Dr Harold Bob's Blogger

Upekkha revisited

2011-12-30T17:56:00.000-08:00

At the time of my Reiki attunements with my first teacher, Robin Hannon, i had certain thoughts that led Robin to do the drawing at the top of this Blog, and led to reflections on Reiki in Hospice which i reflected in the term Upekkha Reiki, and gifted these concepts to Robin.

There is a certain tradition in medicine that we use scientific knowledge as far as it goes, but at the end of knowledge there remains caring. And for the physician who can care, there need never be a sense of futility or defeat, the process of caring itself is a gift.

Albert Camus reflected this in his book, "The Plague," through the first person narration of Dr Rieux, faced with a plague and no treatment, yet they did "what had to be done." And Camus himself, writing this novel, trapped within a Europe rules by Nazi force.

I saw the term Upekkha used - not in terms of Reiki - but in terms (very much like Camus) of a universal struggle - in the book "The Lizard Cage" by the young and talented Canadian author Karen Connelly. Her character, the musician Teza, trapped in confinement in Burma - Connelly like Camus writing from a sense of entrapment ....and what is common in sharing stories is that "some memorial might endure."

For a hospice physician, faced every day with dying patients, suffering human beings, - we cannot cure but we can care, can do what can be done, can be present, and can tell some of the stories. In acceptance and tranquility, in finding Upekkha, we move beyond simple compassion - we find what in Pure Land Buddhism might be called a path to the other shore.

The picture is simply of the Bodhi tree, leaves lost, burning in flame, existing, light shining through .....ready to take on leaves again.

In facing life from a place of calm, and acceptance, we can be present and caring.

We are honored to do Reiki in such a place or time. For Robin,there is an attunement with this, and for me i am not yet sure if there is any different attunement that the one's we are already taught to perform. It is for me a path, a way of looking at the world and our place in it, a guide to being present for people who need our presence.

This year I had the opportunity to study Komyo Reiki Kai with Hyakuten Inamoto. And the motto he teaches is simple, "go placidly in the midst of praise or blame." ("Even as a solid rock is unshaken by the wind, so are the wise unshaken by praise or blame." Buddha, Dhammapada 6/81)

For those who cannot be cured, who are trapped in a "cage" - we who cannot cure and perhaps cannot even offer adequate compassion can be present, and remember the human stories.

For those who share the work in Hospice or Reiki, Happy New Year, with Reiki Blessings and thanks.

What really matters .....

2011-11-17T16:25:00.000-08:00

This week i heard Rabba Sara Hurwitz speak, and for those who may not know she is the first ordained woman Jewish Orthodox Rabba (or Rabbi). It may be hard to imagine the tumult her "conferral" (or ordination) has caused, but in this Blog i want to focus on something she said that really hit home as a Hospice physician.

For all the dispute over what it means to have a Jewish Orthodox Rabbi, and i understand that may not matter for many people, certain things are clear, that Rabba Hurwitz has worked extremely hard, she is extremely bright, and she has not simply learned "just as much" as a man seeking to be a Rabbi - she is a gifted and learned human being. But in talking about being a Rabbi, the day to day stuff, it really hit home when she said, "the most important thing is really .....showing up --- being present for people."

For a physician that may often be the case. Yes - we train hard and work hard, and dream of saving lives, but when a patient has an incurable illness - "being present" can be the most important thing.

Rabba Hurwitz talked about counseling a married couple in trouble, and she talked about being present for a holocaust survivor who lost her son in an accident, and shortly thereafter lost her husband. And i think to how often i have seen patients who could not be cured, but simply wanted their doctor to care for them - care about them - just be present.

Somehow - they view us as knowledgeable in life cycle events, little do they know in medical school and residency how little is taught about dealing with feelings - it isn't a question "on the boards." How much more joy in quoting the most recent article in "rounds," or in making an astonishing diagnosis - and yet -- sometimes people are so willing to forgive us for so much - if we can just be present. The fact that we can't cure someone doesn't mean that we can't care for them.

I must admit as a Hospice doctor - there are these joyous incredible moments when i make a diagnosis everyone else has missed, and cause the turn around of a severe illness and actually discharge a patient from Hospice. Yes - it does happen. It is like hitting "the shot" in game 7 of the NBA finals or hitting a 9th inning home run, but it doesn't happen that often. Most days - i come to work, and not being able to cure anyone under my care, i continue to care for them, and most importantly be present with them --- as so many people have said to me "I wish they wouldn't treat me as if i'm dead already, I may be terminally ill but for now I'm still living."

I went to hear a speaker talk about what it meant to be the first woman Rabbi, and what i really took home was a reflection on what was the most important thing in my own job - yes I bring hard work and long years of study, but so often for the people who come to me the most important thing is that I showed up, and that for them - for that moment, I was "present," and that even though I couldn't cure them I could still care for them and share the moment with them.

Reiki Byosen for the Physician or Nurse

2011-10-29T17:38:00.000-07:00

We have been working with a simple technique to allow non Reiki trained physicians and nurses to be more aware of natural channels. I often feel that as a teacher, the task comes down to helping people to be aware of those things that they already have the natural talent to be aware of if only they "listen" closely to the world around them.

Doctors and Nurses are trained in classical physical examination to "Observation, Palpation, Percussion and Auscultation." It resonates with health care professionals, because we all understand the tendency to rush to auscultation (listening with a stethoscope), and we all know from our training that observation and palpation are classic techniques that matter.

Studies consistently remind us that about 70-80% of accurate diagnosis comes from careful history taking, and that an additional 15-20% comes from observation and physical examination, and yet, laboratory testing - which only accounts for about 10-15% of accurate diagnosis becomes the reference point too often. We sometimes forget that when a lab test does not correlate to the history and physical exam, what is really "going on" - it is often the laboratory which is not correct.

So with student doctors and nurses rounding with us in hospice, we focus on classic physical examination - we focus on observation and palpation prior to auscultation. In fact, in hospice, we so rarely use laboratory testing, that use of our physical examination skill becomes even more important.

Palpation over the pre cordial impulse, the middle of the chest, corresponds to the Heart Chakra. And from the perspective of physical exam there is so much we can appreciate through our hands. Breath sounds and murmurs heard through a stethoscope are "vibrations" - so often they can be "palpated" and we can appreciate heart rate, heart regularity, many murmurs and breath sounds. In dehydrated patients (which hospice patients often are) - often sounds are missed with stethoscopes - but corresponding vibrations can be palpated. Training our hands to be more sensitive is just like training our ear to discriminate more with the stethoscope.

But so often - by spending a little more time observing and in contact with patients, we become aware of more than just the physical vibrations. If nothing else, when we ask patients for permission to examine them (and we always ask permission before touching anyone), the contact and the time spent are important. For people with intuitive tendencies, they often become aware of more of what is actually "happening" to the patient, on a spiritual as well as a physical level.

It is not always easy to integrate "scientific" observations, with intuitive observations happening at the same time. So often, people lock out one or the other thinking the "signal" will be clearer if not "confused" - but in fact with time and practice for an experienced clinician (and of course only a licensed clinician can diagnose) - being holistic and bringing all our sense to bear improves our accuracy. At the least - it improves our contact with our patients at a time when a sense of connection is often what the patient wants, since in hospice, cure is already not scientifically possible.

It is important as a physician to realize what a precious gift our scientific training is, but at the same time respect what Reiki Practioners can accomplish with years of practice - Reiki after all is a healing art form and not a scientific process - and it really cannot be "distilled" in the same way as our "material" observations and tests.

From the Reiki classes i have participated in, I have an awareness of how much talent that some of my teachers and classmates have. One can become a Reiki Master in a relatively short period of time these days, but that is the "beginning" of studying Reiki as a method or process. Several years along, having been trained as teacher in multiple styles, having participated in shares in Japan and Vancouver, Barrie Ontario and in Maryland - having visited Kurama - I can reflect on how early in the Reiki journey I still perceive myself to be.

Integrating holistic care at its best doesn't mean a physician becoming a Sensei, it means physicians opening their minds and hearts to new opportunities, and experienced Reiki practitioners being available to assist as participants in an overall plan of care. This is most evident in Hospice, where Spirituality is so central a part of the mission, where Science alone has failed the patient, and where Hope stems from connection and continuity.

We need to be cautious with certifying "Complementary" methods within the health care professions. "Alternative" pharmaceuticals, minerals and nutritionals certainly can be tested in classic scientific ways, and brought into the mainstream. Art forms such as Music and Reiki touch the spirit, and are skills that having a Health Care degree may not make us more qualified to assess.

I would rather have Musicians judge intonation, and Reiki Sensei who have devoted their lives to Reiki method set standards for Reiki - than those of us who have spent so much time learning anatomy and physiology and pharmacology.

We are all still on a journey of learning more - in acknowledgement of those things which we have yet to learn, we are likely better at what we do for keeping a sense of humility.

Robin's Song

2011-09-07T13:12:00.000-07:00

I receive many messages every day through my connections through Reiki. And today i received a message from my first Reiki teacher, Robin Hannon, which moved me to share on my Blog. Robin placed on You Tube a version of "Amazing Grace" which she sang commenorating her father, and it was rendered in Cherokee.

"I am on YouTube singing Amazing Grace in honor of my father

http://youtu.be/zrXphbyrTOk

Robin Anekehee Littlefeather"

When we connect to spirit, it enriches us. When we are compassionate to others, it heals us. There are in each of our cultures "noble spirits" who represent the best of what each culture can attain. They provide examples for us. And at our best we see the connection between one culture and another, the common traits that bind "noble spirits" of one culture with those of another.

If you forget the words, remember that there is a tune. If you forget the tune, remember that there is a song. If you forget that there is a song, retain within you the spirit and the memory, and some day you will hear the song again.

Whatever language it is in - it brings us together. And thanks to Robin for sharing.

Transitions

2011-08-16T18:09:00.000-07:00

We have been having a dialogue within my Hospice regarding the use of the term "death" and the the term "transition."

It has been said that "words have power," but in the process of this discussion we have all learned that different people use words in different ways, and that what matters most is what each person actually means. Respecting each other, and respecting each other's words, is an important part of working together as a Team.

To some degree this dialogue began when my friend Jackie Vance RN, who directs the Clinical Practice Guideline program for AMDA (a conventional national organization for physicians who work in the Long Term Care Continuum) wrote in her Blog that the term "discharge" should not be used. This reflected a thought of the AMDA "Transitions of Care" committee that people "transition," they are not "discharged."

And I reflected in a comment to Jackie that language reflects how we look at our patients, and at ourselves.

The TOC committee felt that patients should not be viewed as gotten rid of, and that communication should reflect continuity. And continued caring.

In a paper presented in March, myself, Dr Rajapakse, and Dr Crecelius (a former president of AMDA and Chair of Public Policy Committee) reflected on discharge by "death" vs the term "transition"

Death to us implied "the end -finality - fear of the unknown - loss - hopelessness - loneliness - lack of connection - anxiety - fear"

Transition to us implied a sense of "hope - connection - ainticipation of a journey - a focus on living the current moment - calm - peace - harmony"

And I concluded "death like transition are words draped in despair." Jackie published my comment with her excellent Blog

http://www.mcknights.com/transitions-of-care-part-ii-so-you-know-they're-eventually-gonna-have-to-leave-right/article/208210/

When i published comments within my Hospice, many of my co workers began to follow my terminology and talk in terms of patient "transitioning."

And the good part of this is the opening of dialogue, and the openness to spirituality. But we have had some problems - just as some co-workers feel uncomfortable having spirit suppressed by the term "death" - some co-workers feel uncomfortable with the term "transition." We speak of "time of death" in a professional way because it is clear and succinct; and some people do view death and the terminology surrounding it in a spiritual way.

And I have come to believe that it is important to promote dialogue and respect everyone's words. What is important is respecting the spiritual history of the patients, and being present and caring as well as being technically skilled and accurate.

In the bond between human beings, we are team mates and patients and parents and children - and we all matter more than our physical form. And hospice to some degree is about that - not simply the relief of physical pain, but as well the relief from "suffering."

When I started this discussion about the difference between the words "death" and "transition," I was more certain of the importance of the difference between the words, but as time goes on, I am more certain of the importance of the dialogue, and of the need to proceed with respect always for patients and for colleagues. I am happy to work with a Team where the dialogue is carried on with respect, and where the spirit behind the words really does matter.

Komyo Reiki Kai in Barrie Ontario

2011-07-08T16:52:00.000-07:00

In my own ongoing Reiki journey, a recent weekend in Barrie, Ontario was very moving for me. My friend Lorinda Weatherall was hosting a class in Komyo Reiki Kai taught by Hyakuten Sensei, and i decided to attend. There were 20 students, all experienced Reiki teacher-practitioners, including 8 "retaking" the class. By Sunday afternoon we realized that at lunch or dinner or over coffee, effectively each of us had gotten to know each and every one of us - no formation of cliques, everyone outreaching and connecting, and that made the sessions and the energy very special.

Hyakuten Sensei teaches a style of Reiki which is both simple and elegant. He was taught by Chiyoko Yamaguchi (1921-2003) who herself was a student of Chujiro Hayashi (1879-1940).

At all levels Komyo Reiki Kai focuses on the Five Precepts, which are translated slightly differently than what is taught in Takata based lineage.

Kyo Dakewa Today Only

Ikaruna Do not anger

Shinpai Suna Do not worry

Kansha Shite With thankfulness

Gyo Wo Hageme Work diligently

Hito Ni Shinsetsu Ni Be Kind to Others

And a "motto" - "Go placidly in the midst of praise or blame"

And how wonderful for conventional physicians and nurses to have access to this philosophy, which is so complementary to conventional care!!! How can we calm others, and bring compassion and hope to a situation if we cannot first focus and calm ourselves, and be free as we can be from rushing and worrying?

How sad it is to see physicians and nurses, healthy and with a wonderful career, who are so caught up in the frustrations of the health care system that they lack gratefulness for their own day to day lives.

It seems to me that this approach, assists us in being better doctors and nurses.

As i continue in my own Reiki journey, i find that empowering others is increasingly important to me. Patients with incurable illnesses feel their lives so out of control. Helping them find a sense of control in the smallest things in life, starting with their own breathing, is so important.

We have been Blessed with volunteers who want to provide Reiki. Even if I could be just as effective as all my Reiki volunteers, and so many of them are so well trained, it makes more sense for me to empower others to participate in helping patients, and focus on working with my team and maximizing the conventional tools that we have. Full time Reiki practitioners should not fear physicians being trained in Reiki and "taking it over." The more one practices Reiki on oneself, the more on is guided to having less ego, not more, and to doing that which is most constructive for bringing compassion into a situation.

Today i received a wonderful email from a local Reiki practitioner who found my program listed on the Center for Reiki Research list of Reiki programs.

To be a volunteer in a Hospice in the United States, one must simply take a brief volunteer qualifying course, taught for free by all hospices. It is then good nationwide. Whether Hospices understand Reiki or not, Volunteerism is a part of the formative heart and soul of the Hospice movement. And you will find an increasing number of Hospices overjoyed to have Reiki volunteers.

The fact is in my area, most of my "competitor Hospices" are happy to have Reiki volunteers. And continuing to be a conventional physician, my day is long and complex enough that it makes the most sense for me to do those things that others cannot. Reiki is simple - and spiritual - in can include touch but as we have been taught in level two, Reiki does not even require touch - it is not massage.

Hospices are increasing coming to understand though that versions of "simple touch," just simple human contact, holding a hand, can be reassuring and calming to people caught in a web of suffering. Even non verbal patients can be aware of simple touch, or Reiki with or without touch.

Presence matters. It matters to not be alone.

To Lorinda for organizing the weekend, to Hyakuten Sensei, and to all the Reiki Practitioners who shared the weekend in Barrie, Ontario with me - thanks and gratitude.

Is Reiki Still Alternative?

2011-06-05T06:16:00.000-07:00

For those who want to be volunteers in Hospice, and practice Reiki or other forms of integrative care, it is important to be aware how far "conventional medicine" has traveled in the past few years. Thus - the question - is Reiki still "alternative."

From a definitional point of view, the NIH //nccam.nih.gov

defines Complementary medicine as "together with conventional medicine, such as use in addition to usual care to help lessen pain."

Alternative Medicine is defined as "in place of conventional medicine."

Is conventional medicine limited to only treating disease and not treating the whole person? Is conventional medicine limited in its scope? Do medical school fail to recognize the growing evidence base involving not only Reiki, but music, aromatherapy, and other modalities.

I wanted to list a few web addresses that would suggest that Integrative Medicine in general, and Reiki in particular, has become far far more "conventional" and mainstream than we sometimes realize.

At the least - for those wanting to become involved in Hospice Programs, and wanting to approach medical directors armed with information, these websites provide at least a substantive argument that an end of life program not offering integrative options is itself out of step with evidence based practice and the leading edge of thought in medical schools.

www.umm.edu/shocktrauma/patient_information/laura_forsythe_success_story.htm

This is a story from the famous Shock Trauma center, of a young leukemia patient, assisted in care by Reiki, who recovered and is now a Reiki Master.

http://www.columbiasurgery.org/news/healthpoints/2011_spring/p3.html

An article about Reiki used at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital for breast cancer care.

http://nccam.nih.gov/training/videolectures/mindbody.htm

A Continuing education for physicians (open to public) by a professor of medicine and associate chief of Psychiatry Stanford School of Medicine

http://nccam.nih.gov/training/videolectures/integrative.htm

A continuing education for physicians open to the public by the emeritis Chancellor Duke University School of Medicine

www.siib.org

a not for profit think tank doing research on care of wounded warriors for the US military

http://my.clevelandclinic.org/departments/integrativemedicine/default.aspx

the Cleveland Clinic website for integrative medicine

http://fontherapeutics.com/integrative-medicine-centers/

the Mayo Clinic website for integrative medicine

The wave has not fully run its course, but mind, body and spirit in a holistic framework are certainly being included within the conventional mainstream. Continue to share stories - the sharing of stories is a part of the ripples in the wave. Stories remain a part of the heart and soul of Hospice.

Thanks to Lorinda Weatherall www.a-w-etherapies.ca/

for sending me some of the links.

Reiki Ripples

2011-05-30T03:49:00.000-07:00

The question of whether Reiki works by, or without, intention (this question keeps raising itself in varying discussions) perhaps is best approached not with specificity of language, but with stories that illustrate how the twists in life may somewhat bring us to a place where we smile.

Sometimes the path is as easy as "hands on hands off," and sometimes, the path may wind through the forest until it reaches a quiet place, and we hear music through the trees.

This past month was sort of like that.

Three years ago I began, with the assistance of my first Master Teacher Robin Hannon, a Reiki program within my hospice. I requested approval of a Reiki policy, and we began training staff and volunteers who wanted to participate. Slowly, the culture in our hospice changed. Without reducing our commitment to evidence based conventional practice, we began adding Reiki and Complementary techniques with the mantra that we could care even when we couldn't cure; that spirituality and connection were important at end-of-life.

Staff, even those who had no Reiki training, began to refer to death by a different name, "transition." And staff began to talk about their own feelings of spirituality as they helped patients face the later days of life. And the focus became more how people lived than how they died. "Burn out" became less a problem. We saw surprising results, and it was moving to be part of.

This past month, our national program sent a consultant to start a new program, and our site was a pilot. Joyce Nimard, author of "The End of Life Namaste Care Program for People with Dementia," came to elevate our focus and sensitivity in these areas. And she did. Because even though she found a medical director who was committed to the program (the fear was that the medical director would be the obstruction, and, while in some places that may be true, increasingly, physicians have been exposed to Reiki, and more and more physicians are "open" to mindfulness techniques.)

Joyce looked at everything we were doing, and made wonderful suggestions - it was great synergy. And as we talked it also helped to point out how much change has occurred, and how Reiki is becoming a part of the mainstream, Joyce's husband, who has supported her program and wrote a forward to her book, is Ladislav Volicer, MD who just retired as Clinical Director of the Geriatric Research Center for the VA in Boston, one of the most respected geriatricians in the world.

I also found out that a Reiki colleague, has been asked to consult with one of my competitor hospices. And this week I had lunch with one of my favorite Social Workers, a caring professional who has recently completed Level 2 Reiki, and he has accepted a promotion to go with another competitor hospice, part of his position to assist in the expansion of a new Reiki outreach to patients program.

This month I visited Nursing Homes in a more distant portion of my state, and rounded with a Nurse Practitioner colleague who I had encouraged in Reiki. She had been suffering from headaches and conventional medicine was not sorting it through for her, I helped her with some Reiki and she and her husband went away together to take a class with Amy Rowland, one of my teachers. Her headaches went away. Nurses and an Administrator were talking about how they could put together a Reiki class, and Dementia care could be changed by adding Reiki, Music, Aroma therapy, and a patient centered approach to rooms and life in facility. Ripples keep spreading.

Three years ago, I did not know exactly what path Reiki Ripples would take. I have not controlled the Ripples. One could perhaps simply say, "Reiki on, Reiki off." But in another sense, not from a place of "ego" and "self" but from a place of connection and wonderment, we may reasonably have "intention" that compassion may flow. Less perhaps as a sense of "power" or "I" - than from a connected place as part of an infinitude of life. A "prayer" - that suffering may be alleviated (for an individual or for a community).

Discussing a presentation we had made at Long Term Care Medicine 2011, I was surprised to find out that we are now "mainstream" - can't call ourselves "alternative" anymore, since increasingly evidence based studies are supporting Reiki as complementary care to conventional medicine. Many medical schools include introductions into their curriculum, and many Hospitals include Reiki Nurses into their programs.

It is not what i expected when I started this journey. I could not have controlled what happened, nor could I have predicted it.

I suppose there may have been a sense of intention in all this; not the intention of power, or increased vibration, or even the intention of asking for a specific result, but intention as a form of humble request to the llife spirit that connects us all.

There is less a sense of accomplishment here than a sense of awe. And a hope (or intention), that as more ripples come together more compassion will spread through the world.

Reiki and a place of calm

2011-03-31T19:50:00.000-07:00

In demonstrating Reiki at Long Term Care Medicine 2011, almost every participant described a sense of relaxation and calm. From a Reiki prespective, this is not unusual, Focus, Breathing, Reiki Energy, an awareness of precepts avoiding worry and anger and expressing gratefulness and compassion, lead to a sense of calm.

...Recent studies suggest however that these attributes are especially important for physicians, and as a result, for their patients. American Medical News, a publication of the AMA noted a study just published that concluded "The hypothesis of a positive relationship between physicians' empathy and patients' clinical outcomes was confirmed, suggesting that physicians' empathy is an important factor associated with clinical competence and patient outcomes." (Academic Medicine, 2011 Mar;86(3):359-64 Hojat M, Louis DZ, Markham FW, Wender R, Rabinowitx C, Gonnela JS)

...For doctors, nurses, and volunteers seeking to introduce Reiki programs into their institutions, Reiki being a method that has a focus on connection and calm is reinforced. Another powerful study was published in JAMA (2009 Sep 23;302(12):1284-93 Krasner MS,Epstein RM,Beckman H,SuchmanAL,Chapman B, Mooney CJ, Quill TE). This study, "Association of an educational program in mindful communication with burnout, empathy, and attitudes among primary care physicians," concluded, "Participation in a mindful communication program was associated with short-term and sustained improvements in well-being and attitudes associated with patient-centered care. Because, before-and-after designs limit inferences about intervention effects, these findings warrant radnomized trials involving a variety of practicing physicians."

...Evidence is piling up in such a way that colleagues since our presentation at LTC Medicine 2011 last week have commented to me that, modalities such as Reiki, Acupuncture, Aromatherapy, and Music Therapy "have so much support that they are now being considered evidence based."

.... I want to keep promises in this Blog to people I met last week in my journey. Flying from DC to Tampa, I shared the journey with a man traveling to see his 39 year old daughter, Lisa. She had a terminal illness and had recently entered hospice. Hearing that I was a hospice physician, he shared her story, and I promised to add my prayer on her behalf. I have done so every day since. Flying back home I sat next to a Wounded Warrior. Derek had served his country in both Iraq and Afghanistan, and he was in prolonged recovery from serious wounds. His bravery in service to our country, and the sacrifice he and his family have made and continue to make are compelling. I continue to keep him in mind in my prayers.

....My teacher Amy Rowland, reminds me how transformative shared experiences can be, both for ourselves as individuals, and collectively to the human race, at a time when we so need (both individually and collectively) connection and healing. Methods that bring us to a place of calm, and allow us to provide empathy and compassion to others, make us more effective health care providers and happier human beings.

...A new friend wrote me this week of her efforts to start a Reiki program in her hospital. She had done a lot of work, and collected a tremendous amount of supporting information, to do a presentation - when the time came, her hospital CEO said, "we don't need a presentation, just add Reiki to your department and just start doing it."

.... Things "grow from experiences shared" - just for today, don't worry and be grateful - and please add a prayer for Lisa and Derek who I met on my journey.

Note: - the photo at the top of this Blog is of a work by Apache Sculpture, Bob Haozous. It was erected by the city of Tampa, in memorialization of the Seminole Indians forcibly removed from their homes and relocated to Seminole, Oklahoma. It reflects on the interconnection of all human beings, and on the obligations of all human beings to the planet.

Reiki at Long Term Care Medicine 2011

2011-03-25T05:44:00.000-07:00

Yesterday at Long Term Care Medicine 2011, the annual symposium of physicians caring for patients in the Long Term Care Continuum, I presented a session on "Complementary Medicine for pain management in end of life care" with Dr Chuck Crecelius and Dr Sharlene Rajapakse. While this session was not "about" Reiki directly, we did use Reiki as a demonstrated modality - not endorsing any single modality as an organization (though Reiki is clearly mny modality), but asking people to keep an open mind to having low cost minimal to no side effect methods to continue to care when we cannot cure.

We presented an increasing growing body of scientific evidence that Complementary techniques work. With the permission of the Samueli institute we presented a few slides showing acupuncture being done on wounded warriors. Especially in cases of dementia with agitation, where some conventional prescription drugs are now labeled by the FDA as "not effective" and "black boxed" as "harmful" - complementary techniques can have value. Certainly evidence based studies have shown that when chemotherapy is not working, cancer patients live longer with palliatiuve techniques than "one more round of chemo."

And what were the goods and the bads? It will be weeks until I have particiopant evaluations. Of 1700 physician registrees, of which about 1000 were present yesterday, only 40 physicians chose to attend this session (the bad) - and - 40 physicians were drawn to attend our session. (the good)

We had two 50 minute breakouts where in each session about 15 docs were exposed to a limited demonstration of Reiki. What to do in 50 minutes? Well - here were my take homes - to start with I talked about Mikao Usui and about the 5 basic precepts of Reiki. I think these precepts resonate, and telling a little about the founder of Reiki is critical. Next - I wanted each attendee to have something to take home for themselves, not as a treatment for anyone else, but simply being able to experience the energy - and connect to it for a minute a day. So I chose to teach Hatsurei Ho. With everyone sitting I taught Focus, Breathing, connecting to the energy, Joshin Kyoku Ho (though not by name), Gassho, and releasing Focus. And then I taught Ken-yoku (not by name) simply as a technique for separating the mundane from the sacred - and we did the whole meditation again. Almost everyone was moved, and it is something they can take home and do daily themselves if they choose to.

I teach health care providers a specific technique - it stems from classical physical examination which is taught in nursing and medical school (but rarely performed) - observation, palpation, percussion, and auscultation. Everyone ignores everything but auscultation, and it resonates because everyone knows that is sloppy and wrong. And so i pair participants off and have them do pre-cordial palpation (corresponding to the heart chakra). We can feel heart rate and quality of heart beat, murmurs, normal breath sounds, rales and wheezes and rattles if present - and doctors and nurses come to realize that they can perceive vibrations through their hands. I give the example of hearing impaired people sensitive to vibration, and then ask them to be open to preceiving how "the patient" feels - and more often than not a light bulb comes on. For those who are ready.

After that we sat in a circle and talked. Some asked if they knew enough to do Reiki, and no, I explained, they need to go home and find a Reiki teacher offering a course of at least 8 hours. This was just a demonstration. It was to make them aware of the energy that they could perceive. I talked about what we do as not being something of "power" but simply a way to connect and open a sacred space "within which miracles could happen." I offered to do a few Reiju for volunteers.

I explained that no one should have a Reiju who did not really want it, that it could impact them, that it was not a "Reiki level" and that if they wanted to learn more they needed a class. I had time to do Reiju on the first 9 volunteers - there would have been more accepting Reiju if I had encouraged them to do so, but I only wanted eager volunteers who knew they wanted this experience. 8 of 9 felt deeply moved. They described some of their experience. I explained i did not want them to discuss highly personal feelings in this format (and that i would not do "readings.") A couple spoke with me privately about experiences, and challenges they are facing that came to surface. Several I believe will go home and take classes.

For a brief time, some physicians felt open hearts, and wanted to perceive a connection to the life force within, around and connecting us. The interest physicians have to care when we cannot cure is heartening.

More work is to be done.

My thanks to Dr Rajapakse, an RM, for presenting with me; to Dr Crecelius, a past president of AMDA, not an RM but a compassionate human being who believes that the best of physicians consider both evidence based medicine and spirituality in end of life care; and to Dr Matt Wayne, incoming president- elect of AMDA who is not an RM but introduced this session to demonstrate personally how important he felt this was. Without their help, and the help of all the patients I have had the honor of treating, and all those who have taught and shared Reiki to or with me, this experience would not have occurred. Thank you as well to my friends who sent energy in my direction yesterday :)

Treat each other with Compassion

2011-03-16T05:32:00.000-07:00

At our Seasons Hospice of Maryland Team meetings yesterday, we kept in mind the suffering of the the people of Japan, and offered prayer that many if the missing would yet be saved.

Hospice workers deal with situations "one at a time." It is our coping mechanism. We focus as we can on the moment, and on the person or family we are assisting. The enormity of what has happened in Japan, and the amount of suffering - and the shear number of spirits in transition is simply overwhelming. It was like there was a Tsunami in spirit throughout the world, after the Tsunami of water.

We have needed to focus on the moment, and do our own work, in each one's assigned place, but the tsunami of spirit let loose in the world has made it a little harder to focus on defintions and immediate tasks. Hospice workers have continued to focus and care for individuals even as their hearts prayed for people suffering all over the world. That's what Hospice workers do - care and offer compassion, even when they cannot cure or fix a problem.

Joining in shared sorrow and shared energy is comforting. We know that soon we will see the Cherry Blossoms open again, but right now the trees all seem bare.

This morning there was a World Peace Meditation, and a Meditation for those suffering in Japan. Any time today that one has the time to keep others in mind, I believe it will join the millions who have and are doing so.

Today the Emperor of Japan made a rare but brief statement. He expressed "deep worry and deep sorrow for people who suffer from this natural disaster."

