Today’s message is one that reflects some of the private conversations that so many of us have had with God. Whether we pray on our knees, talk to ourselves while driving, or cry quietly and simply ask ‘Why?’, today’s message touches on many of the questions that we so often don’t know how to answer, but that seem to come up again and again as we experience humanity.

Some people try to explain that evil does not exist, or that it is merely a psychological factor. But this is not so. The evidence of evil is here in this world. We cannot deny it. If there is no evil, why would Jesus pray, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil”? He is praying plainly that evil does exist.

So the truth is, we do find evil in this world. And where did it come from? God. Evil provides the opportunity for us to recognize and experience goodness. Evil had to be, if there was to be any creation. If you wrote a message with white chalk on a white board, no one would see it. So without the blackboard, the good things in this world wouldn’t be visible. For instance, Judas was Jesus’ best publicity agent. By his evil act, Judas made Christ eternally famous. Jesus knew the role he had to play, and all that was going to happen to him in order that he might demonstrate the love and greatness of God. A villain was necessary to this enactment.

Perfection is not to be found in this world

It’s hard to know where the dividing line is between good and evil. Certainly it is terrible that bacteria kills billions people every hundred years, but think of the chaos of overpopulation. And if everything here were good and perfect, no one would leave this Earth of his or her own accord; no one would want to go back to God. So in a sense, misery is your best friend, because it starts you seeking God. When you begin to see clearly the imperfection of the world, you will begin to seek the perfection of God. The truth is that God is using evil, not to destroy us, but to make us disillusioned with His toys, with the playthings of this world, so that we might see Him.

This is why the Lord Himself permits injustices and evil. But I have said to Him, “Lord, You have always been perfect. How do you know what suffering is? Yet you have put us through these tests; and you had no business doing it. We didn’t ask to be born as mortals and to suffer.” (He doesn’t mind that I argue with him. He is very patient.) The Lord answered, “You don’t have to go on suffering; I have given everyone the free will to choose good instead of evil.”

So evil is the test of God, to see if we will choose Him or His gifts. He created us in His image and gave us the power to choose for ourselves. But we so often don’t use that power consciously. At night, when we leave our bodies during sleep, we all return to our Godlike states. But in the daytime, we become devils – not all of us, but most of us – the unconscious among us. Why not live in tune with God in the daytime, for then we shall know no fear, we shall know no evil. It is easy to say this, but how easy is it to put into practice?

While evil in itself is something we don’t want, yet it is like a poisoned honey, it is palpable, it is tasty. At the table, we are tempted to eat too much, and to eat the wrong things. Then we begin to get fat here and there, just where we don’t want it. In response to our wrong actions, Nature takes revenge and seems to be poking fun at us all the time. It is indeed a funny world! But the results of our wrong actions don’t seem very funny to us! Believe me, I know! This is why many of us quarrel with God and scold Him, “Why have you created all of these terrible temptations that your children succumb to? Why have you made them so pleasurable?” Well, the lesson is simple: the Law of Cause and Effect.

So, since there is no perfection in this world, why continue to seek it here? You may find a little short-lived pleasure, but mostly you will find suffering and injustice. Pain was given to make you know when something is wrong with the body. But when the pain of cancer comes, there is no reason in it. The sufferer has no relief from his pain, and he doesn’t know why he has to suffer. And there are those who need money and can’t get it, and those who don’t need it who easily acquire more. Those who have much want still more; and those who have nothing want just a little, but can’t get even that. Isn’t this true? Why these injustices? Some people are as healthy as can be, and some are always sick. But health or disease doesn’t necessarily determine whether or not you are happy. St. Francis suffered much of the time, yet he was healing the sick and was filled with the joy of God. Suffering has a different meaning for you when you have attained the freedom of God. But you have to attain that freedom first.

We must learn to work without desire, and to live in this world without attachment. As soon as you are caught up in desires and attachments, you will have all the evil that is coming to you. That is why the Gita says “O Arjuna! No (compelling) duty have I to perform! There is naught that I have not acquired! Nothing in the three worlds remains for me to gain! Yet I am consciously present in the performance of all actions.” Those who want to be liberated must do likewise, engaging in service-ful, joyful, and non-attached activity. Most people willingly work hard for money, but they won’t make even a little effort for their salvation. We must work for God. The way to do this is to stop cooperating with evil and to behave as God would have us behave.

We must love one another. Sometimes it is not easy, but to love your enemy means to choose not to become another person’s enemy. By a thought, any one of us could destroy another, but why would we want to? Jesus had that power. When his enemies taunted him to save himself from the cross, he said, “Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then shall the scripture be fulfilled, that thus it must be?” He conquered by love. If the ordinary man is slapped, the great desire is to slap back. Therefore, God does not give His divine power to those who are spiritually weak, because they would misuse it. The desire and the strength to forgive comes from attunement with God.

