Reiki and Reconciliation

Last evening we watched a DVD of the movie "The Reader." A teenage boy in then West Germany has an affair with a working class woman; years later as a law student he sees her again, but this time in a trial for her role as an SS guard during the war. One day she had been guarding over 300 Jews, and had locked them in a Church. Allied bombings began of the town, and the Church caught fire; she failed to unlock the Church, because her duty was to see that they did not escape, and so they burned to death.

Europe and the United States had chosen a method of Retribution for crime, and so, she was punished by sentence to life in prison.

Did it revive the dead? Did it reduce the hatred in the world? Does anger help? Just last week I became aware of another path. One of our Pastors in hospice had the opportunity to study with Desmond Tutu, and to visit S Africa and stay with families of all racial backgrounds. He described to me the path of Reconciliation. The focus was on truth, stories were told, and those who came forward and told the truth could be forgiven of their crimes.

Which method is more effective? As a Jewish child, there is no question that I concur with President Obama that denial of the Holocaust, or any similar event, is "ignorant and hateful." To deny human suffering is to negate the humanity of others. It is difficult to imagine a just God that does not love all children, every one created by God. How can we Glorify God by suggesting that God creates children, and loves some and not others?

Yet, there are those who rejoiced at Nuremburg, and those who deride Reconciliation. Does Retribution either bring back loved ones lost, or remove hatred?

Reiki would teach us to give up anger. In giving up anger, it is not simply that our forgiveness is a gift to another person, for the murderer lives in his own hell, and forgiveness alone cannot change that which was done. What forgiveness does, is take away the hatred that continues to eat away at the insides of the person carrying it. Letting go of poisonous hatred is a path to healing oneself.

In Hospice, patients near what can be the most important days of their lives. We all carry with us disappointments, hurts, anger and hatred. Before transition, there is our last chance to get rid of these harmful emotions. While science cannot prove or disprove a continuation of consciousness after death, Buddhists, Christians, Jews, Muslims, and Indigenous people all over the world share an almost "hard wired" belief that this exists. The common belief is that we are all connected through a common lifeforce, whatever language or words we use. What use to carry these disappointments on with us from one existence to another?

Reconciliation as we see it from a Reiki perspective, is not simply a gift for the Perpetrator, it is a release from anger and continuing suffering for the Victim. Must we define our lives by that which causes us hurt and harm, or can we redefine our lives through our own act of compassion.

Just for today I will not worry; just for today I will not be angry; just for today I will be grateful; just for today I will work diligently; just for today I will give kindness to others.

Mikao Usui said this was the path to both Happiness and Healing. However we find different Reiki traditions are divided by method or energy or lineage, this is what we share in common. It is a precious gift.