He went on "I hope from the bottom of my heart that the people will, hand in hand, teeat each other with compassion and overcome these difficult times."

Becoming a Reiki Volunteer in Hospice

2011-03-09T17:41:00.000-08:00

I have been asked many times, "how do i get to do Reiki in hospice?"

This week I was trying to answer this question on the Tera listserv, and some answers starting pouring out - so I am going to paraphrase some of them here.

"Be patient, be open, don't force it when it isn't meant to be. Know that your power is in stories."

Last weekend I was listening to a radio interview from 2009, with Legacy bearer Phyllis Furomoto interviewing Anneli Twan - and they were ......sharing stories. Stories of their childhood, and learning from Takata (that is how they refer to their beloved teacher).

Now there thought to be more than 1 million Reiki practitioners world wide. How did Takata present a wisdom that she had learned in Japan, and teach it in such a way that it resonated across the world? One gains a better understanding of the essence of Reiki through stories. Takata told stories. And after her transition, her students told her stories. And as I have visited Reiki shares in my own community, in Vancouver, in Kyoto - across different lineages and styles of Reiki what has stayed with me are the stories that have been shared. People speaking from their hearts, sharing from their hearts, telling how they came to practice Reiki and what it has meant to them.

Physicians and nurses who work in hospice often face situations where their authority means nothing, where they face unknown, where they face challenges they themselves are not fully prepared for.

It is not so widely known that Hospices are required to have a certain percentage of their care to be provided by volunteers. There is a national course in the United States that must be completed to allow one to participate as a hospice volunteer - and hospices must offer the course. If they do not have volunteers they cannot continue as a hospice and participate in Medicare. Why? Because the spirit of volunteers was central to the formation of the Hospice movement, and is embedded in its regulations.

Here are two books about Hospice - these authors were prominent speakers at the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine symposium this year. Sandra Bertman wrote a book, "Facing Death." And Sherry Showalter wrote, "Healing heartaches." And both of these books are filled with stories - of people dying, of people caring for them, of sharing and of compassion. This is the essence of Hospice.

Someone whose heart is not drawn to these stories will not last in Hospice, they will burn out. So walk away from them. Offer to help, be low key, take the volunteer course, and if a program will not allow you to do Reiki within your volunteer hours - simply walk away to another program. You are needed. You will be wanted.

Here are some web sites

www.hospicevolunteerassociation.org/hvaOverview.aspx

www.nhpco.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=4813

www.hospicefoundation.org/volunteers

If you talk about your own story, how you were drawn to Reiki, how that drew you to want to be a Hospice volunteer, explain simply the five basic precepts of Reiki - you will find resonance - Reiki precepts resonate with Hospice, they are embedded in its soul.

If I had one simple message about Hospice it is that there are places where you are needed. Now. Know that. Trust the spirit guides to put you in the right place at the right time. Then get out of the way, and let it be about the energy and the connection. You will find sponsors and people who appreciate you. Think on what Usui started with. Think on what Takata started with.

Be patient, be open, don't force it when it isn't meant to be. Know that your power is in stories. Be prepared to be present and give compassion when others are willing to receive it.

The conversation

2011-02-27T12:23:00.000-08:00

For all the benefits of evidence based conventional medicine, a point comes when science does not have all the answers, and when we need to acknowledge that fact to our patients and their families.

For some "the conversation" is dreaded, because hope is equated to science. But physicians need a broader education, and a realization that most people have Hope that is based upon a sense of being connected, and cared about, and that runs on faith.

Dr. Lucille Marchand, a mentor to family physicians and palliative physicians at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine, phrased it this way in the Summer 2010 issue of the AAHPM Bulletin, "Hope is not an outcome, it is the process of living fully."

As a prelude to the conversation I always sit down, and I tend to take off the "white coat." I convey as much as I can, simply by not being rushed, that as a fellow human being "I care."

I ask more questions and do more listening - and very often I find that patients gift me with surprising wisdom.

In any case - "the conversation" is not always so difficult, and this weekend - I had a nicer one.

Carl is an 84 year old man who entered a hospital 10 months ago, he later said he "didn't feel well so he went to the hospital." Nothing was found (as so often happens since nearly 50% of patients with small strokes have CT scans that do not show the strokes, especially in the first ew days). He was agitated and hard to manage and was felt to have irreversible dementia and was placed on a high dose of an "atypical anti-psychotic" class medication. For patients with agitated dementia, it remains a serious problem, since these medications are not indicated for long term usage, but there are few options pharmacologically for safely and effectively managing agitated dementia patients (why not use non-pharmacologic methods one might well ask - a very good question)

I decided to slowly take the risk of tapering Carl off his medication. Rapid dose reductions can cause problems as well. For months Carl appeared as he had been labeled by the hospital - simply demented and near the end of life, listless, confused, mumbling and totally dependent. Slowly he began to be a little more alert, but as we continued to reduce the medication - a startling event happened this weekend, Carl really woke up!

He wheeled his wheelchair over to me as I came onto his unit, and said to me, "your the doctor aren't you. What day is this? What month is this? How long have I been asleep? Where is my family and do they know where I am?"

I sat down and talked with Carl for a long time, and explained what had happened, and he told me about what his life used to be like, what work he had done (a very responsible job).

And then I had to have "the conversation." I called his family. Only this time - it was a "good conversation." "You may have noticed a change in your dad, " I said." "Well - we noticed something last week - my daughter wouldn't enjoy visiting her grandpa, but last weekend he was more alert." And I explained how I had been slowly tapering him off his medication - "I can't guarantee how long this will be for," I had to add. "But it would be great if you could come over today, he is very alert and really wants to see you."

The thing is - with an approach of palliative care, "the conversation" is often one filled with hope. We accept we cannot cure yet we continue to care, and we give hope simply by connecting and caring. And sometimes, when conventional treatments cannot actually cure, patients are better off without them - sometimes using futile medications for "hope" doesn't make sense scientifically or humanistically.

Dr Lucille Marchand wrote in her article that physicians "don't take hope way by running out of conventional, curative treatment options; rather, we discourage hopefulness by not being present and listening to what our patients truly need from us."

I agree. And the fact that within conventional medicine, there is increasing recognition of the import role a physician can play in nurturing hope elevates the spirit. Palliative care is a specialty that brings conventional and complementary methods together by its very essence, and makes a more human model. It makes "the conversation" a little easier. It enriches all our lives.

Finding Hope on a Hospice Unit

2011-02-26T07:11:00.000-08:00

Health care at its best is scientific and evidence based, but often the complexity is to understand "which science." Long ago science recognized that the universe as we perceive it with out current methods is made up of matter and energy, but since "energy" was harder to measure, we focused on a Newtonian-Cartesian science that viewed "matter" as - well - what "mattered."

Discussions about "energy" in health care, as with the Eastern models, didn't make sense in terms of Newtonian-Cartesian science. And that all held together until Einstein came along, and after him, current physicists with Quantum theory, Gill Edwards writes in "Conscious Medicine" (a marvelous book well worth reading) "as physicists looked at tinier and tinier particles o what makes up our physical reality, they concluded that there simply isn't any solid stuff. There is only energy, or in quantum physics terms "waves of probability."

While I do not agree or endorse all of Ms Gill's statements about "conventional medicine," what is important in her argument is that complementary approaches cannot simply be invalidated because they do not fit someone's view of the Newtonian-Cartesian models (which are useful but no longer accurate as we assess sub atoic physics and the essence of things.

The NIH suggested that both conventional and complementary techniques should be viewed in light of an evidence based approach - and often complementary techniques are lower cost, lower side effects, and "do no harm."

Some techniques used routinely in conventional medicine can be high cost high risk with limited proof of efficacy, but we can get very caught up in the mantra of "fighting for someone." Using chemotherapy for a cancer that is sensitive to the agent, makes sense, but continuing a toxic sustance when it is clearly not helping may be sapping the body of its own natural defenses - using anti psychotics in some circumstances can effectively save peoples lives but in other circumstances they are being used where they are frankly "black boxed" by the FDA as not approved for use due to potential harm and lack of effectiveness.

For anyone in medicine humility is a valuable commodity - I can remember in my conventional medical school training, one wise physician pointed out to me that we get a small percentage of patients better through our interventions, most would heal anyway naturally, but that we injure some as well in our treatment. I always held the "do no harm" mandate to be important. Our professor of Public Health in medical school pointed out that changes in life expectancy tables correlated more to infectious disease limiting measures (such as control of sewage and quarantine of certain illnesses) than advances in medications and surgical techniques.

Europe seems to utilize less aggressive surgical approaches than we have as standards in the US (in act an element of our health debate is the argument of hypothetical "waiting lists" in Europe, when in fact, age adjusted most European countries have lower mortality figues and longer life expectancies that in the US).

And so - particularly for those patients who have diseases that are viewed as "incureable" by conventional medicine, asking "energy based" questions seems to make sense. Sitting down with a patient and asking "what do you believe happens with your spirit or consciousness when your body dies" expresses - most importantly - a sense of humility, and a sense of a willingness to listen, and a genuine caring for the person we are talking with. Our acceptance of their faith or belief set is supportive of them - and it allows for acknowledging our inability to "cure" someone, without taking away their own intrinsic sense of hope - separating out our lack of skill to cure from their future - not saying "you are going to die" but asking them what journey they perceive themselves to be on.

Patients and families are almost always positive in their responses. Some simply appreciate a doctor sitting down and taking the time to talk with them - and demonstrating the one thing we can clearly do when we cannot cure, and that is care. More importantly, patients have a natural tendency to hope, if only we do not crush that hope or invalidate it, in our need to be "scientific."

Rarely - I find an atheist, and it is never my job to convince or convert - but every atheist I have met has been more than willing to tell a listening doctor how he/she feels, and more than happy to review his/her life experiences with someone who cares.

When I came back to work on my in patient hospice unit, after my week at the AAHPM meeting, two patient experiences reminded me what my job was all about.

Sharon is 69, she was declining and suffering from severe pain and emacia. We had controlled her pain on our unit - she was hearing impaired, but was very alert to a patient listener. When I asked my one question, here were her responses - we just listened. "I don't know what to expect and I guess that's why you have anxiety, when you don't know what to expect. You're not going to be here on earth anymore, you're going to be with God. I'm not worried about that, I'm worried about what's in between - and everyone else suffering on account of me."

Mike was 80. He suffered from renal failure and was not eating, he was unconscious. A family member was present and in vigil. We asked her what she thought her loved one believed was happening to his spirit. She stopped crying to think about that question. "He is hard of hearing and his speach is impaired. He had no formal education. He was ignorant really in many ways. He never really expressed himself on heaven, he would have had a hard time expressing himself about that. I don't know how to explain it - he was just there - just him. He and Mom went to church almost every Sunday, though, for 50 years till she died. Then he lost his house and car. He lived an uneventful life, he was just there. He just lived his life, he never hurt anyone or did anything mean to anyone - sometimes he would just mow peoples lawn in the neighborhood without even charging them."

Sharon's pain was controlled on our unit, and went home to spend additional time with her family. Mike made transition free of pain. In both cases, their presence enriched us because we took the time to listen to the spirit that connects us all - spirit that resides in each human being.

In the best of worlds, we will use conventional medicine wisely and scientifically, we will use penicillin (or a more modern antibiotic) to save lives, and we will reduce cardiac risks and forstall cancer as best we can. We will avoid using the modern equivalent of "leeches" and be open to complementary medicine, or forms that Gill Edwards calls "conscious medicine" - to encourage the natural healing processes.

And most importantly we will face each day with humility, and continue to care for fellow human beings even when we can't cure them. Hopefully acts of compassion will make a difference in a world that so badly needs positive energy.

Vancouver and Reiki

2011-02-21T17:01:00.001-08:00

This past week I had the opportunity to visit Vancouver for a meeting of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. The conference itself was a meaningful experience, but the visit was enhanced by my Vancouver Reiki experience.

After studying Usui Reiki Ryoho with my first teacher, Robin Littlefeather Hannon, I was trained and attuned to Gendai Reiki by Amy Rowland, and after that learned and received attunements from Rick Rivard.

http://threshold.ca/reiki/home.html

One of the wonderful "perks" of learning with Rick, is participation as a former student in his "Tera" listserv. Rick was one of the founders or URRI - Usui Reiki Ryoho International, that ran from 1999-2003 and brought Reiki masters together from all over the world. "Sharing from the heart" (as Rick usually signs his emails) is a part of Reiki, and sharing Reiki experiences with Master teachers and new students worldwide is an enriching opportunity. As valued as this experience has been, I had wanted to meet Rick, receive "in person" attunements from him, and meet some of the other compassionate caring human beings who post on "Tera."

It is sort of fitting that Vancouver be such a hot bed of Reiki - not only was the first URRI session held there in 1999, but as well, Mrs Takata taught in a limited number of venues, and she lived with the Twan family in British Columbia, and taught there for a significant period of time.

So when I emailed Rick letting him know that I would be in Vancouver for a few days, and would like to meet and receive attunement from him - little did i know the treat that was in store for me. Rick and Peggy arranged for an exchange and about 20 practitioners turned out for an evening at the beautiful Canadian Memorial United Church at 15th and Burrard in Vancouver. Rick picked me up from my hotel, showed me quite a bit of Vancouver, the Sylvia Hotel where the Japanese masters stayed in 1999, the beach, views of the mountains, and finally we were at the exchange. There is a certain feeling that occurs when so many Reiki practitioners are together - my wife and I felt this when we visited the Temple in Kyoto where the Komyo exchange meets every week.

We gathered in a circle, and Peggy led a meditation. Energy flowed in the circle, and members of "Tera" who were not physically present "joined in." There was a sense of renewal, and connection, and ripples of compassion. A picture of Usui Sensei and the Japanese rendition of the Reiki precepts graced the front of the room, turning the church into a "dojo" - Rick and Jaime gave Reiju to all present.

Sitting in the circle, each of us shared our stories. And then we divided into groups working 4 or 5 practitioners to a table so that each of us received 10-15 minutes of Reiki.

I want to express gratitude to Rick for his years of commitment to Reiki, teaching, and for his constant sharing from the heart; to Peggy for helping with arranging the evening, and for doing a wonderful meditation, to Jaime for the Reiju - and to everyone who shared (in physical presence, or by distant Reiki) this exchange.

I do want to add to this Blog a poem I wrote earlier in the day. At the AAHPM meeting I participated in a section on working to relieve Lateral Violence in Health Care. This is a huge problem, and responsible practitioners and Health Care systems are facing this issue of mistreatment of health care workers by health care workers. To bring out issues, we broke into groups of 8 physicians and nurses, these were "mainstream" docs and nurses, not a Reiki group, but stories poured out. We had a reading based on experiences of an Intern, and we then each did a Reflexive Writing exercise.

I felt such incredible pain and anger around me - and people poured out their hearts. Perhaps with the help of Reiki, I am holding very little anger in - anger and worry are so harmful to us when we hold it in - but even before hearing everyone else's stories (some of the physicians and nurses said that what they wrote in their exercise they had never told anyone in their lives - and seeing people through the week you could see the healing).

But I wrote this poem - it reflected on the intern who, exhausted, and mistreated himself, had a dying patient who he could not save.

A last breath is taken

The wind goes through the trees

A noble spirit emerges

I see your pain.

You saw me suffering

And you were powerless to help me

But it is OK

I know that you cared.

Do not worry

Let go of your anger.

You have more energy within you than you know

You can heal.

I am grateful that you were present for my transition

It is OK

Let go of your own pain.

Do not despair.

You have compassion.

Form sacred spaces with others

And find the strength present for you.

Two days later I was listening to another session at the AAHPM meeting, and I heard a quote - I do not know from where it initially derived. It stated - "we do not do miracles, we form sacred spaces where miracles can occur."

And so I will always remember my time in Vancouver, where a group of conventional doctors considered the possibilities of Sacred Spaces - and I experienced the sharing of a Reiki exchange with so many compassionate people.

I am grateful.

Reiki Contra Ross

2011-01-31T04:50:00.000-08:00

There is sometimes in hospice a spiritual tendency to refer to the moment of cessation of physical function as "transition" rather than as "death." With all respect to one of the great contributors to compassionate care in the Western World, I have thought of this dilemma as "Reiki vs Ross." What exactly is this about?

Some time ago I was talking about an upcoming presentation on "End of Life Care" with a main stream Protestant Bishop, and he said to me, (in a friendly yet "older brotherly" way "young man, you doctors have no expertise to speak about End of Life, you have only learned about mortal life."

And in fact, Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, and Judaism all share similar beliefs in Heaven. When I ask patients and families what they believe happens when their heart stops (in an open ended way "permitting" them to tell me what they really think) - over 90% of patients say they believe in Heaven - one way or another. Many say, "I'm not religious, but I believe in God." Some have said to me, "thank God we finally found a Christian doctor" (though I am Jewish - my tendency is to be there for my patients, when I am in the room of a patient nearing "transition" I like to think of myself for that moment as whatever THEY are in support of THEM in that moment).

Yet in a recent article in the highly respected Journal of Pain and Symptom Management (Jan 2010 Vol 39 #1) an article scientifically assesses by Questionnaire "the Quality of Dying and Death."

Pragmatically, once we say that the patient must "deal with death and dying" we have, from a Spiritual perspective already condemned the patient and family to a cycle of suffering. We have denied the beliefs of the major faiths, and asserted a hypothesis of science that has no conceivable scientific capacity to test. Yet - I ask myself, if all the major faiths on our planet assert a continuation of spirit after death, and over 90% of the thousands of patients I have spoken with have had such a belief, is this "random" (in a scientific sense). If I tossed a coin and it came up "heads" over 90% of the time could I say, "that doesn't matter."

What if - patients ought to be encouraged to speak of "transition" rather than "death?"

When I have visited Jerusalem and when I have visited Kurama Mountain (a place that a Japanese Hotel clerk who was not involved in Reiki described to me as "the Jerusalem of Japan") - I sensed in both places 3 different "levels" of thought.

At one level there is a perception that God exists - far away - beyond one's own capacity to understand, but exists. It is an incredible feeling that we are not "alone," that we are "connected," and that the world has order and hope, and a reason for compassion.

At another level one senses that one can follow a path, that if only one adheres to a proper path one can be at one with the Creator - and the problem here is that we as human beings, often have difficulty respecting one another's path. We see "far in the distance" what some call "Heaven," what Buddhists call the "Pure Land," but it is far away from us.

At another level we understand what is said in Deuteronomy 30:11 "it is not hidden from you and it is not distant. It is not in heaven or over the seas, but in your own heart." Thict Nhat Hanh, a Buddhist scholar reminds us that the Pure Land is within our own heart, "Buddha did not choose any other place to become enlightened than in our own world."

The language of transition then becomes a language permitting patients and families to make these moments precious, and to allow in these moments the faith hidden within their own heart to emerge. Reiki assists in doing that - whatever the faith - by simply opening a door and being present. We are here and in a compassionate way we care enough about you to simply "listen." We do not see you as "dying" or leaving the "living," we see you in a more important fashion, a human being near a journey of "transition." We sit with you, not in judgement of you. We do not place you neatly into categories of "grieving" - but as a flower that is opening. We are - quite simply - here.

The patient in this moment is not condemned to the path of suffering that follows from the confrontation with impending "death," or the process of "dying." The patient - if they choose, has the opportunity to share with us the journey they perceive happening within themselves, what we call a transition to "the bonds of eternal life" or "life everlasting" and what the Buddhists call the opening of the Lotus.

Are we up to the challenge of simply being present and compassionate at a time of "transition," or does our training and "white coats" - (all of which have failed the patient to bring the to this moment) - need still to assert our "control" and scientific evaluations of the quality of dying?

For some of us, our goal is to assist the patient in living as well as possible - for the precious time that exists. Allowing with humility that faith may have value where science has limits, we may help our patients (and ourselves), to turn toward an infinite light, rather than demand that we face a limitless void.

Mickey's Blog

2011-01-25T16:43:00.000-08:00

We had a guest visiting our hospice unit today, and she shared the story of the loss of beloved colleagues who had worked at our hospital.

There are certain things we strive to attain every day, and if I were to try to describe these I would say, first, excellence in scientific care and scientific method, and at the same time, human caring and compassion. And it isn't always easy to integrate these qualities - qualities that focus on "both shores." Mickey Barron and Rhonda Fishel brought this excellence and this spirit to our hospital system for many years. Mickey was a Nurse Practitioner who practiced with excellence in our ER and ICU, and Rhonda for many years was the Chief of our Surgical ICU.

For those who might not know, Dr Rhonda Fishel had earned a reputation of being an incredibly gifted trauma surgeon and criticalist. Training, skill, discipline and hard work brought miracles from her hands. But what so touched so many of the nurses in the units, was that they knew Rhonda as a caring, humble human being, who on a daily basis gifted everyone she could with compassion.

Mickey and Rhonda were inseparable in life, passed a way a short time apart, and were buried in a touching ceremony. This is described at http://mickeybarron.blogspot.com

The ripples of the memories of noble spirits are intended to spread compassion through the world, as they did through their actions when they shared the journey of living with us.

I hope people interested in Hospice take a moment to read Mickey's Blog.

A poem

2011-01-02T17:15:00.000-08:00

As we transition between years, I am drawn to a poem written by the late Abbot Zenkei Shibayama of Nanzen-ji temple in Kyoto. It was quoted in "A Raft from the Other Shore" by Sho-on Hattori.

"A flower blooms in silence, falls in silence.

And never returns to its stem.

Ina moment, at just one place,

It forgoes all its life,

The voice of a flower,

the reality of the flower stem.

There the happiness of eternal life

is shining without regret."

Sho-on Hattori comments, "as there is eternal life in a moment of blossom, so do we strive to realize the eternal wisdo in the "moment" of our life."

As people in hospice merge their spirits to help others, their compassion builds the "tree" of humanity, as leaves build a tree. Jewish mysticism reflects on this interconnectedness as the "Tree of Life."

Hattori reflects that Buddha (could we not say the leaders of other great spiritual movements as well) observed the sorrow or darkness of this world that we live in, and looked across to the distant shore of spiritual light, and "showed all humankind the means of crossing the ocean of darkness to the realm of light on that shore."

In facing difficult moments, I cannot scientifically prove "the other shore." But we can talk about it. Last week I was faced with a suffering woman, whose husband had forgone dialysis, and who was unconscious and rapidly declining. She was drenched in suffering, what to do, what to say?

I asked her, "What would your husband have said he believes will happen to his spirit when his body dies?"

And she stopped crying, and answered me, "Doctor, he believed with all his heart that he would be going to a better place."

She had found a "raft." And we were able to talk. Not about suffering and not about the dying process and not about the labs but about him, and who he was, and what he believed. And it mattered.

"The voice of a flower,

the reality of the flower stem.

There the happiness of eternal life,

is shining without regret."

Imagine

2010-12-19T13:35:00.000-08:00

Imagine for a moment living breathing beings, that we can observe from behind a hidden one way window.

We observe that these beings seems to have different "gears." That sometimes, the beings rest, and heal, and sometimes, the beings can sort of "turn up" the energy usage into a "higher gear." And faced with certain situations, seeking food, trying to defend oneself, when threatened or competing for something, that these beings can accomplish more tasks in a faster time, run faster, see more clearly, fight harder.

And what do you suppose happens? Some of these beings find this state of "heightened gear" attractive, and they seek to push their bodies to stay in this gear all the time. They think this makes them more successful, or makes them feel better (even as it wears them out to be in this heightened "gear" all the time)

Watching over a long period of time, we see that those beings that go back and forth between the different gears at different times seem to be healthier than those that always tend to stay in "resting gear," or always tend to stay in "heightened gear." (and we see there aren't only two gears, there are an infinite number of settings between one end and the other, and the beings who seem to be the healthiest over the longest periods of time are those who are able to maintain a balance.)

Long ago, the beings knew about this balance. It was part of an ancient wisdom of their bodies. They understood it. But over time, this wisdom was lost. Even as they learned new modern wisdoms, ways to use substances to "cure" themselves when they were "sick." They even learned how to cut into their bodies to "cure" some parts that had "worn out." Some parts could be "replaced." Like magic.

One day, some beings began to realize that there was a difference between the old natural way of "healing" by being in "balance," and the new "magic" ways of "curing" things that had become "sick." And some realized that the old wisdoms could be learned yet again, and used together with the new "magic." (it never had to be one or the other)

This is very much the situation we have today. The human body has an "autonomic nervous system" that is described as having 2 "settings." One setting is described as "fight or flight" and is called by health care professionals the "sympathetic nervous system." It can also be referred to as "adrenergic" since it is related to having surges of adrenaline. The other setting is described as for being at "rest" and is often called the "parasympathetic nervous system."

What we are finding is that within the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems, they are variations and it is not so simply "one or the other." Some medications for example, like "beta blockers" can block the "beta" type effect of adrenaline, without blocking the "alpha" effect, and now we know different "selective" effects within those systems. And at the same time, we know that the parasympathetic system can sustain action and activity, not just "rest" - though at a "lower gear."

"Stress" can cause more adrenaline to circulate, and while this can have benefits short term ("fight or flight") it can wear someone out, so it may be best not to stay in one state (or the other) all the time. Resting all the time and not getting any exercise ever isn't healthy either. We seem to need a balance.

We really don't know for sure what happens when we do Reiki, but it sometimes seems as if we "reset" the balance between the elements of the autonomic nervous system in a healthier way.

Talking about "chakras" may make sense to us, but to physicians trained in a very conservative way, it may be hard for them to understand. Yet, if we talk about the effect of Reiki, in terms of causing relaxation, slowing the pulse, and placing our breathing in a more regular pattern, it may be easier for Western trained physicians to understand.

The other day I came home from after a long flight. I went right back to work, and a friend asked how I could do this. "I'm always tired for a couple of days after long flights" this person shared. Some time ago, I stopped worrying about flying. Once I decide to go somewhere, there simply is no sense to worrying and I may as well enjoy the journey. Now, I suppose, I use Reiki and relax. I don't let the waiting upset me and I don't let the security upset me, and when we are flying I don;t think about what might go wrong. It is sort of interesting to see how, human intellect and thinking, which should help us, can in some situations wear us out. Worrying about things we have no control over and can't do anything about wears us out. Being thankful for the opportunities we have seems to give us a chance to be calm, and to some degree heal ourselves.

Imagine.

Looking through a window

2010-12-04T13:13:00.000-08:00

A few days ago, I walked back to my hospice unit late in the day, and found one of my patients sitting on a bench, dressed to leave, waiting for her ride. It was hard to imagine, as 17 days before she had been sent to us expecting to die, with widely metastatic cancer, and a bowel obstruction. "There's nothing that can be done," she had been told. And we worked with pain medication to assure comfort, and waited with her, and prayed with her.

Somehow, the bowel obstruction had relieved (at least for now). And she was sitting and waiting to go home.

I walked up to her and we took each other's hands and I told her that I prayed that she would be well and that I would see her again. I knew the cancer was not cured, and I knew this was a gift of very special time. And what I meant was really - I hope that you do not die soon, that this does not recur too soon, and she gave me this huge smile and said, "I do hope I see you again but not here, maybe walking down the street and we will pass each other by and wave hello, or, perhaps, I will be looking through a window from a store, and I will see you walking by, and I will wave!"

And I knew yet again that sometimes, things occur that we cannot understand - that while often curing is beyond our skill, caring is not.

Sometimes it is simply, as Art Buchwald wrote, "too soon to say goodbye."

Reiki and Manna

2010-11-28T07:30:00.000-08:00

What do these two things have in common, Reiki, a form of healing which comes to us from Japan, and Manna, a type of food consumed by the Israelites in the desert, after they escaped from Egypt?

First of all, this Blog reflects meditation on a question that people are asking me, why don't you slow down? Aren't you worried you are going to exhaust yourself? Someone your age should take it easy!

And it is true that I have many days come to a realization that in hospice, half the patients I treat now are younger than I am - and so one would ask, what SHOULD I worry about? And it made me think of the story of the Manna in the desert. At least in the Bible as written in Hebrew, it appears that the "energy" in the Manna is not just "nourishment," it is a "food" that is spiritual and energetic as well as "material." And this food comes from Heaven and lasts only for one day - it cannot be stored or "saved for tomorrow." It appears that the lesson here differentiates between material food, grain and the like, that earlier in Genesis Joseph was able to store in warehouses, and save for the "rainy day" (or more likely in this case for the years of drought). Manna came as food that was "spiritual" in nature, and the energy needed to be consumed, more importantly, one needed to use the gift with the faith that more energy (or Manna) would come tomorrow.

So it seems to be for a Hospice worker. We are gifted with a certain amount of energy, and perhaps that is for a purpose, if we hold back and do not use that energy to assist others than it will spoil and do us no good. Holding back isn't playing it "safe" at all.

I am recurrently seeing people eager to move ahead in Reiki, attain more attunements, and accomplish more levels. And I am seeing people have concern that these leap forwards can be exhausting, and no doubt at some point clearing blocks and opening up can come with a need to rest and to integrate energies, to "rearrange the garden" if you will.

More and more for this reason I am tending to teach people over a longer period of time, and provide attunements at a point when I feel they are "really ready." There are benefits to "curriculum," and certainly standardization has its value and its place, but learning to perceive and work with "energy" is a long term commitment and an ongoing process. It seems to me more a journey than an attainment - and approached in this way I have found helping other people exhilirating, and long days rarely "exhausting."

For those who say I have a lot left to learn, I have tended to say I second that, or perhaps just a simple "thank you." In the meantime, I feel an obligation to continue to work hard and expend the spiritual energy I am gifted with "just for today." If we are doing a mission of kindness, we just need to have faith that the "Manna" will continue to fall - one day at a time.

And whether we use a curriculum, or attain a level, if we simply use the spiritual energy that is gifted us to give compassion to others, we ourselves will continue to grow.

Reiki and Transition

2010-11-17T02:30:00.000-08:00

Last week I was having a meeting with a family in hospice. Superb specialists had told the family that his cancer could not be cured, and that he was near death. Everyone had fought as hard as they could. The patient as so often is the case, could no longer speak for himself, and fortunately, he was on a unit where relief of pain was a primary goal. Although further aggressive meaasures such as CPR (cardiopulmonary rescusitation) would no longer be useful, law still placed a burden on me to ask the family the ritual questions about doing or not doing CPR, and gave the family both the power and the emburdenment of deciding on whether to have something done or not, that in this circumstance would not be expected to work absent a celestial miracle.

Familes so often in this situation think they are deciding whether or not someone "will live." For them, to not do CPR implies to "let someone die" - and yet - they have already been told that medical treatments would not work in this circumstances.

We sometimes try a new approach - not directing the discussion at the technical aspects of CPR or why it wouldn't work - but rather, guided by a Reiki perspective focused on the moment, asking questions focused on the moment. Thinking in this moment of the five basic Reiki principles.