How few you find in this world who are sincere and who want to be your friend for your sake, and not for something they can take from you. Those sincere souls are most enjoyable. Greater than all riches is true friendship. If you can be a true friend to people, you will find God. If you sincerely love people, you can know them, just as when you look through a clear glass, you can see what is in the glass. But your perception of people is unclear unless you love God, and unless you love others with the love of God.

“I can give my life for a sincere soul”

In this world, we will all eventually learn that we must be fearless, sincere, and surround ourselves not only with those whom we can inspire, but with those who can inspire us as well. When we attain heightened levels of clarity, we can begin to help those who are ‘evil’, but trying to do this when we are not yet strong enough ourselves will weaken us. So many of those who try to reform others become infected with their evil.

If you have a mind that absorbs everything like blotting paper, you must keep that mind free from evil influences. Just as blotter paper that has become snaked with spilled oil will no longer absorb water, so must your mind first be saturated with good until it becomes impervious to evil.

Be strong in your own goodness, and try to be helpful to others. The man who only looks out for himself and his own family won’t find much happiness. If he doesn’t think of anyone else who might be suffering, he denies himself the joy of helping another, so his own cup of satisfaction will remain small.

The Cosmic Motion Picture

There is another angle to duality, or good and evil. If a movie producer made motion pictures only from select angles, and showed them in the film houses morning, noon and night every day, he would soon have to close-up business. He has to produce variety in order to attract people’s attention. The bad man makes the hero look so much better! And we like plots that are filled with action. We don’t mind looking at exciting movies about danger and disaster because we know that they are only movies. I remember one time when I was taken to see a movie in which the hero died; it was such a tragedy! So I stayed and watched the next showed until I saw the hero alive again, then I left the theater.

If you could see what is going on behind the screen of this life, you wouldn’t suffer at all. It is a cosmic motion picture show. This movie that God is projecting on the screen of this Earth has no value once you see what goes on behind the screens. Look at the beam of God’s light that is projecting these scenes onto the screen of life. See the pictures of the whole universe coming from this beam. See beyond the illusion.

Another time, I was sitting in a movie theater watching an exciting drama on the screen. At a certain point, I looked up into the projection booth and saw that the projectionist wasn’t interested in the picture, because he had seen it over and over again. Instead, he was reading a book. The projection machine was doing its job; there was the sound, and the beam of light was casting the realistic pictures onto the screen. And there was the audience, caught up in the drama. I thought, “Lord, You are like this man, sitting here in the booth, absorbed in your own nature of bliss and love and wisdom. Your machine of cosmic law is throwing on the screen of the universe scenes of jealousy, of love, of hatred, of wisdom, but you remain uninvolved in your plays.” From age to age, from civilization to civilization, the same old pictures are shown over and over again, only with different characters playing the parts.

When I took my gaze from the beam of light that was casting the scenes on the screen, I looked at the audience and I saw that they were going through all the emotions of the actors in the movie. They were suffering with the hero and reacting to the evil of the villain. To the audience, it was a tragic experience. To the operator in the projection booth, it was only a picture. And so it is with God. He has created pictures of light and shadows, the hero and the villain, good and evil, and we are the audience and the actors. It is only when we identify with the play that we get in trouble!

Without shadows existing alongside the light, there could be no picture. Evil is the shadow that converts the one beam of God’s light into pictures or forms. Therefore, evil is the shadow of God that makes this play possible. The dark shadows of evil are interspersed with the pure white beam of the virtues of God. He wants you not to take these pictures so seriously. The director of a movie sees the murders and the suffering and the comedy and the drama as a means to create interest for the audience. He stands apart from the play and directs and observes it. God wants us to behave with detachment, realizing we are only actors or observers in His cosmic show.

Though God has everything, it can still be said that he has some desire: He wants to see who will remain un-intimidated by this picture, and who will play his part well and come back to Him. You can’t run away from this universe, but if you act in this play with your thought fixed on God, you will be free.

If you feel like saying to God, “Lord, this is a motion picture to you, but it is terrible to us”, He may reply, “I make you realize it is a dream every night when you go to sleep. You simply forget this in the daytime.”

For him who realizes God, there is no evil

The way to supreme happiness will not be found by the scientists nor the material-minded people alone, but by those who follow the masters who say: “Go back to the booth of the Infinite from which you can see the projection of all these cosmic motion pictures. Then you won’t be troubled about God’s creation, God’s play…”

When you are part of the delusion, you suffer.
When you stand aside and watch it, you cannot suffer.
When you are an observer, you can enjoy this play.

And with that, a little story to end today’s message:

A king fell asleep and dreamed that he was poor. He was crying out in his sleep for just a penny for some food. Finally, the queen woke him and said, “What is the matter with you? Your treasury is full of gold, and yet you are crying for a penny.”

