Mastering the Law of Manifestation is one of the most essential spiritual practices for a student on the path. Following are many principles that serve as the foundation for mastery of this important law.

1. The first part of the Law of Manifestation is that we must learn to manifest with all three of our minds – the conscious, subconscious and superconscious minds – using them in perfect harmony, balance and integration.
2. Awareness that we ARE the soul and NOT the personality is essential. If we manifest from the consciousness of personality, we will see ourselves as separate from our brothers and sisters – indeed, from creation itself. That is an illusion.
3. Do no be attached to what you are praying for or are trying to manifest, or you will end up repelling it from yourself. Make your choice for manifesting a preference, not an attachment.
4. Surrender your prayer request to God and leave it in God’s hands, accepting whatever comes your way. A very useful mantra that I use to assist me in the process of manifestation is: “In the name of God, I place … on the Alter of the Divine, and ask the Masters of Love and Light to take care of the situation in a way that benefits the Highest Good of All.” With these words, you express your preference, and then surrender to the outcome that is for the greatest good.
5. All that exists is perfection. God created us and we are perfect.
6. The thoughts and images that we hold in our mind create our reality. God’s universe is abundant and limitless. We attract either poverty or abundance, depending on the attitude we hold.
7. Have faith. After we pray, know that our prayer has been heard and that God’s laws have been invoked.
8. Everything in God’s universe is energy, and all energy is God. All we are really doing in working the Laws of Manifestation is changing or transferring energy from one form to another.
9. The Laws of Manifestation operate whether we are consciously aware of them or not. Whatever we give the subconscious, it will use.
10. Every moment of our lives, we are working the laws of manifestation, even when we are not praying, willing, visualizing or affirming. Every thought that we have in our mind as we go through our daily life as well as when we are sleeping is part of this process.
11. It is important to receive as well as to give.
12. Gratitude is of utmost importance. Be humble and thankful for the abundance that God has bestowed upon us, no matter what it is.
13. Failure is not a possibility. How can we fail with God, the soul and our personal power?
14. To have all, give all to all. We must keep our abundance in circulation. When we become selfish and stop giving, then the Universe becomes selfish and stops giving to us.
15. Words have power. Every word we speak is a decree of manifestation.
16. Positive affirmations produce positive results.
17. Love yourself through the entire process.
18. Avoid talking about what you are trying to manifest in your life. This can dissipate the energy.
19. Know that you possess all. Always!
20. Ask only for what you need.
21. Tell your subconscious mind what to do.
22. Be of service and focus your love on humanity.
23. KNOW that miracles happen…trust!
24. Be specific in your visualizations and affirmations.
25. After prayer, comes acceptance. This is essential. After praying, accept your prayer as answered. Don’t just believe that it is answered; rather, KNOW with every cell of your being that it has been answered. SO IT IS!

WE ARE GOD, AND WE ARE ONE WITH GOD. HOW CAN OUR PRAYERS NOT BE MADE MANIFEST?

Recently we have been discussing the various aspects of the mind. First, we looked at the nature of the conscious mind, noting it’s function as the gatekeeper of all energy that can enter into deeper levels of our mind. The conscious mind is our rational reasoning agent and it uses logic to make sense of our experiences. The subconscious mind is another facet of our mind. It is the filing system that stores all the energetic matter that the conscious mind allows to path through its gate. All energies like thoughts, feelings, emotions, opinions, memories and beliefs are filed away in the subconscious mind and these bits of information are pulled out by the conscious mind whenever we need to access them.

Now we turn to the superconscious mind. The superconscious mind is the spiritual mind. It is also known as the Higher Self. This mind is the all-knowing mind that can be contacted through meditation, through some dreams, through journaling, and through intuition.

When we both talk to God and also listen to God, we begin the spiritual practice of asking God for what we both want and desire and then accepting that it has been done once we have made the request. The outcome is then accepted, whatever it may be. Using the superconscious mind requires a great deal of trust and faith. God, through our Higher Self, hears and answers all prayers. How, when and in what form He answers them depends on how we adhere to the Universal Laws of manifestation in our lives. Why do it alone when we can use our superconscious mind and work with God?

