Just for Today

Reiki ideals

Just for today… 

Do not worry.
Do not be angry.
Be grateful and humble.
Do your work honestly.
Be kind to all things.

These are the five ideals of Reiki, taught to all Reiki practitioners. They are the basic tenets, not only for healing, but for living a simple and honest life. One of the things I really like about the Reiki ideals is the inclusion of the words "just for today," because it reminds me that life is what occurs in this moment. My past is a memory, and my future is an illusion. 

Past and future: both are merely symbols with the meanings I have assigned them. My memories of the past and my future projections bear little resemblance to the truth. Instead, they are chimeras, illusions that have been filtered through my own personal fears, beliefs, and prejudices. They are not truth, no matter how accurate I believe my own viewpoint to be.

One can only find absolute truth by being fully present and surrendering to the here and now. Truth lies in pure experience, when we are able to set aside all projections about the past and future and focus on the moment. 

If we can set aside memories and projections and meet one another only in the now, then all we know is that another being is standing in front of us. Without a history, without hopes and fears for what might transpire in the moments to come, we become a soul meeting another soul. In the rare moments we are able to do so, we are open to the Divine.

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