Karuna - compassion
I hope you all had a good Christmas. Here ours was as manic as usual, our youngest is hyper at the best of times and was on another level the last few days, rather exhausting at times, especially the ‘opening present obsession’, but we survived!
As much as I love the build up to Christmas, as soon as Christmas is done I am done with it too and fortunately Ewan feels the same so our decorations were taken down yesterday and the cottage sighed with the relief of the clutter gone. I sighed too, I love clear space!
I spent the last few evenings studying to be a Karuna Ki Reiki Master Teacher with a lady with whom I studied an advanced Reiki course during the last lockdown. It’s one of those things that just kind of happened. I was looking at some of her other courses and then decided just to go for it. I was always resistant to online Reiki courses until undertaking the one during lockdown and deriving great benefit from it. It really changed things for me, drawing in a new Reiki friend and spiritual teacher, who shares a mutual love of ancient stones and landscape.
It was this experience that made me change my mind about running my own online Reiki attunement sessions. I suddenly saw it differently, had a shift in perspective, and recognised the benefit and the way I had been limiting myself previously by holding into a particular opinion. In fairness 2021 has been all about that for me - shifting perspective. Well that and cultivating greater compassion for self as much as for others. Not easy at times, the universe has certainly thrown in some challenges to test, but I feel better for it.
In Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra, 1.33, we are introduced to the notion that a peaceful mind results from:
A mental attitude of friendship towards those who are content (i.e. not being jealous of them or threatened by them for it!);
2. Compassion towards those who suffer (and let’s face it we all suffer in some way, accepting this is one of the foundation’s in Buddhism)
3. Joy towards virtuous individuals (good actions);
4. Indifference/do not be disturbed/drawn into judgment or contempt by/for those who act poorly (don’t let your peaceful mind be disturbed by others and their poor actions, just let them go).
Essentially Patanjali is encouraging us to cultivate the four great attitudes of the heart, friendliness or loving kindness (maitri), compassion (karuna), sympathetic joy for others (mudito) and equanimity (upekshanam).
It seems appropriate then, to end the year studying Karuna Ki Reiki, Reiki of compassion, essentially. Not to say that Usui Reiki isn’t also about compassion, by its very nature Reiki does encourage greater compassion for all sentient beings, including ourself, but this approach is simply more focused on that.
It’s been an interesting enquiry, because I have found that it is always easier to cultivate compassion for others, than it is for those whom I love dearly. Its nonsensical in many ways, but when the heart is involved and our inherent vulnerability, it is sometimes easier to reject those who have the potential to hurt us the most, and switch off our compassion towards them and their suffering, than it is to be open hearted to those who are less likely to break out heart if that love is not reciprocated. The mind is a tricky old thing, the heart trickier still!
But we have to go deeper into that place of vulnerability, the spiritual path demands it of us, especially if we have welcomed Reiki and yoga into it. It is ALL about the heart. The Yoga Sutras send us to the heart in 1,36, where we are encouraged to focus on the light in the heart, this as a way of calming and centering the mind. It’s true. I have found that if we can re-orientate our awareness to the heart when we have dropped into anxiety or fear, or somehow lost our centre, then this can be extremely comforting.
It’s about compassion though really. All these practices encourage us to cultivate greater compassion, yoga, Buddhism, Reiki, Ayurveda, it’s underpinning all of these practices. But it’s not easy, the path is not straight, it’s not clear, we have to come face to face with all the many ways we deceive ourselves, all the ways we blame others and victimise ourselves, the many ways that we -ironically - protect our heart. The trouble is the greater our defence, the less compassion we have for others, let alone ourselves.
The more, too, we retain the idea of separation, them and us, needing to protect ourselves in the first place. We’re kind of doing this with the whole covid drama. It’s offering us a wonderful opportunity to shift our perspective and let go of our fixed mind, cultivating greater compassion for ourselves and others in the process…if only we can get out of our fear and see the bigger picture, stop taking it all so personally, viewing life from a soulful perspective, the continuous cycle…
I’m only grateful that I did shift my perspective on the online Reiki courses and embraced the offering that came to me form the universe. I do feel greater compassion for having gone through the mill with it, never easy, one has to break down to break through and there’s been a lot of this this year, of having to go deeper into the heart, death and illness of friends and family encouraging this, the eclipses, the covid changes, all of it has played it’s own beautiful role. So here’s to ending 2021 in the heart, with greater compassion - karuna, Sanskrit word worth remembering.
You can access the online Reiki Level One course through this website. For those based in Guernsey, the attunement can be in person or by distance. Having experienced distant attunements myself, I know that these do the job perfectly - in fact I’m amazed by the potency of them, mind blowing in itself, that Reiki can be sent by distance like this. It might be the best decision you make, to bring more Reiki into your life.
Love Emma