Then the king said, “Oh, how silly of me, I thought I was a beggar and was starving for lack of that penny.”

Such is the delusion of every soul that is dreaming it is a mortal, subject to the nightmarish evils of all kinds of disease, suffering, troubles, and heartbreaks. The only way to escape this nightmare is detaching from the dream images of this world. It is because you have your attention on the illusions that you suffer. If you give your heart to man, or to drink, or to greed, or to drugs, you will suffer. Your heart will be broken. The more you seek peace in God, the more peace will devour your worries and sufferings. Suffering comes when the evils of the world are let in. When we learn to be spiritually tough, we enable ourselves to be filled with joy, and thus, evil-free.

The attunement process is a ceremony of spiritual awakening that symbolizes the creation of a new connection between you and the Universal Source of Light that aligns you with your Highest Good. You can imagine it as being similar to the process of turning the dial on a radio to find a station. During an attunement, you are ‘tuned in’ to a different station. In other words, you are being attuned to a higher frequency.

A Reiki attunement must be given by a Reiki Master. A Reiki Master is someone who devotes themselves to attaining and maintaining a very high frequency of energy respective to the general masses. A Master’s connection to the Universal flow of energy is high enough that he or she can create a stronger connection between you and the Universal flow. After the final attunement, a person is technically labeled a Reiki Master, but the process of attaining Master-hood takes an undefined amount of time, depending solely on the person.

One of the unique characteristics of Reiki is its tradition of attuning people to the different levels of vibration that are represented in each degree. During the first degree, you receive four attunements and the second and third degree each require one attunement. Attunements are short ceremonies in which the Reiki Master performs a sequence of acts that connect you to a greater flow of energy. The ceremonies create an energy pattern around you when the Reiki Master imprints symbols into your aura. Your energy frequency immediately adjusts to the higher frequency represented by the Reiki symbols. The attunement is permanent.

Remember the definition of Reiki. It means ‘Universal Life Force Energy’. When someone says that they work with Reiki energy, it doesn’t mean that they are accessing a special kind of energy.

I work with Reiki energy = I work with Universal Life Force Energy

There is no distinction between ‘different types of energy’. There simply is energy, or there is no energy. There is no ‘good energy’. There is no ‘negative energy’. Once you realize that everything is energy, you begin to fully understand what the attunement process is and what being a Reiki practitioner means.

There are many sources that will tell you that the purpose of an attunement is to allow you to access ‘Reiki energy’ in order to heal a person or a situation. This is misleading. The purpose of an attunement is simply to give you greater access to the Universal flow of energy. What you choose to do with this new connection is up to you although it is important to recognize that wanting an attunement in order to heal others or to heal a situation are secondary desires.

You will not be able to heal anyone or anything until you begin to heal yourself.

To heal means to balance.

Until you balance yourself, your ability to balance elements around you is limited.

Enlightenment is a two-way process. You are invited to share your experiences of attunement with others who have gone through it and/or who have questions about it by adding your comment here Why don’t I start by sharing an attunement experience with you…

I was attuned to master level in Toronto, Canada – although I was slow to start and tried to ignore that inner voice for as long as I could…because of fear.

My whole attunement process took approximately 2-3 years. I had intensive periods of lessons and attunements with my teacher. These were followed by longer periods with little-to-no contact with him during which time I was encouraged to put the teachings into practice and to observe the changes that were to take place within myself, in my life and to those around me.

I was not encouraged nor deterred from giving Reiki sessions to others. My teacher was supportive throughout the process. I was often reminded that free will was a governing Universal Law and I had the choice each step of the way.

As I became more and more comfortable with the changes that came with this process, I began to hear that little voice in my head more often…although I wasn’t as afraid of it anymore. I noticed myself being inspired to try new things and face fears that I knew were holding me back. I took Kundalini Yoga classes which I thoroughly enjoyed, and opened a Reiki practice that allowed me to give Reiki sessions and attunements to others.

After about a year and a half of advertising myself as a Reiki practitioner – all in the name of empowering others with the benefits of Reiki, I decided to close down shop. My personal experience made me feel that offering Reiki in exchange for money tainted the process and actually limited to flow of energy. This is my experience, and I am by no means saying that this will be the case for everyone.

Since my first attunement, I progressively learned more about energy and made the conscious choice to apply what felt right. After experimenting with different approaches, I decided that rather than singing in the streets about the ‘miracle of energy’, I would respect the fact that everyone chooses for themselves and took the indirect route of simply providing the information to others through my site.

There are three degrees of Reiki practitioners. If you choose to go through the process, feel free to ask your teachers about the topics listed below.