And the question I ask then is directed to the reality that is being lived "just for today." "You know him best, if he could speak for himself right now - what would he say he believed would happen to his spirit when his body ceased to function? Does he believe that death ends it all, or has he believed that a spirit continues after the body dies?"

Although no one knows what actually happens after death, and we cannot test or measure or have certainty, many many people think on this question. And as they approach "transition" - what they have believed in their life should matter - do they believe that the end of mortal life ends life, or do they believe they are moving forward to an exciting journey? Are they afraid or do they have faith?

While it is not for a health care professional to ever convert or convince at end of life, neither is it for a health care professional to silence or rebut faith - and so often, if patients and their families are not told that we are willing to listen to what their faith is, and accept their sharing, they think we are not interested, or do not care, or would judge.

Asking simply "what would he believe" can be a powerful act of respect. We can at the least learn a lot more about our patients and their families - and at the point where we cannot cure, demonstrating in this way that we care, at least enough to want to know about the life, can be important.

One day I was telling a friend about my plans to give a talk at a medical meeting on "end of life" care, and this gentleman who was a religious leader for many souls, perhaps tens of thousands of souls, told me as respectfully as he could that, "you young doctor are not an expert on life, only on mortal life. The life that happens after death is beyond doctors training and expertise."

And so, I was told, that if we used our skills to cure, at the point when we could no longer cure, we could at least have the humility to care to listen to what those we were caring for believed.

I have treated many patients who have been near death, and at least for a time returned to us. Almost every one described an experience of perceiving a bright light - like the brightest light they had ever seen. And here is a description of Mikao Usui's vision on Mount Kurama, in a classic version as told to Amy Rowland as told by Beth Gray, as told by Mrs. Takata ("The Complete Book of Traditional Reiki")- this occurs on Mount Kurama after a 21 day fast: "too weak to move and powerless to block the light, he surrendered to it, and he had his vision. He began to see that the intense bright light flowing into him was made of hundreds and hundreds of bubbles of light, like a river is made of droplets of rain. Each of these bubbles was one of the colors of the rainbow and glowed with iridescence."

When we were in Japan, and traveling to Kurama, we had the opportunity to talk with many people, and intentionally we did not simply ask about Reiki, but about Mount Kurama, and we found it had a deep spiritual meaning to many Japanese people - for generations, indeed for centuries, the remains of "noble souls" who might serve as examples and protectors to their families and villages, even in death, seem to have been brought there as a final resting place.

For many people's, places become "holy" based on the memory of the spirits who have gone before - the examples of their lives and joys and tears that went before us.

If we see Usui Sensei in Japanese terms, perhaps we can see the "bubbles of light" as Kami - noble spirits - intending to guide and give compassion to those of us still in mortal life.

There is simply this - Reiki method gives us a non sectarian structure for looking at a situation and a time we cannot control with science. It allows us to connect with people of different backgrounds and different religions and different cultures in a very simple way.

And what of my patient's family last week? I listened to their story of his life, and of what he believed, and of his faith, and his oft stated words that he was going to a "better place" - and they added, "he would not want to be on a machine and he would not want CPR."

Away from worry and in a place of gratefulness for his life, they had found a path to an easier way to face this moment. I had said very little, had asked a simple question, and sat and listened to a story.

On the NIH 5 year plan

2010-11-07T15:23:00.000-08:00

This weekend I attended a continuing education meeting (CME) for conventional physicians, and while neither Reiki nor energy based healing were discussed, I could not help but reflect that the comnents of some of our speakers were, advertently or inadvertently, supporting the integration of complementary medicine into what we do in "evidence based medicine." The plain fact is, everyone wants access to the best of evidence based medicine when it works, but much of what we utilize every day is extremely expensive and has fairly high side effects.

I also cannot help but reflect upon the ill advised, poorly thought out, and regrettable decision by the NIH to focus research within its next 5 year plan of complementary medicine on pharmaceuticals rather than energy based medicine.

Here is what a highly prestigious speaker quoted to our conventional group of physicians this weekend" "Far too large a section of the treatment of disease is today controlled by the big manufacturing pharmacists, who have enslaved us in a plausible pseudoscience."

Well - what is shocking is this quote was not from 2010, but rather from a contemporary of Usui Sensei, the quote is from Dr Osler, the founder of the Department of Medicine at Johns Hopkins and one of the father's of Modern Scientific Medicine.

And what does that mean in todays terms? The speaker went on to discuss the over usage of sedatives and antipsychotics in nursing homes today. In terms of sleep, scientific evidence was quoted that a major class of sleeping pills "decrease the time to onset of sleep, prolong the first two stages of sleep and shorten stages 3 and 4 (deep sleep) and REM sleep." (Medical Letter 1999)

Now deep sleep and REM sleep are what really "refresh" us, and the speaker went on to encourage us not to prescribe these medications adding, that for people having sleep induced by sleeping pills the report of daytime fatigue (next day) is "3.8 fold increase" compared to people not given a sleeping pill and continuing to report sleeplessness.

We were informed that in one recent case "the government charged that executives" (or a company which i will not name in the blog) "planned and executed schemes to illegally market (varying medications for pain and sedation). The fine in this case, "$2.3 billion amounts to less than 3 weeks" of the alleged companies sales.

These comments above, which I am reflecting on, are from a highly respected conventional teacher speaking at a very conservative and conventional physician meeting.

Conventional physicians are struggling to be "evidence based" - this is the best way for us to be, it is how we can best assist patients - but in the case of conventional medicine, we need more evidence about what complementary techniques can do and what they cannot do, especially - energy based and spiritual techniques.

The simple fact is that, complementary techniques like Reiki, Acupunture have very low costs and very low side effects.

I had a patient come in last month wishing a prescription for sleeping pills. I quoted the evidence to him, and tried to convince him that a medication was not a best option - it would take far less time to write a prescription! In the end, we agreed i would do a Reiki treatment on him, and not so surprisingly, he fell asleep. Now I have a conventional practice, not a Reiki practice, and except for terminally ill patients who I am treating in hospice, I am not day to day doing Reiki therapy - and so I offer options of colleagues who have Reiki practices.

In hospice we see cancer patients every day. And to make myself perfectly clear, if there is a chance that surgery and chemotherapy and radiation therapy will cure a patient, I am 100% supportive of educating to this option. "Cure" is a wonderful thing. Sadly - we do not yet have a cure for all cancers - and what happens when the conventional treatments are in fact not curative, and the patient is worsening in the face of such treatment? That is the dilemma. Can we "care" (or even as some say "heal") when we cannot cure?

This past week I was treating a patient whose oncologist had given up hope. Nonetheless, she wanted to continue aggressive treatment that would clearly not cure her and might well shorten her life. She came to hospice perhaps to die. We spent some time discussing the options, and she was very focused on what would happen after she died, what would her family do after she died, and in talking with her family we said to her, "please live the time you have. Please focus on the time you can share with your family now. Please don't give up the time you can live now."

She changed her focus - and went home. We do not know for how long. We only believe that each day someone can enjoy and share with loved ones is a precious day.

I can remember very early in my conventional practice, many years ago, having a very tough week. I had two patients with incureable brain tumors. I had long discussions with my neurosurgical colleague who did the biopsies, and he was clear that aggressive treatment would not succeed. In both cases, i had long discussions with the patient and with the family. One patient went to another surgeon, entered a hospital, had aggressive brain surgery and died that week in an intensive care unit. The other patient declined aggressive care, went on a vacation with her husband that they had always wanted to take together, and eventually, months later, died with hospice support and surrounded by her family at home.

It seems to me that a good physician is evidence based, and holistic - and isn't committed to forcing the use of one type of care or treatment. Medications can be lifesaving, i wouldn't want to have pneumonia and not take an antibiotic!

If conventional and complementary approaches can work together, and both be evidence tested, - care can be more sensible, and more holistic.

There was a recent article in the New York Times (10/2/10) quoted by our speaker this weekend, "For decades anitpsychotic drugs were a niche product. Today, they're the top selling class of pharmaceuticals in America, generating annual revenue of about $14.6 billion, and surpassing sales of even blockbusters like heart protecting statins."

The NIH should have had the wisdom to realize, the dollars spent on pharmacologic research is already extremely high, and the five year priority plan should have had the wisdom to be more balanced. More evidence based research on Complementary Medicine, especially energy based, should have been included. Osler. I think, would have understood that.

a Journey of Spirit

2010-10-23T05:10:00.000-07:00

This Blog reflects on my journey, caring for hospice patients living the later days of their lives. It compares aspects of my own spiritual upbringing to that which I experienced in my journey to Japan, and reflects in some ways on the connections between Pure Land Buddhism and the challenges we sometimes face caring for patients in hospice.

Visiting Usui Sensei's resting place in Tokyo, one finds oneself at a peaceful, meditative place which is a Pure Land (Jodo sect) Buddhist cemetary. In biographies about Mrs Takata, an "Archbishop of the Jodo sect" is mentioned, but one cannot know with certainty exactly what this realtionship represented. Many of Mrs Takata's stories were allegorical, and she was writing at a time of intense prejudice in America.

Respected sources record Usui Sensei as a Tendai monk, and suggest that he was originally laid to rest in a Tendai cemetary and then moved to his current site. Others have recorded Usui Sensei as Christian, which is doubtful, or Pure Land Buddhist. The truth in history is beyond my grasp, but the fact is that Usui Sensei lays to rest at a Pure Land cemetary and that fact led me to reflection on the serenity and connection of Pure Land thought. I am not a Buddhist, but, people in moments of need seek a connectivity that seems to me best represented by what the great religions have in common, not in the qualities that make sects distinct.

Recently I was caring for a patient with cancer. Randy was unsconscious, he had suffered through surgery and chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Every conventional modality had been tried. He had been rejected for stem cell treatment (though I have had patients who have been through even that in their struggle). We were able to control Randy's pain, but his family family were suffering. They looked to the hospice team for help and support. Time and again in hospice, we are faced with patients and their families who look to us for guidance and for caring, when we have no tools for curing. What do we do? It just doesn't feel right to button up the "white coat" and walk away in these moments.

In these moments, all members of the hospice team become equally important. When all we can do is connect and support at a human level, there is no hierarchy. Every member of my Team is valued.

Honen was a Buddhist monk who lived from 1133 to 1212 Common era in Japan. He studied at Mt Hiei and was ordained a Tendai sect Monk at age 15. He founded the Japanese Pure Land or Jodo sect. Usui Sensei is laid to rest in a Pure Land cemetary in Tokyo. It is likely that Usui Sensei was a well educated man, aware of the teachings of many sects of Buddhism, and of Christian, Jewish and Muslim teachings as well.

One of Honen's principal teachings occurred when followers of his Jodo Shu sect saw both Honen, and his student Awanosuke, studying the meaning of "Nembutsu." "Of course," one said, "Honen's Nembutsu practice is better than Awanosuke's." Honen answered, "there is not the slightest difference between the two, because both of us have the same intention of wanting to attain birth in the Buddha's Pure Land."

What was the nature of this practice "Nembutsu?" It is repeating the affirmation, "Namu Amida Butsu" often translated as "homage to Amida Buddha," - a simple statement of faith. I have also seen this described as "save us oh Amida Buddha"using the term of Buddha as a manifestation of God the creator who is still active with compassion in the world.

There is a comparable Jewish prayer in the mystical "Hallel." It is a most basic affirmation of faith. "Ana (and then a Hebrew name for God) ho-shi-a na." It translates "please God (creator and ongoing ruler of the universe) save us."

In hospice, at moments when science has failed, a simple reaffirmation of faith and acknowledgement of a higher power that connects us can mean so much to patients and their loved ones. So much often pours out, "we didn't think we could talk about this with you." At a time when people need connection the most, and when more surgery is not an option, science should not "sterilize" the discussion of a creator from the room.

Honen was known for another teaching, and that was his belief that attainment of enlightment was not limited to the rich or to fellow Monks. Honen believed that women and men, rich and pure, fisherman and Samurai, Monks and laypersons, could all attain enlightenment, and this was revolutionary in his time at Mt Hiei. Honen defended his position based on stories and teachings from the historic Buddha, Shakyamuni.

Honen taught that in seeking enlightenment it was not enough to seek just for oneself. The search for enlightenment required assisting others. It was a similar dilemma that led the great Jewish scholar Hillel to teach, "if I am not for myself, who will be for me? but if i am only for myself, who am I?"

For those who do not believe in the revelation that there is a God who created and still cares for the world, and that all human beings are connected through that spirit - it is not for me to convince or convert. But in those moments when transition seems near, it is reasonable to talk about those strengths and connections by which the patient and the family have lived. Those who make simple affirmations of faith seem to suffer less, if at all.

Whether Sensei Mikao Usui was a Christian or a Buddhist, and if a Buddhist a Tendai or Pure Land follower, he lived a secular life and passed to the world a very non sectarian message that without religion allowed for connection to a Universal spirit through simple method.

These 5 affirmations seem consistent with most of the major religions, and seem to help reduce suffering.

1. We will not worry just for today (since we Affirm faith in a Creator)

2. We will not be angry just for today (since we ask the merciful Creator to forgive us all our errors just as we forgive others)

3. We will work hard today (since human beings of all stations in life can reach enlightenment, we all need to do our own share)

4. We will be grateful just for today (for what the Creator does for us)

5. We will do kindness just for today (to enlighten and connect oneself one must attempt to help others - we send ripples of compassion into the world)

When we return to that which we all have in common, rather than focus on that which makes us distinct, we are more able help others through a difficult part of their journey.

Sometimes Life seems hard

2010-10-16T04:55:00.000-07:00

Sometimes Reiki meditation helps us in keeping a perspective, and understanding what it means to "be grateful." Right now, it is difficult to be a primary care doctor in this country, and in talking with colleagues every day, I hear and am aware of the frustrations. And this Blog is not intended to enumerate these concerns, nor to minimize them, when young physicians are choosing not to enter primary care, and experienced physicians are leaving their careers prematurely, it is a cause for concern, but the intention of this Blog is to reflect on other stories, of people who overcame tough challenges in life, and made a difference.

Reiki as we know it in North America became widespread due to the efforts of Mrs. Hawayo Takata. People are seeking to understand more about her allegorical stories about Reiki, and to understand more about her life. Much is private and some that was taught in allegory is not clear, but certain things are clear. Mrs Takata had many difficult challenges in her life. Things did not always come easy.

Before she was 30 years old, her beloved husband passed away of lung cancer, and she raised two children as a single parent. She had to work hard. She had health challenges herself. When she was 40 years old, her Reiki mentor died, and she was alone in Hawaii as a widow with children, an American of Japanese decent, at a time when Japan and America were going to war. Perhaps the truth most important to keep in mind as we seek to understand what she gifted the world with, was the simple fact that in the face of personal hardship she worked very hard, and gifted the world. Her biographies mention some of her hardships, and some of the prejudice that she faced, but do not dwell on them. The common thread to the stories about Mrs. Takata is that she maintained a cheerful countenance, used her talent to help other people, and sent forth ripples of compassion that still spread.

This past week, I had the honor to hear another such story. A nurse, Deb and I were making a home visit together to meet a new hospice patient. We went to her home, where her husband was caring for her, as she continued her long struggle against Alzheimers Disease.

With all the stresses on our time, we feel it is important to take the time to get to know our families, and in this case her husband gifted us with his story. He is a retired fellow physician, and the story of his life as a healer is one all doctors today need to keep in mind.

He went to Meharry Medical College, until the early 1970's, almost 25 years after Jackie Robinson played for the Brooklyn Dodgers, African Americans were only admitted to 2 medical colleges in America. It is hard to believe. But true.

He shared that his father was also a physician. And he remembers when his brother's high school was closed down, his brother had to walk 7 miles a day each way to go to school. His father, in 1947 began a lawsuit against the school district, but things moved slowly, and they lost at local court levels, with the justice system permitting racial segregation in schools and lack of equal opportunity in education. As a child, he remembers then NAACP lawyer Thurgood Marshall, coming to their home, and listening to his dad and brother's stories. When lawsuits from several states were "merged" to be presented by Thurgood Marshall to the Supreme Court, this case was one of the cases which became a part of what was named "Brown vs Board of Education." And in 1954, the Supreme Court of the United States declared that segregated schools were illegal.

Sitting in that room I felt a sense of awe and honor. I came to help this family, but his story was helping me. It was placing the challenges of my own day in perspective. My patients husband was facing life as he had always faced life, as his father had taught him to face life, without worry or anger, but with a determination to be a physician and spread kindness to others.

Deb and I were sitting in a room connected to a moment of history most important to our country, but we were being gifted as well with a perspective on how to face challenges.

When things are difficult as a health care provider, all I need to do is see the challenges my patients are facing. They are so often stories of courage.

In a prior Blog I wrote about one of my patients who was brought to my in patient unit, with the intensive care facility of a referring hospital expecting him to die in a day or two. He was bowel obstructed, and medically we saw no hope. We cared where we could not cure and our chaplain prayer with him, and did Reiki with him, and somehow, he did not die right away. After a month, we agreed to send him home, and he lived another five weeks - it seemed whenever we talked with him he was praying for other people he loved, Blessing other people, or thanking God for what he had been gifted with in life.

Some people see the challenges they face, and do not allow themselves to absorb the worry and anger of the moment. A doctor who had to face terrible prejudice just to be a doctor, persevered and took part in a quiet action that changed the soul of America, and Mrs Takata, a facing personal loss, and at times prejudice in her new land, left a legacy of compassion that has a very wide impact today.

Whatever the details of the stories, and however they are written or not written by history, there is a precious human lesson - we are gifted when we listen to it.

Reiki Treatment and a new evidence based article

2010-09-30T13:51:00.000-07:00

An important event has occurred for those having an interest in Reiki treatment, and that event was the recent publication of an article by a team that included Reiki Master Pamela Miles, and a group of Yale researchers.

I urge Reiki practitioners - especially those attempting to integrate Conventional Medicine and Complementary techniques - to be aware of this new contribution.

Pamela Miles web site is http://reikiinmedicine.org/ and the discussion of this specific article is at

http://reikiinmedicine.org/clinical-practice/reiki-heart-attack-reik/

There have been prior preliminary studies suggesting possible interaction between Reiki treatment and the autonomic nervous system, but this study in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology is a significant randomized controlled study carried out at one of the most prestigious academic institutions and published as Pamela notes "by one of the most prestigious peer-reviewed conventional medical journals."

The article is "Effects of Reiki on Autonomkic Activity Early After Acute Coronary Syndrome," Rachel SC Friedman, Matthew M. Burg, Pamela Miles, Forrester Lee, and Rachel Lampert J Am Coll Cardiol 2010; 56; 995-996

This article leaves us much to ponder on - but just for today, consider the reasons for doing Reiki treatment on yourself.

Reiki Shares

2010-09-19T17:57:00.000-07:00

In the last month I have been blogging less and learning more, my own perception both as a Hospice physician and as a Reiki practitioner is that continuing to learn, grow, evolve is an important part of living.

This month our own share had 9 masters and one new practitioner - since we are not teaching as a class within our share I will not say "student" - though I believe in fact we are all "students" learning from each other.

It is an incredible experience to "exchange" or "share" with many Reiki practitioners from different traditions. There are commonalities: - sharing a philosophy that flows from the five basic Usui principles - the fact that doing Reiki causes hands to heat up - and a sense that connecting to "energy" changes one's life for the better.

For some of us, having a very defined curriculum or method is very important - and for others of us, the energy that flows and the way we interact with it varies with the history and nature of the person, and what that person needs.

I think it is important to recognize the commonalities and to respect the differences.

We had a very special treat in our September 7 share as Hazel Numsen, who learned with both Dr John Upledger (cranio-sacral therapy) and Dr Fritz Smith (zero balancing) gave a demonstration. It seemed when I visited Japan that many people viewed a broad spectrum of spiritual approaches to energy as "Reiki" - but here in the United States it seems to follow a more defined approach - yet - there are many other approaches to what we call "energy."

Dr Upledger describes his own approach, SomatoEmotional Release, as follows in his book, "Your Inner Physician and You:" In SomatoEmotional Release , the approach is quite different. Here we simply place our hands on the patient. We then give silent permission for the patient's body to do whatever it deems appropriate at the time. We offer to put energy into the patient."

Now one may come to conclude that Dr. Upledger's approach is not Reiki, (or -perhaps one may conclude that it is - end of day not so important to me) he is an Osteopath, and comes from a traditional that does not include Usui, or Hayashi, or Takata. And yet reading his book, it seems fairly clear that his intention is to work on the same "energy" that Reiki works on - and that we can all learn from each other.

Last week I went to learn Reiki from a distinguished Reiki Master - notwithstanding that I have received the Master symbol four separate times now, formally, I still feel a benefit from continuing to learn. Seeing patient every day with incureable illnesses is simply a humbling experience for me. I use conventional medicine when ever it has a reasonable answer, but I simply cannot cease trying to "heal" because I am unable to "cure."

And this person pointed out that the energy he was working on with me "was different from Reiki." The intention is to grow and "be who you are." Or perhaps more "who you can be."

It is - perhaps naively - my hope that we can remain inclusive, and consider healing energies as being in synergy, when their intentions are to heal, and their techniques are not invasive, but rather gentle encouragements to what Dr Upledger would call "your Inner Physician."

My own sense - if this led one to avoid anger, just for today, to avoid worry just for today, to work hard, and to be grateful, and to offer a kindness today; if this caused your hands to heat up, if this had an intention to heal by gentle touch (or perhaps by energy not even transmitted by actual physical contact) - then the great masters would see it as their own.

If not, then we can still be grateful for the opportunity to assist others, and or the opportunity to continue to grow. My appreciation remains for all those who share this journey.

Just for Today

2010-09-04T15:57:00.000-07:00

Patients often come to my Hospice unit, with a prediction of imminent death. "If you remove the ventilator they will die," but they not always do so; "if you stop dialysis they will die," but they do not always do so.

It does not mean that doctors' training is faulty, it simply means that we are trained to make decision based on statistical probabilities, and life does not always proceed as expected. I tend to answer questions as to prognosis as honestly as I can, but try to add, that in my job, I "hope to be wrong more often." If the Creator tosses a proverbial "pie in my face," I need to have joy for my patients good fortune.

Recently we received two patients coming to our unit with aggressive life support, their blood pressures maintained by articial intravenous medications. In both cases, excellent specialists spelled out correctly what the numbers meant, and what the expectations were. If the medications were stopped, they "would die." And there is no question how the numbers looked. In both cases though, as in so many of these cases, continuing aggressive medication was not a panacea; first of all such modalities only work for so long - they are not ongoing answers or cures. And secondly, the patient in such a situation is "hooked up" - loses all sense of freedom.

In some cases, such as being on a respirator, the patient is unable to talk, and often needs to be heavily sedated to keep the machinery in place.

In both of these cases this week, the patients decided to withdraw the "life sustaining medication." Our intention is never to "end their life," but to affirm their right to choice and empowerment over their own existence, and to give them a chance, a hope, an opportunity, to live free of being "connected" or "hooked up." Being "open" to Spirituality, helps us turn a certain death into a chance for life. Even if that living is only for a short time, sharing love and memories with loved ones can be precious and important.

Usually - the docs are right, but not always. And fortunately, everyone was wrong in our recent "dobutamine" cases. Slowly we weaned the patients off the medication, and one of them actually began to improve. He became more alert, he started eating, he got up, and started walking around our unit. He decided it is "time to go home."

Our other patient who stopped his aggressive medication is still with us. He is surrounded by family with love pouring into him. When we cannot cure, we can join a family in caring, and in prayer.

This is a part of the nature of Hospice; accepting that we use our scientific skills as best we can, but that human life is more than lab tests and numbers. Sometimes we can do nothing more than make someone comfortable. But sometimes, we can do something more, we can have someone prove us "wrong," even if "just for today."

Climbing the Reiki Mountain

2010-08-30T12:49:00.000-07:00

It was only two months ago that we were in Japan, visited Kyoto, and climbed to the Temple on Mount Kurama. Mikao Usui had a vision there, which started a chain of events that led to many people, perhaps millions of people, being attuned to a spiritual energy and learning a method of healing.

It doesn't seem yet so long ago, nor in truth so far away (though the flight seemed to go on and on and on at the time). We live under the same sun (even if day here is night there) and the same energy flows through us all. Today I saw another "climb" - and it taught me something - that Kurama isn't only in Japan. The spirit surrounds us wherever we are.

Philip is a man who is living the last days of his life, i will not say dying because he does not think of himself in that way. He has a rapidly spreading cancer which has caused an intermittent internal blockage - the medical details really do not matter. He has wanted to receive artificial intravenous feeding, and we have followed his requests. In hospice my mantra is to empower the patient and follow their wishes as much as possible.

On the television it said today was going to be a sunny day, for me, that reminded me of my day climbing the steps of Kurama, but for Philip, it made him want to go outside. He has not been in the sun since he entered the hospital. He wanted to walk around his room, and walk to his wheelchair, and as he said, "I can only do that if someone helps me."

The effort that it took him to walk around his room, even with his walker, even with help, exceeded the effort it took for me to climb Kurama. More exhausting than the travel, the security, the flight, the bullet train, and finally the half day climb up the steps.

But today he made "the climb." Walked to his wheelchair, and a volunteer took him outside, and he sat in the sun for 15 minutes. I asked him how he felt, and he said simply, "good." He was focused on living - just for today.

Reiki and a Hospice Team

2010-08-24T17:51:00.000-07:00

Every Hospice Team every week has a brief ceremony that memorializes the patients who passed away that week. Each name is read, and discussions often ensue on bereavement needs. We try to remember and learn from each and every person who entrusted us with their care.

Each week, we try to add something that makes the moment meaningful, sometimes a music therapist plays a song, sometimes a candle is lit, sometimes the chaplain says a prayer.

This week, one of our chaplains who is also a Reiki practitioner asked if she could do a different sort of reading. We each closed our eyes, and with her voice asking for energy to be open us, there was a feeling of a Reiki shower, and she read a form of a "Boddhisatva Vow"

"May I be a guard for those who are protectorless,
A guide for those who journey on the road,
For those who wish to go across the water
May I be a boat, a raft, a bridge.

May I be an isle for those who yearn for landfall
And a lamp for those who long for light
For those who need a resting place.

May I be the wishing jewel, the vase of plenty,
A word of power, and the supreme remedy
May I be the trees of miracles
And for every being, the abundant cow.

Like the great earth and the other elements
Enduring as the sky itself endures,
For the boundless multitude of living beings.
May I be the ground and vessel of their life.

Thus for every single thing that lives.
In number like the boundless reaches of the sky
May I be their sustenance and nourishment,
Until they pass beyond the bounds of suffering."

There is in hospice a very special bond, that has to do with the honor of being committed to relieving suffering in sentient beings. So often in healthcare, there exists a sense of loss and futility. In hospice there exists a sense of Purpose.

We can nurture people who we can no longer nourish, heal people who can no longer be cured, and care for people until they transition "beyond the bounds of suffering."

This brief ceremony is always very meaningful, and thank you to our chaplains and music therapists who add a special sense of spirit every week.

Near end of life

2010-08-15T18:43:00.000-07:00

We do everything we possibly can that is evidence based, but we face challenges every day that exceed the evidence based tools we have.

As we talk openly about the challenges we face, and more importantly that our patients, and their loved ones face, we seek to understand what has happened in circumstances outside our ordinary experiences.

More and more physicians and nurses come to me and offer stories of their own experiences, things they are not quite sure that they believe, stories that they yet are fearful of sharing.

Sarah is a nurse caring for patients near the end of life. Last week one of her patients made transition. The next day she was walking in the hospital and thought that she saw the patient, and worse yet, that the patient was not wearing his oxygen.

How could this be? And as she hurried over to the patient, to do something, to replace the oxygen, she realized, first, that this was a different person, and second that the patient she was caring for had passed away the day before.

What had happened? She had been truly touched by this patient. For her, the spirit of the patient was still present. She returned to her unit, and found out that the patient was still in the morgue, no one had notified his family, the phone number on the medical record was incorrect. And yet another nurse remembered a niece having provided a different phone number. Sarah called the niece. The family was able to pick up the patient's remains, and, perhaps more importantly, Sarah and another nurse recalled a conversation with the patient, about wishes and instructions. And the family was moved by this, and everyone felt a sense of peace and closure.

"What happened," Sarah asked? Was this Reiki energy? And more importantly, how do we account for this? And perhaps more importantly, is it OK to talk about such experiences, or do we need to hold them in, and deny them. How often do such things happen? And does it reduce stress and burn out on nurses and doctors to talk about their own feelings about what happens near death?

A month ago, a nurse reported caring for a patient who arrived in tremendous pain. He had no family. He had suffered through a long hospitalization, and surgery that, however well intentioned had left him in a grotesque shape, and in a great deal of pain. The care team used medication, but as well, the staff sat with the patient, sometimes held his hand, sometimes just in presence, sometimes, with the music therapist, in song, sometimes with the pastor in prayer.

The grimaces left his face, his breathing became even and unlabored, and he lived peacefully for several days, and finally made transition. He did not die in pain and he did not die alone.

The day after he had died one of the nurses was walking down the hall. She heard a voice, "psst." But no one was there. "Psst, i'm over here." She walked back to the room where this patient had been living, and felt his presence, "its OK, you took away my pain, its OK now." She felt his presence, and then he was gone.

What has happened?

Is this OK to talk about?

Are these nurses "crazy" as they sometimes fear?

Is this Reiki?

When we provide Reiki near transition for treatment, does it rise to the level of attunement?

Does it hurt and cause stress to hold things in? Are we better off for talking about what we experience? Are we better off for sharing?

What do you think?

For those doctors and nurses caring for patients living the last days of their lives, thank you. Thank you for giving compassion, for caring when you cannot cure. For those who have shared experiences, talked about the perceptions and stresses, thank you. I find these days that more doctors and nurses find it "OK" to talk about their experiences.

I hope that sharing makes each day a little easier, reduces the stress, and allows you to continue this important work. Practicing health care with the best evidence based practices available to us, and at the same time, being open to human spirituality, seems a path worth pursuing.

Reiki and the Plastic Mask

2010-08-14T06:04:00.000-07:00

I work on a Hospice in patient unit, and every day know we have taken to making rounds as a Team. We see about 100 new patients a month on this unit, and we are a symptom management and stabilization unit. While often, patients come to us "to die," many patients come for pain stabilization, and some that come to die ......well ......don't do what is expected.

There is a wonderful book, written by the late Art Buchwald, "Too Soon to Say Goodbye." Buchwald refused dialysis and was told that he had a week or less to live. He enrolled in hospice, lived almost a year, and wrote this book.

At one point he had a vision, he was standing in line at the airport waiting for a flight to heaven, when a loudspeaker voice said, "Because of the inclement weather, today's flight to heaven has been canceled. You can come back tomorrow and we'll put you on standby."

