GUEST BLOG: Four of the 22 masters initiated by Mrs. Takata attended the Northwest Reiki Gathering: Phyllis Furumoto, Paul Mitchell, Wanja Twan and Rick Bockner. Each was extremely approachable.

If you are practicing on others, especially as a hospital or hospice volunteer, and you are not practicing daily self-treatment, you may well be a Reiki martyr. (Audible gasp) “But,” you sputter, “Reiki is safe. I was taught that Reiki is safe.”

“Ask, ask, ask.” As insistent as dandelions in a lawn, the word invaded my awareness, but why? I dropped inside to listen. What was this “Ask” about?

GUEST BLOGGER Reiki master and Takata student Susan Mitchell tells us how Mrs. Takata performed the Reiki nerve stroke.

Striding up Fourth Avenue on a cold November morning en route to sit-in on my First degree class at Beth Israel Medical Center, Reiki practitioner and artist Muriel Stockdale finds Hawayo, and Takata.

GUEST BLOGGER Susan Mitchell: Hawayo Takata always said, “Reiki brings us health, success, happiness, and long life.” When she talked about these qualities, her voice held a wonderful lightness and wisdom. Part of the “success” she talked about certainly had to do with money.

Reiki master Marta Getty had been practicing Reiki less than six months when Hawayo Takata arrived in Getty’s hometown of Eugene, Oregon in 1980. Marta remembers the petite 79-year-old as a “remarkable woman, clear and very strong,” and shares several delightful stories from their time together.

It’s tempting to take stories of great teachers and turn them into rules, but doing this stunts your growth rather than nurturing it. Instead, give yourself the time to let these stories settle into your heart.

It’s not that Mrs. Takata never discussed a fee. But she sure didn’t this time.