What kind of news is this? What is the 'OGM'? 
Who does it consist of and what is it for?

This is news from the OGM: the Office of the Grand Master of Usui Shiki
Ryoho. The OGM consists of Phyllis Furumoto and Paul Mitchell. They offer clear teaching and guidance for understanding the form of Usui Shiki Ryoho.

Who is Paul Mitchell and what does he do?
Paul Mitchell is recognized as the Head of Discipline of Usui Shiki Ryoho. This means that he holds the place for maintaining the teaching and practice of Usui Shiki Ryoho, as taught by Hawayo Takata. Paul designs and facilitates workshops, retreats and intensives that support the Reiki student community in deepening their practice.
 
Introductory Comments 
This design is specifically for our readers who are on tablets and phones! Some of our readers didn't really know about the OGM so we are attempting to be informative!  Let us know if these changes worked for you!   
The Takata Archive Story
by  Joyce Winough and Phyllis Furumoto  

On January 19, Joyce Winough and I arrived at the University of California Santa Barbara to meet with David Gartrell, the curator of Special Research Collections.  He accepted the bulk of the “Takata Archives” contained in several boxes and one suitcase.  This was the beginning of a new phase of preserving and being able to make available the material that was given to me by my mother, some years after Hawayo Takata died in December 1980.   

In the years following this gift, these boxes accompanied my many moves from British Columbia to Santa Fe, to Vashon Island off the coast of Seattle, to Idaho and then finally to Arizona.  During this time, I was not very interested in what these boxes contained.   

In 2006, The Reiki Alliance held the annual conference in Idaho where I lived.  I was drawn to open some of the boxes and pull out some things that seemed appropriate to share with those who came to the conference.  Within the displays were documents, certificates, photos, and clothing.  I also had the Butsudan that my grandmother had in her house.  This is a place of remembering ancestors each day in a Japanese Buddhist tradition.  (This is not included in the archives because it was a part of her private life and my family is now caretaking this.)  

This was the beginning of sharing what I had with others.  After the conference people asked if I could have this displayed somewhere.  I didn’t know how to do this without possible damage to the materials.  I was waiting for the Reiki Foundation International or The Reiki Alliance to come to a place where a small or medium size “museum” could be obtained and supported.  However, after the first meeting of the Archive Team and our assessment of the materials, it was clear that a professional level library with all the obvious services and protocols in place would serve Reiki best.   

In 2013, I met Justin Stein, a PhD student researching the teaching and life of Hawayo Takata as a part of his thesis.  When he found out I had these boxes, he was interested in seeing what was in them and I was open to his being able to do the same.  Through the next months, an idea grew in me and at the beginning of 2014, I called upon a few people to meet in July and open the boxes for assessment, organizing, and creating a way to share this with the Reiki Community.  I recalled a conversation I had had with John Gray who insisted that an archive be set up for Reiki.  This was a deep connection and has been the driving force inside of me all these years.

On July 14, 2014, the small group met in Green Valley, Arizona to open the boxes!  Paul and Susan Mitchell, Justin Stein, Robert Fueston, Joyce Winough and myself became the Archive Team.  Justin arrived first.  Joyce and I had moved the boxes to an empty apartment close to our home where many tables had been set up.  Justin and I started to open the boxes and simply put out the things on tables . . . trying to sort them into categories.  After 2 hours of this work, we had to sit and take in the energy that filled the rooms.  Paul and Susan arrived with their obvious gift of having been students of Hawayo Takata, hosting her in San Francisco, and having a long time relationship with me.  Justin brought with him many years of researching Reiki in Hawaii, Japan, and throughout the world with his interviews as well as his inner curiosity about what was in the boxes.  Robert Fueston added his skills as a librarian and how-to-organize archivist knowledge (Robert has a Master Degree in Library and Informational Science and has just completed an in depth post graduate certificate:  Certificate of Advanced Graduate Study in Library and Information Science), as well as his passion for the teachings of Hawayo Takata.  Though it seems mundane, Joyce and I were thrilled to get the boxes out of storage and into the light of day!   
When the week was ending, it was clear that we needed to find a place for these most precious Reiki materials.  Over the next year we searched for a place.  We considered the Japanese American Museum in Los Angeles.  They were very enthusiastic when we visited but afterwards, I could not connect with the  archivist there by email or by phone for over a year.  Meanwhile Justin had spoken with a colleague in Santa Barbara and brought news that a curator at the University Libraries was very enthusiastic about receiving these archives as they would complement their special collection of materials related to American Spiritual Movements.  Using this as the foundation of a larger and more extensive Reiki archive, I am going to encourage the Takata Masters and the people who are holding archives from other Takata Masters already passed on to contribute their material to this collection.  

Over the last few years the Archive Team has met twice a year, spending time cataloging, scanning, and marveling at the pieces of a puzzle that seemed to be coming together.  We are still working on the most difficult part of the material, the photographs.  We want the presentation to be as informative as possible while organizing them so others will be able to know what images are available.   