Many times we see patients with numbers that suggest they "should" die - but they don't. The creatinine is too high and they need dialysis, they refuse; the cancer is everywhere, there is nothing else to do; the blood gases won't support life; the CD 4 count is too low. Whatever it is, conventionally, we often treat numbers, and we are not correct 100% of the time. Sometimes, the flight to heaven is delayed and people are put on "standby."

This week we were making rounds and I came upon a man in a plastic mask. It was Bi-Pap, which is a device that helps people breathe, it is strapped tightly around their faces, and forces air and oxygen under pressure into the lungs. It is a step between a respirator, and well, breathing on one's own.

If a device like this is used on a temporary basis, let's say as someone recovers from pneumonia, or on a limited basis, let's say at night for folks with sleep apnea. It can be life saving. For others, as hours lead to days lead to weeks, it can be a sort of prison, just like a respirator.

In this case, I felt that with the Team present we could try taking the plastic mask off for a short period of time, and replace it if needed. We were right there, and as well, it would give us a chance to talk with the patient, with it on he could not hear us or speak to us. With the mask off he started to talk, and we started to listen. The patient was a high level professional, very bright, very much understood what he faced.

We negotiated. He hated the mask, but wasn't ready to give up on it, so being a Hospice, we empowered him to make decisions. He would wear it sometimes and not other times. "What if?" "I am ready to go," he said, "but I don't want to suffer or be gasping for air." "We can give you medication to prevent pain."

After half an hour of talking (he was on nasal oxygen only), one thing became obvious. The dire prediction by the lung specialists had not come to pass, and one of my nurses showing me "the numbers" asked "how can this be?" As with Art Buchwald, sometimes, the numbers don't tell the whole story.

The patient looked at us, and thanked us. He was at the least, now "in control" of some things. He was able to talk and be heard, people cared what he had to say. And here is what he added, "you are the first ones to talk with me about life and death. I'd been in the hospital a long time and no one talked about it. I think for doctors and nurses to talk about death, they need to face the idea of mortality, and of their own eventual mortality, and they have trouble doing that."

When I was learning Reiki, with my first master teacher Robin Hannon, I had a vision of being in a place of complete equaniminty. In Reiki terms we called it "Upekkha." Robin drew a picture of my vision, a tree with the leaves falling off, but coming through the tree an incredible light. Prior to learning Reiki, I had perceived this light, in 30 years of helping people nearing transition (or what we often call death).

Rarely we find something treatable, something which everyone else has missed (these are wonderful moments), often we relieve pain and suffering, and often we are just present in a compassionate way to share the moment, caring when we cannot cure.

We learn that sometimes, the creator of the universe sends a storm that forces the plane to heaven to be delayed, that we neither control nor know exact moments. But that the journey does not need to be faced with fear.

I think most people working in Hospice understand this, I think Reiki training helps us focus and share the moments. In thanks to those co workers who share the moments, and in thanks to those patients who continue to teach us, as long as we are open to learn.

Reiki and the Craniosacral Reflex

2010-08-08T13:41:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I was sharing with friends, and was reminded of the importance of the incredible volume of work on Craniosacral therapy. The first portion of Hugh Milne's incredible book, "The Heart of Listening: A Visionary approach to Craniosacral work" presents interesting counterpoint to what we are doing in Reiki.

Imagine a series of bodily reflexes that motion of the eyes, or portions of the head or jaw, to the whole torse, down to the feet. Imagine a reflex wave that can be quantified. Imagine that such a wave follows the meridians discussed in bio-field healing. Imagine further, that Reiki training may be permitting the Reiki practitioner to "perceive" somehow, this wave.

To imagine this further, my recommendation for the moment is to find a copy of Hugh Milne's book, and to read the early sections. This book resonated for me.

In teaching, explaining or talking about Reiki, there is another question for which I do not have the answer. This past week, I gave a session on Simple Touch and Compassionate Presence for a group of employees at a nursing home. For many reasons, I was speaking about the simplest aspects of Reiki - and encouraging caregivers to clear their own minds of haste, anger or worry prior to approaching another person; to be certain they did not startle the other person, and to simply use a light tough of the hands to the person's hands to be calming, nothing "invasive," not "massage" and certainly not even a full "level 1" Reiki. This audience was a little sceptical even of techniques that border on main stream, and I decided to do a simple demonstration with two quite skeptical volunteers.

With their permission I performed a simple Reiju on each of them. In both cases they were surprised at the amount of heat that was generated, I had not physically touched either of them, nor intended a "Reiki level."

And one of them said,"my hands became really hot." And quickly someone in the front row said, "that's not possible." And the volunteer asked if she could touch that person's hands, and with permission did - she said, "how do you do that, her hands are really hot."

Well, in truth, we know in Reiki what we do, and we have "constructs" for what has occurred, but as yet, we do not truly know "for sure," nor perhaps does it really matter. What really matters is the intention of compassion.

In doing Reiki though, I have not really felt that I was becoming more "powerful" or that my "vibrations were faster" - I can feel the "heat" and I can transmit that, but it is more for me a sense of being a simple channel, a "catalyst" if you will, not really more powerful and not really a part of the healing itself. I don't believe that I am doing the healing.

And in convincing oneself that one is raising one's own "power," or making one's soul somehow more "advanced," I sometimes fear that we miss a part of the pathway to healing.

And to me there is an aspect of meditation in performing self Reiki, or Reiki on someone else, a connection with the world around.

And here is what Hugh Milne wrote of meditation: "medication is not concentration. It is not prayer, contemplation, hypnosis, or problem-solving. Meditation is the fine art of being here now; of holding an empty sacred space, mind shut down (because your mind is not you, consciousness is you). This is Kensho: the awareness that consciousness is the thing to focus on, not mind. Mind is made up of thoughts, feelings, and sensations; consciousness is the ground from which the mind springs. Consciousness has no components. Meditation is the art of being at one with yourself, your surrounding, and the world."

From this quiet sacred space within, one "listens" best, and perceives more. With no vibration, no motion, no power - simply with being and intention, one changes the world that one is a part of and radiates healing and compassion.

Takata's Usui

2010-08-03T18:45:00.000-07:00

Since returning from Japan, I have been meditating on Takata's Usui. The familiar story of the Christian man who came to America, and was at the University of Chicago, and finally returned to Japan, to Kurama Yama, and achieved a form of enlightenment with Reiki.

The story, dear to so many for so long, debunked, in favor of the "historic Usui." But what of Takata's Usui? What was the point she was trying to teach.

I have just read Amy Rowland's newest book, "The Complete Book of Traditional Reiki" that includes both stories, and re read Virginia Samdahl's biography written by Barbara Lugenbeel. The story that Samdahl tells is slightly at variance to the story that Amy Rowland learned from her beloved teacher Beth Gray, so like the story told by Fran Brown and Helen Haberly.

But let us look at Takata's Usui for just a moment, not the historic person by any means, but the person Takata Sensei wanted us to know about. What was she trying to say to us?

Here is an analytic summary:

Takata's Usui, taught to an American audience was Christian, and although Japanese, had lived in the United States for some time - in some ways, he had become like many of those she was writing for, someone they could identify with. And he was seeking something, he was seeking "to heal."

Finally, unable to find the pathway to heal within Christian America, Usui returned to Japan. And he asked Buddhist monks, "do you believe that Buddha could do these things." And they answered, "we are a church, we are more concerned with the spiritual."

And so Takata's Christian Usui, coming back from the US, looked within Buddhism, not to be a Buddhist or to follow the Buddhist path but to find within Buddhism the lost secret of healing.

He was not seeking a religion, he was seeking a way to heal.

Takata's Usui was pointing the way for American's to see a pathway for themselves. The compassion and healing that were within Buddhism, but not the religion itself, simply the path to heal.

Seen in this way, Takata's Usui still speaks to us today, still has a value, the story, though lacking historic fact, gives a message from Takata Sensei.

I see people trying to go beyond Reiki. Seeking channeling and projection out of body of consciousness. And these things can be so easy yet so difficult. Here's an interesting fact, Virginia Samdahl was, prior to meeting Mrs Takata one of the most famous channelers of her time. She was a pyschic of considerable fame. Beth Gray also had fame in this area. What drew them to Reiki? A simple artform, meant simply to heal?

Here is what I have found. In trying to teach the arts where people "go beyond Reiki," the driving force that gives the capacity is compassion shown others. It all comes together. It is when we give compassion that we change ourselves, change our own substrate, raise our own potential as individuals and as a human race.

And so Reiki is the "Secret Method to invite Happiness" - it is the way to grow our own potential, to go beyond what we thought we were - not simply by raising our vibrational level, but by using a very simple method that passes compassion to others, the secret of "healing" that is common to all religions, but is not itself a religion.

We continue to seek the Mikao Usui who lived, but we should not forget the Usui that Takata taught us.

the Complete Book of Traditional Reiki

2010-07-03T05:07:00.000-07:00

When I am asked "if you could only recommend one book on Reiki, what would it be" - I reply Amy Rowland's book, "The Complete Book of Traditional Reiki."

Originally published in 1998, this book has just been completely rewritten and re published, and if I valued it before even more so now.

Amy writes as she speaks and she is both an excellent teacher and an excellent writer. She has dedicated her life to teaching, writing and Reiki. This book is true to the history of Reiki, and bridges the challenges of our modern time.

Much has been learned in the past 12 years about the history of Reiki. And this whole section of the book has been not simply updated but rewritten. It makes me laugh at myself, because if had waited the past year, and not spent hours researching and reading biographies, I would have known more just by reading this book - the history is there and in simplicity and without agenda. Yet, at the same time, the "traditional history" of Reiki is still presented, as an appendix, and this is fittingly done. Learning is often about stories, and the traditional stories about Reiki, seem still to be true in spirit even if not fully accurate in facts.

Amy is respectful to the history of Reiki, not be deification as sometimes mistakenly happens, but by accurately and intellectually honestly placing founder Mikao Usui and Sensei Hawayo Takata in context of the personal struggles which they faced. It really doesn't matter whether or not Mikao Usui did or did not attend the university of Chicago, but it is meaningful that finding his life calling took years of search, and overcoming hardship. It really doesn't matter whether Mrs. Takata, living in the United States in a time when American citizens of Japanese decent were being wrongfully imprisoned, described Founder Usui as a Christian monk, rather than as a secular Buddhist, what matters is that both Usui and Takata sought not to teach religion, but to teach a method of healing for all man kind.

This book is about healing - healing oneself, healing others, and collectively, healing the world. . Amy writes, "what Reiki does provide is a direct, profound experience of the healing power of Spirit-guided life-force energy." She explains, "your only effort is to place your attuned hands on yourself or someone else." And again describing the practical nature of Reiki, "it is in just such simple ways that most Reiki practitioners learn to integrate Reiki into their everyday lives. As they do their lives begun to change because their perpsectives have changed."

The pespectives are the five basic teachings which permeate Amy's classes, and and the spirit of her book. From the Usui Memorial, "Firstly it reads, Today do not anger, secondly it reads, do not worry, thirdly it reads, be thankful, fourthly it reads, work with diligence, and fifthly it reads, be kind to others."

The book includes descriptions of the lineages of Reiki - it does so in an inclusive and fair way, leaving each student to be drawn to a method most comfortable for their own spirit.

Hand positions are discussed, but "symbols" are not, left for oral teaching by master to student in class.

As a hospice physician, I appreciate that "The Complete Book of Traditional Reiki" is healing in both its approach to human suffering, and its approach to respecting and bridging conventional and complementary healthcare. It helps remind me that the powers of healing are not within us, but come from a higher power. (whichever lineage of Reiki we use, whatever symbols or hand positions we use, and whatever medications or surgery we prescribe, we must accept that we learn as much as we can, and use our best intentions, emanate compassion, and a higher force determines the future).

In a world where people die of cancer, relationships sometimes are shredded apart, and the earth is ruptured by volcanos, and wounded by man made oil spills, Amy's book relates the struggles and methods that come from Founder Mikao Usui, Sensei Hawayo Takata, and her beloved teacher Beth Gray, and adds the experience of her 23 years learning and practicing Reiki - it is as sub titled "practical methods for personal and planetary healing." I second the review of William Lee Rand, who wrote of the book, "it grounds one in the here and now and inspires practitioners to look deeply into their own healing and to help others."

I encourage anyone interested in Reiki, or practicing it, to read this book.

Reiki stories - not just for today

2010-06-27T17:55:00.000-07:00

Every so often a story has to be told, not because of a thrill of competition or attainment, but because someone worked hard, bettered himself, and dedicated his life to compassion toward other people. And twice this week I found myself telling the story of a Nurse who died slightly more than 10 years ago, Gerald Smith of Station 1 at Forest Haven Nursing Home in Catonsville. Gerald Smith was an inspiration and a presence to those he worked with, and a source of compassion and caring to his patients.

When I first met Gerald he was a nurse's aide on Station 1. Everyone knew him as a person who was calm and slow to anger, who had dreams of bettering himself, of rising above the struggles of his youth. While he worked he went to school, and eventually became an LPN. We were so proud. He came back and worked on the same unit. And he kept going to school. A few years later he had completed his RN! And a few years later he was the RN Unit manager of Station 1 at Forest Haven. A kind and gentle man.

One day he came to me and told me that he had kidney failure, and that he had decided against dialysis. Many of us tried to convince him to accept treatment, but he was adamant, and he was taken from amongst us.

Every so often I would come across a GNA of intelligence and compassion, someone who I thought could better him or herself, and I would tell the story - but - for the last few years it had slipped from my grasp. Until this past week. And twice, I met GNA's who brought Gerald to my mind, and twice I told the story again.

Today, I was visiting Seasons Hospice patients at a nursing home in northeast Baltimore - and an RN saw me, ran over and said "are you Dr Bob from Forest Haven?" I had not seen this nurse in over 10 years, since Gerald's funeral, but she recognized me clear as day.

"Do you remember Gerald Smith?" she asked. And we spent the next 20 minutes sharing recollections. She had visited him the day before he passed away. This past week, she had felt as if "his spirit had been visiting" her.

There is no logical way I can account for things like this when they occur. But on a day when billions of people all over the world were placing their hopes on matches of athletic prowess, and on a day when people all over the world were willing to fight for one cause or another, we were remembering one man who had dedicated his life to the simple values of educating and bettering himself, and using that knowledge for caring and compassion towards others.

One wonders what the world would be like, if more people were like Gerald, and if people like Gerald were recognized as the heroes. If the moment that was remembered, as something to live up to, admire and dream of, was not "the shot" or "the goal" but the caring and the compassion.

Anneli Twan quotes Barbara Brown, one of the early Reiki Masters, in her book Memories of Hawayo Takata. " The five tenets are the spiritual side of Reiki and the only spiritual matter that is discussed at any tie during a Reiki class. They are really common sense ways of managing your life without having to refer to anything deep or anything mysterious or mystic. They are very beautiful standards of living."

"Just for today, do not anger.
Just for today, do not worry.
Just for today be grateful.
Just for today, do an honest day's work.
Just for today, be kind to all living things."

Gerald Smith of Forest Haven was a person who exemplified these concepts. That's why I shared his story in my Blog.

If you come across such a person, or such a story, remember it, tell it, share it, and keep the memory alive. Not just for today.

Reiki Focus - "Let me call you sweetheart"

2010-06-22T16:02:00.000-07:00

It is almost a month since we were visiting Kuramayama, and yet today I was in Brooklyn Park, not New York, but Baltimore, in an old section of the city with poverty and middle class homes near the city's sports palaces. Some lives play in front of large crowds in endeavors that perhaps have enduring meaning, some lives play out with family and friends with no spectators, but may in the eyes of the creator have more significant meaning. Who am I to tell? I make home visits to Hospice patients, and my GPS has brought me here. I have called ahead, the door is open, no door bell, I knock and wait. It is near 100 degrees outside and perhaps just as hot inside. There is a small fan. And my patient, and her caregiver.

I sit down and we begin to talk. Mary is nearly 90, she has congestive heart failure and the specialists have told her going to the hospital won't help anymore. She needs care for all her needs, and Sally is there to help her. Why? Sally's daughter is the niece of the patient, who has no children of her own. The patient's sister's son being the father. When times were tough, and the father wasn't around, Sally's daughter's grandmother helped out, and so did her sister, and now Sally is "there for them."

If there are heroes in this world Sally is one of them. It is time for me to go, and I am still thinking about what can be done to help this family.

I am off to another home, it is an assisted living not so far away. It is air conditioned, I notice this fact - there are two patients to see, one suffering from dementia and one from severe Parkinson's disease. Hospice brings light - sometimes we bring medicines that help make life more comfortable, more livable. While it is not our philosophy to either shorten or prolong life, as long as we can make someone comfortable, we all try to find ways to help someone live just a little bit longer when we can. If medicines won't work though (and often in Hospice that is the case) - we bring other modalities, Chaplains, Reiki, and today - Music therapy. Seasons Hospice of Maryland now has 30 staff members or volunteers trained to Level 1 Reiki or above, and 4 full time Music therapists. Karen was visiting this home, she plays guitar and sings with a gorgeous voice, never with a very large audience, but people who are moved (almost magically) and are very appreciative.

And so Karen started singing, "Let me call you Sweetheart, I'm in love with you. Let me hear you whisper, that you love me too." I was examining Sarah, her neurologist had certified her as having terminal Parkinson's disease and she appeared quite "locked in." But hearing the music, I decided to put my stethoscope down for a minute and sing along, what harm could it do? I took Sarah's hands and sang along with Karen - "Keep the love light glowing, in your eyes so blue. Let me call you Sweetheart, I'm in love with you."

And she began to mouth the words, and then Sarah began to sing along. Karen played through the whole song again, and Sarah sang the whole song, and looking at me gave me this biggest smile. The other patients and the caregivers all started clapping for her.

At the office the next day, we had a meeting with our Founder and National President. Marcia Norman had started a new Foundation, and had raised money to be used "not for day to day operations," but to do special things to make a difference in some people's lives. Not people you understand, who we read about in the newspapers, just people who are struggling to live, and compassionate people who care for them. Marcia said, "we want to find projects that make a difference, maybe buy an air conditioner for someone who is suffering and can't afford one."

And my mind turned to Mary, fighting for her life, with Congestive heart failure, too ill for the cardiologists to do anything, and in a 90 degree row house, and Sally, who out of compassion was taking care of a woman barely related to her, who had helped her earlier in life - and people do that sometimes, they remember and they pay back with caring and compassion. And I said, "I have a patient who needs an air conditioner." And Marcia listened patiently to me (as she often does), and said, "OK Dr Bob, the Seasons Hospice Foundation will help that patient get an air conditioner."

It may be a long way from Kurama Yama, but the light that comes from compassion and caring from one person to another through Hospice, through Reiki and through Music Therapy, through Churches and Synagogues and Mosques and Temples and through nurses and doctors who come to people's home and witness their struggles and their lives - that light comes through to us.

For all those who participate in this work, volunteers, caregivers, healthcareworkers -

"Let me call you Sweetheart
I'm in love with you
Let me hear you whisper
That you love me too.
Keep the love light glowing
In your eyes so blue
Let me call you Sweetheart
I'm in love with you."

Your compassion is recognized and appreciated.

On keeping focus in difficult times

2010-06-20T14:37:00.000-07:00

The past few weeks have been difficult times for physicians. Congress has failed in a promise to correct a methodology called SGR that results in an effective 21.2% cut in revenues to physicians.

Some physicians frankly, no longer trust Medicare, and wish to leave the system, or retire altogether.

How does one deal with this? How does one care for others - when one feels under attack and lacking security oneself?

Reiki has been a help to me in these times. I start with Reiki for myself each day, and a part of this is avoiding worry, avoiding anger, and being grateful.

Whatever I am paid, I have felt for many years that it is an honor simply to be entrusted with the care of people who are near the end of life. I see that my patients are facing problems far more challenging than the one's I face, and I am surrounded by volunteers, who are working for no salary at all - just as someone wrote me today "the opportunity to give back."

Nurses and aides work very hard, and are never thanked enough. I have felt the need to keep working hard, thankful to have the energy and opportunities I have been gifted with.

The Dalai Lama writes, "After all, what is the meaning of our life? In itself, there is no intrinsic meaning. However, if we use life in a positive way, then even the days and the months and the aeons can become meaningful."

Hospice workers make their lives meaningful by gifting compassion to other people every day they work. Volunteers in Hospice (including Reiki volunteers) do this without pay.

I came to visit a patient earlier this week. She is in the late stages of her struggle against cancer. Never married, her work has been her life. I walked into her house and knew immediately that she had been a teacher. "What grade did you teach I asked" (perhaps taking a chance).

"High school" she said. She taught math, and beyond that helped young people at a critical transition point in their lives. She shared some vignettes. "Once a teacher always a teacher." Now, near the end of life, teaching whoever happened to come nearby, even her hospice doctor.

Mrs. Takata taught us that Reiki is simple, "Hands on hands off" and "Reiki on Reiki off." Sometimes it can be even more simply than that. Near the end of life, finding a place of equanimity or peace, what we sometimes call Upekkha, can help with a critical transition from this state of being to another. We can do Reiki sometimes without a full Reiki treatment, or worrying about where the hands should be. Simple touch, one hand just touching another, and compassionate presence can bring so much. We are not trying to create attachments at this time, we are trying to release them, yet we want "no patient to die alone."

Another family I visited was terrified with the rapid decline of their loved one. They didn't know what to do. I suggested that they simply touch her hand, and let her know with or without words that they loved her. They told me, "it really helped, when we just touched her hands and she knew we were there, she was calmer and in less pain."

All of this month, I have focused especially on the five principles of Reiki- not to worry, not to be angry, to be grateful for the wonderful opportunities which I have had, to focus on working hard, and to give as much compassion as I could to those around me. I haven't had time to add up the "wins" or "losses."

The Dalai Lama talks about a sense of "which carries a responsibility so that you are willing to take upon yourself the task of helping others."

In fact, the basic premises of Christianity and Islam and Judaism and Buddhism all contain similar precepts. The mission in Hospice embodies the central tenets of all our major religions, it is at the place that they share in common. "when death finally comes," the Dalai Lama adds, " then your practice truly gives you some kind of inner gaurantee. After all, death is a part of life; there is nothing strange about it; sooner or later we all have to pass through that gate. At that time, whether or not there is a life after, it is very valuable to have a peace of mind."

And so all month, very important solemn promises have been kept by health care workers and volunteers all over America. Care and compassion have gone on. The real heroes continue to "give back" every day.

Reiki and Listening

2010-06-05T18:51:00.000-07:00

This week I returned from a Journey to the source of Reiki light in Japan, and returned to my Hospice unit. We made rounds together Friday, and as so often occurs, while we tried to help a patient, she at the same time gifted us. I think my Japan experience was helpful in some ways, as was my Reiki inclinations.

Thelma (I will call her Thelma here - for the purpose of my Blog I rarely if ever use patients true names to allow for privacy) is living through the late stages of her battle with cancer, and she was sent to our specialty unit for pain management. It is always important to learn something about the person, and about their life before illness - so that we can look past a broken body and connect with the spirit of the person inside. They live with the memories of their relationships and their work. I always reflect on my own experience nearly 20 years ago, when I sustained a serious neck injury and had surgery, was in the hospital and thinking to myself "but I'm a doctor."

"Thelma, I want you to think of yourself as someone living this time, not as someone waiting to die, " I said. I sensed their was something important she intended to say, and added, "you have something important to say, maybe to your daughter and maybe to us, but we want to listen to you."

And she lied there in silence, her daughter sat in silence, and my team stood in silence. And we waited. Finally she looked at me, and slowly, began talking. She had a very responsible job, quite a bit of authority in health, and she shared some of that. But then she stopped and said very slowly and very clearly (I can hear her now) " L-I - S - T - E - N and then she slowly spelled it again and then finally said the word. Listen. "

She explained that she knew that we could not make her better (she is a bright person and understood her situation very clearly) - but that when she had come in, the first evening, our staff had not listened to her. She had attempted to talk about her fears and her concerns and her pain. And they just patted her on the shoulder and told her not to worry, "everything will be OK."

She didn't need to be reassured, or told "everything will be OK," she very much knew which way things were heading. She knew that we could not cure her, and she had forgiven us that. She had forgiven God for putting her in this situation at a young age, and she was not all that fearful, yes indeed she wanted medication for her pain, but what she really wanted was for people to
" L - I - S - T - E - N. " Not to respond, not to make up something, not to do something futile, in fact not to do anything at all, but simply to LISTEN. That simple act, listening, would give her a sense of respect as a person, and let her know that we really cared.

We sat in silence for awhile. And I said finally all that I could think of saying. First "thank you," and second, we would remember this ourselves and help our staff understand more, so that as a result of her sharing, future patients would have more of a sense that we listened, and that we cared, and that they were respected.

Thelma had a smile on her face. We had not increased her morphine, we had not cured her, we had not done anything at all .............except to listen.

The simplicity of Reiki has helped "attune" me to this. There is an interesting short book "Early days of Reiki, Memories of Hawayo Takata" written by Anneli Twan. It compiles memories of Mrs Takata, who brought Reiki from Japan to North America. It is only available through the author at www.morningstarproductions.ca - from this book page 22

One of the lessons that I brought back with me from a Reiki journey to Japan, is we need more "technicians" who can help "adjust antennaes." Health care needs people with clinical skill and scientific knowledge, but we can never forget how to simply LISTEN.

Thank you to "Thelma" and to Hawayo Takata

Reiki at Yushukan (and other places)

2010-05-29T01:04:00.000-07:00

Back from Japan, I am struggling to process memories and energy from a culture both different and synergistic to our own.

Recently, an article written by the Dalai Lama was published in the New York Times, and it called people of all faiths to respect each other and work toward understanding, and peace. He related that at first he thought of his own religion as unique, but as he learned and grew as a soul he came to recognize other paths as valid. He reflected on crying with a Jewish Rabbi on hearing stories of the Holocaust.

And I cannot help but reflect on two places where tears came to my eyes. The picture here is of the shrine of Yushukan (or Yasukuni Jinja), dedicated to Japan's war dead. There is a museum that tells a very different story of the period leading up to The Great Pacific Basin War, or the Pacific portion of what we know as World War II. And perhaps, what matters, is not squaring the differences that led to that War, but seeing the human commonalities. At Yushukan, I found not anger or resentment, but white doves flying from one Gate to another, and people being helpful and friendly.

There is a hall dedicated to Japanese pilots who wrote "last letters" prior to taking off on Kamikaze missions. Right or wrong, these human beings genuinely believed that their nation was under attack, and they freely gave their lives. In dying many of them believed that their spirits would continue to look after their towns and families in death, in a way they could not in life.

And what is so striking in all the time I spent in Japan, is how much this is a forgiving people, and how much, while ready to defend themselves they yearn for peace and compassion.

Reading these human stories brought me to tears, as Yad Vashem brings me to tears, human beings share a common spirit.

There is a place on Kurama Mountain (Kuramayama) described in the book by Jessica Miller, "Reiki's Birthplace." It is usually missed, but easily accessible - I went to this particular spot not through reading the passages in this book, but because a talented Reiki practitioner who we mety in Japan, and who climbed Kuramayama with us, suggested I do so.

The Jessica Miller book concludes that in spite of similarities, "the religion of the followers of Kurama Temple has nothing to do with Reiki" (page 36). On page 86 of this book is a translation of a plaque in this sacred private place that says, "This treasure palace simply exemplifies the teaching of Kurama Mountain. All beings, including humankind, are manifestations of Universal Energy and are created by the Universal Life Being. The teachings of Kurama Mountain are: Be grateful at being given life, and take good care of other lives. Let us live to the fullest in order to improve and evolve our lives as worthy high and profound aspects of the Universal Life Being."

Agreeing or disagreeing with conclusions, this book is worth reading and is highly recommended, but without visiting this place and actually feeling the energy - it is hard to describe. And for many, the challenge will be to get out of their own perspective, and understand that the Creator of Life made many paths.

As I was in Japan, and as I visited various places, I sent energy to friends and patients, family and colleagues - and as well to a private email list of former students of Rick Rivard. While I was in Japan, by chance, Tom Rigler was also criss crossing Japan, and sending energy.

In many places Tom noted the presence of important Reiki energy, and of the presence of statues to Kannon (in Chinese Buddhism Kwan Yin). A statue of Kannon is present on the walk to the grave site of Mikao Usui, and a statue of Kannon is present in the special private place on Kurama Mountain. But the most moving site for me involving a Kannon statue was in Kamakura, where a large ancient statue is present, and mothers pray for the health of their sick children, and for the souls of their departed children.

In Western society, the possibility of "miracles" exist, but we tend not on a day to day basis to expect them, or to really believe in them. At the same time, some people work at Meditation, and having spiritual experiences, connecting with the spirit of living things around them, or the spirits of amcestors looking after them - in our world, such things are "possible." In Japan, it seems to me such things are expected - people seem to generally believe in miracles.

It does not stop them from going to Western doctors, no not all all, since the Meiji restoration Japan has sought science and advanced medical care, it simply means that at the same time, they would seek spiritual support. Use the doctor - but help the doctor along. A holistic spirit, that is something we sometimes, seek, is something that exists in their culture, it is something a school child knows.

Home from Japan, I have a hope that all cultures can attempt to respect and understand each other. From ashes of having cities bombed, and nuclear weapons used against them, I sensed no anger in Japan - simply a desire to have a peace in which they are respected.

Each culture has something to offer others. In Japan, there exists a deep sense of spiritual connection to the world of living beings, all with one creator. There seems a desire to live in harmony with other living beings.

Reiki Origins and Reiki Universality

2010-05-27T13:30:00.000-07:00

Kuramayama is one of the most powerful energy places I have visited - but it is important to keep in mind that the genius and originality of Sensei Usui was not with the intention of bringing Japanese religion to the world, but rather, simple concepts of a method of compassion and healing that can be taught to almost anyone, and do not require faith or conversion.

Sensei Usui from his own origins struck notes of universality. In this regard it is important to view another site in Japan, rarely discussed in Reiki circles, which is Meiji Jingu, a shrine dedicated to Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken.

Sensei Usui was moved by the Emperor and Empress, and exhorted students to read from the Emperor's poetry. The Five Basic principles of Reiki are attributed to lessons from the Emperor. Who were these persons?

The Meiji emperor ended centuries of Shogun rule in Japan, and supported the opening of Japan to the western world. Cultural ties were established, especially with France. The Emperor made a point it is taught of leading his people by changing to Western dress and eating western food. He is quoted as wanting to share the best of cultures and bring peoples together.

Here is an example of "waka" poetry by Empress Shoken:
"By self-reflection
And questioning our own hearts
We should then perceive
The proper path to pursue
And nothing would confuse us."