It is of vital importance for us to learn to use the powers contained within our three minds in unity with each other, for then we will begin to bring forth all that we truly wish to manifest in this life. Therefore, it is important for us not only to understand how our minds work, but also how to use them effectively. We are powerful beings in control of our manifestations. We must, however, work with all that we are given and all that is available to us.

The origin of Reiki can be traced back thousands of years to ancient Tibet. The technique was reintroduced in the mid 1800′s through the experiences of Dr. Mikao Usui of Japan. Historically, the tradition of Reiki was passed on through word of mouth. Regardless of our current methods of communication, there is a great desire to keep the mysteries of Reiki secret.

Dr. Usui’s story…

Dr. Usui was the head of a Christian Boys School in Kyoto, Japan. In 1822, after giving a sermon, Dr. Mikao Usui was approached by two seminary students who asked him to explain how Jesus did the miracles of healing and whether or not he could perform the same miracles. Dr. Usui was not able to give the students an answer.

The confrontation with the students became a turning point for Dr. Usui as he began his lifelong quest to uncover the source of ancient healing techniques. He left Japan, came to America and studied at the University of Chicago where he earned a Doctorate degree in Theology. He searched the scriptures to uncover the secret of how Jesus and his disciples healed the sick and performed miracles, but he did not find the answers he sought during his time in America.

Upon his return to Japan, it occurred to Dr. Usui that the Buddha performed the same miracles as Jesus. He, too, had a great control of energy and channeled the power of God and the Universe. Dr. Usui began asking the different Buddhistic sects if they could perform the miracles of healing the body that Buddha performed. The Buddhists felt that healing the Spirit and healing the body was not always directly connected. They concentrated on the Spirit, and not on the body. They left the healing of the body up to those in the healing arts.

Dr. Usui eventually found himself at a Zen monastery. He asked the head monk: “Do the Zen know how to heal the body?”

The monk explained that they concentrated on healing the spirit and there just wasn’t enough time to teach the physical healing of the body.

Dr. Usui requested that he be admitted to the Zen monastery so that he could study the Buddhist scriptures in search of the key to physical healing. He was admitted and so began his study.

Dr. Usui first studied the Japanese translations of the Buddhist scriptures but did not find the explanation he sought. Then he learned Chinese so that a wider range of Buddhist writings would be available to him, but still to no avail. He was later guided through his meditations to learn Sanskrit so that he could read the original Buddhist writings. After reading the teachings of the Tibetan Buddhistic Sect, he discovered what he felt to be the keys to healing. Dr. Usui found the symbols, formulas, and description of how Buddha healed.

Nearing the end of his search, Dr. Usui had uncovered the knowledge he was seeking but he still did not have the power to heal. He discussed this with his old friend, the monk; they meditated upon the path to take. They were told that Dr. Usui should go to a designated place upon the holy Mount Kuri Yama. There he was to fast for twenty one days and meditate to seek the power to heal; during this time he would receive enlightenment and Spiritual clarity.

Dr. Usui climbed Kuri Yama to a certain level and found a place that faced east. Since he had no calendar, he gathered twenty-one small stones and placed them before him. Every morning he awakened before the sun rose and would throw away one of the twenty-one stones to keep count of the days.

Each day he meditated and fasted. On the twenty-first day, Dr. Usui awakened to a darkened morning. It was like a new moon day, when no light shone in the heavens before the breaking of dawn. When he awakened he could not even see his hand in front of his face. He found his way to his meditation spot and picked up the last stone. Dr. Usui prayed before throwing the last stone off the side of the mountain. He asked God for confirmation of his findings and asked to be given the enlightenment of how to use it.

As he threw the final stone off the side of the mountain, a light appeared far off in the east. It became brighter on its approach , frightening him. Dr. Usui fought the urge to run as a voice in his head reminded him, “You have searched for years and years, and you have meditated and fasted for twenty one days. You have asked for enlightenment and confirmation, and now you want to run away from it?”

Dr. Usui quieted his intellect and said, “No, if that light is for me, I accept the enlightenment.”

