimed, "I don't have to fix my hair today!

Attitude is everything.


Reiki for Africa- an Invitation

What is invisible, weighs nothing, can only be used for good and lasts a lifetime? Reiki, you all reply. Of all the foreign aid we send around the world, can you think of one that requires no technology, no start-up funds and can be mastered in days even by children? Again the answer is Reiki. Reiki often is the answer.

When we hear about the HIV/AIDS devastation in Africa good-hearted people want to do more. Apart from giving our pennies and urging national politicians and the U.N. to send drugs and food there is something profoundly important we can contribute: Reiki! Many are sending distant healing. But we can also, literally, get Reiki into the hands of the people who need it most.

You ask how; by sending them Reiki Master-Teachers of course. Who trains these teachers? We do.

Where do you find these adventurous souls? Start by asking around, ”Do you know of anyone who is going to Africa?" A surprising number of folks are headed to there these days, many to lend a hand with the crisis. Some of them will respond to the message ”There's something I want to send to Africa. It's beneficial and won't take up any room in your suitcase." The first person I approached replied "I don't believe in that (meaning Reiki)." Yet she also found my first (enthusiastic) student who recently went off to her new job with full Reiki training and all the teaching materials copied onto a few CDs.

Brainstorm with your Reiki family; ask each of them to spread the word to their personal contacts all the organizations they belong to--churches, service clubs and the like. Your own family, coworkers and neighbors can help extend your reach. As well, universities have associations of foreign students that could put you in touch with overseas students in education, community planning or public health who could see the potential of a free gift of Reiki for their people back home.

Hand out self-printed cards with your contact information. Ask to include a notice in your church bulletin, office or club newsletter. Talk up the idea, even with strangers at the bus stop. There are only six degrees of separation from the person you are looking, as the saying goes.

True, not everybody is a Master-Teacher. But what if your Reiki share group were to offer treatments for donations so that together you could train a Master who would do pro bono work? There is no stopping a good idea.

If you are so fired up by this idea that you decide to go to Africa yourself there are a few extra words of advice. Experienced aid workers all say don’t leave home until solid arrangements are in place with a clear written understanding of expectations on both sides. So in addition to the recommendations from your travel agent and guide book, you will need a local host with connections to 'back home'. This could be the counterpart of your faith group, service club or an agency or development project that you support already established in-country. Their knowledge of your cultural assumptions, of local conditions, plus the practical advice and contacts they can offer, will make all the difference between success and failure.

If the above suggestions are more than you can do right now, would you just keep the thought spreading? Eventually it will come to the right person. As Reiki so often reminds us, we are each an important link in the chain of humanity.

In Love and Friendship,

Marlene Jones,
Victoria, BC


Contact for Jim Spivey
Jim SpiveyRevolution Consulting
2219 McDuffie
Houston, TX 77019
(713) 854-4848
www.revolutionconsulting.com