The brochure to this immense wooded park, with ponds and gardens, says simply: "Meiji Jingu is a Shinto shrine. Shinto is called Japan's ancient original religion, and it is deeply rooted in the way of Japanese life. Shinto has no founder, no holy book, and not even the concept of religious conversion, but Shinto values for example harmony with nature."

The principle value which the Japanese attribute to the memory of these beloved leaders is "Magokoro" or "Sincere Heart."

The concept of a Good or Sincere Heart is central to Judaeo-Christian and Islamic thought, and in indigenous peoples throughout the world.

So when Mikao Usui descended from Kuramayama, what is most important is not the powerful and magnificent energy of the mountain, or the specific culture that he arose from, but the effort to reach beyond himself, and beyond his own culture, to offer relief of suffering to human kind.

In Hospice and Long Term Care, having a sincere heart is as important as having clinical skill. For those who work in Hospice, and for those practicing Reiki, energy is sent to you from Japan, in the hope that whatever your own background or lineage, you will see commonality in the human condition, and in the attempt to bring compassion to the world.

A Visit to Kurama Yama

2010-05-25T00:08:00.000-07:00

A journey to Kurama Yama, near Kyoto, Japan, is for a Reiki practitioner a journey seeking to understand the teachings of Mikao Usui, founder of Usui Reiki Ryoho.

Reiki is based upon principles which legend have it came to the Sensei while fasting on Kurama Yama.

Sensei, help guide us on our visit to the mountain. What should we wish for?

"Ask me not what to wish for, but how to approach the mountain. Wishes reflect desires, and the mountain is a place to leave desires behind."

Sensei, if we should not make a wish, what should we do?

"Listen. Listen to the fox, and the dragon who guard the shrines. Listen to the birds. Hear the frogs. Touch the trees, and feel the moss. See the caterpillar and the butterfly. Listen to the waterfall. Climb the mountain. Be open to the spirit of the mountain."

Sensei, what did the mountain teach you? Show us the way.

"Climb the steps. Earn the gift that lies on the mountain."

Sensei, is this complicated?

"Reiki is simple. Anyone can do Reiki. You do not have to believe anything. You simply do the method and it is helpful. It brings compassion and kindness. You did not need to come to the mountain to learn Reiki."

Sensei, we came to understand why you gave the world this gift.

"The gift is not from the Sensei, he was just a clay vessel. The gift was from the Creator, made from the Love and Light that passes through living beings to the Earth."

Sensei, what does the Creator want of us?

"The Creator wants us to be kind to each other, and to be at peace."

Here is the message from the 1200 year old Kurama Temple, "In this holy place, grant that peace may defeat discord, unselfishness may conquer greed, sincere words may overcome deceit, and that respect may surmount insults. Fill our hearts with joy, uplift our spirits, and fill our bodies with glory."

There is a very useful book which I suggest visitors to Kurama Yama read prior to their visit, "Reiki's birthplace" - by Jessica A. Miller. Temple officials provided Ms Miller this note: "Kurama Mountain is open to all people. The energy of the mountain enables people who feel a destiny to come to the mountain, to do so, and to find direction for their lives, while receiving vitality and energy. Kurama Temple believes Mikao Usui was such a person."

I have some limited disagreements with Ms Miller. On page 36 she states that "the religion of Kurama mountain has nothing to do with Reiki." I am concerned this perpetuates misinformation about Reiki that reflected on Mikao Usui as being Christian. Mikao Usui was Buddhist. However this book, "Reiki's Birthplace," is of good intention, well written, accurate and invaluable. It is well worth reading.

Reiki is not a religion, and does not require faith, but the principles of Reiki stem very much from the desire for compassion and the ending of suffering that would be present in sects of Mahayana Buddhism. The hope for peace and mutual respect exists in all major religions.

Because Reiki is not a religion, but a method of healing, it can work with any religious faith, and it can work for non believers. Reiki is simple.

My visit to the mountain brought me a message to work to relieve suffering, and to pray for peace. The mountain has many many steps, but they are a joy to climb.

My thanks to Joan for joining me on this journey, and to Sabrina and Michael who shared the day and assisted us in the journey.

Two other points - the book mentioned above tells of the wonderful mountain railway - it is a marvelous experience but from center Kyoto, it takes a subway transfer and then rail tansfer to reach Demachiyanagi station - so the total trip can cost nearer $8 a person and take 80-90 minutes. For four people a cab takes about 30 minutes and costs about $40 total. We took a cab there - for an earlier start, and took the train back for the varied experiences.

Regarding the Cable Car - if you take it both ways you will miss many of the high energy places - especially the place where three trees are together near the Yuki shrine. The energy in this area is incredible. We felt (although it may be more difficult) that it was a part of the experience to climb up the steps. Reaching the top after the long climb, brings one to oneness with the forest and the mountain before reaching the mandala-main temple area. I would find taking the Cable Car up wrenching energy wise. Taking the Cable Car down is an experience, so I suggest it either way. (some would prefer taking it up - just be aware the energy shifts as you climb the mountain, and Usui would have walked up).

My advice is too enjoy everything on the mountain, nature and man made, and appreciate the unity of man and nature on the mountain. Leave preconceptions at home, come open to the mountain, and don't underestimate the energy here.

Komyo Reiki Share

2010-05-24T16:02:00.000-07:00

Monday evening May 24 we visited the weekly Reiki share held at Daizen-In Buddhist Temple near Bukku-Ji Temple in central Kyoto.

http://www.h4.dion.ne.jp/~reiki/english/share.htm

The web site has the address in English and in Kanjai characters, and it is useful to show Kanji characters of places where one is going to taxi drivers.

Sensei Hyakuten Inamoto was away in Spain at the time of our visit, but his share is very Reiki alive and we felt his presence through his senior students.

At the beginning no one else was English speaking, but simply saying "Reiki"was the ticket to a warm reception. There is a regular share of about 15 people, usually several visitors drop in each week, and the atmosphere is inclusive and the energy exceptional. Sabrina, an American teaching English in Kyoto, arrived a little later and translated for us much of the evening.

After a meditation, a Reiki circle, and attunements from senior share members, three tables were brought out and four or five people worked together on each person - visitors getting the first sessions - but everyone rotated to receive the Reiki.

Joan's knee has been slowly recovering from a meniscal tear, - and this session was a nice step forward healing wise! (the next day we climbed Kurama Yama not taking the funicular on the way up - so something went well in the Reiki - normally meniscal tears need surgery and one does not climb Kurama Yama with one)

Blending energy with other Reiki practitioners is a great joy, and this evening was no exception.

We were told the Sensei teaches simplicity in Reiki - here - simplicity leads to elegance. A wonderful experience. Energy from this share was directed to friends, family and to those connected to me through Hospice or Reiki.

Visit to Mikao Usui's Memorial site

2010-05-21T00:25:00.000-07:00

Sumimasen Sensei. I have traveled far to visit with you.

There is silence. What do I see? A stone with a story. I tough the stone. I see a Tree, I hear a Raven.

The Raven speaks to me, "Look beyond the stone."

I touch the tree. Energy is radiant around us.

"Do you feel the suffering?"

Yes Sensei, how long will you wait.

"Till they all find the path."

What if they cannot learn the path, Sensei?

"Teach it with simplicity. All living beings are connected."

What if they cannot afford the teaching, Sensei?

"Teach it anyway. The enlightenment was given to be shared. Humanity is connected.

There is a path of simplicity. It is meant to be taught. We cannot go it "alone."

Energy is sent to all who are connected with me from Saiho-ji Temple; Tokyo, Japan, May 21, 2010.

In gratefulness for the opportunity to share a journey.
In thanks for the help which I have received and continue to receive.

A Reiki Tribute

2010-05-17T20:49:00.000-07:00

I was going to wait and not write my next Blog till early June, but I needed to tell this story today. It is a tribute to people who exemplify the Reiki admonitions - recently someone entered my hospice who I had known in better times. He was a person who has been known as kind and caring and compassionate to others, and as he said "last time was someone else's time, next time is someone else's time, now its my turn."

It never ceases to amaze me when I see people who are near transition, who turn their attention to caring for other people. Anyone can thank the Creator when they are on top of the world, won the game, full of success, a different story facing Transition. "I have a few things I want to get squared away" - and what are these - "letters to people who are very dear to me."

Do you believe you will have another mortal life? "Reincarnation - I don't know, but if God places me in another form, he will be with us."

Someone who is full of Love and Faith, lacks Fear and Worry and is overflowing with gratefulness.

I was deeply moved.

We sometimes examine trees so closely we miss the beauty of the forest. Another friend told me recently we "need to have the view from 40,000 feet." It is not always so easy. I was shown a picture the other day of a young child with a brain tumor, and tried to send Reiki energy.

But do we always understand the results of what we do? Once I listened to a sermon, and a wise person noted, "when God wants to correct something in the world he sends a child." But what does that exactly mean?

I was once told a story of a child who was seriously injured, blinded and disabled. The child was dying, but someone in desparation saved the life. In heaven this created a dilemma, the child was meant to be reborn as a Lama, but Heaven worked within the laws of the Created world, and this required the death to occur at the "right moment." Another child had to take the place of the dying Lama, die, and be reborn at the "right time."

The first child who had been saved lived a life of suffering, and went through a cycle of two more difficult lives. His spirit though, grew, and his sense of compassion deepened. Finally a time came and he was reborn a Lama - it was a time when compassion was so sorely needed, and he changed the world (at least a little bit) for the better.

We often don't really know to whom we are talking. We can work along side someone, and they can have a "less important job," but unbeknownst to us, they can have compassion and wisdom. If only we would take the time to listen - before they transition on.

That was how I felt today. I went to work expecting to try to help others, and found myself sitting transfixed, asking questions and being gifted with a sense of appreciation of life.

I keep in mind what another wise teacher said, that I should not take very much pride in accomplishments. We are, I was reminded, "only clay vessels."

For every child who cannot be healed in this life, for the co worker who transitions from colleague to patient, let us not simply care for them, but be open to receiving the gifts they offer us. Reiki is always a two way street. See them not simply as a broken body, but as a rising spirit.

Reiki and Equanimity

2010-05-07T17:06:00.000-07:00

I was excited to hear of the upcoming release of a new book by the young Canadian author Karen Connelly. Her new novel, "Burmese Lessons: A true love story" will be available March 18, 2010. As regards her prior award winning novel, "The Lizard Cage," let me deny any intention of reflecting on the political aspects of the book - politics are neither my forte nor the intention of this Blog.

"The Lizard Cage" is a book that captures the essence of both Reiki and Hospice, which are the principles topics of this Blog. This book has a universality that I reflect on over and over again. Teza, the primary character of the novel, is terminally ill.

Teza is not in a hospital, rather, he is in a prison, and he does not have cancer, or HIV or dementia, rather he has a desire for political change, but, his human condition is universal. For a time he reflects on the situation around him, fellow prisoners, guards, what there is to eat today, memories of better times. He thinks of his youth and of loved ones. He thinks of music he might have played or poems he might have written. And as time goes on, his denial and anger turn to acceptance.

Beaten and starved, Teza continues his "decline trajectory." He knows his "prognosis," that he is heading toward "such a small word" - death.

In a very quiet way he follows the path of the Buddha - and like a Reiki master focuses on "just for today." Teza ceases anger, he ceases worrying, he is grateful for the most limited gifts, he works at kindness to others, and at emanating compassion, even for his guards.

Teza finds a place beyond compassion. Equanimity. "He begins and ends with this word. Equanimity in the face of what must be." As his end comes, he teaches a young boy, "It's the same for everything - people, animals, plants, all the things we make and build, Even if people or things look the same, they're always shifting or growing or dying. Nothing stays the same for any of us. So we try to have upekkha, to live with upekkha. That means to accept the change that comes and to be calm in it."

For me Reiki does not mean to enhance vibrational levels or increase power, since power is an illusion. Vibrational levels are an illusion. Reiki is simple. Each of us have a channel, and that channel can be widened, and grounded, and kept open and free of blocks. We can reach a place of calm and equanimity with our world, and from that place of calm and focus and with good intention, our hands can become vessels through which healing flows.

In Hospice, we meet people like Teza everyday, people who we cannot cure, but who we can assist in healing. We can gift them with presence and with our own calm, and help them to not live their last moments alone.

Teza helps us break out of the "medical model," and understand the universality of our dilemma, and why Reiki is simple and why it can help. If you get an opportunity to read "The Lizard Cage" by Karen Connelly, if you forget the politics as I often do, you can learn a great deal about Reiki and about Hospice.

I hope the book coming out on May 18, "Burmese Lessons: a true love story" will like Ms Connelly's prior book, touch my heart.

For those interested in the politics described in the book seek the website http://www.burmamission.org/

"The Wind of Falling Leaves -

It takes so much rain
To give the perfect color
To the maple leaves
But they are blown away
By a single gust of wind."

"In General"

Understand (life) by
Seeing how the stone has
Been
Hollowed out by the rain
Don't cling to the illusion
That nothing changes."

The above poems were from the Meiji Emperor, and were felt by Mikao Usui to be important. I understand these translations to have been by Frank Arjava Petter and Chetna Kobayashi. I reflect on them in thinking on the dilemmas posed by Karen Connelly, and the lives of people in Hospice, and the lives of people living under oppression in all times.

Reiki on ReachMD

2010-04-28T16:43:00.000-07:00

Reach MD is cable Radio reaching out to mainstream physicians. Their website is currently featuring a radio interview I did on Reiki hosted by Dr Eric Tangalos of the Mayo Clinic. The following link should take you to my Reach MD guest site - the show is "A Compassionate Presence: Reiki as alternative pain management." It is necessary to register an email address to hear the program.

www.reachmd.com/xmradioguest.aspx?pid=36198

Today, Seasons Hospice of Maryland had special guests!! Pamela Miles and Ellen Sosinski stopped to visit our Team on their way back to NYC from a meeting at NIH.

The visit was on short notice, but quite a few of our Team members were able to attend, Jean Jordan drove in from Elkton, Maryland almost 70 miles away (Hello to Opal Team in Elkton!!)

Pamela and Ellen arrived around noon for a "brief visit" but before we knew it, we had talked for 3 hrs. It is so important in doing Reiki, and especially in integrating Reiki and Conventional Medicine, to share experiences and to continue to learn and grow.

The take home message that everyone agreed on was "do self Reiki every day."

Our Reiki share will meet Tuesday, May 4, at 5:30 pm and will be hosted by our friends at Karme.

I hope some of you have the opportunity to hear the Reach MD interview. And thank you to all my Team members and our guests who shared this afternoon, dedicated to exchanging toughts on Hospice and on Reiki.

Where Reiki is going from here Part 3

2010-04-19T04:19:00.000-07:00

The monthly AARP magazine came out this past week, and on the cover was Dr Oz, and complementary medicine in general and Reiki in particular received yet another boost. Dr Oz' support of complementary methods such as Reiki is important not just because he appeared with Opra, nor simply because he has a successful TV show himself, nor that he is articulate and photogenic, but as well for 15 years he hs been considered, and still is viewed, as one of the top cardio-thoracic surgeons in the New York/New Jersey area and in fact in America.

Pamela Miles, the NYC Reiki Master who has worked with Dr Oz also has done studies with NIH and with Ivy League Medical Schools. Collectively, the scientific work done on Reiki has exceeded the point where one can refer to "evidence based medicine" and "complementary medicine" because many complementary methods such as Reiki now have signficant evidence based support.

The abundance of work that has built up facilitates physicians like myself, who are both "conventional" and "complementary" - to step up and discuss our own personal "integration" of techniques.

There are far more "conventional" physicians currently doing Reiki than anyone has any idea - this became obvious to me when my partner and I presented a session at Long Term Care Medicine 2010, and we received feedback from many people that we were "brave."

The article about Dr Oz was reflective for me though, because it discussed his background growing up in Delaware, and going to the Tower Hill School. My wife and I lived in Delaware for two years, 1972-1974 while I was in a training program at the Wilmington Medical Center, and Delaware at the time was a magical place.

I cannot remember having many deja vue phenomenon prior to living there, and cannot remember not having them since. It is interesting that in the private discussion area of students of Rick Rivard there has been a discussion on energy in places. Rick wrote an innocent email that he was going to "purge" email addresses from the list who were no longer contributing, and people started coming out of the woodwork (or internet) with stories that touched powerful connected chords for other people. And comments and sharing started flying literally around the world. Many of the comments focused on visits to special places that had significant energies, and to stories of people who had incureable illnesses and had recovered using self-Reiki. People were touching each other at a distance - people who in physical terms did not know what each other looked like, and who geographically were far away, but quite simply, people whose experiences touched chords.

There is a river flowing through the portion of Pennsylvania and Delaware called the Brandywine, it is hard to keep straight the geography of where Delaware and Pennsylvania begin and end, flowing water is not constrained by boundaries. My wife and I and friends would canoe this river, small and not famous for rapids or excitement, really tranquil and a spiritual place. I had grown up near the Niagara River and the sense of a river as always changing and always "the same" had left an impact on me, water is important.

At that time - when Dr Oz was growing up in Delaware, Longwood Gardens, one of the most elegant gardens in world had no entry charge and no entry building, it was simply free, unencombered and ordinarily free of a significant number of people. The Brandywine River museum, dedicated to the work of the Wyeth family had just recently been begun alongside the river. And parks were outside the growing urban sprawl that are now within them.

Our best friends were a core family at Tower Hill School, and even after we moved away, we visited for birthdays and family events - for years we believed we would all have more time to spend together, when only work slowed down (but it never did). Our friends were taken in a tragic accident, and for years after we donated to the Tower Hill School in their memory, and continue to receive mailings about the school. (this private school is so "American' with family names from the American Revolution, and names like Spruance, the family name of the Admiral who led the fleet at Midway - the turning point of WWII, and Dr Oz, a child of an immigrant family who had wonderful talent, and worked hard and enriched America)

One of the most important values in Reiki is that it complements conventional medicine. Skilled Reiki masters work with physicians - Reiki does not cannot and should not replace technical and scientific skill. At the same time, balancing subtle energy and giving people a sense of connectedness can help us come through difficult times, retain hope, and heal from surgery.

Dr Oz did not need to come forward, he was talented aand would be successful as one of most skilled thoracic surgeons in the country - but he did - and more "conventional" physicians will take an interest in Reiki as a result.

For someone who went to medical school when CT scans and MRI's did not exist, it is indeed a magical time, and reminiscent of quiet days along the Brandywine River.

Is Reiki a Noun or a Verb (Where - Part 2)

2010-04-10T13:36:00.000-07:00

When we use the term, Reiki, we refer to both method (verb) and also to the spiritual energy or life force that connects us all.

There is no question that life experience impacts how we view Reiki. For some, Reiki may be a path to personal healing and growth; for others it may be a full time endeavor, providing full Reiki treatments; for me, my experiences are impacted by being a Hospice doctor and having worked in end-of-life situations for over 30 years.

What is important to understand is that when I can save a person's life, i will fight as hard as I can to do that. Whether we call physicians skills "traditional medicine" (as most of us who practice in hospitals day by day think of ourselves), or "conventional medicine" (as some complementary folks label us, connecting our wisdom skills to deeper and more ancient human roots) - we use scientific based skills to help people whenever we can.

For those of us who are "truly integrated" - we may also use Reiki energy at the same time to augment subtle energy changes and create balance within our patients. Interestingly, in talking with physicians who are completely integrated - this does not "exhaust them" as some have suggested, connection to Reiki energy is a source of strength and prevention of burn out.

The other day, I visited an "old friend" in the ICU. I think of many of many patients in this way - of course - we honor the professional boundaries of our professions, but, in a spiritual way, we know we are all connected. It is not that it is too time consuming or exhausting to do a full Reiki treatment in situations of transition, rather, it is that it is inappropriate and unnecessary in these moments.

My goals in end-of-life are not to balance all the chakras or clear meridians, and certainly note to create attachments, but simply to assist in a spiritual way with the transition of the "consciousness" of the person.

In this way, transition becomes for patients, and families, not always a moment to be feared, but rather a part of living. And we continue to care in an integrated way for those we cannot cure.

In bringing Reiki Masters and Reiki students into my program, however much Reiki training and experience they have had, they need to complete a nationally certified volunteer course to be able to volunteer in Hospice.

There is some confusion, since, in some of the most funded prestigious academic hospital centers in the country, "Palliative" programs appear that are similar to Hospice. In fact, within organized medicine, the training for young physicians in Hospice and Palliative Medicine would be the same. But the organization and funding of these programs are different outside of hospitals, and even more so outside of hospitals that are not academic and funded through grant processes. Palliative programs or hospital based programs are not driven by exactly the same rules that are exacted upon Hospices. Hiring full time Reiki professionals is feasable within academic or grant funded programs, but for the time being, volunteers are often needed in Hospices or non academic centers.

Physicians and Nurses who are fully integrated and what I call "bi-lingual" have a special potential role to serve as "bridges" between Reiki professionals and physicians who know nothing about Reiki (but may trust us as colleagues).

I had an interesting lesson recently, having a Reiki Master wanting to work in my program. As I watched the person work, it was obvious to me that there was caring and talent and superb training. There was some difference in how we had been taught, and as well, because for me, the connection to the Reiki is more important than the specific method, some of what appeared to be my short cuts troubled this person. We talked and the bottom line for me was that I really wanted the skill and experience and talent to be facilitated in helping patients. Those of us who connect to the same energy, the same life force, need to avoid all elements of conflict in asserting one tradition as having more accuracy and integrity than another. A physician who works in Hospice must live and work within a spirit of humility.

It is hard to discuss what current tradition is closest to Usui Sensei. We know the importance of the Five basic precepts or admonitions, we know these are basic and common to us all; and we know the importance of our hands; and we know the importance of commitment to self-treatment. But if Reiki is a verb, if the specific method or lineage is most important, which one is correct?

It has been my goal to share energy and learn and read continuously about Reiki, and I cannot see any evidence that either the Gakkai or Hayashi Sensei used exactly the same techniques as Usui Sensei. Certainly Takata Sensei for good reason modified what she was taught, and many of her students modified what they were taught.

So for me - what I seem to seek, is to be Open and Grounded, and allow the energy to come to me. And when I discern other Reiki students (for all Reiki practitioners are Reiki students forever at heart) connecting to the energy or spirit, then I can know that whatever path they took is valid, I will know this on feeling the energy.

So then if the essential element of Reiki is the spirit and the energy, is it a noun? Two wise colleagues weighed in on this for me recently, one a very esteemed religious leader, and one a Reiki Master of many years experience. My RM friend pointed out that the energy is active in the world, spiritual energy is a verb was the point this friend made. And my friend who is a "conventional" spiritual leader reminded me of the meeting of Moses and the burning bush. Faced with this great light Moses asked for a name, and God responded in the Hebrew "Eh-Yeh Asher Eh-Yeh" - or roughly "I Shall Be that which I shall Be." The spirit that connects the world, exists, and is active. Reiki is a verb. And we are at our best when we are most humble, most open, and most grounded.

For all those who choose to share the journey, and help others in end-of-life, whatever method you have learned, thank you for helping. There is truly only so much those of us who are integrated into both methods can do - we, those physicians and nurses who are integrated, need your help, and need to offer to serve as your bridges when you want to volunteer.

Reiki - Where is it going - part 1

2010-04-03T15:31:00.001-07:00

I have been focused over the past few weeks on "where to go from here." Some time back, some goals had been established for me in Reiki, and having past these points - well - "where from here."

First of all it is important to express that when I was attuned as a Reiki Master for the first time, I felt more of a "beginning" than a sense of being much of a Master of anything.

Being a Master means in a broader sense that one continues to practice and study, and has the knowledge to teach.

Reiki from one origin has followed many paths, and it is important to respect differences of lineage and tradition. What are some of the facets that help one grow?

First - as regards where Reiki may go from here - I want to quote Hiroshi Doi Sensei, in predictions laid out in 1999:

"1) Unity of the eastern and the western Reiki-ho as well as the original systems based on Reiki will progress

2) The number of incomplete seminars will decrease and the number of regular gatherings by masters (teachers) will increase

3) Interchange between spreading groups of Reiki-ho as well as between teachers will be accelerated

4) The number of Reiki healing centers will increase

5) The number of "true users of Reiki energy" who develop Reiki healing ability and spend their daily life following the wave of love will increase"

There seems to be a lot of truth in these statements. The following comments are my own:

a) Reiki will increasingly be engaged by mainstream physicians. There has been a steady increase in Reiki presence in major hospitals and academic institutions, but CAM in general and Reiki in particular will be learned and studied.

b) It will be increasingly important to "leave ego at the door" and to "respect all traditions" - because Reiki within Traditional Medicine will be subject to forces of accountability, credentialing, and "evidence basis." (it may surprise some readers that certain elements of Reiki - specifically Simple Touch and Compassionate Presence and the Calming focus of breathing exercises are largely non-controversial - other spiritual aspects of Reiki are and will be more controversial)

c) It will be increasingly important for new Reiki Masters to have ongoing support from their Teachers, and it will be increasingly important for Reiki Masters to "share."

d) We must recognize with respect many of us will have different approaches within Reiki depending on our spiritual experiences and life experiences prior to learning Reiki.

e) It is important to recognize the importance of how "warm" Reiki hands can become, even when performing Reiki without "touch."

f) It is important as a Master to read as much as one can to truly discern what we are doing. Reiki is not simply as intuitive art (though it has intuitive components) and it not simply a healing art (though it is a healing art) and it is not simply a spiritual endeavor (though - while not a religion, it is a spiritual endeavor)

Here are some sources that I have read, and have found invaluable, in my own understanding of Reiki.

1) Biographies of Mrs Takata

Living Reiki Takata's teachings by Fran Brown
Reiki: Hawayo Takata's Story by Helen J. Haberly

2) Light brought upon the origins of Reiki and the Life of Mikao Usui

Reiki Fire and Reiki The Legacy of Dr Usui - both by Frank Arjava Petter

3) The Reiki Factor by Barbara Ray - some may have differences with the author, but her 1983 book was a significant contribution in bringing understanding and respect to Reiki

4) The collected work of William Lee Rand - I have obtained all the back issues of Reiki News and find his effort on behalf of Reiki incredible to even attempt to calculate. William Lee Rand's efforts to educate about Reiki, and cause Reiki to be an engine toward world peace, are an inspiration. His book with Walter Lubeck and Frank Arjava Petter "The Spirit of Reiki" is a wonderful reference.

5) The web site of Rick Rivard - //threshold.ca/reiki/home - Rick Rivard along with Tom Rigler and Andrew Bowling founded URRI - Usui Reiki Ryoho International that brought international masters together from 1999-2003. It is hard to comprehend being a Master and not having an awareness of the importance of this effort.

6) The Hayashi Manual by Frank Arjava Petter, Tadao Yamaguchi, and Chujiro Hayashi - it is fascinating in attempting to merge Gakkai Reiki and Takata based Reiki to have this perspective reflecting on Takata's teacher.

7) The works of Hiroshi Doi, especially "Iyashi no Gendai Reiki-ho" or "Modern Reiki Method for Healing" - Doi Sensei's efforts to merge aspects of Reiki does not completely overshadow the wisdom that is clearly coming directly from Doi Sensei - a beacon of Reiki light.

8) For my own personal path in Reiki Amy Z. Rowland's three books, "Traditional Reiki for our Time" and "Intuitive Reiki for our times" and "Reiki for the Heart and Soul" have had a profound impact, and had it not been for the encouragement of my first Reiki Teacher, Robin Hannon, and the encouragement of Amy Rowland, I would not have begun or continued this Blog.

9) My email friend Lorinda Weatherall has a wonderful website - www.a-w-etherapies.ca/
Lorinda was a partipant in URRI and her sharing experiences and asking and answering questions has been very much appreciated.

10) Pamela Miles at //reikiinmedicine.org
Pamela has worked for 20 years at bringing credibility for Reiki in Traditional Medical Academic institutions. She has worked with Dr Oz, and brought Reiki increasing credibility by her work with NIH - those of us bringing Reiki into traditional medicine find her efforts and experiences valuable and important.

For those of you who have read this far - I am working on a Blog on Boysen scanning. How do we describe this as we blend Reiki into traditional medicine.

Byosen scanning was all but left out of Takata Reiki - William Lee Rand describes himself as having discovered scanning, and then with humility acknowledges he found out it had been an Usui technique. (but it came to him independly before he was taught it)

It certainly is not diagnostic if what we mean by diagnosis, is "medical diagnosis" in the licensed and legal definition, but if we apply an academic broader definition as "to learn and to discern" - is it really not?

How important was Boysen scanning - Quoting Doi Sensei "In the Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai, this technique is taught once a person has begun their Reiki training. Usually the average person at this point has an energy rating of 6 (on a scale of 6 to 1, 1 being the highest). Once this technique is taught, your energy rating is at 5.

Usui-sensei rated himself as a 2 in the hopes that one of his students would surpass his abilities. To this day, out of respect for Sensei, no one is ever rated higher than 3.

Once this technique is mastered, you are taught Reiji-ho and your rating increases to a 4. Upon mastering Reiji-ho, you are rated a 3 and are allowed to have Okuden training."

There is so much to learn. There is so much need for respect and humility. Amy Rowland challenged me that - my students students to the 10th degree should still recognize each other as coming from the Usui tradition.

If we can merge this wisdom with traditional medicine, it seems a wonderful future. In the meantime, work hard and do your best - just for today.

Reiki in the Parkinsons Guideline

2010-03-24T16:48:00.000-07:00

Following Pamela Miles recent posting of a link to one of my Blogs on her Facebook site, I have had a significant increase in comments - each comment is an opportunity to reflect and grow. We are all connected, and all that we accomplish is lifted up by what others have done. The ripples are connected.

This particular Blog reflects on a publication now available through the American Medical Directors Association (AMDA) at

www.amda.com/tools/cpg/parkinsons.cfm

And in reflecting on the year of work and collaboration with physicians all over the country (and indeed including as well Dr Ira Leroi, a colleague who is highly respected in the British Health Service and has been one of the leading researchers in the world on dementia) - my own sense is simply one of humility for being in the right place at the right time to have had an opportunity to take part.

Mostly - this Guideline is about Traditional Medicine, but, importantly, it has major revisions as regards non-pharmacologic remedies. "Complementary and alternative medicine, which is defined as a group of diverse medical and health care practices, and products that are not generally considered to be part of conventional medicine may also be considered. Methods such as Reiki, aroma therapy, music therapy, simple touch and massage all have evidence-based studies suggesting potential efficacy."

Possible goals of CAM include "assisting patients in finding a place of calm, release worry and anxiety, encourage patient to let go of anger, alleviate sense of stress, replenish a sense of hope, relieve the suffering of loneliness, diminish the focus on physical pain, synergize patient's own spiritual connections, offer human presence and connection, facilitate communication with significant others and allow increased relaxation."

