The Office of Grand Master

Welcome to the OGM Newsletter

 

 

Paul and I have been very busy with family care, our own health, and the busy schedule that we seem to continue to meet.  Our passion is a response to a calling that Reiki lifts in us....individually and as a team.  

We have been working with Ben Haggard in beginning an exploration of Succession of the Spiritual Lineage....What does this mean?  What is being called out in each of us? How do we, as a master community, prepare for this time?
The meetings have been deep and profound...on a physical verbal level as well as energetic level.  We have had two; one in England in November and one in February at Kenyon Ranch.  The next one will be in Almaty Kazakhstan in June. We will be scheduling others soon.  

Paul has written an article of his experience after the first one in England.....you can find this article below.  

We are off to Europe very soon.....with a full schedule.  Please connect with our web site to find the events that we have scheduled....and how to register for them.  

I have been gaining my overall health.....living with cancer has been another amazing gift and my life has filled with caring for myself, talking with others who are on the same path, and making time to heal old wounds and shift my world view.  A wonderful process that has given me back my home town, my childhood, and my family.  With this foundation I can continue on my path with Reiki and in the service of Reiki.  

Phyllis Furumoto

Looking for our schedule?
Flyer of events in Salta
We are using Constant Contact now, an internet service that assists us in keeping our data base up to date, gives us a way for everyone to receive all the information about an event at once, and allows you to register with ease.  

This is the way to register for events!  
If you are not interested in the event, pass it on to someone else who may be or delete it without guilt. The announcements will come throughout the year.  

We try to be selective with the groups of students/masters who receive certain announcements.  If you feel you are not in the correct group, please let us know....for example, if you are a master and do not receive mailings for master events, then perhaps you are in the students mailing list. 

We are constantly refining our mailings.  We would appreciate your assistance in making these relevant to you and to your community.  

Right now we will be sending out a number of mailings.  It has been a difficult time to coordinate all the events and arrangements.  Thank you for your patience!  

websiteFor specific calendar of events  www.usuishikiryohoreiki.com/events/calendar
 
Special Announcement!  The OGM Retreat usually held at the end of August each year is not scheduled for 2014.  In 2015, we are looking at a venue in Russia, close to Moscow, in October.  
 
Usui Shiki Ryoho Lineage Bearers

Spiritual Lineage and Succession

 

For the past several years the question of succession of the Lineage Bearer has been up in the community.  Inspired by a group of masters in the UK, the first gathering of masters was held this past November to explore succession in earnest.  I came away feeling that we had made a significant beginning.

 

Central to the question of succession is our personal and communal understanding of the role and function of Lineage Bearer in our practice where Spiritual Lineage is an essential element.

Most of us have had the experience of meeting one Lineage Bearer and a few of us have known two.  Not surprising that our understanding is deeply rooted in a personal experience and yet a deeper understanding requires us to go to a broader and deeper base than the personal.  Ben has been and is great at helping us do this.

 

As we come closer to the core of life we encounter a number of paradoxes in which we are called to live in creative tension.  Two or three of these paradoxes have touched me and been working in me since the succession workshop.

 

Each master must stand in their role as master of this practice and at the same time honor one among us who we may say has a greater responsibility.  How does this work exactly?  Ultimately we are responsible for our choices, we do our lives alone, and yet we can't, we need one another.  What does this say about recognition of a Lineage Bearer?   How do we find a common understanding about what this recognition means in this simple practice that on the strength of its simplicity is truly a universal practice, beyond our personal understanding and frames for how life works.

 

For me, many challenging questions have been stimulated and I know there are more to come as we venture into the depth of this element of Spiritual Lineage on our quest to facilitate graceful succession when the time comes.  Let's all become active participants in this adventure.   

 

Paul Mitchell

 

A Natural World:
Activating and Restraining Forces

painting of activating and restraining forces
In our work with Ben Haggard, a simple framework is presented, two arrows pointing at each other and another arrow pointing upwards.  In this painting.....the two arrows are the black lines with the third arrow going upwards into the light.  

This dynamic is present in the natural world and all creative expression comes from the reconciliation of these two forces....an activating and a restraining force.  From the impulse of the seed breaking through its casing and pushing up through the restraining force of the earth to the movement of volcanic action to the oceanic tides, nature gathers its creativity and presents us with a gift everyday.  

In our lives, these forces are present...in small ways and in what often seems to be "life threatening ways."  Reiki is like the inspiration that moves us from the chaotic feeling of confusion into a reconciliatory expression.  "Sending Reiki to the situation" is the way we often express this process.

If we can hold the discomfort of the chaos or creative dissonance long enough, then the reconciliation occurs.  We, like nature, must wait for timing! For the appropriate nurturing elements and for the appropriate season.  

What does the word or what is the actual concept of Reconciliation?  Reconciliation in this context is not one person giving up something for the other.  Reconciliation happens when the two forces come together and there is no compromise but the full force of both energies combine to create a new entity.  

When I give a question to Reiki...what happens is that I am given the possibility or option that uses all the energy of both "sides" in a way that my old habitual thinking does not consider.  In this way, I am creating a new thought.  

There is no right or wrong, there is no negative or positive, there is activation and restraining.  Both essential to the creation of my world.  Try it on.  See what happens!  
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Spiritual Lineage and Succession
A Natural World
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