Joyce sees this as a turning point in Reiki.  A Turning Point is a point in time from which we measure our lives.  For instance, our First Degree Initiation and class in Reiki.  Before Reiki and After Reiki.  This Archive is a beginning of another era.  And the completion of an era as well.  We are now walking into the future of Reiki knowing that Reiki has been recognized by the academic world as a contribution to humanity, an American Spiritual Practice.   

When we arrived at UC Santa Barbara and went through the motions of unloading the truck, placing the boxes in the holding room of the library, and signing the gifting agreement, it was a sacred experience for all of us.  It has taken all these years and many, many hours of conversation with the Archive Team for me to come to the moment when I was open to have this feeling of gifting and serving the global Reiki community.  In trusting the timing, we trust the community to hold the sacredness of what Alice Furumoto kept of her mother’s possessions, records, and personal Reiki correspondence because it gives us something concrete to hold and feel creating a content of energetic substance.   

It is possible for one person to change the world.  Hawayo Takata’s steadfastness, her ultimate trust in Reiki, and her passion to share this gift have brought us all to where we are now. 

The members of the team and I are happy to be a part of ensuring that these materials and others will be available for students now and in the future.  In some months, there will be a finder’s aid (a tool for searching the archive) available on line for this material. Perhaps in the next year, they will be uploading the archive to a virtual space.  This means that you do not have to go to Santa Barbara to view 90% of the archive. The remaining 10% are documents and images that we felt needed to be handled in a way that ensured no copies, photos, or handwritten copies would be made.  This is possible through the library’s protocols and is not an unusual request.   

Many people wonder if there are hidden secrets in this material.   From my standpoint, no.  There are many ways to fill in gaps and to be reassured about Hawayo Takata’s life of Reiki.  I trust this will be an enriching experience for the Reiki community.   

In closing, Joyce and I would like to extend our gratitude to Paul and Susan Mitchell, to Justin Stein, and to Robert Fueston, for their volunteer service that included many, many hours of labor and conversation that have made this all possible. 
Exploring Your Unique Relationship with the Spiritual Lineage

From Melanie Hoffstead

The idea for this workshop came from a conversation I had with Rebecca Bredenhof, who asked me to run a workshop on the Spiritual Lineage. I was delighted as so much attention has been recently on succession and my personal belief and interests is to understand, respect and learn what has been before in order to appreciate what is needed in the here and now. The Reiki lineage is our foundation stone for our practice and through finding the messages that each Grand Master can give us, we are more able to step forward in our depth of Reiki individually and as a community.

My aim was to  move people (safely!) out of their comfort zone into a deeper understanding of their unique relationship with the spiritual lineage. I was keen for people to really experience and understand that each Grand Master in his or her own way carried the energetic bloodline of this system, so that people could really appreciate being under the umbrella of the spiritual lineage and to see themes common to all four Grand Masters: their dedication and commitment to service through Reiki; and, in a way, being out there and ahead of their times.

One creative process involved participants quickly writing their feeling about the Grand Masters--what was the wisdom they received, what they were taught, what inspiration they gained--and putting their responses on heart-shaped stickers. Then they worked in groups to show us in a creative way what they gathered.  Throughout the weekend we had lots of self treatment and shared treatments connected to each Grand Master, starting with Phyllis and going back to Mikao Usui. After each treatment everyone wrote down what came about for them. A creative highlight was our reenactment of Usui's story. It started off almost as a comedy but then reached very touching heart-felt moments. Feelings of deep connection flowed into a time of acknowledging gratitude and giving thanks.

Here is some feedback to give you a taste of the workshop.

This workshop renewed and refreshed my connection to the Grand Masters. It gives me inspiration and deepening in my practice as a Reiki Master. It was joyful, humanistic and comfortable.

It was surprising to me how deep we could explore our connection to each lineage bearer.New meaning for me especially the exploration of Hayashi -- gave me a new understanding and respect for his role-his role of being the bridge between Usui and Takata. That reminds me of the important role Alice Furumoto has had in bridging between Takata and Phyllis.- I will be more mindful with bridges. An excellent workshop!

I loved the dancing and the singing and it was an honour to play Usui, I expected to be scared but it didn't happen we were all together-- what an amazing time.

Respectful, every different way bought about wonderful deepening and sharing of our practice.Lots of wisdom, sharing and so much heart.

Talked about the profound and deep work what it means to carry the past in the lineage and what is needed to bring it to the future.

                                         Reconciliation

From Kristin Bonney

In March last year, towards the end of my extended stay in Arizona, Phyllis received visitors from Switzterland. René Voegtli and his son Thassos had come to interview Phyllis as part of a film he was making called 'Reconciliation'. I felt an immediate rapport with this vibrant and sympathetic man, and was impressed with the brother-like relationship he seemed to have with his son, a tall young man who had done a crash-course in filming to add to his photographic skills.

René had already met and interviewed Phyllis the previous year, in Germany, and came armed with questions from many masters, explaining his motivation for making such a film: the timing was right for an open discussion of issues that had caused divisions and wrong assumptions in the Reiki community for many years, beginning shortly after Hawayo Takata's death. This purpose really resonated with me, as I had recently attended the Succession event held in Mexico, and it was clear that, in order  for the community to approach the subject of Succession with any hope of success, we'd need to take our understanding to a whole new level of consciousness. So I felt honored and excited to be invited to sit in as a witness to the filming sessions.  