Holistic to me means bringing together all the modalities we can to help people. So be it pharmacologic, surgical and CAM - I am thankful to all who have contributed to bringing more light - of course in the human journey we have a long way to go.

On the Reiki side, a special thanks to my first teacher Robin Hannon, and to Robin and my teacher Amy Rowland who with Robin encouraged me to write the Blog; and for Amy's book "Reiki for the Heart and Soul."

To Bill Lee Rand for his work through Reiki news in advancing knowledge of Reiki, and to Rick Rivard, my teacher and one of the founders of Usui Reiko Ryoho International.

To people like Dr Robert S. Mendelsohn, whose books in the late 70's and early 80's challenged medical institutions to give new ideas a chance, and Dr Richard Niemtzow who advanced evidence based understanding of complementary medicine and used acupuncture to help vets in pain returning from war.

To Reiki Masters like Pamela who have worked for many years bringing Reiki into prestigous institutions.

With inclusion into evidence based and holistic practice, there is new responsibility and new challenges. There is much to learn, and much can be improved.

Here are some suggestions:

a) support evidence based scientific medicine for what it can accomplish. Do not allow CAM to oppose transitional methods that work.

b) if you use Reiki - use it a little bit on yourself every day

c) remember that Reiki is simple - you do not need enhanced power or effort to seek the light, you simply need to be open for the light to come to you

d) maintain a sense of humility and focus on the person you are trying to help

The Guideline itself costs is an evidence based Traditional Guideline, for the non health professional, much may not be interesting - but - the inclusion of CAM and Reiki - even in a small way - is a step forward that should be welcomed.

Thank you to all who read the Blog, and who offer comments, and send encouragement - sharing the journey is a part of the joy.

A day in the Life

2010-03-22T04:42:00.000-07:00

Sunday was my 6th work day of the week, there were patients who needed home visits and not enough time in the other five days. These are not fast visits like office visits, and not easy visits, where one writes a presciption and moves on, these are hospice visits.

One wonders sometimes what makes people get up every day to work in nursing homes and in hospice, usually these are people from the aides to the nurses and doctors and social workes who could make more money doing something else.

One drives from the main roads to main streets with businesses a dn gas stations, neighborhoods change but the experiences are the same. More houses are middle class than rich, many people living in single family homes, perhaps attached (or perhaps in some neighborhoods detached), often a playground or a basketball court at the end of the street.

In a row of houses or apartments one can usually tell which one you are looking for, often a sign is on the door gently warning people not to smoke as there is oxygen inside.

Inside really there is family. That seems a constant. People struggling. Not to get the benefit of a sale, or to get ahead, or to have fun but just trying to live today, or help a struggling loved one live today. The patient has a challenge but so does the family. It is not just that they are facing a loss, they have already had a loss, the person they love cannot do the normal day to day things they once could. And everyone is exhausted. It makes my working a 6th day in the week seem such a small thing.

What one really sees here is a lot of love. A spouse caring for someone she (or he) has loved and shared a partnership with for many years, "we have been married 49 years. Do you think..." a grandchild on leave from college taking care of a beloved grandmother. It is a habit I have gotten into to ask questions about the patient and family before getting straight to the point about the disease, "what work did he (ort she) do?" "How long have you been together?" "Do you have any children or grandchildren?" (and sometimes, yes great grandchildren).

I want to know what they believe will happen in their journey. No one knows, as a daughter said to me yesterday, "no one has come back to tell us." It is an unknown, but for some reason almost everyone has some sort of faith, faith seems almost hard wired into us - have I met an atheist, yes of course, and for them I listen to what they have to say. It is for me about them, their chance to talk and my job is to listen. If I cannot cure them at the least I can help them by listening, it demonstrates on some human level that we care.

The moments here is too large to think about it from my own perspective, this is not a time (however well intentioned) to convert someone to my belief or faith. It is always a two way street, I cannot tell you how often I find patients suffering reduced simply by the fact that someone comes in and cares to listen. And if you do listen with your heart you are graceed with someone's journey, and you feel the faith and love within the home.

Yesterday I was in a neighborhood driving by shops and remembered driving the same business district street 2 months ago, onto a main neighborhood street, and into a residential area. I met a man who was very ner death from cancer, he wanted to go "home." The home he referred to was very far away, it was where he grew up, I felt he really was "home," he was surrounded by an incredible amount of love, a wife, children, their spouses and grandchildren. I explained why he could not take the plane trip he wanted to make. He was angry, we talked a very long time. Time is one thing we can give in hospice. And in the end his family understood (after also calling a second doctor who had known him for years, known I was right but hadn't wanted to say so until asked directly).

After he passed away, his wife told one of my team members she got a call from a friend in their home town. "He died" she said (using the patients name). "How did you know?' his wife asked. "You may find this hard to believe but his spirit just came and told me. "

Traditional medicine can cure so many diseases these days, from when I was in medical school everything is amazing, and I work, I really do, to keep up. Science is a wonderful thing, it is a tool and it often helps us. But as my parter reminds me the greatest scientist of all, Albert Einstein realized science has limits.

We need to be careful not to give up on science because it cannot cure all. But as well, we need to be careful not to give up on human wisdom. Compassionate presence and Simple touch and Listening mean a lot. Reiki is simple and it is a method for learning how to keep your focus on these human values.

Sometimes people ask me why I am on a 6th day of the week driving through neighborhoods to go to homes and visit patients who are near the end-of-life. It seems to be something all we hospice workers do. Understand, there is nothing special or unique about what I do, Hospice Aides and Nurses and Social Workers and Spiritual Therapists, Music Therapists, Chaplains, and yes other doctors do this every day. (perhaps the doctors simply talk about it less - but - from the emails I am receiving it seems people think there are not so many doctyors who care and in truth - there are far more than you know!)

For those doing Hospice work it is simply more than a job. It is what we do because it is who we are.

To all those who believe that giving compassion to others sends ripples of peace through the world, thank you. The intention of this Blog is not about me, it is about you, and the lives you touch.

Reiki and Where do we go from here

2010-03-20T12:33:00.000-07:00

In the glow of coming back from Long Term Care Medicine 2010, I am beginning to ask myself the question "where do we go from here." And in a "microcosm," living my own "just for today," I am paralleling what is happening widely in Reiki - recogntion and acceptance is occurring, is in fact far more widespread than we realize, and we must think about where we go from here.

For much of the past several months, my partner and I have been planning to do a presentation of "Alternative Methods of Pain Management in End-of-Life Care" at a very evidence based symposium. We have been integrating Traditional Evidence Based Medicine with Reiki in a Hospice environment, but now, along with a third colleague, we were going to talk about this in public, in front of an audience of evidence based physicians. And frankly, neither we, nor the program committee who approved our session, knew what the response would be........

In a way, it is easy to say, "I will not worry just for today," but when one puts one's own professional reputation on the line, and the day is today, and the time is now .....but the time came and passed.

And here is what occurred. We had 33 physicians attend our session, and had an incredible response. Almost everyone voluntarily participated in our Reiki meditation at the end of the session, and the critiques of the session were that we were "too apologetic and too tentative." That same day, I gave another session on a very "Traditional topic," attended by 150 physicians, and the buzz in the hall was about our Reiki session. And in private discussions, the questions were more how we would expand the presentation, rather than if we would be asked back next year.

And that is the question. Where do we go from here. It is a question we will spend the next month meditating on.

Here are some other questions - this particular blog is a lot about questions, because I am less at a point where I can tell everyone else how it should be done, than at a place where I am still learning:

a) Reiki is rapidly gathering evidence based support, so we must now distinguish between "evidence based medicine" and "traditional evidence based medicine." And moreover, the evidence based supports aspects of Reiki including "Simple Touch" (not massage) and "Compassionate Presence" that themselves are gathering evidence based support. In this scenario - Reiki can be presented as a method for learning to focus on Active listening, Simple Touch, and Compassionate Presence - all of which unquestionably help patients and have evidence support.

b) For those of us working at a master level, we believe that we can impact the energy flow, from within the Auric field of the patient, without actually "touching" physically the patient. We also feel that we can "perceive" facets of energy by "scanning," and these techniques has less evidence study.

c) For many of us, we use Reiki in a non-touch related way, Reiki masters write of "flooding a room" with radiant light, and we talk about the power of placing Reiki within "voice." Even here, a parallel art, Music therapy, has strong evidence based support. And many of us combine sound and touch.

d) When we have an impact on energy fields, are we acting as simple channels, and is the Creator or Universal source of Radiant light (or some say "Spirit Guides") acting - or is our intention itself moving energy?

e) It is important to stress that Reiki does not compete with or intend to replace Traditional Medicine. Usui Sensei and Hayashi Sensei and Takata Sensei and Doi Sensei all stress the importance of scientific medicine. Reiki is Complementary. ("Reiki does not oppose modern medical science nor does it replace it.....sickness should be cut from both sides, with Reiki and with medical science")

There are increasing efforts to "organize" Reiki - and no question, there is a possibility that as Reiki becomes more "accepted" there may be an effort to certify it - (and in this regard - I do not refer to certification such as that by Bill Lee Rand and the Center for Reiki, but I mean within organized medicine itself, which tends to take over and control that which becomes mainstream.

Acceptance and certification have benefits and detriments. Reiki performed and described as "Spiritual healing" has elements of constitutional protection within the United States, (though its use may be more limited), and that which becomes "accepted healthcare" becomes more likely to be regulated and certified and controlled.

And I have questions as to whether Usui intended for there to be a Grandmaster, let alone a single path - from history reasonable persons can argue this point.

And so for now, I simply think it best to move forward "one day at a time" - and to share experience and continue to learn. I think there will be many different paths within Reiki, and that multiple traditions can be respected. I think we should take every opportunity to share, every opportunity to help each other and every opportunity to grow.

It has long been a matter of faith for me that acts of Kindness and Compassion join in ripples and spread throughout the world. I am appreciative of everyone who joins in this.

Laurelle Shanti Gaia wrote an excellent article which just came out in Reiki News Spring 2010, "Stepping out of the Reiki Closet." It makes me think of a lot of my own experiences in the past two years. She says "By practicing Reiki without fear, standing in our truth, and coming out of the Reiki closet, we become beacons of light. That light is illuminating the way for many and ultimately assisting humanity in awakening to the promised age of peace."

*I do want to thank those who have joined the Blog, and who have offered comments either publicly or privately. Your sharing is very much appreciated. My stories are not unique, many traditional physicians are open to new ideas. This is a time of much hope.

Reiki Meditation for Healthcare workers

2010-03-16T19:10:00.000-07:00

Reiki meditation adapted for presentation at Long Term Care Medicine 2010, the annual meeting of the American Medical Directors Association.

"Now we would like to join together in sharing a common mission, as physicians and health care workers, to give compassion to our patients. When we cannot "Cure," we can continue to "Care."

We recognize that all living beings are connected through a universal spirit or life force, and that part of being a good physician is dispelling loneliness and loss of hope.

We ask that this place be filled with the energy and spirit that binds all living things.

Close your eyes and raise your hands above your head and feel the Universal energy that flows all around us.

Now with your eyes closed, focus on your breathing. Feel with each breath that you are relaxing more and more, relaxing any tension, or stress that you might have.

Now, as you inhale, slowly breathe in radiant light from the top of your head through the spinal column to the center of your abdomen. Fill this area called the tandien below your belly button with this energy.

Feel the radiant light start to expand throughout your body from your tandien point, the inner center of your body. Imagine yourself emitting a brilliant light.

Once we are connected to this energy from a spiritual dimension, you are blessed with the healing energy of love and harmony.

In this space which you create by your breathing and your intention, any unbalanced energy such as worry, anger, sorrow, pain and anxiety simply cannot exist.

Now focus on your exhalation. As you breathe out gradually, expand the energy and brilliant light throughout your body. This light becomes a brilliant shining aura expanding eternally. Once you receive this healing energy of love and harmony, it is important to return it to the earth. As you practice, it is easier to reach this place filled with peace, calm, and a sense of connection.

Remember, you can connect to this place and free yourself from worry and stress whenever you need to do so. Even when you cannot cure your patients, you can help them reach a place of connection.

Now gently open your eyes and stretch your body and fully awaken yourself.

Thank you for sharing a moment of commitment to compassion, kindness, and harmony to our patientys and to all human beings. As we bring ourselves to a palce of calm, we become more effective physicians and happier human beings."

This mediation is adapted an not in exact form of thoseI have been taught. However, the concepts in the meditation are inspired by my training in Gendai Reiki, the system developed by Hiroshi Doi, as taught to me by Amy Rowland and Rick Rivard.

I thank all who have taught and gone before, and all who Share the Journey of compassion.

Message from Long Term Care Medicine 2010

2010-03-13T09:44:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, along with Dr Charles Crecelius and Dr N. Sharlene Rajapakse, I was on a panel that presented "Alternative Integrative Methods of pain management in End-of-Life Care." More about segments of that session in future blog postings. Also - AMDA (American Medical Directors Association) - an organization of nearly 7000 physicians in Long Term Care, published its revised Clinical practice guideline on Parkinsons Disease. This guideline is now available only at the LTC Medicine annual meeting but will later be available for on-line purchase. The guideline reflects on the current evidence based support for certain elements of alternative or complementary medicine (including specifically Reiki).

More later.

Today - I am scheduled to do a cable radio spot relating to yesterday's session, and specifically relating to our use of the term "Transition" instead of Death.

"When I'm treating a patient at the end-of-life, I prefer to refer to Death as Transition.

Look, science cannot prove or disprove the continuation of consciousness after death, but most of humanity believes in some form of afterlife.

As a physician, it is not my job to convert or dissaude, but to listen, support, and dignify the life of the patient!

And when a physician cares to listen to what the patient perceives they are facing in the mysterious journey ahead, the patient is spared loneliness and gifted hope.

In my opinion, the patient of a doctor who cares when he cannot cure feels more respected, and suffers less."

Share the Journey

Rules for performing Reiki in Hospice

2010-03-06T12:36:00.000-08:00

A) Start by talking with the patient. Introduce yourself, and your intention. Although Reiki is very important to you, your primary intention is to be there for the patient. It is all about him or her. So to begin with, whether or not you do Reiki is not the most important point. Or, said another way, Reiki can be done without touching someone or using your hands.

B) Gift the patient with compassionate presence. You are there, and you are present, and you are sharing a moment. If you are a doctor or a nurse, take off the white coat. Share a moment. For the patient, you do not know, it may be one of the most precious moments of their life. They may have something to say, or to share, and simply your presence can mean a lot. And remember, Reiki is never unidirectional. When you connect with another person, it can be an important moment for you as well. Patients near transition often have insights that we lack, and the sharing they do is to be highly valued.

C) Listen. Ask open ended questions. Convey verbally and non verbally a willingness to listen. Ask about things that might matter to the patient. What was their work? Recently I was caring for a patient who when healthy had been a trouble shooter for an airline. she had helped stranded travelers - and on my unit, dying of cancer, she still saw herself as being that person (though she knew "the airline will have to go on without me.") Allow the patient to retain all that matters to them in life, honor their lives by listening. Who and what matters to them matters in that moment. Much of Reiki is about creating what some call a "sacred space," a place where we can open a channel for spiritual energy - and that "space" is enhanced by caring to listen to the patient. Often, listening is more important in Hospice than placing hands in bringing Reiki energy.

D) Ask about the patient's own source of spiritual strength. I am Jewish and I connect as well using Reiki, but many times I have been thought to be a Christian doctor, or a Muslim doctor, and simply stated in that room it is not about me - I am about serving the patient and honoring what matters to him or her.

E) Do not attempt to insert your energy or spirit into the patient, or take spirit or energy (or even pain) from them. Be a simple channel. Be a compassionate presence.

F) Understand that we are not in control. Transition will come when the Creator decides. In Hospice we do not attempt to either shorten or lengthen life, what we do is make the moments that exist precious and free of pain. If a spirit is transitioning, do not impede it, and do not attach to it, but marvel in it, and be honored to be present.

G) If the patient wishes to have Reiki performed then do so, but realize that in this fragile state full Reiki sessions are often not appropriate. In this situation, traditional hand positions, valued as structure, may not be meaningful.

H) If family is present, and they are comfortable, establish a circle. Bringing evergy together and synchronizing spirit is precious. Do not dominate a circle. Do not bring your own vibrations to the forefront. Imagine yourself a dancer whose task is simply to blend with one's partner. The melody is not yours to play, allow yourself to harmonize, let your spirit guides assist you.

I) Understand that you can Care even when you cannot Cure. Understand that presence and connection are wonderful gifts. Understand that you cannot give of your own energy, or you will be drained, rather, allow energy to simply pass through you from the Creator, likely a small percentage will be left with you as a gift.

J) Be at peace and be calm. Transition is not to be feared. It is a moment of awe. Accept all of creation with a simple grace. Have no fear. Have no anger. Be grateful to be alive. Be grateful to be present. Your gift of compassion is your presence.

K) If you are fortunate, you will from a distance have a vision of the light.

Presence and Hope count

2010-03-03T02:38:00.000-08:00

I received an email the other day, that stated "no one wants to talk about death." And there is soe truth to the statement, in that, people don't want to be in the position where they have the need to talk about death. But on my hospice unit, patients and family members ask me every day to talk about death, because it is the reality they are living in that moment. "doc, please talk to me about ..." (their loved one).

Hospice units are set up to manage pain, and pain is a complex feeling. For one thing every day we see patients in pain, but we also see their loved ones in pain. There is physical pain, but as well there is the pain of loss, and of loneliness, and of hopelessness.

It never ceases to amaze me that medical specialists, claiming to be "evidence based" through science to the wind, and "try" futile medically ineffective actually sometimes harmful procedures with the intention of giving someone "hope," and at the same time deride prayer as "unscientific." Physicians are trained (or ought to be trained) to weight benefit and risk, and when we have no scientifically proven cure for a disease, the comparing of benefit and risk isn't all that complicated.

Now as a caveat - it is my own practice to always attempt to utilize scientifically effective methods such as medication and surgery, when they are likely to help a patient. This is what we are trained to do as physicians - the dilemma is when we do not have an effective cure. What then?

A "scientific" analysis of prayer would show it to have low to no cost, and no physical side effects. There isn't a lot of downside. And in large scale lookback studies done of the medicare database, hospice patients lived an average of 21 days longer than patients treated with aggressive medical processes that could be shown in advance to be unlikely to work.

Here are a couple of observations from many years of end of life care:

1) We can continue to care even when we cannot cure.

2) Patients and families want to talk about the realities that they are facing.

3) Patients who focus on the faith that comes from their own family and their own history, suffer less than patients who focus on "the pain."

This was really hammered home to be today, when I offered an increase in pain medication to a patient with a very severe cancer. The patient said, "I want to be more awake when my son comes to see me, let me take more medicine later if I really need it."

Moments can be surprisingly meaningful, people can talk to loved ones (or if the Team will listen, just to other human beings who give the gift of "presence.")

Most Christians, Muslims, Buddhists and Jews agree that there is some sort of continuation of consciousness after death, we cannot test this "belief" - that's the definition of faith - acceptance of something for which we do not have proof.

However this much is scientific fact and scientific truth - patients who are encouraged to talk about their own beliefs suffer less than patients whose care teams focus on death as "the end." Patients who are allowed to have hope, and gifted with presence, and who not face loneliness, suffer less than patients who are told in effect - "you are going to die. There is nothing I can do. Come to terms with it and accept it. I have to treat someone else who can still be saved. Don't cry - you'll upset other people."

Chaplains and Social workers in Hospice are very helpful in combatting loneliness. I have seen wonderful stories of Chaplains helping people pray, not in the belief system of the Chaplain, but in the tradition of the patient. It is about the patient.

Alternative methods such as Reiki and Music Therapy and Massage are all helpful, and in fact, scientific studies have shown they are helpful. What is fascinating with Reiki, is that the skill level of the practitioner is not always the most important thing. Presence alone combats lonelines; talking about whatever faith a person has reduces the sense of hopelessness, and as we provide presence and hope, we see less suffering.

I can remember patients from 20 years ago, who passed away from illnesses for which we have cures today. I can recall the faces, and the hope and the spirit of some of these people. And in caring for patients today, I know we will develop cures over the next 20 years that will alleviate some diseases we cannot cure today. And what I have learned is the need to work within the present, and to work with what we have.

Human wisdom though, does not begin or end with science. Science is an incredibly valuable "tool," and we want to use it whenever we can. We should never stop Caring with those aspects of human wisdom which we have, when science has not yet given us a Cure for today.

Reiki's synergy: USA and Japan

2010-02-13T10:13:00.000-08:00

In comparing Reiki lineages that flow from the Hayashi and Takata lineages, with those that flow from the Gakkai teachings it is interesting to reflect on the importance of synergy, and the special energy that seems to resonate between the United States and Japan.

Here amidst a North American winter, I am looking at two photos, one of Cherry Blossoms, taken not in Japan, but in the Basin near the US Capital in Washington, and the other a carving of Mickie and Minnie Mouse, done not in North America, but for an ice festival in Sapporo, Japan.

American and Japanese cultures are of course quite distinct, but, they seem to have a mutual fascination. All over the world, the most popular sports contests are soccer (actually called football almost everywhere else in the world), but in Japan as in the USA, baseball is incredibly popular. The development of computer technologies resonate between the two cultures, Comics from the USA led to Manga in Japan, which led to Japanimation popular in America.

If the history of Reiki is elusive between 1920 and 1950, it should not be surprising. Japan went through a rapid cycle change in governance in that time, and - lest we forget - so did the United States. Women's suffrage occurred in America in 1920, and America continued to grow through social change through the 1950's and 1960's. The world has been ravaged by War, and brought together through Globalization - what surprise that we cannot know for sure what Mikao Usui taught to Dr Hayashi, or to the other members of the Gakkai.

We seek history for what it can teach us, and out of respect for those who left us guidance - but the importance of the synergy may exceed the importance of which was "correct."

In a famous dispute between two the schools of Hillel and Shammai, (religious scholars who were themselves friends and study partners), the tradition has it that the word came from heaven that "this one and this one represent the word of the Living God." In seeking spirituality, both may be correct.

The wisdom that was taught by Mikao Usui was certainly not new. Whether or not Mrs. Takata was correct in her history of Usui, that he was seeking a wisdom used by Jesus and the Buddha, healing of hands and healing by prayer certainly exist in Biblical stories.

There are interesting arguments between French and English speaking sources on the "discovery" of certain scientific applications that were being worked on simultaneously in multiple parts of the world.

What does appear true, is that Reiki, in the format brought from Japan, fascinated North Americans, and that Reiki brought back to Japan from the Western Cultures, has fascinated Japanese.

Whether it be Cherry Blossoms in Washington, or Mickey Mouse in Sapporo, the synergy of energy that crosses the Pacific is important. Let us hope that this continues, that it be a synergy for peace and healing of humankind, and that both the similarities and differences of cultures can be appreciated. Humankind is more than the sum of its isolated parts, and every culture has a value.

Reiki and Unconditional Love

2010-02-10T17:24:00.000-08:00

Fritz Smith, Founder of Zero Balancing http://www.zerobalancing.com/

"the closer we come to unconditional love, the heart chakra, the more we will act without attachment, without comparing or judging ourselves or others. Unconditional love is free from emotional strings, conditions, rewards, manipulations, or hidden agendas - conditions that develop when our boundaries are not clear."

This Blog entry today is about an email I read yesterday, the events of the recent storm, and thoughts about the synergies that have occurred for me since 2002. When we think about it, so much is connected.

Yesterday in Rick Rivard's listserv, there was discussion about a tumor being treated with radiation. In addition, the person has received Reiki energy being sent from all over the world. The person reported that psychics have perceived the tumor as shrinking, but that the MRI does not show beneficial changes. Sometimes - X Ray findings are absolutely accurate, and sometimes, they do not reflect the functional status of what is dominated by energy, and reflects the condition of the person.

In 2002, I had a C6-7 recurrence of a severe spinal injury, for which I required a C5-6 fusion in 1991. My orthopedist was considering a second operation, but I elected to have Zero Balancing and Massage therapy with Larry Adams. Larry was an early student of Fritz Smith (the founder of Zero balancing), and he also was attuned to Reiki by Ethel Lombardi, one of the 22 Takata students.

Larry encouraged me to develop my energy based capacity. I resisted for several years. When I started Reiki training with Robin Hannon, I had not told Larry. After my first attunement, I came for a "ZB." He stopped and asked knowingly, "what have you done?" His perception of energy change is accurate and insightful. He could see the Reiki energy.

Larry, and did cranio-sacral work, and ZB on my cervical spine area. And of course, I do self Reiki everyday. Larry tells me my neck is "better" (energetically) even though an X Ray would never confirm that. The boney abnormalities persist, but my life and my function has changed.

In the last 8 years, nothing has changed my X Rays. I have a fused C5-6 and a degenerated C6-7, however, functionally, I have not been having pain. I work long hours, and have had the energy to help others through Reikie, and through Hospice.

The past week was particularly challenging. My partners could not get to the Hospice unit, and Sunday I shoveled through 3 feet of snow to get to the plowed street. Looking back over the years, and thinking on my X Rays, it would be hard to understand how this can be, if all we were was our physical form.

There is a functional level of a person, that involves the summation or integration of their energy and their physical form - it is not just one or the other. And while Larry has for years been telling me that my Cervical spine is better, he does not mean the X Ray, he means that the energy flow in my body has found a way to adjust.

For my friend in the listserv, both the MRI and the psychics may both be correct. Between the medical treatments, and the Reiki energy, I pray he has a recovery.

Reiki is not meant to replace penicillin or surgery or heart medications - those scientific remedies that treat the physical concerns of our body must be treated, but Reiki treats aspects of the person that matter as well, the spiritual core from which energy springs.

There are different lineages of Reiki, and different lineages of energy healing, such as Fritz Smith, Larry's teacher. And it is all the same energy - different approaches, diferent methods, all to be respected - but the same energy.

Fritz Smith describes the quality we are searching for as "Unconditional Love," and my teacher Rick Rivard often reflects on "Sharing from the Heart."

In seeing people help each other through the Blizzard of 2010 in Baltimore, and seeing the Caring and above and beyond effort by the members of my Hospice Team, I am very uplifted. It is what Reiki is all about.

Reiki Transitions and Cryonics

2010-02-07T08:31:00.000-08:00

This morning over coffee, my wife handed me the Jan 25, 2010 issue of the New Yorker, and most specifically the article on "Cryonics" entitled "The Iceman" by Jill Lepore. She discusses an intriguing movement, but, I wish to limit my comments to a small portion, the chart of choices sent to her by an MIT Professor. It reflected on a scientific view, and I wanted to comment that there was another possibility.

The chart states simply:
Cryonics
Sign Up It works ---> Live; It doesn't work ---> Die, lose life insurance

And the alternate:

God Exists Pray Hard-----> Live; Doesn't Exist ----> Die
DoNothing/God Esists ---> Die ; Doesn't Exist-----> Die

How like a scientific perspective to ignore the spiritual aspect of Life!!

Let us consider another possibility - one Dies and one's Consciousness (or Spirit or Soul) Transitions - soars free from the mortal body, and perhaps has a rebirth. Not scientifically proveable you say? Yet, fascinatingly - almost all indigenous human cultures, as well as Buddhism, Christianity, Islam and Judaism tned to believe as a continuation of consciousness after death.

On of the dangers of Cryonics not considered in the above graph, is the possibility (not to judge the science discussed in the specific article) that in fact it might "work," and prevent the "Transition" of a Consciousness in a frozen body for an indefinite period of time.

This is one of the major problems in "traditional" hospice that focuses on the "suffering" of the patient as they approach death. Pain can be relieved with medication, but the fear of death is another matter - staff can be separated from the patient by the clinical distinction "they" are dying, and "we" are continuing in this life. The patient then is left suffering essentially alone, even with people all around, and in a state of anxiety over the impending future.

Hospice that includes Reiki does not view "death" as a finality, and thus it is not to be feared. The patient is headed toward a journey, and while we are not taking on that journey now, we share that someday we will do so, we are tied in what the Dalai Lama refers to as the "interdependent nature of reality." A recognition of our connection with all Living Beings, a realization that life is more than the current physical reality, leads one to the effort of spreading ripples of compassion.

Hiroshi Doi Sensei writes that "Reiki does not oppose modern medical science nor does it replace it." Both Medical Science and Reiki are part of achieving a balance of health that includes mind and body.

It is this powerful ripple to integrate care in a holistic way, that we are seeing surging within Healthcare.

And so - without placing a judgement on the benefit to risk of cryonics, I ask simply that we consider all the options - that "trapping" a spirit for milennia within a frozen form may not be a benefit. And that death may not be the end of conciousness - the summation of all human spiritual wisdom may not be correct, but as well, it may not be wrong.

We see this futility broadly in the scientific approach near death. We continue to see some less enlightened oncologists continuing chemotherapy when it is not working. Now - when chemo works, it is a great and wonderful thing, and it should be tried for cancer patients. However, when it is not working, the nature of chemo is that it is a poison, which attacts both the cancer and the normal human cells, so that, if the cancer cells are resistant to it, it can only weaken the normal human cells in their natural battle to fight off the cancer.

Acknowledging people's own spiritual strength, and acknowledging the human connections that bind us, diminish suffering. We need sometimes to accept that there exists a greater force who makes the decisions about life and death, and that we can ease transition by not making it something to be feared.

The Dalai Lama wrote, "Just as the disease needs to be diagnosed, its cause eliminated, a healthy state achieved and the remedy implanted, so also should suffering, its causes, its cessation an the path be known, removed, attained and undertaken."

While we use medicine to prevent death whenever possible, to cure disease whenever possible, to relieve pain whenever possible, the synergy of renouncing fear and attaining connection with life around us is very powerful. To have hope for continued existence, i will not need to have my body frozen, or risk my Ki being held in stasis for millenia.

Reiki Share February notes

2010-02-05T18:29:00.000-08:00

The snow before the snow disrupted our monthly share Tuesday, and expecting 15 people but with cancellations 10 souls braved the weather and shared Reiki on our in patient unit.

Doing self Reiki every day is a good thing, as Mrs Takata is quoted "a little Reiki is better than none." A share though is a wonderful experience, and as we grow and people drift in from different traditions, the spirit in the share grows. We are also lifted by the spirit on our in patient hospice unit. One thing I have learned - it is easier to work in hospice and their is less burn out when the Team members share and support each other.

A Nurse who recently joined our Team emailed me that she was enjoying working for Seasons because "we embodied compassionate care," and she reflected that "patients trust us because we are honest with them." The Reiki that we share helps us meet our mission, to be honest with our patients, and to demonstrate caring to them. We do not separate ourselves from our patients by wearing a "white coat," and being aware of their "suffering." We give them our full presence, and we convey that we care about those we cannot cure. These traits are central to hospice and embedded in the spirit of Reiki.

