The Office of Grand Master
Office of the Grand Master Newsletter
In This Issue
An Experience of Adventure
Calendar of
Events 
2015 Events

October 3, 2015 
Student Day
The Reiki Story as told by Hawayo Takata and the Memorial Stone: Spiritual Lineage and the Process of Sucession
Paul Mitchell
Perth, Australia
Contact:
Roger Weston at rogerwestonreiki@yahoo.com
 

October 4, 2014
 
Student Day
Usui Shiki Ryoho: A Path of Personal and Spiritual Development
Paul Mitchell
Perth, Australia
Contact:
Roger Weston at rogerwestonreiki@yahoo.com

 
October 8-11, 2015  
A Walk through the Four Aspects and Nine Elements in Usui Shiki Ryoho
Paul Mitchell
Perth, Australia
Contact:
Roger Weston at rogerwestonreiki@yahoo.com


October 25, 2015 Deepening Your Personal Development through the Reiki Principles 
Paul Mitchell
Wallsend NSW
Contact: Scott Howlett swhowlett2@outlook.com OR
Annabel Muis annabel.muis@gmail.com

October 31 - Nov. 1, 2015  
Deepening Your Personal Development and Spiritual Discipline through the Reiki Principles
Paul Mitchell
Brisbane, Australia
Contact: Faye: 0412 77 82 05
Lynette 0407 62 99 88



2016 Events
 
J anuary 21-27, 2016
First & Second Degree  Class
Phyllis Furumoto
El Paso TX USA

February 2-10
Responding with Compassion
     2nd Week
Phyllis Furumoto
Casa Azul Tepoztlán Mexico

February 11-14
Succession Weekend Paul Mitchell, Ben Haggard, Phyllis Furumoto
Casa Azul Tepoztlán
Mexico
To Register 
   
February 17-21              
Illuminating the Path: Spiritual Life in Reiki
Paul Mitchell and Laurence Fontaine
Mexico
 
February 20-21
Reiki Weekend for Everyone
Phyllis Furumoto
Kenyon Ranch Tubac AZ
 
February 26-28              
A Walk through the Four Aspects and Nine Elements
Paul Mitchell
Casa Azul Tepoztl
á n Mexico   
 
March 17-20
Tradition Keepers of Usui Shiki Ryoho
Pau l Mitchell and Phyllis Furumoto
Mt Angel Oregon USA
 
March 28-April 3          
The Way to Harmony
Paul Mitchell
Wettenbostel Germany
 
Community Resource
Join Our List
September 2015


We have now used Constant Contact for over three years. We have decided it is successful in maintaining our data base, making it easy for people to join and to un-join if wanted, and it is becoming eaiery for us to communicate with you!

You are welcome to send us feedback about our use of Constant Contact and what we can do to make it more user friendly.  Our email is theogm2011@gmail.com.

This year we have had the opportunity to schedule well in advance for 2016.  We hope that the publication of our schedule allows you to plan to attend those events that draw you...and to pass on the information to your students and colleagues.  

We are excited about 2016 because of the new adventures we have planned.   The Usui III near Moscow and The Tradition Keepers Retreat in Oregon will reflect some  of the new steps within ourselves as our practice deepens.  

We also are grateful for your continued practice of Reiki, your dedication to making the world a better place in which to live, and your daily acts of kindness.  

May the rest of this year be filled with the daily miracles of Reiki.  

Phyllis Furumoto and Paul Mitchell
 
The Heart of Our Practice
By: Paul Mitchell

 

The Motto of the Ki Society International founded by Koichi Tohei Sensei begins this way: "Let us have a universal spirit that loves and protects all creation and helps all things grow and develop." This motto expresses the heart of his practice of Aikido.

 

What is the heart of this practice we call "Reiki?" Our usual definition of the concept is "Universal Life Energy," the definition Hawayo Takata gave us along with "God Power." Does "Universal Life Energy" relate to "universal spirit?" Both are seemingly simple concepts and yet filled with nearly infinite possibilities of cosmological implication, corollary, and conundrum.  

 

Perhaps the heart of our practice of Reiki is contained in the word practice, which seems to be an invitation, an affirmation, and an admonition. But what comes after practice? Simply more practice. Hawayo Takata would say: "Practice and see what happens." There we have it: see what happens. Simplicity. 

 

I often see practicing Reiki as an opportunity to consciously dance with the energy of life. We are always in the dance. There is no other place we can be, but with Reiki we can participate more consciously. Since being conscious is an attribute of our humanity, perhaps becoming more conscious is at the heart of the journey of becoming ever more human.

 

I was recently talking to a colleague whose daughter in the eighth grade at a Montessori school did an interdisciplinary study on the topic, What it means to be human. What a wonderful and appropriate exploration for these students! I was touched to hear this as I feel that most modern culture is bereft in it's representation of life's meaning.

