Is meditation realy needed?

[Che Guebuddha]

Hallo friends,

As you can see we got a new forum called Reiki and Meditation  

NOTE; I am Not an Authority in mediation, I started studying meditation recently.

As some of you might have noticed not many Reiki practitioners give much attention to meditation when it comes to practising Reiki, even though Usui Sensei him self meditated on Mount Kurama when being "touched" by Reiki
This fact alone sais alot about how important meditation must be.

Some might say: Why meditating, isn't Self-Reiki enough? I can't answer this question for you but I certainly can answer to my self. I am an "experience talks best" kind of dude   so I tried to silence my mind with Self Reiki but didn't get far with it. I have changed my intention for Reiki to help me find a way to silence my Ego Mind and after some time Qigong was sent my way.

Through this practice I got insight in how important meditation is for us as beings with a very active, always problem solving, mind which swings from one side to another like a monkey in a jungle of every day cultural distractions. Even when there isn't a problem our mind will try to find a fancy problem for us to solve (how cool).

What is meditation any way do I need it?

IMO;
Meditation helps us to realise that most of the time we live in past and future, and is there to help bring us into the NOW. How many times we get worried or angry about something and even though we are not involved in that issue any more we still keep on creating mind scenarios about it, making things even worse, letting our mind go into paranoia.
Meditation helps us bring our awareness into the now by observing our breath, the very nature phenomena which makes us a live. We can be dead certain that being with the breath we are experiencing the reality and by noticing this fact we start to see that our thoughts are nothing more but images flying by and we start to feel less and less (with practice) attached to our mind games.

I believe that Reiki is not meditation but something which can help invoke changes in our life and can bring mediation to you. The end result of spirituality is awareness and both Reiki and Meditation can help us get to the point of total control over our own Mind (the conditioned thought patterns).

I always call for Reiki before doing my Qigong exercises or Meditating to empower them. I especially like to recite the Gokai before doing any energy work;
Kyo dake wa
Ikaru na
Shinpaysuna
Kansha shite
Gyo o hageme
Hito ni shinsetsu ni
(I let the power of the Gokai Spirit Words fill my Mind)

So much to start the Forum  

I look forward to your replies and new topics!

Love and Light to All, Rose Quartz

[Coin]

Hello Rose Quartz,

Nice introduction of this very interesting new board on the forum.

I must say my personal opinion is that Reiki and meditation are two completely different things.
Reiki is energy coming from the outside, with meditation I focus on the energy inside.

I have been teached in Zen meditation and still practising it. And I must admit that after a session my hands are flowing energy in enormous waves. Question is if this is a stronger flow caused by the meditation, or that my sensitivity for the energy increase when my thoughts are slowing down in my head.
If I ask my teacher, who is a bhudist munk, he laughs and said it is not important, just sit down and focus on your breath
He likes to keep things simple, meditation is meditation, reiki is reiki, water is water and a frog is green

Just some of my thoughts....

Love, Johan

[Che Guebuddha]

If I ask my teacher, who is a bhudist munk, he laughs and said it is not important, just sit down and focus on your breath Smiley Smiley
He likes to keep things simple, meditation is meditation, reiki is reiki, water is water and a frog is green

  I like his spirit 

I totally agree with him! Even though (in this case) meditation, Reiki and water (not sure where to put the frog though) are 3 different and separate phenomena, they sure help us greatly in living a healthy life full of awareness. Reiki can not replace our need for water and Meditation can not heal as good as Reiki can and Reiki can not silence our thoughts as good as Meditation does 

It would be plain stupid If I would say that I will stop drinking water and eating food and that practising Reiki is enough as it is for me to live a healthy life 

Question is if this is a stronger flow caused by the meditation, or that my sensitivity for the energy increase when my thoughts are slowing down in my head.

All those questions come from our busy problem solving mind  and that is why it is not important which one it is as soon it Is and we feel content afterwards 
Reiki in my experience can not help much in silencing my mind but it does help in finding the way how to. Reiki also supports me to be consistent in all which benefits my true self. It helps me get out and run even though if it is cold and rainy, it pushes me out of the bed early in the morning to do my Qigong and Meditation afterwards, etc ... Since the day I started Reiki I stopped smoking and drinking coffee, I am now more into Teas and Spirulina drinks and so on

Meditation and Reiki are not the same but we as Reikis hugely benefit from both.
As my Reiki Teacher say;

In prayer you communicate with God, in meditation God communicates with you.