Everyone decided to practice Reiki, and after some practice within the Team, Jean and Louise and Christine, Kathy and Deborah (new to our share) went to see two patients who had requested Reiki. Louise hadn't felt well and had emailed that she was not going to attend, but volunteer Dottie went and got her, and we all sent energy to Louise. Louise remains an inspiration for us all, for the energy she gives to our patients even when she does not feel well herself.

Karen and Dottie and I worked on sharing attunements, and Barbara Hanley worked with orienting Michele into Reiki. Having Barbara's years of experience in both clinical nursing and Reiki are an incredible boon to our class and our Team.

Some folks who could not attend emailed me - and my message was "do not worry" - "you are always welcome."

And to our volunteers - those who attend Reiki and those who do not - Thank you Thank you Thank you!!!!! What you give to our patients is incredibly valued.

Loneliness and loss of hope are the ingredients of suffering. Sometimes, one needs to take off the "white coat" and just say you care to make a difference.

One of my teachers, Amy Rowland, has a regular share in Pennsylvania. Deborah had read Amy's books, and studied with David Gleekel prior to attending our share, and Louise is lobbying for us to travel to Amy's share some time when the weather improves. (probably not for the next month or so - the snows have come to the Mid-Atlantic region!)

Purple Reiki

2010-01-30T05:31:00.000-08:00

When we first do Reiki, we may not distinguish between separate bands of energy. After all - one of our difficulties in talking about Reiki is that we tend to use language developed to describe the "conventional" senses, and Reiki light is perceived - but not exactly "seen" or heard."

We definitely do "feel" Reiki - and one constant seems to be our hands getting pretty warm sometimes (and even when doing distant or "no touch" Reiki). And many of us do use "visual" words for "seeing" Auras - though - I often believe our perception is not "exactly" visual spectrum light.

Some of us separate bands of Reiki. My teacher, Rick Rivard, who was one of the organizers of URRI (Usui Reiki Ryoho International) - those who want to find Rick simply Google Threshold Reiki and you will be treated to an incredible source of information) - describes different bands of Reiki, which he received from different teachers - or which represent different lineages.

In any case - prior to this fall - I had "perceived" many types of Reiki light, but rarely the color Purple! Purple entered my life when Dr Gary Applebaum, one of the most respected geriatricians in the country, became Executive director of my Hospice, Seasons Hospice of Maryland.

It is a long story, but, elements of Dr A's life had drawn him to identify with the color purple. Season's national colors were Purple, and (in addition to buying me a Purple tie), he determined to bring a "Purple Wave" into Seasons.

We already had a Reiki share, and a Reiki policy, and had been doing Reiki for many patients who wished to receive it - but this was different. Health care in America is going through hard times - for all the mythic talk about our being "the best health care system in the world," it is broken, WHO statistics are not so promising, and doctors, nurses, social workers, home health aids, chaplains, music therapists are all under a great deal of pressure in our system. And the recession has been hard on everyone. And Hospice, though sometimes very rewarding, can cause "burn out." We try to focus on helping patients live the later days of their lives, and not just on dying - but - the suffering we see can drain us - Hospice workers go through burn out.

But in my Hospice over the past few months something really wonderful has been happening. Dr A (he promises to some day attend our Reiki share, but I know he has Master level skills already) - keeps talking about the Purple Light and the Purple Waves and the Ripples that we can send out into the world. How - if we impact one person, it impacts families and their friends and spreads out into the community. We do not know how far these ripples can spread.

More and more Team members have been caught up in this spirit. People are thinking less about how they feel right at that moment, and how they can fit in helping one (or two) more people before the end of their day - and how they can sign off and communicate what needs to be known and followed up. Family members who are themselves suffering, are thanking Team members for what they are doing.

I met an RN last evening who had heard about our Team, and when we had no openings, joined at a lower level to work with us, until an RN job opened up. She said the Spirit of the Team made it worth it. People have been enjoying coming to work. And in pulling together, there seems to be less burn out - no one is quite as focused on the problems in their own daily lives. Another Nurse told me she felt a great sense of "support" working on own unit.

More people have been asking me about our Reiki Share and signing up to attend. And more and more I am seeing a bit of Purple attached to the Aura of many of our Team members :))

I do not know what lineage this specific Reiki energy comes from, but right now, today, I feel glad to be bathed in Purple. I don't claim it to be a higher vibrational level, and I think it can be shared with anyone who comes in contact with it - it seems pretty simple - but I do believe it is consistent with the basic Principles of Mikao Usui:

I will not worry just for Today
I will not be angry just for Today
I will be grateful just for Today
I will do a good day's work Today
I will spread kindness Today

Thanks to my friend Dr A for sending a Purple Reiki light through the Seasons Team in Maryland. Wherever you are - if you feel the Ripples - let me know. Reiki is a gift to heal, and this band of Reiki seems to help.

Reiki is Complementary

2010-01-24T11:02:00.000-08:00

It is interesting as Reiki becomes much more widely accepted, to reflect on its nature of being complementary.

Most mainstream Reiki teachers have stressed that Reiki does not replace conventional, or scientific and evidenced based medicine, it compliments it! In fact - increasingly - evidence has been mounting that Reiki is supported by scientific evidence.

My friend Lorinda Weatherall has an incredible website about Reiki
www.a-w.etherapies.ca/

Where it says Reiki hit and then select on the right side
An incredible resource.

And much appreciation is owed to William Lee Rand, founder and editor of Reiki news, who has started a web site Center for Reiki Research
http://www.center-forreikiresearch.org/

And Pamela Miles was recently on the Dr Oz show and did a Reiki demonstration!
http://reikiinmedicine.org/reiki-videos/

For those interested in my Guest Editorial in the Elsevier publication, "Caring for the Ages:"
www.caringfortheages.com/article/S1526-4114(09)60284-5/fulltext

Reiki is being used far more widely in mainstream institutions that anyone yet realizes. Reiki causes no harm, it costs very little, and it often is very helpful.

But simply stated, it does not replace traditional medicine, it complements and it augments.

There is nothing holistic about ignoring pharmaceutical and surgical treatments that are effective, and it is no longer reasonably evidence based to ignore the "whole person" we are trying to help.

The wave of increasing scientific knowledge, and the wave of treating people holistically, seem to be coming together with many bridges. We should certainly be grateful!

Reiki and Assisted Suicide

2010-01-18T17:37:00.000-08:00

I have been asked many times as a Hospice Doctor what my view was of assisted suicide. And before I discuss this from a Reiki perspective, I want to share a couple of stories.

Once a man with terminal cancer told me he wanted to end his own life, because he never wanted to suffer, and he never wanted to end up on a respirator. I shared with him that I had a problem within my own moral code assisting in suicide, and that I could offer him a deal: a) First, I would assure that he would never have pain that was not treated - we would make sure he was comfortable and b) Second, that when the end came, his wishes would be respected and he would be allowed a natural death without aggressive care. He accepted that compromise, and chose to live one day at a time for four more months. He shared time with loved ones, experienced precious moments, stayed positive, we relieved his pain, and in the end, he died at home, without any machines.

In fact I have relived this discussion countless times, and never had anyone fail to accept the offer.

But life can be complicated. The stories about Mrs Takata teaching Reiki do not speak a lot of intuition, or distant communication, but in Helen Haberly's biography, she relates "in early 1940 she had a vivid dream in which she saw Dr Hayashi in a formal kimono of white silk. He walked back and forth three times, and she could hear the squish of the silk upon the tatsumi mats. It seemed to be real, not a dream."

Soon, she was summoned to Japan, and she was with her teacher, Hayashi and his family when he made transition. "As a devout Buddhist and the Reiki Grand Master, he could not destroy life. He spoke of having lived a life of peace and understanding , of working to help people: so rather than kill others, he had chosen to make a peaceful transition at this time, although he was only sixty-two and in perfect health."

Of the picture, my wife and I were im Nice visiting Art Museums. I knew that Matisse was buried in an old cemetary there, but finding his grave turned out to be more complex than finding his art! There was a man in the cemetary who seemed to be having some difficulty, he was French speaking only, I asked how he was, and in his own language he started explaining how he had a recent stroke, he felt he was getting better. He asked what he could do for me. We told him we were seeking to find Matisse grave, and limp and all he led us there.

In an imperfect world, we can share respect, language, art, and Reiki energy. Since I have never been in Dr Hayashi's position, I cannot judge, but as far as possible, it seems to me better to spread kindness and light and help people live, than to help them die. In this sense, Reiki and Hospice, for me, are about spreading light and helping people live, and leaving the decision on transition to a higher power.

Notes from a Reiki Class

2010-01-09T13:48:00.000-08:00

This past Tuesday we gathered for our monthly Reiki Share, Betty and Antonette were early and the three of us started with Breathing, and Dry Brushing, and reaching for Reiki, and Gassho. They had both learned Level 1 previously, but there is a benefit to repetition, and to method, and to daily self Reiki, and so we went through the basic hand positions first working each on ourselves.

At this point, the stress of the day was leaving. Betty and Antonette were taking turns practising on each other, and everyone was noticing that hands had gotten pretty warm! Karen arrived and I had them work on 4 hand techniques, as our share has grown we have increasingly had the luxury of working with 4 hand tehcniques.

While Mrs Takata taught her 22 students predominantly the 2 hand one person method. the year she lived with the Hayashi family and learned from Chujiro Hayashi, his clinic focused on 2 practitioners working on each patient, so certainly, she was aware of that technique.

It is interesting, that I received an email from a respected friend telling me that "Takata did not teach intuitive readings." It is an interesting question, for my own opinion, and from the biographies of Mrs Takata by Helen Haberly and Fran Brown, she must have been one of the most intuitive people of the past century. Prior to learning Reiki, she had a vision that caused her to go to learn with Hayashi. She lived with the Hayashi family for a year, and then, Hayashi and a daughter of his came to live in Hawaii with Mrs Takata for 6 months. She then had another vision leading her back to Japan, to be in the Hayashi household at the time of her teachers death. One of my teachers, Sensei and author Amy Rowland, has written a superb book, "Intuitive Reiki for our times." Amy's teacher, the beloved Rev. Beth Gray, was one of the original Takata students, and Bill Lee Rand of Reiki news wrote an incredible tribute to Rev Gray, and what she meant to Reiki.

Mrs. Takata taught method because method is what one is able to teach. But her Master students, such as Iris Ishikiro (and her student and partner Arthur Rubenstein) added Intuitive practices into much of Reiki teachings.

Barbara Hanley arrived, Barbara originally taught by Takata student Ethel Lombardi, founder of Mariel and cross trained by my first teacher Robin Hannon (in the Iris Ishikiro tradition). So many of us have trained more than once "from scratch," and one of the great joys of Reiki, is the sharing - there is more than one path to the pond in the mountain. Barbara's years of working in both traditional nursing and holistic nursing are of such value to us.

Dottie who has recently been co teaching my share with me, and is near completion of Shinpiden level training (Gendai) addition to Usui Reiki Master level, and Brenda and Jean - all masters who have been sharing together for more than a year now. (without Jean and my teacher Robin, it is doubtful we would have been able to succeed in our share). Brenda has a vision and a mission to reach out to people beyond our current share.

Christine came, and we were able to divide into different groups for awhile, Dottie teaching Symbols, and Barbara and Brenda and I able to work on an attunement workshop.

I arrived with a sense of stress from my day, and left very refreshed from the Reiki energy that was brought into our class by all who participated.

I want to thank those members of the class who are volunteers for our hospice patients, especially Dottie and Karen, who have been giving hours of presence and Reiki and caring for our patients. And to Christine who has agreed to join our volunteer program. While it is true, that in Reiki there is a saying, "first help oneself," my life experience tells me that helping others makes the anger and worry and hurt inside oneself go away, and adds to ones own sense of self worth.

We learn this lesson from the Broadway play "Avenue Q" where the play starts with each character competing in the singing of the song, "My Life Sucks" - and - in the end, when they realize that they can help others, each of their own lives turns for the better.

In my studying of the Jewish tradition, it is reminiscent of the Hillel teaching," if I am not for me, who will be for me? But if I am only for myself, who am I? And if not now when?"

We missed our super volunteer Louise this month, but I understand Anne and Patricia visited her the next day, and Dottie the day after that.

I want to thank everyone who is participating in our Reiki class, and everyone who is working in our Hospice, for Sharing a Journey. Our Executive Director says we are spreading Purple Ripples, and I have no doubt that he is right.

note:

the image at the top of this blog was taken in Ecuador, at the Equator. Whether at the Equator, or at Stonehenge, or in Jerusalem, or Giverny - all living things are connected.

Reiki and Being Grateful

2010-01-01T17:38:00.000-08:00

In the past few days, much of my reflection has been on how genuinely fortunate I have been, and how grateful I am.

Family and friends have been a great source of support - and in my work, doing Hospice, and bringing Reiki into Hospice, I am surrounded by wonderful, compassionate and creative people.

Our Executive director has not only been supportive of me, and of our hospice program, but he has been leading a series of discussions of the impact of the ripples that flow from our actions, individual and collective.

Flying home a couple of days ago, looking down with a sense of awe at the clouds, and the ocean, I could neither generate or sustain a sense of self importance. If only each person could understand the vastness of creation, and accept being a connected part of it. And then light began pouring down from the heavens through the clouds to the earth, and I took my camera and shot this photo through the plane window.

I want to especially thank Louise Deville for her work as a hospice Reiki volunteer over the past year. Louise somehow manages to ignore her own disabilities, and to be a tireless and cheerful source of compassion for my patients, and at our Reiki share. Her humility matches her Reiki energy.

I want to thank Lorinda Weatherall for allowing me to read a book which she is working on. I am excited about the work that is being done, advancing the understanding of Reiki, and until Lorinda actually publishes this book (and I hope it is SOON!) check in on her website:

www.a-w-etherapies.ca/

And both a thank you and a recognition to Pamela Miles, who has emailed ecouragement to me. Her website //reikiinmedicine.org/for-health-care-providers

both gives worthwhile advice and asks worthwhile questions. And her article reminds us that health care providers need to care for themselves first. How often, I have seen Nurses and Doctors and Social workers exhausting themselves by pouring energy into people they were caring for, without realizing the need to restore themselves. When we allow ourselves to burn out, we are less effective in making "ripples."

Pamela is scheduled to appear with Dr Oz January 10 - and the continuing discussion about and acceptance of complimentary techniques in end of life care (and in all stages of care) is exciting. Dr Oz is an articulate and credible physician.

Seeing the light coming down from high above through the clouds to the earth, in that moment, I felt a sense of awe and greatfulness. And at the same time rededication. Acts of kindness no longer seem "just random."

Reiki and Celebration of Life

2009-12-28T13:29:00.000-08:00

In my holiday travels I came across this sign, asking that the people "Celebrate Life" - and specifically asking that they have their cancer screening exams on time.

I urge everyone to do both.

There are two biographies of Hawayo Takata which I have read, one the easier to obtain by Fran Brown, "Living Reiki." Recently I found a copy of Helen Haberly's work "Hawayo Takata's Story." Interestingly, when Takata decided not to have her surgery, she did not simply say, "No" - rather she asked the surgeon if there was an alternative choice. It was the doctor who directed her to Chujiro Hayashi.

It is interesting how we human beings tend to divide ourselves into categories. We are truly all connected, and yet, we create "others." There is a sadness to this, and it is for this reason that my last posting of this year was chosen having a Spanish sign - and a recent prior posting discussed the relationship between Monet in France, and Japanese culture.

When we find the nature of our connections, and when we enjoy rather than trying to destroy other cultures, everyone is enriched.

Helen Haberly quotes Mrs Takata as saying "some Reiki is better than none at all." And in facing the beginnings of the dividing of Reiki, she ended her book with some special wisdom:

"Remembering that Reiki can do only good, that it can only heal, and help bring balance, that it is Universal Life Energy, then it can be seen that Reiki is not divided but simply is working in different ways to bring itself to the world. Reiki can use many channels to carry this energy, and it will draw to itself all who are open to it......thus each student will be attracted to the Master from whom they are to receive the contact with this Universal Energy."

By respecting all cultures, all religions, all languages, all genders, all lineages of Reiki - we enrich ourselves, and bring the world closer to peace amongst humankind. For a Hospice worker doing Reiki, there is no other path, but to respect all who come to our care, and to listen as carefully as we can to their voice.

Reiki and the Hope for Peace

2009-12-25T14:34:00.000-08:00

Be it Salaam or Shalom or Peace in any language, there is something common in all human beings. There is a connection and a common creator.

Whether we divide the human body in organ systems, or people into groups, there is a holistic connection. The whole of humanity is more than the sum of its parts.

While Reiki may sub divide into many lineages, it allows people of all religions and nationalities to share a simple method of 5 basic principles, and the fact that when we do Reiki (even at a distance) our hands seem to heat up. Compassion will be recognized in any language.

About 6 weeks ago, a friend from England informed me that a close friend of his had been lost in Iran - that they had lost contact, and that he presumed his friend dead. I emailed him that it was my sense that his friend was still alive, that I would pray for his return, and that I thought he would be seen again.

This week I received an email that the friend had returned, and that he was moved that myself, a Jew had prayed for his well being.

At the hospital this week, a specialist who I have known for many years, stopped me - he is a devout Muslim, and he told me that he was praying for Peace. What we share is simple, we both pray for peace, and we both believe it to be possible in our time.

This past week I received an email which was quite hateful toward Muslims - it was a mass email - and I tend not to respond to mass emails. But someone did respond, and emailed to the perpetrator that he never wanted to read such a thing again, that he had many friends who were Muslims. The next day - the young man's father wrote an email to the list serv "way to go - I am proud of you son!"

And indeed - all these things lead us to a hope that random acts of kindness exist within the world. Where East meets West, where people meet in Peace, art and culture can be shared, and everyone's life can be enriched.

In this time of reflection, one can hope that everyone would do a random act of kindness every day.

I see my Hospice Team and my Hospice Volunteers doing this - they understand the nature of humankind, and that rising forward means that one helps oneself when one helps others. Thank to all who have given time, energy and compassion this past year :)

Reiki and Monet

2009-12-20T19:04:00.001-08:00

This photo was taken several years ago at Giverny, the former home and garden of Claude Monet.

Monet's home is filled with Japanese prints, and the influence of Japanese culture on Monet is indisputable, as in the influence of Monet on the Japanese sense of art and culture.

There is an interesting website www.intermonet.com/japan/ that describes the master's fascination with Japanese art and prints.

In my picture here, not the clear almost mirror like reflection of the trees from the silt on the bottom of the pond. We are seeing the water lillies straight on - but of the trees, only a reflection.

Teriade published a review of European art and culture, and before the WWII issues discussed the importance of the cultural meeting of East and West.

And it is so fascinating that as in music and literature (one might only today follow either the craze of Japanimation sweeping the US, which itself came from the Manga movement that had powerful influences from US comic books; or one might read novels by Haruki Murikami and compare Japanese existentialism with that of Camus or Sartre) Reiki is important amongst other things in its merger of East and West.

Bill Lee Rand wrote in his most recent editorial that "the ability to transcend barriers between people is one reason Reiki has become so popular." And so the search for Reiki's roots can be found before Mikao Usui, in early Sanskrit, Judao-Christian culture, and Kabbalistic and Sufi thought. Usui came at a time when light was pouring into European Art and Literature, and when the world was beginning to connect at a more rapid pace. In a series of inspirations, Usui, and Hayashi, and Takata each brought simplicity and structure to Reiki, so that it could be learned by anyone, and so that barriers could be brought down. The basic principles set forth are such that they do not conflict with one heritage or another, they are neither the first word nor the last but a very real and simple path.

As 2009 turns to 2010, it seems that people are being brought together, and that random acts of kindness are occurring at a faster rate in the world. One can see it as a scary place, or a place or hope and faith.

A common human spirit binds people from many different parts of the world. As Monet was drawn for inspiration from Japan, so Reiki came from Japan to the US, to the world, to Japan and back around again. Exactly where it started may be less important than the energy that is shared. That which is shared enriches us all.

Reiki and Perception and Technique

2009-12-16T05:26:00.000-08:00

There is a correlation between Reiki and Music in many ways, both in terms of the importance of perception and the role of teaching technique. In both cases much can be made of the differences in technique (so much so that we could view Reiki as tremendously divided - but - simply imagine violinists discussing how to phrase a passage).

What is in common is that to do Reiki, just as to play music, all begins with the perception of what is vibrational energy. Sound energy is in fact a form of vibrational energy, simply, it has been more studied and can be scientifically measured. Some people can hear sounds more clearly than others, and can differentiate "perfect pitch" - that is hear an exact vibration as compared to a band around a vibration. While Reiki is a much higher vibrational band, and while it is not "visual light" (though often so described for lack of adequate language), it is a form of high energy that cannot yet be measured scientifically. We see the effect and presume the cause, or, some of us actually perceive the cause. The more precisely one can "perceive" the vibrational energy - the more accurately one can impact it.

And so as with Music, nothing can replace hours of teaching and practice, likewise, with Reiki, nothing can replace teaching and practice. At the same time, teaching and practice are necessary but not "sufficient." There needs to be a talent to perceive the energy.

And so to the mantra "anyone can learn Reiki" - this is true to a point - just as anyone can if taught precise technique, learn to play a simply song, but to attain a mastery, one needs a level of talent.

For som students, it will not be a question of "going beyond their master," but more simply a question of finding what is the path for themselves that the Music (or Reiki) draws them toward. We hear a sound or "see" a light, and are drawn toward it in a way.

And so I have asked this question of musicians and of Reiki masters - can you tell a lineage by watching how one plays (or attunes) or by closing one's eyes and "perceiving" what is being done with sound (or energy)?

At the end of the day, each student with adequate talent will be drawn to "play" in that way which best reflects themselves.

And so with Reiki what can we say constitutes "authentic" Reiki? (what constitutes authentic Music?) - it is that which moves our spirits in a positive way.

We find that Reiki Masters Hands heat up during doing Reiki (strangely - whether we are doing touch or distant); Reiki has at its core 5 basic principles that reflect a method of approaching living; in Reiki we perceive and work with a form of vibrational energy that is real though it cannot yet be measured scientifically.

In this regard, respect for lineage is important, but end of day, the Reiki is about the energy and not the lineage. No human being is a "copy."

With a realization that all living things are connected, and a joy in respecting the differences that the creator chose to make, we can be enriched by Sharing and Respecting differences.

Both Music and Reiki, forms of energy, can touch the human spirit.

Reiki and Reconciliation

2009-12-10T16:42:00.000-08:00

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.

Reiki and Agnihotra

2009-12-07T19:15:00.000-08:00

Reiki began in Japan, and the Japanese forms of Reiki have an elegance and simplicity in their approach to energy. But "lifeforce" is universal, and cultural sharing is enriching.

Rather than fretting over the purity of lineage, we benefit from appreciating the synergies of cultural sharing.

Recently I visited Karme www.karmewellness.com

and experienced a joy at being exposed to the sense of sanctity and peace, calm and love of life, that exists there. It is nourished by Ann and Tom Couto and Patricia Norton, and a group that has practiced both Agnihotra and Reiki for over 25 years. Pictured here is one of the two houses, and a view of the koi and lotus pond. Imagine it as a quiet and tranquil place to experience Reiki or Yoga.

It is interesting to compare the elegant and simple principles of Reiki to those taught by Shree Vasant in the practice of Agnihotra.

Reiki Agnihotra

Do not worry today Perform symbolic Agnihotra to purify the atmosphere and one's own

mind.

Do not be angry Practice sharing of assets (DAAN) to attain humility and

reduce attachment to worldly possession.

Be grateful today Practice training the body and mind to react to circumstances

with Total Love (TAPA)

Work hard today Perform KARMA (every action for self purification only and thus no

expectations which bind us to the world.

Give kindness to others Practice SWADHYAYA - my work on the planet is self-study

today

Mikao Usui from Japan taught us that his 5 fold path is "The Secret Method to Invite Happiness. The Miracle Medicine for All Diseases." And Shree Vasant's teaching from India reflects "for happy living on the planet. By practicing the Fivefold Path you become better members of your society, group, relgion, community.

This wisdom is not limited to Japan or to India. Mrs. Takata said that Mikao Usui was seeking a Healing Method from the time of Moses and Jesus, and, whether Mikao Usui was a Christian Monk as Mrs. Takata taught, or a Buddhist Monk as history now suggests, her deeper reflection on his roots may in fact be true. This deep wisdom underlies all religions and cultures that seek to revere the planet we live on, and consider ourselves connected to our fellow human beings on the planet which we share.

Whether in Sufi wisdom, or Kabbalistic wisdom, or the Cloud of Unknowning, whether in indigenous cultures, or Reiki Teaching, there is something basic that connects living things. And in respecting contributions of others, (persons or cultures) we enrich ourselves.

In Hospice we learn that human beings are all the same (and yet all unique). Life has a great mystery to it, and being at peace with it has great joy.

For those wanting to learn more about my friends at Karme, there is an article at

www.agnihotra.org/sat708.pdf

These are good people who have spent many years praying for the wellbeing of others, and of our shared planet.

Reiki and the Purple Stones

2009-12-06T16:31:00.000-08:00

It was last February that I sat down to meet with Dr. Gary Applebaum, and decided to bring him on board at Season's Hospice doing home visits. Dr A had been the CMO of a large Healthcare enterprise, and had retired 4 years earlier, we had crossed each other's paths but had never worked together. What I did know was that before he had retired, he was considered one of the top Geriatricians in the country, and that his reputation was of one hard working decent person. His resume exceeded mine, and led me to remark at the time, "if you come to work with me you'll end up my boss." Sort of prophetic.

Dr A is now the Executive Director of my Hospice, and we are still working together, but he really is "the boss." He brings with him a special spirit and a special sense of mission.

One day Dr A brought in Purple buckets of stones, and asked each Team member to take a stone, symbolic of the mission of ripples of compassion that we are committed to bringing into the world. Here is one of the buckets!!

Every day Team members reach out to help patients, family members and the community. This is a Hospice that has championed Open Access (where we use high technology to help patients have a little extra time if they choose to fight the battle), Music Therapy, and Reiki Therapy. We have been encouraged to use whatever methods we have to continue to Care, even when we cannot Cure.

It does take a special spirit to be a Hospice worker. And Reiki in Hospice is not the same as Reiki for the challenges of day to day life.

Not long ago, a Nurse co- worker loaned me a VHS copy of "My Lie." This movie starring Michael and Nicole Kidman, tells the story of a high-powered executive diagnosed with terminal cancer, who makes a movie of his life for his unborn son. In the midst of his life crisis, he finds a Reiki Master, Mr. Ho, (played by the late Dr Haing Ngor) who helps him realize that these days could be "the most important" of his life.

For anyone who wants to see the power of Reiki in end of life, portrayed in a movie, consider watching "My Life."

For those who do Reiki, and also do Hospice, this purple bucket also represents the connection, and the compassion, and the ripples, which are our mission to toss into the world. Please feel free symbolically to take a stone from the bucket, and do a random act of kindness, and watch the ripples spread.

To Dr A, and all the Team members from Seasons Hospice, thank you for helping me really understand the meaning of Reiki, and the meaning of Hospice!!

Reiki and Sacred Places

2009-12-04T16:30:00.000-08:00

There are those special experiences in life, where one encounters a place of incredible energy. In some cases, these moments can be repeated, but some opportunities have passed, and that which is within memory, is special, not only for the event, but for the inability to repeat it.

My last Blog explored my work at Niagara Falls, in 1969, the year that the American Falls were stopped by a human dam. I do not ever again expect to have that opportunity.

This photo is another experience, that may never be repeated in the exact same way. In 1970, Joan and I traveled to England and drove to Stonehenge. It was at the time, nearly uninhabited, desolate, and lonely. We walked alone amongst the timeless rocks, and experienced a sense of energy. In truth, it has only been in later years that I have realized how special this occasion was, and how fortunate we were.

The person I am, and my sense of Reiki energy, is influenced by the places I have had the opportunity to visit. Many of these places, could constitute places of high energy, or places, considered sacred by some.

It is with this in mind that I wanted to reflect a realization, that no matter how powerful the energy in a place, and no matter how sacred a place, that the souls that have touched my life have been more powerful and more important.

When we experience elements of lifeforce in places, and in rocks, whether we refer to this energy as Ki or Qi or Chi or Prana or Ruach (or in countless other languages), the sacredness of the energy within a soul is more powerful and more sacred.

And so this is sort of a Blog of thanks, to those people who have Shared a Journey with me, and have Shared elements of their own story. People's stories are fascinating and precious and powerful!

In caring for people in Hospice, and in doing Reiki, we are fortunate to have people Share freely with us. It is a precious opportunity.

And so for so many reasons, in this Blog - I recognize the reasons to be Grateful, even if just for today.

Reiki Earth and Water

2009-12-03T18:08:00.000-08:00

In 1969, I worked for the US Army Corps of Engineers for the summer. I was hired to be a surveyor's assistant, and ended up touring reporters and photographers on the "dry bed" of the American Falls.

To study the "talus formation," or fallen rock at the bottom of the Falls, a dam was built blocking the American Falls for the summer, and we could walk across the Niagara River bed, and across the base of the falls. It was in retrospect a spectacular opportunity.

There is an area called Goat Island on the American side, and one can walk from Goat Island across "Three Sister Islands" and one is standing at the base of rapids leading toward the Canadian or Horseshoe Falls. This summer, with the American side blocked off, the Horshshoe rapids and Falls were spectacular.

One of my Reiki Teachers, Rick Rivard, recently posted that he visited Niagara Falls for the first time in 1969, and this photo of me was taken that year. Another small irony in the connection between Rick and myself.

He wrote, and there is a wisdom to this, that the energy between Earth and Water is especially powerful, and that one feels this at certain points on Earth more than others, and that Niagara Falls is such a point.

I would sit by the rapids, at the edge of Three Sister Islands actually very close to the powerful cascading water, and think about how much the river itself stayed the same, and how much the water itself was ever changing. Through a great cycle of life, through Earth and Water and the energy that bind them, all living things are connected. Atoms that are breathed by one person, make there wasy into the water cycle and are breathed by other persons, we all live on one Earth and we are all connected.

I think sometimes, that feeling the powerful connections between Earth and Water, is part of what drew me to to Intuition, and to Reiki, and in some regards to Healing. Living with a sense of connection is so much richer than living in a state of loneliness and isolation.

In Sharing with family, friends, and other Reiki masters, one is drawn to reflect on and better know oneself, to remember days 40 some odd years ago, when the energy of Earth and Water helped form the person I am today. Life is a Journey, and it is better for the Sharing.

Reiki and Sharing the Journey

2009-11-29T19:27:00.000-08:00

One of the joys of Reiki is being connected

to people who wish to give compassion to others. Recently I have had the opportunity to work on an email project with two Reiki Masters, Lorinda Weatherall www.a-w-etherapies.ca/

and Gabrielle Gietzen
www.jikiden-reiki.ca/ind.html

These Reiki Masters have dedicated a huge portion of their lives to studying Reiki energy, using it to help others, and teaching Reiki.

