Thursday, February 08, 2007

Reiki and Kundalini: The same path with dfferent names?

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Reiki is the art of healing oneself on many levels. It is a slow and effective therapy. Kundalini is the science of raising one’s consciousness to higher levels, experiencing the unification with God/ Almighty, following the set of rituals.

Reiki has been known barely for 150 years and Kundalini is the ancient practice of India. Both have originated from different cultures and in different times. These practices are mystical in nature, pointing to one source.

If a beginner looks at Reiki and Kundalini as two different therapies then they will be right in their own sense. But a realized person point of view and conclusion about these two practices will be entirely different. It will vary from one person to the other. For me, I honor both and see them as two streams of one ‘Ganges’. The similarity and the essence are striking in both spiritual traditions.
The only difference is that Reiki focuses on healing and Kundalini is Holy Union, Oneness.

Let us look at it from the point of view of Reiki. Reiki starts with the five principles of ‘Living in Today’. These principles are the basis of ‘surrender’ and ‘insight’. This is the classic approach to help the student realize that surrender is the basis of everyday life in action leading to enlightenment. Kundalini practitioners are also taught such principles in form of ancient teachings, hymns and poetry of great saints. They are tested. One of the surrender of their ego is to bowing in front of the master. They are also taught principles and techniques to let go of the anger, acceptance, realize compassion and be the same, thankfulness and live in now.

Reiki’s healing secret is to be the empty vessel through which the energy must flow. The core teaching of ‘Kundalini’ is the secret to become the hollow bamboo/ flute and let the God/Lord play his music through you.

Reiki further moves on to the attunement of the student who needs to learn it. Attunement is the process of lifting up the energies of one person. It clears and filters the elements not needed in the body. One is needed to meditate, relax and let go of the ego before the attunement. Attunement is the process that can be done only by a teacher who is authorized to do so.
It is same as the ‘Shaktipat’ in Kundalini tradition. The only difference was that the person had to clear his energies and be completely egoless, through the years of practice and strict regime, which he/she must follow under the teacher’s guidance. Once the teacher thinks he/she is ready for receiving the energy then only the ceremony takes place. Even in Reiki, there are teacher who refuse to give attunements to students whom they think are not ready for it. ‘Shaktipat’ elevates the person’s ‘Karmas’. Karmas are the energies of the past blocking the overall progress of any person.

One needs to heal, keeping the hands on the specific parts of the body. This aligns and clears the energies in those parts of the body. Most of the specified hand positions fall on the ‘Chakras’, a major part of study in Kundalini practice. ‘Chakras’ literally means wheel. These wheels are vortexes of energies in the body. These vortexes are formed where the maximum numbers of nerves meet.

So when one heals the Chakras starting from Root Chakra to the Crown Chakra, they are guiding the energy to move upwards. This is precisely the method of Kundalini to rise ‘The serpent energy’ starting from the base or ‘Mooladhara’ to the ‘Sahasrara’.

Even the very basic technique of breathing and calming is the act of balancing the ‘Ida’ and ‘Pingala’ nadis, which helps in raising ‘Sushumna’, the path on which the serpent energy moves. The only difference is the ‘Breathing practices’. While in Reiki they breathe through navel, in Kundalini practice it is the ‘Alternate breathing’ or the ‘Nadi Shodhan’.

One of the added benefits of Reiki healing is opening of the ‘Third Eye’ or the ‘Spiritual Center’. This helps in connecting to the Spirit World and guidance from beyond. It also opens up the vast ocean of untapped knowledge. This is easily achieved by Reiki but not understood as clearly. It is a ‘Power’ or a ‘Siddhi’, which is achieved by the practice of continuous ‘Saadhna’. Oncethe Spiritual Eye is activated, the practitioner also achieves the power to see and read auras, past, present and future of everybody around him/her. Though he/she has to practice continually, if possible under the guidance of a teacher. However, it maybe noted that the Reiki practitioners find this awakening of Third Eye as amazing and amusing in the beginning because of the ignorance about such a power. Eventually they will get accustomed to it and use it for the benefits of themselves and other people.

Last but the least the goal of raising Kundalini is to achieve ‘Enlightenment’. Reiki was brought in the world by Mikao Usui after he got Enlightened. So there must be some deeper roots to the Secret Power of this Healing Energy called Reiki. And the secret is revealed by the Reiki symbols.

Whether the path is same or different or the practices have their differences or similarities, the ultimate goal is to be in the ‘Spiritual Consciousness’, know that ‘Oneness’ and be that ‘Happiness’.

There is more to it. I will reveal more secrets on Reiki and ancient practice of Kundalini and Enlightenment. Keep watching for more. Do send if you have any questions regarding Reiki and Kundalini on mansy_b@yahoo.com.

This article was written by Manisha Bansal (Ma Amrita), founder Ivedas. She is an ICRT(Reiki.org) certified Reiki, Karuna Reiki, Yoga and Meditation teacher. She teaches all levels of Reiki & Karuna Reiki including Mastership, Money Mantra (Attract riches, be rich), Meditation, Laya Yoga (Schynchronisity), Laughter Yoga and Chakras on one to one and group basis by appointment. She also conducts Healing sessions and Treatments for those in need. She conducts classes in India and USA. Read more about her on http://kriyacorporation.com/manisha_bansal.htm.

Read more about Reiki and Meditation on http://aananda.blogspot.com/, http://www.whatismeditation.com/. If you want to learn Reiki, see the course description at http://www.ivedas.com/.

Copyright: The article cannot be published, republished and/or quoted in any other print, electronic media without taking the necessary permissions from Manisha Bansal in writing. Doing so will be considered as a legal offence, subject to the court of law.

2 comments:

M said...

I enjoyed your posting. I suppose I never thought of comparing Reiki and Kundalini, although both being so spiritual in nature and replete with the movement of energy, they must be related. Some food for thought...

Manisha Baliga said...

Hello There
How are you? I just thought of saying hello and let you know that I am grateful to you for sharing your thoughts.