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The
Gokai:
The Five 'Principles', 'Precepts' or
'Ideals' of Usui Reiki
Copyright
© 2006 James Deacon
The
Gokai
"The
secret method of inviting blessings, the spiritual medicine of many
illnesses (Shôfuku no hihô, Manbyo no rei yaku)
Just for today (Kyo dake wa):
Don't get angry (Okoru na*)
Don't worry (Shinpai su na)
Be grateful (Kansha shite)
Work diligently (Gyo wo hage me)
Be
kind to others (Hito ni shinsetsu ni)
Mornings and evenings sit in the gassho position and repeat these
words out loud and in your heart (Asa you gassho shite kokoro ni nenji
kuchi ni tonaeyo)
For the improvement of mind and
body (Shin shin kaizen)
Usui
Spiritual Healing Method (Usui Reiki Ryoho)
The founder,
Mikao Usui (Chossô, Usui Mikao)"
* * * * *
The
Significance of the Gokai
Many
people believe that the gokai - the Five
Principles or Precepts - are an important key to
the system that is Usui Reiki Ryoho.
Perhaps
it is that they are not just 'important'
but rather 'VITAL' - that they are the very CORE of Usui-sensei's
system - that the Precepts themselves are:
"The secret method of inviting blessings, the spiritual medicine of
many illnesses" spoken of in the introductory statement which comes
directly before the Precepts themselves.
The
Precepts themselves are 'keys' or strategies
to apply to life.
In fact,
at least two of the Precepts clearly fall in the
cartegory of straight-forward, direct 'preventative medicine'. [See
article: Just
For Today.. ]
Different
versions of the gokai?
As you
will be seen below, there are
numerous slightly different paraphrased translations of each of the
five principles.
In a
couple of renditions of the principles, no's 3 and 4 are merged
together [1]
(and in one case, principles 1 and 2 are also combined into a single
principle [2]
), yet whatever the version, these differenty-worded translations still
essentially all deal of the same five concepts:
anger,
worry, gratitude, work, kindness
"Honour
your parents..."
Some
people have commented why one version of the principles has 'Honour
your parents, teachers and elders' where the majority of others have
the 'gratitude' principle
On
several occasions Takata-sensei expressed the principles in slightly
different wording - in an attempt to clarify the core sentiment for the
students present at the time - and this is partly why different people
use slightly variant wordings.
It was
common for Takata sensei to state the
'gratitude' principle as "We will count our blessings" or "... be
grateful for our many blessings" and to qualify this by explaining
gratitude included honouring our fathers and mothers, teachers and
neighbours - and even our food.
To
Takata sensei, the greatest of the five was
Gratitude.
"Mornings and
evenings..."
The
'user instructions' presented with the formal Japanese version of the
principles (at the top of this page) tell us:
"Mornings
and evenings sit in the gassho
position and repeat these words out loud and in your heart"
And as a
result, many people seem to consider the gokai as
being something to only use in this way - seeing
them simply as a set of 'positive-thinking' affirmations - or
alternatively, as some form of, as it were, 'magic incantation'.
Yes, we may
practice gokai sansho (repeating the five
principles three times) both on rising and on going to bed - and this can
help to imprint them on our subconscious - but I feel too much emphasis
is placed on chanting them, and possibly not enough
on living by them.
Stronger
feeling when recited in English
or Japanese?
Some
people claim to get a stronger feeling whilst
reciting one paraphrased English (or other language) version of the
principles; yet others, while reciting the 'formal' Japanese version;
but in my opinion, the real power of the gokai
only truly manifests in the instances of their application
in the midst of daily life.
Examples of some of the
slightly
different paraphrased translations of each of the five principles.
Just for today [i.e.
focus in the here-and-now]:
Principle
1 has been variously stated as:
Do not
anger
Don't get angry
Thou shall not anger
I will not be angry
I will let go of anger
Principle
2 has been variously stated as:
Do not worry
Don't be anxious
Thou shall not worry
I will not
worry
I will let go of worry
Principle
3 has been variously stated as:
Be grateful
Show appreciation
Thou shall be grateful for the many
blessings
I will give thanks for my many blessings
I will count my many blessings
Express your thanks
Show gratitude to every living thing
Honor your parents,
teachers and elders
Principle
4 has been variously stated as:
Work hard
Study diligently
Devote yourself to your work
Earn
thy livelihood with honest labor
I will do my work honestly
Be diligent in your business
Principle
5 has been variously stated as:
Be kind to people
Be kind to others
Be kind to thy neighbors
I will
be kind to every living thing
I will be kind to every living
creature
Show compassion to every living thing
* * * *
*
A
personal phrasing of the gokai
- from my Ajari-yuga
Empowerment-Deepening Reiki Meditation:
_________________
NOTES:
*
The Japanese characters
pronounced
as okoru
can also be pronounced as ikaru
- so we can say 'okoru na' or alternatively 'ikaru
na'
[1] eg:
Do not anger
Do not worry
Do your work with gratitude
Be kind to
others
[2]
Today only, anger not - worry not
Do your work with
appreciation
Be kind to people