It has been an honor to work with them, and I recommend both of their web sites.

Lorinda is a student of Rick Rivard, and studied with Inamoto Hyakuten. Gabrielle studied first with Frank Arjava Petter, whose books, "Reiki the Legacy of Dr. Usui" and "The Hayashi Reiki Manual" are major works about Reiki. They have both also studied in the tradition of Tadao Yamaguchi. Yamaguchi Sensei and Inamoto Sensei were both students of Mrs. Yamaguchi, who was a student of Chujiro Hayashi prior to Mrs. Takata.

Without Mrs. Takata, Reiki would doubtless not be known to the world outside Japan, and she made changes that must be considered "inspired." Yet, for many, seeking earlier roots of Reiki is important.

It may sound strange to refer to Mrs. Takata as an American form of Reiki, since she was Japanese, yet, she lived her life as American and indeed began a conformation of Reiki to Western culture. The Japanese forms of Reiki taught by Hiroshi Doi Sensei, Tadao Yamaguchi, and Inamoto Hyakuten, have a special value, and retain much of the spiritual source of Reiki energy.

I appreciate these Master's sharing Reiki with me.

And as to the picture - it reflects a visit my wife and I made to Quebec a year ago. There on the battlefield upon which the British defeated the French for control of North America, French Canadian children were training for a reenactment. Hearing the students who were pretending to be "British" shouting commands in French, brought us to a moment of reflection.

For the British and French were at War, and now, friends and allies, and likewise, the United States and Japan fought a terrible War, and now are friends and allies. And so one might ask, who today, are "enemies" who might someday be friends and allies?

Reiki believes that all living things are connected through a common creator. It is not a "religion," but, it does lead to a path of life, where compassion is encouraged. Hating another reflects on oneself, and being compassionate, changes the essence of who we are.

I pray today for the end of war, and for compassion to all people. May he who brings peace to the heavens bring peace to all the Earth. In the meantime, those of us who work in Hospice, give Caring to each person we can, one day at a time.

Reiki and Influenza

2009-11-04T04:00:00.000-08:00

I am being asked a lot of questions about influenza these days. And it has been especially moving in light of 2 events this week, one, that we had a patient admitted to our hospice unit, a young woman under 30 who was dying of H1N1, and the second, that our Reiki share had a request from an RM at Shock Trauma, to send Reiki energy to a another young women under 30 at risk of death from H1N1.

Normally, there are about 25,000 influenza deaths each year in the United States, but the highest proportion of these, in fact almost all of these, have been over 70 years old, and most of those in fact over 80 years old. And while every transition is a sadness, deaths of young people strike us more emotively, and are sensed by almost all of us as more tragic.

So that while the worldwide death rate from the H1N1 pandemic is not large, and there may or may not be more deaths from influenza in the United States, what we are seeing is a tragic loss of life, especially in younger women.

How should Reiki view such as situation? Certainly Holistic Practitioners have concerns about the "flu vaccine," and especially about the fact that the flu vaccine still contains thimersol.

First of all, i want to remind everyone of the quote "Reiki cannot replace modern medicine. Reiki should be used in addition to modern medicine as a supplemental treatment. Modern medicine takes care of physical condition. Reiki activates vital energy, natural healing power and immunity power."

Who said such a thing? Well i am quoting from the Gendai Reiki-ho Essence packed version from Rick Rivard's Reiki web site, and the statement is attributed to Sensei Hiroshi Doi.

So it is clear that it is "good Reiki" to respect modern medicine, and to include Reiki as a "supplement." And modern medicine answers questions based on science, and Reiki goes where science cannot tread.

The best current information from modern medicine on H1N1 is at the CDC web site

www.cdc.gov/flu/

It is important to understand that the CDC are good people, who are seeking to understand what is happening as best they can. Their intentions are good, and they are talented people. They are not right all the time, no one is.

A lot of questions are being asked specifically about thimersol. A detailed description of the issue occurs at www.fda.gov/BiologicsBloodVaccines/SafetyAvailability/VaccineSafety/UCM096228

In brief thimersol contains a mercury substance that could be toxic, it was added to vaccines to combat widespread contamination in vaccines in 1928. It has been eliminated from vaccines of children under 6, but still exists in adult vaccines, including influenza, and there has been no evidence that it has caused harm - i wish it were not present in vaccines - but the problem of combatting contamination is real.

There may be no easy answer here. We do not want to utilize vaccines that can cause harm, but absent vaccines, the death rate from many illnesses was very high.

Measles was a horrid childhood illness that has mostly been wiped off the earth, as has polio. Yet, there are concerns that measles vaccine may cause autism. We have the greatest sympathy for parents battling autism. This is extremely difficult for parents and for all of us. But in fact a study in England not only did not find a link to autism from the vaccines, but did not find a higher incidence of autism after widespread measles vaccines were used, as compared to prior to the vaccine being developed and implemented.

For Reiki and other complementary or alternative methods to be widely respected as they should be, Reiki practitioners must respect traditional practitioners, who though not perfect, and sometimes practicing in the dark with the best tools they have at hand, are struggling as a part of the same effort, to give compassion, and to help other people.

I cannot tell people what to do about the influenza vaccine - the choices this year are difficult. My own tendency is to follow the CDC on scientific matters, and to use Reiki as a supplement. In so doing, I believe I am being true to both my training as a physician, and the principles set forth by Hiroshi Doi Sensei for Reiki in our time.

While using the best scientific knowledge that we have, and attempting to stop a pandemic from taking young people from our midst, let us not ignore the knowledge and light of science. At the same time, let us join in sending Reiki energy to those victims of illness that science has not helped, and follow the principle "Reiki cannot replace modern medicine. Reiki should be used in addition to modern medicine treatment as a supplemental treatment."

We all join in the hope for healing in the world.

Invitation to Reiki Share - November

2009-11-01T04:47:00.000-08:00

The Seasons Reiki Share will be Tuesday Nov 3rd from 5:30- 8 pm at our NWHC in patient unit.

All Seasons Team members, employees and volunteers are invited - there is no charge for the share

Email me any questions

Dr Bob

Reiki Spirit in Jerusalem

2009-11-01T04:00:00.000-08:00

Last week at this time I was in Jerusalem, or as it would be pronounced in Hebrew "Yer-u-sha-layim." The Hebrew comes from the words for city, pronounced as we would say "ear" and the word for peace, "shalem." City of Peace.

In the pictures above, I am standing in the area before what is called the "Kotel," which means in Hebrew "wall."

In the other picture, taken from higher up - one can see the golden dome of the Mosque built on the spot from which Muslims believe Mohammed ascended to heaven. Not seen, but close by behind me is the Church of the Holy Sepulcre, built on the site of Golgotha, where history holds that Jesus was crucified by the Romans. Such a small geographic area, and so much history.

What does Reiki have to do with such a place? Well - first of all - it is hard to describe to others that which must be experienced to be understood. For some reason that I do not understand, the spiritual forces that one feels within this city, and even more so neat the Holy sites, is very intense.

There is a Kabbalistic tradition that Lord God created mankind as the height of creation, and that man was created in God's image - not the "physical" aspect of man, but man's "spirit." God wanted man to have "free choice" - and this duality is complex, because mankind is at the same time connected to God, and "individual." Humans are at the same time connected to each other, and alone. To facilitate choice that is "free," the tendency" or "gravity" if you will to "evil" must be equal to the tendency to "good." Now - while this question can be made very complex - at some levels it is really very simple - a) in any given place or time, the more the attraction to "good," the more the attraction to "evil" must also be present - (else a person would not really have free will - they would simply be drawn to "good" and have no "choice.") - and so - in a place where God has placed the strongest spiritual forces for Peace and Goodness, compassion, kindness and humanity, there must logically also exist the strongest forces for cruelty, arrogance, and selfishness.

In my prior visits to Jerusalem, before studying Reiki, i felt pummeled by intense emotional forces, but I was unable to separate the waves and currents of the Spiritual energy. And in this visit, it was all very clear. I could sense (how limited the word "see" seems) intense forms of light, and understood the compelling calls to God, and to the rejection of God, to caring for others and the wish to harm others, to humility and to arrogance, to serve and to enslave - and what is really important in Jerusalem, is to understand what one is feeling, and to allow the energy currents that are like "siren calls" to evil pass through one and not touch one, and to accept the energy of kindness and compassion and humility within oneself.

There are stories in the Talmud about Manasseh, son of Hezekiah. I will not detail his evil here, it is all in the Books of Kings and Chronicles, but he was a student o Isaiah, and one of the most learned and most evil Kings. In the Sanhedrin Talmud tractate Yerushalmi 10:9, God accepted repentance even from Manasseh, because no one understood the evil inclination that Manasseh was faced with. It would be well for those who are judgemental in the name of God, in this day, to understand the story God taught the angels as regards Manasseh, and the nature of the inclinations God places in the world to create free will, and that for that reason, only God can be the righteous Judge, and man cannot judge in God's name since no human being knows the degree of difficulty in the life of any other human being.

So - here we have the Temple Mount - there is so much construction, walls and buildings made by the Saracen Turks, after recapturing the city from the Crusaders, that one sometimes forgets the geography that the Temple Mount sits above all that surrounds it - a platform on a mountain top, looking down on valleys below. From the platform itself this perspective is lost.

While the early portions of Genesis are somewhat obscure, the dating that occurs from the time of Joshua's conquest of the land is very linear within the Bible. Today is 5770 in the Hebrew calendar, and, Joshua's death is considered to be 2503 or, 3267 years ago. King Solomon who built the First Temple reigned from 2925 to 2965 of the Jewish calendar, and the Temple built by Solomon was destroyed in 3338 (or 423 BCE - it is noteworthy that the Western Cannon has the destruction of the Fkirst Temple as 586 BCE - but - this is a question for another essay).

Solomon built the first Temple on the Temple Mount that was understood to be the place on earth where Adam was created, where Jacob struggled with the Angel, and where Abraham took Isaac to be sacrificed.

When the Second Temple was built - it was reconstructed by Ezra and Nehemia on the same site. History has it that the Second Temple was all but destroyed in Civil War, but rebuilt again by Herod, and that when the Romans burned the Temple to the ground, all that remained was the "Western Wall" built by Herod. I once asked a Rebbe, a famous teacher, why the Kotel or Western Wall was considered a Holy Place, since, it was not at the site of the Holy of Holies, where the Mosque now sits, and he answered, " it was sanctified by generations of tears."

Jesus was killed near this site, and Muslims believe that from this place, Mohammed ascended to Heaven - and so the dilemma we face today - that - this site which should bring humankind together, with humility and compassion, caring and kindness, in an awareness that we are all connected through one guiding spirit, this same site, is that place over which mankind may be headed toward War, and in the name of this site, people kill "in God's name" (whatever the language).

I ask anyone reading this essay to understand what these inclinations mean, and to allow the Spirit of Arrogance and Hatred to pass through you like the wind passing through a tree, and to accept the spirit of Peace and Humility, compassion, and kindness, and be connected that all that God created,

This is the message from Jerusalem.

Pray for Peace. Care for others. Do not worry - have faith that God will find a way to guide us. Do not be angry, no one really understands the difficulties other's face. Be greatful. Work hard and give kindness - all just for today.

"He who makes Peace in His heights, may he make peace upon us and upon all Humankind"

Rick Rivard and Reiki

2009-11-01T03:46:00.000-08:00

Rick Rivard is one of the important leadeers in Reiki in our time. His personal story is available at

http://threshold.ca/reiki/my_story.html

Rick not only relates his own personal path in Reiki, he states at the end some goals, and principles, which, are worth meditating on, and ends with Quoting a Moody Blues song.

Rick was one of the principle organizers of URRI (Usui Reiki Ryoho International) which occurred 1999-2003 and brought together Reiki masters of different lineages from all over the world in important sharing sessions.

For those who simply want to use Reiki, and do not care about its historic roots, or understanding the reasons for the different lineages, or theories about how Reiki works - you should know that Rick's site is the epicenter of information on these concepts.

One of the wonderful things about Reiki - is that it is simple - it connects us to the life force within ourselves, and that swirls around us - anyone can learn Reiki -

But - as with so much in life - what we receive from an endeavor has a lot to do with what we put into it - so Reiki may not be "over the mountains or across the seas" - and may be easy to find within ourselves, but to the degree that we practice the basic principles, and commit ourselves to

Not worrying just for today
not being angry just for today
being greatful today
working hard today
and doing an act of kindness today

We get more out of it - and it begins to transform us. Rick offers people tools not simply on how to heal others, but on how to bring Reiki into their own lives.

He calls it "Sharing from the heart" - and - when we share from the heart - we become better healers, and happier people.

About my "Caring for the Ages" article

2009-10-20T19:15:00.000-07:00

An article which I wrote was published this week in "Caring for the Ages," the official newsprint publication of the American Medical Directors Association. http://www.amda.com/

The article itself can be found full text at:
http://www.caringfortheages.com/article/S1526-4114(09)60284-5/fulltext

To download a pdf file of the article go to this site and locate the link to the pdf file (near the end of the listings for the issue).

http://www.caringfortheages.com/current

The intention of this article was simply to make a personal statement about Reiki, and introduce Reiki to the readers, predominatly physicians and staff at Skillled Nursing facilities and other long term care venues. It is my hope that in some small way, this article will increase the dialogue and understanding about Reiki, and other complimentary methods of pain management in end of life.

Together with my colleagues, Chuck Crocelius MD and Sharlene Rajapakse MD, I will be presenting a workshop on Complimentary methods of pain management in end of life at the AMDA Annual Symposium, "Long Term Care Medicine." Our workshop with be March 12, 2010 in Long Beach, California.

My friend, and Reiki Master Teacher, Robin Hannon, who still offers me support, provided the following review of my article.

"Dr Bob explains in a very simple but effective manner how Reiki is applied in Hospice for those that are dying. The article is very well written, and it’s points are tangible and heartfelt. I was very touched by Dr. Bob’s article. It was a wonderful meld of science and complementary medicine from a Doctor who has practiced and experienced both in treating patients in end of life care."
Robin Littlefeather Hannon
Abiding Reiki
www.abidingreiki.com

Reiki FAQs

2009-09-29T16:25:00.000-07:00

The next Seasons Reiki Share will be Tuesday Oct 6, from 5:30-8 at our in patient unit 3rd floor NWHC.

All levels are invited (beginners included)

FAQS

What is Reiki? Reiki is a Complimentary method of Healing that works using "Simple Touch."

Does Reiki replace conventional medicine? No! Reiki is complimentary. Evidence based medicine should always be used when it can be helpful. Unfortunately, especially in Hospice, many patients are beyond benefit from evidence based medicine. Reiki is especially appropriate for Hospice, when our goal is to care even if we cannot cure.

Do you have examples of what Dr Bob has seen with Reiki? Yes - try my website at http://drharoldbob.blogspot.com/

Is Reiki a religion? No, definitely not. Reiki is a method. It does not require faith. For those who have faith, Reiki can be a path for making a connection with their own source of strength. But no affirmation of faith is required.

Where did Reiki start? Reiki originated in Japan. The word Reiki can be translated in several ways, but the simplext is "Spiritual Energy." When you hear the Japanese phrase Usui Reiki Ryoho, the word Usui is actually a name, Mikao Usui, of the founder of Reiki who passed away in 1926. Ryoho means "method." Thus - the Usui method of working with Spiritual Energy.

What exactly is Spiritual Energy? Well - In Japanese the word is "KI" and in Chinese "QI" or sometimes "CHI." In Sanskrit it is referenced as "PRANA." In Hebrew the word "RUACH" has a similar meaning. In the Kabbalah there is reference to God forming each human being by breathing God's own "breath" or "spirit" into the form giving it Life. Without Life Force life does not exist. Science cannot measure this Life Force as yet, but, in Hospice we all sense it and understand it. When a person dies, there is a moment before and a moment after - and at both moments the "matter" and "energy" measured by science are the same, but, there is a difference, and that difference is the "Spiritual Energy" (or Ki or Qi or Prana or Ruach) which has departed.

What is transition? Well - we in Reiki refer to the End of Mortal Life as "Transition." A mainstream Bishop taught me that we should not refer to "death" as "End of Life" since we are only qualified to speak of the End of Mortal Life. The fact that we cannot prove that the "consciousness" continues after "Transition," does not mean that one knows it does not. If one were to flip a coin 100 times and 95 times it came "heads" would we say that was meaningless? No - but - even though all indigenous peoples believe in continuation of spirit after death (or transition), and all major religions also so believe, science denies this feature that seems almost "hard wired" into humanity.

What is the difference between Pain and Suffering? We frequently see patients with conditions that would be very painful, enter a state where they suffer less. What makes the difference? Fear exacerbates suffering. Loneliness exacerbates suffering. Hopelessness exacerbates suffering. A place of calm reduces suffering. Companionship reduces suffering. Hope reduces suffering. Reiki provides a human connection that replace fear and loneliness with mindful companionship and Hope.

What is "Grounding?" Grounding is a Reiki techniques for focusing our intention on the here and now.

What do you mean by intention? When we do Reiki, we ask the Universal Spirit or LifeForce or God (whichever you prefer) to intervene on behalf of our patient. We focus our mindfulness on our intention, or request, on behalf of the patient.

Is Reiki massage? No - the is no "rubbing" or "light touch" or "deep touch" - it is basic simple touch while fully clothed. In Level 2 or Level 3 Reiki focuses on working without actual physical contact.

What are the basic principles of Reiki? There are 5...

I will not be angry just for today
I will not worry just for today
I will be grateful just for today
I will work hard today
I will do an act of kindness or compassion today.

If you believe that learning techniques to focus your intention on these principles would help you, or help you care for your patient, you are welcome at our Reiki Share.

Please feel free to ask questions and please RSVP

My Certificates and Websites of my Teachers

2009-09-29T16:17:00.000-07:00

My thanks to my teachers, Robin Hannon who instructed me in Usui Reiki Ryoho, Amy Rowland who taught me Shoden, Okuden, and Shinpiden levels of Reiki, and Rick Rivard who taught me Shoden, Okuden, Shinpiden, and Shihan levels of Gendai Reiki.

Robin Hannon - Abiding Reiki http://www.abidingreiki.com/

Amy Rowland - http://www.traditionalreiki.com/amy/amy.html

Rick Rivard - Threshold Reiki

http://threshold.ca/reiki/my_story.html

Reiki and The World's Birthday

2009-09-20T05:36:00.000-07:00

Yesterday and today, for Jewish people represent a holiday called Rosh Hashanah, which in Hebrew means the "head" of the "year," or roughly a Holiday of New Year.

But this holiday, which is symbolized by a Ram's horn, is more complex. In the bible it actually is referred to in the Hebrew as on the first day of the seventh month counting from the Exodus from Egypt. In tradition, this day corresponds to the 6th day of "Creation," the birthday of Adam, and in a sense the birthday of the world.

Now in saying the world is having its 5770 th birthday, we understand that a day is not a day and a year is not a year in comparing Biblical to modern day terms. What is meaningful, is the sense of connection that exists for all humankind to each other, and to a common unifying LifeForce.

Major faiths such as Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism, and Islam all share a common sense that human beings are connected to the Creator, and that human beings are connected to each other. Reiki is not a religion, or even a faith, but simply a method that we can use to feel that sense of connection.

I received an email from a co-worker today, facing one of life's challenges. As she was trying to help other people, she was as we always are, facing simultaneously the challenges in her own life. She wrote to me, "the perspective of a bigger picture was a relief."

So it is with Reiki. We work on grounding, to focus in the moment, to focus our intention on an area where we can make a difference. Without worry or anger, we retain a sense of gratefulness for what we have, and just for a moment we attempt to share kindness with others.

I like Reiki because it is simple, and not really magical. It does not actually "cure" anything, or change the physical state of being. It simply helps us to have a sense of connectedness, and to live the moment effectively as we can.

There has been a musical playing on Broadway for about 7 years, called "Avenue Q." This musical starts with all the characters singing a muppet like song, "My Life Sucks." And each one competes to explain and describe why their particular situation is worse than everyone elses. And everyone on Avenue Q is unhappy.

Somewhere along the way, something happens. A character decides to focus on not worrying about his own misery, and decides to help someone else, to help a friend. All of a sudden, the whole dynamics change for everyone.

Hospice is like that and Reiki is like that. People decide that just for today, they will put aside whatever is stressing them and help others. In a way, it isn't magic, and yet, in another way, perhaps it is. It is very simple.

For the year 5770, I offer prayer and Reiki Blessings to each of my family and friends, co-workers, colleagues, patients and fellow human beings for a good year. Health and Happiness to all. If that which is shared in common by humankind's major religions is true, we are all connected.

Reiki Just for Today

2009-09-15T05:34:00.000-07:00

It was during my first year in practice that i came upon a patient at a Nursing Home who was laughing about as hard as one can laugh. Not that often to find a Nursing Home patient that happy, so i asked him "what happened?" He handed me his morning paper and said, "my former doctor died."

Now - this did not strike me as extemely humorous, but, trying not to be judgemental, i asked him "what happened?" He could see that i was a little taken aback, "sit down doc."

"Three years ago when they diagnosed me as having cancer, these two docs said i had less than 6 months to live. One died last year and the other one just died. They were so certain that i was going to die soon, and i outlived them both."

And i learned a lesson in that moment. We use science for what it can do, swe practice medicine as best we can, but we never really know who is to live and who is to die. There is a higher power.

I have tried to keep this in mind over the years. I have never shirked telling patients as humbly as i could, that modern medicine could not cure them, but i have tended to add that there is a higher power, and that i would pray for them. Most often what they have responded is "i will pray for you too doc."

People seem to respond better to honesty, when it is laced with some humility, and i can never get over the willingness of patients facing terrible illnesses, to have the compassion to pray for others, their family, their friends, their caregivers, and sometimes their doctors.

We are a nation that has placed a man on the moon, and made incredible scientific advances, and yet, from the episode of the Challenger to the Levees of New Orleans, we are reminded again and again that we have limits.

In point of fact, the one area where we may perceive ourselves as most limited, but where we may barely touch our own potential is the "Spiritual" area, the capacity to connect to the Life Force that runs through us all, and to connect with all living things.

We can at the least put aside our own worry if only for the moment, forego our anger just for today.

I will need to grateful for what i have, and for the energy that i have and commit to work as best as i can today. Hopefully - i can find someone to gift with a little bit of kindness - just for today.

Reiki or Random

2009-09-05T12:23:00.000-07:00

For some of us, the world is a place filled with awe, if not outright mystery. These photos of an Albatross, taken on an island of the Galapagos, and a New Zealand Pidgeon, taken on Kapiti Island, represent a sense of "connection" that exists, that we are not alone, and that we are able to connect to something greater than ourselves and something very beautiful. And, in saying this, we need not feel diminished, humanity need not be the center of the universe, simply being a part of it is a wonderful opportunity.

Reiki simply is a philosophy of life, a path, a way of approaching this world we are a part of. In sharing rather than conquering, in connecting rather than isolating, in focusing on the journey rather than the destination - the quality of our own lives change and we become happier. And Mikao Usui seems to teach, that in this process of connecting, and sharing, that we can both become happier and help to heal ourselves and others.

After learning about Reiki from Robin Hannon, i studied with Amy Rowland learning Shoden, Okuden, and Shinpiden levels from Amy (the Japanese versions of Level 1 and Level 2 and Level 3 Reiki). In the past month, i took additional training from Rick Rivard in Vancouver.

http://threshold.ca/reiki/home.html

Rick has a wonderful web site, Threshold Reiki - he is a fabulous source of Reiki wisdom, Reiki history and Reiki teaching.

In 1926, Mikao Usui, a teacher, healer and founder of Reiki passed away. By 1939, Mrs Takata, living as a Japanese American in Hawaii, thought she was the only living Reiki master, the sole inheritor of a precious teaching. At the time of her death, Dec 12, 1980, she had taught 22 Master's who had taught hundreds of thousands of students all over the world - by the mid 1990's Reiki had been reintroduced to Japan.

For those interested "Living Reiki Takata's Teachings" by Fran Brown is an invaluable biography of Mrs Takata, and Frank Arjava Petter's book, "Reiki the Legacy of Dr Usui" is a marvelous telling of the re finding of Reiki's orginal and truthful roots.

By 1999 Reiki was attempting to integrate a) the differences between Takata and original Usui techniques and b) Reiki and other forms of complementary healing into the constellation of healing and c) adapting the original Usui thoughts and Takata thoughts to a world heading toward Globalization and the 21st century. Takata, like Usui, was born into a world where a man had never run a mile in under 4 minutes, no man had climbed Mt Everest, no man had walked on the moon, penicillin and all other antibiotics had not yet been discovered and communication took days to weeks - there were no TV's (let alone no internet and no email)

In 1999 over 60 Reiki masters from all over the world gathered in Vancouver, Canada and, again in 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2003 these meetings URRI or Usui Reiki Ryoho International occurred. While there is no "Grandmaster" like Dr Usui or Mrs Takata in Reiki today, Hiroshi Doi of Japan was widely acknowledged to be a wise Teacher, with a capacity to bring together methods from many lineages of Reiki.

Doi-Sensei founded taught Gendai Reiki, in a way, an effort to integrate Usui Reiki with the changes made by Takata and her students, but, as well, with a sense of modernity brought by Doi Sensei.

From 1999-2003, the English Speaker who had the most time with Doi-Sensei was Rick Rivard, and, although Rick was prior to meeting Doi-Sensei an established, intuitive talented Reiki master, much of his work is dedicated to teaching the techniques and philosophy learned in URRI (1999-2003)

http://threshold.ca/reiki/home.html

My own approaches to Reiki are heavily influenced by the Reiki teachings of Hiroshi Doi and Rick Rivard. I encourage that Rick's site be viewed as a "threshold" to Reiki.

This is not a religion, it is simply a journey and a method - we seek to Share and to Connect and to offer Compassion to other people.

This simple and spiritual approach is consistent with and part of the core being of Hospice. In listening to music, or in practicing compassionate health care, or in studying nature around the world - i cannot believe that what i am seeing is "Random." But - i know of no known "controlled study" with which to prove this belief. I am content to act upon belief.

Seasons Reiki Share September

2009-09-03T05:48:00.000-07:00

Seasons Reiki share met September 1, 2009 on our GIP unit at NWHC. Thank you again to Michele and the Team on the unit for supporting our group, as well as to the Sleep Center for allowing us use of an additional room!

Our next sessions are Tuesday October 6 and then Tuesday Nov 3
from 5:30-about 8 on the NWHC in patient unit.

Dorothy Kenny has trained to Master level and was assisting me, and Barbara Hanley came to help teach, and than you to Ann Couto and Patricia Norton our Reiki Master friends from Karme, who came to share and help teach.

We were able to subdivide into two work groups, allowing practice at different levels, as well as spending some time all together. Thank you to Kim Boucher, Kathi Storey, Jane Fisher, Sashi, Serena Markowski, and Louise deVille for attending. Louise is working toward Master level.

New students are now always welcome, as we have plenty of advanced students and masters to assist and, we have have enough masters to have a masters share and Reiju session!

One sadness is i just found out that Robin Hannon lost her dad, anyone who knows Robin please send her Reiki support and or email of support. Robin Hannon [feather@abidingreiki.com]
Robin's love of Reiki and our class are very much appreciated.

Every month i visit several patients prior to the class, to determine if the patients want to share in Reiki with us. This month, for the first time, our alert patients did not want Reiki. And i want to point out how important it is that Reiki not be done without consent, and that our approach to patients is to offer all our services in such a way that the patient feels Empowered. The essence of hospice is to bring sharing instead of loneliness, caring when curing cannot occur, hope in the future after transition rather than fear of death, and empowerment instead of a sense of futility. Our willingness to offer choices and provide service as the patient wishes it, rather than as we see to offer it, is a gift. We do not need to provide Reiki to a patient, for Reiki to impact our interaction with patients, since, Reiki starts by impacting us. Our spirit of caring, and empowering, are a gift.

With one patient, she felt Reiki might conflict with her way of worship, and i asked if i might just simply pray for her, and she readily agreed and offered to pray as well for me. How often patients in hospic wish to be able to still be a force of prayer for others is uplifting to me. And another patient said firmly "no" to Reiki (and i do not ask "why" - no is no!) and i asked "is there anything else i can get you." She wanted "a glass of water." Ike was with me and he got that for her quickly - and - we were of service in the way that she wanted.

Thank to all the staff and volunteers in Seasons for what you all do every day, and thank you to those who continue to attend the Reiki "shares."

Upekkha Reiki - Reiki for the dying

2009-09-01T19:26:00.001-07:00

When i was training with RM Robin Hanon, we shared the vision of the Bodi tree at the top of my Blog; leaves falling off, but a bright Reiki light shining through. And it reflected our sense of Reiki near the end of mortal life. We called it "Upekkha Reiki," reflecting a sense that equanimity and peace were needed in the time near "transition."

Robin has been struggling with her father's illness, and with her permission i am including her essay on her recent experiences.

Reiki for the dying

In recent weeks my father has been making the transition between life and death. In this transition I have been using a Reiki technique developed by myself and Dr. Harold Bob of Season’s Hospice to ease his pain, and to make his passing more comfortable and less fearful for him.

The technique used is slightly different from the Reiki used on people who are not in the active dying phase. When someone is transitioning, most of the energy below the waist begins to shut down and no longer functions. Normally Reiki is used to regain this function and get the energy flowing and aligned properly. In this case there is no attempt to align the energy or re-establish its flow. Instead what is worked on is the upper body where the energy is still flowing, mostly around the head area, and sometimes the throat and heart. Eventually the only place left flowing with any energy is the head. It is suspected that when one finally does depart it is through the head area where the energy was the last to shut down.

The idea of this sort of Reiki is to help acceptance of this transition, and to allay fear and anxiety, along with pain which may be present in the individual. Breath work along with focus on the Bodi tree brings forward a very healing and supportive energy that assists in the dying process bringing peace and equanimity to the one in transition.

Not only has this process helped my father, but it has also helped me. I have actively been able to not only ease his suffering, but as well to ease my own pain and grief. I have been in the moment as I have worked on him. In this place there is no past, no present, only that moment. There is a sense of connection, peace, and a purity that seems to present itself as I work with him. I have seen his face wracked with pain, and then ease as I work on him. I have seen him drift off to sleep as I work with a smile on his face. At one point he almost seemed to glow with contentment and the beauty of this brought tears to my eyes. I am both humbled and honored to have been part of his process, and I know that when he finally does let go I would have had a small part in his passing in peace and comfort.

Robin Littlefeather Hannon

Robin Littlefeather Hannon
www.abidingreiki.com