The light became very bright and streamed across the heavens and hit him directly in his third eye. For a moment he thought he had died and ascended into heaven because he had never before been in such a euphoric state. He saw many bubbles in all the colors of the rainbow, and then a powerful white light, followed by golden Sanskrit letters, the secret formula of the Universal Life Force and how to contact it. They came to him one by one, commanding him to memorize and preserve them.

Finally the bubbles, the light and the Sanskrit letters disappeared. Dr. Usui felt rested and full of life and energy. He jumped to his feet. He wanted to hurry back and tell the monk his exciting news. In his rush, he stubbed his toe on a rock. He reached down to comfort the pain and to stop the bleeding. He found that the pain and the bleeding quit very rapidly and realized that something was different about the energy in his hands; they had become very hot.

After healing his toe, Dr. Usui continued his pilgrimage down the mountain. Soon he began to feel hungry, so he stopped at a home that served travelers and ordered cold rice and cold tea. In a few minutes, a Japanese girl with a bandage wrapped around her jaw brought Dr. Usui his meal. She told Dr. Usui that her tooth had been aching for days. Encouraged by his own phenomenal pain relief Dr. Usui asked, “May I give you a healing?” She accepted his offer gladly. He put his hands around her jaw and within moments the pain and swelling started going down. She was very happy and went to tell her father.

Dr. Usui ate his meal and went to pay the papa san. He reached into his pocket to get some coins out, but the papa san said, “Thank you, sir monk, but I cannot accept the money. You have rendered unto my daughter a service for which I do not have the money to pay. Please accept the food in exchange for the healing services that you have rendered.” Dr. Usui accepted the food in exchange for his services and continued his journey home.

Upon returning to Kyoto, he went to tell his friend, the monk, what happened. He asked for advice on what to do now that he had received the keys and the energy of healing. He wanted to learn more about its use and how to develop it and as such he was directed by the monk to meditate on it.

From his meditation, Dr. Usui was guided to go to the beggar kingdom in Tokyo. This kingdom was controlled by a beggar king. Dr. Usui went to see the beggar king and asked if he might live there to heal the sick and the afflicted. The beggar king admitted him, but did not believe Dr. Usui would succeed in healing the beggars.

For the next seven years, Dr. Usui worked on healing the sick in the beggar kingdom. He worked from daylight to dark, healing the young and old alike and saw many beautiful results take place. He began to understand how Reiki flowed through him into others, and how the body became well.

One afternoon, Dr. Usui took a walk to the edge of the beggar kingdom. He saw a young beggar who looked familiar. He asked if the beggar knew him, and the beggar said, “Of course, Dr. Usui. Do you not remember me? I am one of the first beggars you healed.”

Dr. Usui said, “I healed you and you are still a beggar?”

The beggar looked back at him and said, “Oh, Dr. Usui, yes, and I did just what you told me. I went out to the temple to receive a new name, went to society and began dealing with my karma, doing just what you told me to do. I even got a job and soon married, but it was too much responsibility. So, I decided that I would rather be a beggar. That way I wouldn’t even have to be responsible for myself.”

Dr. Usui was greatly upset, and thought, “What a terrible thing I have done. Perhaps the churches were right, the physical is not enough – the spiritual has to also be healed. Never again will Reiki be given away, always will there have to be an exchange of energy.” He decided to immediately leave the beggar kingdom.

As he walked back to the monastery, Dr. Usui was greeted, in Spirit, by the teachers who had greeted him on Kuri Yama. At this time he was given the Five Spiritual Principals of Reiki:

These five principals created significant changes in Dr. Usui’s subsequent healings. He realized that he had been giving healing away without requiring the healee to take any responsibility for the healing or for maintaining the healed state. There had not been an exchange of energy for the services rendered. The new teaching provided spiritual concepts to be integrated with the physical aspect of the Reiki energy.