Reiki is so subtle that in accordance to feel it for real one has to reach the same subtle level (I feel). Usui felt it for real even though he didn't know at that meditative moment what it was or at least not it's full potential. Meditation is the key to fully experiencing the energy of Reiki without guessing and assumptions (I feel).

must say my personal opinion is that Reiki and meditation are two completely different things.
Reiki is energy coming from the outside, with meditation I focus on the energy inside.

  As my Qigong Sifu say there is a Big Universe (out side of us) and there is a Small Universe (inside of us) and they both are identical, made of same energy and work on same frequency. All we have to do is tune into that frequency and slow down because life is a wheel and we certainly are not hamsters, or are we  ?
To tune into that frequency we are to truly relax and let go of thoughts because they are only illusions. Treat thought as nothing more than thoughts, absolutely not reality.
In accordance to become aware of it we must meditate, sit in silence and listen to God or Spirit of Reiki or what ever you believe in. The language is silence btw 

I believe that Reiki and Meditation go hand in hand as walking and legs 

I am very happy to know that you meditate Johan, thanks for sharing mate! 

Love and Light, Rose Quartz

[AmonRa]

Hi peeps!


Meditation is a skill that should be taught in elemetary school.   Whatever the discipline you're practicing or studying, meditation should be a part of your daily routine.

Many philosophies tell us to "look inside" for the teacher, and not to rely on gurus and people on the outside.  Studies are very nice only if you take the time to assimilate and integrates what you've learned. Eventually, you have to sit down and meditate to take it in and let the universe guide you to the next step.

Zazen and meditation in general are often misunderstood. The point is not to reach a state of no-mind and stay there just for the esthetics of it. The point is to silence your thoughts long enough for whatever is guiding you in life to come through and show you what you need to know.
The reason in zazen for the confusing riddles is not to put you in a special state of mind... it's just to teach you that if you find yourself with a really weird question with no obvious answer, meditation is the key... just relax and slide down to a meditative state, and if it's deep enough the answer will pop out of the void for you. So when you tell the answer to your teacher, he will know you have reach that point deep inside yourself.

Meditation requires true relaxation, which in turns is beneficial/necessary for many other things, like physical recovery, the ability to feel your Chi flow inside, the ability to feel your chakras in space, and a healthy way of "letting go" daily drama crap.  Meditation should be the 101 chapter of many many books, including "how to study for test" and "how to prepare for sport events".  It's a basic skill that, unfortunately isn't spontaneously taught because it empowers people.  I've read books about how the Jesuits had and still have meditative exercices, aura cleansing visualisations and even chakra works included in their daily routine. They even thought kids in their boarding schools. I've been raised in a christian environmentt but have never heard of that aspect of christianity. I believe giving people the ability to "look inside" and learn without external teachers is a too powerful tool that has been kept secret for a long time.  And remember that you can always teach something while keeping the key points secret... I've been to many zazen sessions in japan, they have no idea what they're doing, and of course it doesn't work.

recently I was talking with a friend who doesn't like being seated or laying down for meditation. We talked about the relative efficiency of activities like walking or gardenning, or even dishwashing in terms of meditative trance, and I do agree to some point that each of us have or should have a personal way of meditating "on the go", without the need to lay down for an hour, but at the same time, I know from personal experience and scientific research that there is no equivalent to being actually seated or in bed, just because to really "go down" into meditation, you need to stop moving, and disconnect from your nervous system so that you don't feel your body anymore. Only then will the brain be able to focus elsewhere, with minimal distractions.

What's important to remember is that if you can't stand being seated or on your back for too long, it just means you're not ready for that part of your training yet. Just focus on something else and come back to it later.

[kaytan]

nice post!
I think meditation and specially ZEN is needed! also  it helps me to understand my mind and the reason of every things! it really works for me!

[Mikhail]

Hi everybody,

As I understand, there are some (or many) people who are looking for practicing of meditation.

I have 20-year experience in teaching meditation and working with consciousness. If you want, you can ask me questions here.

I can state, that serious work with consciousness (mind) is based on several basic principles: body relaxation, spine straightening, and mind calming. If one of these principles is ignored or violated, you will finish with playing with your ego, what most people do. But true meditation dramatically changes you and your relationships with the world.