After some debate about appropriate lighting, it was decided to create a temporary studio in Phyllis and Joyce's new office near their home. This proved to be perfect.  With a little moving of props and testing of equipment, Rene was ready to ask his first question.  These questions were answered by Phyllis at length and in detail, with many digressions for illustration and from her Lineage Bearer space of wisdom and compassion. I sat behind René, facing Phyllis and being in the energy of that room for two days felt to me like an initiation. In fact the energy was so strong I had to retreat to bed for the final half-day of filming!  

René was deeply appreciative of the openness and generosity with which Phyllis shared so much of herself, her experience, her history, her memories and her willingness to re-visit places of old pain in her Reiki history. In fact, he was left with 50 hours of footage, far too much for the planned film, yet far too valuable to be discarded. Thanks to a huge amount of work by himself and his team, he has now used this unique material to create short video clips which can be downloaded (for a small fee to cover costs) for the use of Reiki students everywhere. This should prove to be an invaluable resource for master training as well as a wonderful Reiki-archive for future generations. The feature film, 'Reconciliation on the Path of Mastery', will be freely available on YouTube.   

I am deeply grateful to have been a witness to this process, and have no doubt that this new resource for the community will, indeed, go a long way towards the reconciliation that René, and all of us, seek so that we can let go of past hurts and move on to a higher expression of our studentship.


What is Regenerative Development? How long has Phyllis been involved with this?
 Regenerative Development is the practice of actively engaging in thinking in wholes instead of separate parts, so that individuals and communities grow naturally into their full potential.

Coached by Ben Haggard, Phyllis has been practicing regenerative thinking since 2010. She engages in this as a way to guide the global Reiki community in preparing to deepen understanding of the gift we carry while nourishing the  Reiki practice for future generations.
Ben Haggard
The Nine Elements of Usui Shiki Ryoho
- A Regenerative Walk
with Kristin Bonney and Sally Pickard
  20-22 October 2017, Newmarket, UK  
Fully residential, GBP340.00  

Do we think of the Elements as individual parts of a hierarchical list, or can we experience them as a dynamic entity of interconnected wholes?   Can we connect with them in a new way, developing our potential to serve life through our conscious expression of Reiki?   We are excited to be exploring these questions and deepening our enquiry into the System we practice, using simple Living Frameworks to assist us in seeing with new eyes.

Register Here
Calendar of Events for 2017
Please note there are additional dates added in the autumn since our last message

March

24-26  AMFR Meeting France - Paul Mitchell More info
 
27 - April 2 The Way to Harmony  Paul Mitchell 
France  Organizer: Jean Francois Roussot  Register here 

April

7-13   The Way to Harmony - Paul Mitchell
UK Organizer: Vrinda Anjali Register Register here Register here

18-24 The Way to Harmony - Paul Mitchell
Wettenbostel, Germany Organizer: Irene Gelmi  To register: Register here

30 - May 7    The Reiki Alliance Conference 
Sofia, Bulgaria Paul Mitchell attending 

May
16-22  Preparation and Initiation of Masters - Phyllis Furumoto
Green Valley AZ USA 
  Register here                

June
6 - 11  Usui III - Paul Mitchell and Phyllis Furumoto
Spokane WA USA 
Organizer:  Kandy Brandt Register here

22 - 25
Global Reiki Webinar Gathering:  We are Sacred Earth - Phyllis Furumoto and Rachel Goldberg

August

16-20 OGM Retreat 2017 -  Paul Mitchell and Phyllis Furumoto
COD Ranch    Oracle Arizona USA  Register here

September

15 - 20
Healing through the Four Aspects and Family Constellation - Paul Mitchell and Dr. Rainer Stephen
Moscow, Russia   Organzier: Natasha Litvinova, Register here

21 - 27
Way to Harmony (Advanced) - Paul Mitchell
Moscow, Russia Organzier: Natasha Litvinova, Register here

28 - Oct 2
Silent Retreat - Paul Mitchell
Moscow, Russia   Organzier: Natasha Litvinova, Register here

October

4 - 10
Way to Harmony - Paul Mitchell
St Petersburg, Russia  Organizer: Lena Gourova:    Register Here

6-13
English speaking tour:  The Essence of our Practice - Phyllis Furumoto
Kyoto Japan  Register here

November

14-21
English speaking tour:  The Essence of our Practice - Phyllis Furumoto
Kyoto Japan Register here 

December

6-10 The Universe is Conspiring for Your Good - Paul Mitchell & Laurence Fontaine
Portland Oregon Area, USA  Organizer: Ellen Montague Register here

 
Global Reiki Webinars for 2017
 
Please check on the Facebook page Global Reiki Webinars for registration links including possible changes in topics, time and date.
 
Time-Space, Our 4th dimension in Reiki
Saturday March 25  7:00 pm GMT
From
London, UK
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