Dr. Usui got a torch and lit it, and went walking in Kyoto. He was stopped and asked why he was carrying a lit torch in the middle of the day with the sun brightly shining above. He replied that he was searching for people with hearts full of love but who were sad and sorrowful and did not know the true light. He invited people to come and hear about Reiki. In this way he started teaching Reiki throughout Japan and gathered a following of sixteen teachers. During these travels he met Dr. Chujiro Hayashi, a Naval Commander in the Naval Reserve. He came from a well educated and well to do family. He met Dr. Usui in the marketplace holding a lit torch announcing his lecture at a nearby temple. Dr. Hayashi was very impressed with the sincerity and conviction of Dr. Usui. When asked by Usui to accompany him in his travels, Dr. Hayashi agreed. And they traveled together teaching and healing. Dr. Usui made his transition in 1893, after asking Dr. Chujiro Hayashi to see that the Reiki teachings were preserved.

Dr. Hayashi continued in Dr. Usui’s tradition, traveling, teaching and dedicating his life to Reiki. He opened a clinic in Tokyo near the Imperial Palace. It consisted of eight beds in a large room, two practitioners per patient. One would treat the head and the other would be on the right treating the stomach area, then both would treat the patient’s back. The practitioners all worked here doing healings. They would also go to the homes of sick people for house calls.

This was just prior to World War II when it became clear that Japan would enter the war. Being a Reserve Officer, Dr. Hayashi knew he would be recalled to duty and would therefore become responsible for killing many people. He felt this would be impossible based on his spiritual convictions and decided to end his life. Before passing on, he trained two Japanese women. One of these teachers stayed in Japan. The other, Mrs. Hawayo Takata, of Hawaii, was made a Reiki Master in 1938, prior to Dr. Hayashi’s death.

<h4>A brief story of Mrs. Takata…</h4>
Mrs. Hawayo Takata was born in Hawaii, on Kauai, on Christmas Eve 1900. Originally of Japanese descent, she went to Japan in the 1930′s to inform her family of the death of her sister. While there she became very sick and was hospitalized. The doctors were going to operate, and as she was being prepared she kept hearing a voice saying “Operation not necessary.”

Eventually she jumped off the table asking “Is there another way?” The doctor had a sister who had been cured of dysentery at Dr. Hayashi’s clinic and suggested Mrs. Takata talk with her. The sister brought Mrs. Takata to the clinic and her treatments there began. After Mrs. Takata became well she wanted to learn this healing method for herself. However Dr. Hayashi was not willing to teach her because she was a foreigner. Through the good graces of her doctor, Mrs. Takata was able to persuade Dr. Hayashi to train her in Reiki. This training took a year and brought her to what we would now call Reiki Level II. Thereafter, she returned to Hawaii.

In Hawaii she learned the lesson of having the recipient perceive value in receiving treatments. She treated a neighbor but did not charge, and this neighbor did not value the treatments and did not become well. She treated another relative and this time charged, and this relative did stay well. Thus the tradition of charging for Reiki treatment was reinforced.

In November 1936, Dr. Hayashi came to Hawaii for a speaking tour to promote Reiki. During this time he trained Mrs. Takata to teach Reiki, thus making her what we now call a Reiki Master. Before leaving Hawaii he asked her to come to see him when he summoned her.

As dangers of World War II neared Japan, Dr. Hayashi appeared to Mrs. Takata in a dream asking her to come to Japan. Upon arrival in Kyoto, she found her teacher taking his naval uniform out of storage. With the coming war he knew it was a matter of time before the Navy would call him out of retirement and he would be asked to perform actions he was not capable of doing due to his spiritual development. At this time he passed the leadership of Reiki to Mrs. Takata. He gathered all the Reiki Masters, announced that Mrs. Takata would become the leader of Reiki, and then revealed he would kill his physical body by bursting three of his blood vessels. And as he continued speaking to this group on Tuesday, May 10, 1940, the blood vessels burst and he died.

Mrs. Takata returned to Hawaii and continued using and teaching Reiki. Eventually she moved to California, using and teaching Reiki. She did not teach other masters until 1975, and before her own death in 1980 she trained 22 Reiki Masters. Mrs. Takata initiated the following 22 people as Masters: George Araki, Dorothy Baba, Ursula Baylow, Rick Bockner, Patricia Bowling, Barbara Brown, Fran Brown, Phyllis Furumoto, Beth Gray, John Gray, Iris Ishikuro, Harry Kuboi, Ethel Lombardi, Barbara McCullough, Mary McFadyen, Paul Mitchell, Bethel Phaigh, Shinobu Saito, Virginia Samdahl, Wanja Twan, Barbara Weber Ray, and Kay Yamashita.

