A LIGHT HEART by Susan Mitchell

Lately, I’ve been hearing Hawayo Takata’s voice in my ear. She 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.

But how do you find or maintain a light heart in the midst of dramatic economic change—change that may be affecting you very personally?

We know we can get pretty stuck around money—and relationships, and health, and other things, too.  You can feel undeserving, guilty, greedy, fearful, mystified, or resentful, to name a few. But all of these emotions are not actually about money, they are about what you’ve been taught, assumptions you’ve made, beliefs, patterns and habits. Money is neutral. When you step back and look at your attitudes about money, you have an opportunity to see what’s driving you—where you’re out of balance.

It is never about money. It’s about love and thus about fear and lack of connection with Source, however you define that. It’s not a question of whether I value myself, of “how much am I worth,” or what I deserve. And it is certainly not a measure of spiritual attainment.

As a friend of mine says: Money is not a measure of your worth, it’s an opportunity for reflection.  It gives you information that is unique to you and your situation. It’s not there to judge you or measure your value.  I find this insight very helpful and tricky and subtle. Your needs and longings deeply affect your relationship with money because they are your core challenges and aspirations.

Reiki teaches us that the deeper our connection with life energy, with Source, the more we will move into right relationship with money, family, friends, ourselves—everything. When we turn to Source to fill our deepest needs, our hearts and minds can remain happy no matter the external. Our minds can be free of worry and fear—just for today.

I’m sure this was the source of the lightness I heard in Hawayo Takata’s voice.

Marta remembers the petite 79-year-old as a “remarkable woman, clear and very strong.” Marta says, “In any space, she really filled it, so you could feel her no matter what she was doing. She was a very powerful speaker in a very gentle and soft way.”

Marta arranged a talk for Mrs. Takata at a local bookstore the evening before a Reiki class was to begin. After the talk, a visibly moved attendee approached Marta with a plea for a fee reduction or payment plan. She wanted so much to practice Reiki but did not have the cash.

Marta dutifully carried the request to Mrs. Takata, but was taken aback by her response. Mrs. Takata said the lady should save her money, so that when she is ready, she will be able to pay the fee, and she will feel better about taking the class.

The woman left on the verge of tears. Marta and her bleeding-heart newbieness were nonplussed.

So nonplussed that she overcame her awe of Mrs. Takata long enough to ask Why, since the woman obviously really wanted to take the class, Mrs. Takata wouldn’t make a concession?

Marta recalls Takata saying, “When she earns the money for this class, and she’s ready to do the class, she will experience it in a completely different way. If I gave it to her I would be making a beggar out of her.”

Marta admits Takata’s point was lost to her at that moment. Mrs. Takata surprised her further by saying, “Don’t worry, I think she will be in this class anyway.”

“You do?” Marta asked.

“Yes,” Mrs. Takata said, “I have a feeling she will be in this class.” Marta was certain there was no chance of that happening.

But the next evening, as the new students were gathering, the woman arrived, cash in hand.

Are you as intrigued as I was?

Revisiting her experience, Marta realizes her sense of awe kept her from getting to know Mrs. Takata “as a human being and as a person.” Marta wishes now that she had known enough then to “ask different questions and to be with her in a different way.” But how could she, when she’d only been practicing Reiki for six months?

Marta’s memories of Takata are priceless nonetheless, meaningful not only to those of us who stay very close to Takata’s teachings and practice style, but also to the diverse Reiki community–and perhaps especially to practitioners who don’t have a continuing relationship with their Reiki master.

I treasure the stories of Mrs. Takata that are told by Reiki masters who deeply honor her. Their memories take on life in my imagination, and I contemplate them again and again to discover more Reiki pearls.

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.

Click here to listen to Marta share this and a couple of other stories in the first 15 minutes of her recent interview with Phyllis Lei Furumoto, Takata’s granddaughter.

If listening and contemplating Marta’s stories brings you deeper insight, please share your understanding in a comment below. To keep this a safe space for everyone to share, I ask you to write only your personal understanding; please do not comment on someone else’s experience.

And if you enjoy Marta’s stories, you will surely enjoy Helen Haberly’s book Reiki: Hawayo Takata’s Story. Although we now understand that the story of Reiki given was not factual, the second part of the book is a series of stories from Mrs. Takata’s Reiki treatments, as told by one of her students. Click here for more information.

*Mrs. Takata brought Reiki from Japan to the US with her Reiki master, Chujiro Hayashi.

Related posts: Reiki and Money, Waiting for Second Degree