 

It has been my conviction that practicing Reiki nourishes the unfolding of the perfection of our humanity. Living or lurking below this conviction is the living question: "How do I understand what it means to be fully human?" A potential way of exploring this question is to look to our conscious dreaming. When we see ourselves, our lives, our world, what do we hope for? What are our deepest longings? Do we then translate these longings into aspirations, making the decision that our dreams for "a better world" call for reflection, discipline, action?

 

I find the working of my own heart a constant source of mystery. Perhaps at the center of our practice of Reiki lives the heart of all life, mirrored by our own. Listening to our hearts is one of the cultural values in Reiki. As community, I see us as becoming more adept at listening through and beyond our own hearts to that universal spirit that loves and protects all creation.


An Experience of Adventure
By: Anne Harrington Lowe
Anne Harrington Lowe
Anne had a dramatic change of life two years ago when she experienced a massive stroke! She has come back through the grace of the universe, caring partner and family, lots and lots of Reiki, her own determination 

and courage, and a step by step process that continues to give her the experience of adventure! 

 

Here is her latest adventure from May 2015.

 

 "Talking of challenges, my latest is driving. I am very fortunate to have an adapted car allowing me to drive with the right hand. The car is automatic and easy to drive.

 

I have experienced my left hand brain kicking in to support the right hand side. It is a unique experience for me, and feels so good when it happens I am greatly comforted that the memory is still very much alive. Each time I have driven I have handed it to Reiki, as you know, Reiki is cradling my process of recovery., and  I would not survive without it,  I deeply appreciate all that Reiki brings to me. Whether I like it or not, I accept it is for my personal growth and unfolding.   Priorities have changed in life. Stillness and quiet and need to just 'Be' have taken over the 'chatter' of life.

 

Left hand brain is slowly kicking in, and it is tangible. Through the months, I have been in awe of how the brain re -grows itself, opening new pathways, I can now cook a meal from scratch, which gives Ray a break, and he is so  happy! When  I started driving, the brain said 'I remember this, and I had a huge urge to put my left hand on the steering wheel. Instead left brain helps support the right hand, and I now feel like I did, when I was driving before the stroke. Amazing!!

 

The foregoing has boosted the confidence, and positivity that some of myself is coming back, has set in. Although I am the same, I feel a different person in my heart.

 

 And don't want to be the person I was. God has given me the gift to begin again. I am aware of this precious gift and I am embracing it, and have become more aware of my attitudes and patterns, which could do with a bit of 'retweaking' which is the understatement of the month!  I am more and more convinced that Reiki can make a better world, if people would listen and take it seriously. Only God knows and he/she ain't telling!"

 

We thank Anne for sharing her journey.....inspiring, reminiscent, and graciousness. Consciousness in this story is going back to actions that most of us take for granted.....and really having to make decisions on the ground level. Reiki teaches us to reconsider our automatic actions and make new ground level decisions daily. This provides a restructuring of our life and changes the direction of our being.

 

Webinars with Phyllis

 

Years ago when I heard of webinars, I thought this was the answer to my wish of being more available to students of Reiki. I tried each
year to actualize this wish. Only in June, when I posted on my Facebook page my wish to  offer webinars once more, did someone come forward to assist me.  Rachel Goldberg has been a match for me and  has filled in the place I needed assistance with the internet and organizational aspects of being a presenter through a webinar.  

So a few weeks ago in July, we had our first airing!  A webinar in which I spoke about my path in Reiki and the transition from Hawayo Takata and the Reiki world today.  I hear from Rachel that 90 people signed in for the webinar on the day of transmission.   Three weeks later 1000 people have watched the webinar!  Wow!  

Our plan is to offer free webinars 7-8 times a year.  In addition another series of webinars will address specific questions that arise in Reiki practice with a smaller group and through more conversation rather than a presentation and then questions. These will be paid sessions.  A third series of webinars will be offered perhaps in a year, these will be actual workshops running three or four sessions long for specific groups of Reiki students. These will also be paid sessions.  

The free webinars will have a donate button on the registration page so if you would like to support Rachel and I in our work by offering energy in the form of money, we accept with gratitude. Though it seems as though they don't cost anything to do, this isn't actually true. Your contributions will assist us in covering the costs of the software, the upgraded internet service and other incidentals. The pay-for-attending webinars will assist me in staying home and having an income from being able to have a connection though the internet.  

Here is the schedule of the no-cost webinars for the remainder of 2015:   Note the location of the broadcast and the time of day which is shown in the "local" time zone.  
 
August 30 
Reiki as a Spiritual Practice
18:00 (6:00 pm) from Berlin Germany

October 18
Reiki's cultural heritage, Japan 
09:00 am from Kyoto Japan

November 16
Reiki as a Mystic Order
09:00 am from Vladivostok Russia

December 27
What does the future hold for Reiki? 
16:00 (4:00 pm) from Green Valley AZ USA
 
We are open to questions about the topic to be discussed.  You can ask on the registration page.  And you can let us know what topics you would like for me to present on a webinar!  
Thank you for reading the newsletter. Please forward it to your Reiki friends and colleagues. We hope to see you in 2016!

Phyllis Furumoto & Paul Mitchell
Office of the Grand Master