There are many Reiki Masters in the world today. These individuals dedicate and commit their lives to living, being and perpetuating the universal life force of Reiki. The honor of assisting in the harmony and balance of the Universe and providing others with a means of balancing their body, mind and spirit is what Reiki Masters are ordained to do.

What’s the difference between work and play? My first reaction to this question was that we inherently ‘like’ to play and ‘dislike’ working. I know that there are a growing number of you out there who like working, and there are an equal number of you who have never liked playing, whether it was sports, cards or acting. Setting the exceptions aside, let’s look at the basic aspects of work and play for a moment.

Actually, let’s not set you aside. Let’s use the fact that there are so many ‘exceptions’ as a guide to help us see what dynamic is actually functioning here. Maybe it isn’t the act that defines whether we are working or playing. Maybe it is rather the way that we perceive the act that categorizes it as work or play.

When we play, most of us have fun. We enjoy the temporary activity of participating in a game. Even though there are rules, we don’t take the game seriously because we know that ‘it is just a game’. We know that we are just playing the role of a tennis player for a short time, and then when the game is over, we go back to being ourselves. We don’t always identify ourselves with the game, or our role in the game. We derive enjoyment from the fact that we can use our creativity, instincts, intuition, rhythm and imagination to play our part in the game. So if all of these things are so much fun, then why are there some people who dislike playing sports or board games? It’s because they take the game too seriously.

Once we begin to perceive the game as something we must win and decide that failure is bad, the game then turns into work. Instead of allowing our instincts and intuition to guide us, we constantly calculate risks, evaluate possibilities of success, judge players based on their past performances and view everyone as our enemy. The game becomes a competition. The game becomes a war. Life or death is at stake; the life or death of our ego.

Allow me to give you an example. Let’s say that you are asked to walk 50 meters on the sidewalk in front of your house. The only rule is that you cannot, under any circumstances, step onto the street or onto the grass. You must stay on the sidewalk at all times. Would you be able to do it? Of course! You walk on that sidewalk everyday! You could even run or ride a bicycle on it and be able to accomplish the task.

Now, imagine that this sidewalk is 300 meters above sea level, it has no railings and it connects two mountains. Would you be able to do this without stepping over its edge? The answer is that of course you would. The difference is that you don’t take the first game seriously so you are fully aware of all of your skills and abilities and are capable of using them easily to accomplish the task. In the second scenario, you decide that it is no longer a game and that you must take it seriously. The moment you decide it is work, you loose your connection to the right side of your brain where your creativity, intuition and rhythm can be found. As a result, you only work with your left brain where you have logic, deduction, analysis and judgment. You will still be able to accomplish the task if you choose to because you have the skills to do it. The question is, will you remember that the skills are inherent in you and all you have to do is perform them without over-analyzing. In other words, will you have faith in yourself?

When we predominantly work with only one side of our brain, we paralyze ourselves. It is just as if you were to tell a bird to fly with only one wing. It is the same for all of us. When we stop taking things seriously, we allow communication to flow freely between both sides of our brain. The result is the ability to fly.

The next time you are at a job interview, or sitting in your dentist’s reception area, do an experiment and pretend that you are just playing a game. Right before you enter into a situation that you are dreading, remember the feeling of laughing so hard at something that tears stream out of your eyes and your stomach cramps up, yet regardless, you continue laughing because of the pure joy of the experience. See the pure joy and light-heartedness in every situation and you will always be a winner.

I’m going to take my own advice. Next week I have a driving test. I’ve been driving for over 10 years but for some reason, instead of seeing this test as a technicality (as a GAME), I’ve been trying hard to freak myself out about it – even though inside I feel assured and at peace that everything will be fine. So, instead, I’m going to try this experiment and see how changing my perception will effect the experience…