The First Degree

In the first degree, students tend to learn about the following things:

• The History of Reiki
• The Attunement Process
• Energy
• The Chakra System
• How to do Reiki on yourself
• Hand Positions

The Second Degree

In the second degree, the following information is revealed:

• How to do Reiki on others
• Symbol of Power
• Symbol for Mental/Emotional Healing
• Symbol of Distance Healing
• Self Empowerment Positions
• The Bodies
• Kundalini Energy
• The Rays of Manifestation

The Third Degree

The third degree is taught in one of two ways, depending on the Master’s beliefs. Traditionally, the third degree was the highest level in Reiki. At this level, you were taught everything about the final symbols and how to attune others.

Through time, it became evident that many people wanted to reach the third degree and learn more about Reiki but had no intention of teaching or felt that they were not ready to guide others. For these reasons, many Reiki Masters saw the need for an intermediate stage between the second degree and Master level. The tradition of only having three degrees broke, and the third degree split into two parts: 3A and 3B. Under this adjusted system, people normally train up to level 3A unless they want to become a Reiki Master and teach Reiki.

At level 3B, people learn how to pass the Reiki philosophy onto others and give attunements.

After you are attuned to the First Degree, you have a new choice in front of you…

You can choose to begin working on yourself, or you can return to the life you led before your first thought of Reiki appeared. (Although you are reminded that since you have initiated a powerful energy transformation within you, beneficial changes will occur slowly even if you do not practice on yourself every day – they will simply be more subtle and unconscious.) If you choose to embrace a new level of vibration into your existence, then there are a few things to keep in mind.

Firstly, you have been given access to a much greater flow of energy then you were most likely connected to prior to your first attunement. In order to develop a full awareness of what it feels like to actually function on a day to day basis at a higher frequency, you have a responsibility to work on yourself as often as you can. You may choose to do a Reiki session on yourself once a week. You may also choose to do full Reiki sessions on yourself twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening. Rather than imposing rules, it is suggested that the more energy you allow to directly flow through you, the greater results you will notice.

Working on yourself

The most important thing to remember is not to judge. Judgment diminishes the results of a treatment, but in a way that you may not expect. If you judge what happens, you will by no means be punished for it. It is simply a case of energy distribution. If you choose to judge, you are utilizing energy for the creation of doubt and fear. The energy that is used to judge is then no longer available in the moment to balance your chakras, heal your body, sooth your mind and all of the other benefits that come with attuning to a higher vibration. Remember that there is a cause to every effect. If you choose to think one way, you will be affected in that way. Rather then creating illusions of what you think is happening, put faith in the process and simply BE within the energy.

A reiki session may start off as an exercise in meditation. You may wish to clear your mind as you place your hands on your chakras because our minds get in the way of the things we are here to work through. You may find that you drift off into a place where you are not exactly sleeping, but not completely awake either. Sometimes your body asks for a deep rest during a session and will put you to sleep in order for you to receive the full benefit from a session. You may dream or see visions. You may have thoughts that you would normally have missed in a busier state. You may not remember anything that happens during your session including when your hands moved to different positions but your inner knowing tells you that all was done perfectly.

Allow nature to run its course. Your body enters into its natural state of harmony while energizing. At first you will feel the differences between your natural state of peace during Reiki and your daily state of preoccupation with life. Once you pass this stage, you will transition into a more harmonious state even while walking down the street. It is a process. Allow it to take you to your highest good and trust that you are cared for by the powers of love.

Many souls will look to different ways of becoming fully enlightened. If any school of thought does not lead you within, you should remove yourself from that school. However, if it leads you within, you can be sure you’re on the right track. All the answers, knowledge, enlightenment, and peace lies within you. You will never become truly enlightened by any school, nor by any person external of yourself. It does not do any harm to be aware of another’s opinion. Just remember; you are cautioned not to become that opinion.

The Intention Meditation is a wonderful guided meditation from Deepra Chopra’s website. It speaks of Inner Power – that it is available to us whenever we remember about it, and that all we have to do is quiet our external self and listen to the internal wisdom of the inner Self. Gratitude is also a great focus of this meditation. We are gently reminded that we have a choice – do we hold onto grievances, or do we choose to let them free?

Power of Intention – focusing our attention…and our intention.

The meditation is about 15 minutes long, and includes a few minutes of introduction. The gentle chimes/gongs are phenomenally clearing, cleansing and tuning. One of the great pleasures I get from this meditation is experiencing the vibrations that emanate out of my computer when it plays! Even if you don’t want to go into a deep trance and dedicate yourself to a full on meditation session, I find it a beautiful experience in and of itself to simply listen…

At a certain point, you are asked to repeat your personal mantra. If you don’t have one that comes to mind, you can simply repeat Om (Aum) to yourself, or if you’d like, you can try the one that I’ve been using – Om Namah Shivaya pronounced Aum Num-ha Shi-why or Aum Num-ha Shi-vaya.

May Peace Flow Through You