Invite Happiness Into Your Daily Life

Just for today, I will let go of anger,
Just for today, I will let go of worry,
Just for today I will live an attitude of gratitude,
Just for today, I will do my work honestly,
Just for today, I will love and be kind to all living beings.

These words are inscribed in the Japanese language as an epitaph on the memorial site of Mikao Usui, founder of Reiki, at Saihoji temple in Toyotama district. They form a set of five precepts of Reiki, the art of tapping into universal life force energy for healing. Usui had adopted them from the 'Imperial Rescript on Education' of the 19th century Japanese Meiji Emperor.

The story goes that Usui worked in a leprosy home in Kyoto and healed a large number of patients through his new-found method. After some of them had been healed, they were asked to live in the cities to make a living. But Usui got the shock of his life when he noticed that they had returned to the leprosy home after a few days of stay in the cities. The healed preferred not to work for their living.

This incident prompted Usui to lay down the five precepts that he called "as the secret of inviting happiness through many blessings, the spiritual medicine for all illness". He exhorted his disciples to meditate on these principles and adopt them in their day-to-day life. The individual life principles opened up doorways - the key to spiritual healing - and have far reaching implications in transforming our lives.

Anger is directly connected to weak points in our ego and is triggered when our ego is hurt. We also tend to become angry when people or situations fall short of our expectations. Our anger hurts us much more than the other party. The emotion releases toxins in our system. It destroys our inner harmony thereby blocking us from loving unconditionally and in turn separating us from the universal consciousness.

The second doorway opens up by relinquishing worry and anxiety. Worrying separates us from universal wholeness. The adage 'Chinta chita samaan hai' signifies that 'to worry is to be laid on the pyre'; Worrying has never helped in solving problems. It also produces a rush of harmful toxins in our system, and blocks our emotions.

The third principle of living, gratitude, opens the third doorway. It implies that we count not only our pre-sent blessings but also what we trust will be provided. Such an attitude keeps all the material, emotional and spiritual doors open to us.

The fourth principle implores us to live honestly. When we are honest with ourselves it creates harmony in our lives and aligns us to our higher self. Honest living leads to the practice of truthfulness, which, according to Patanjali, empowers our words to such an extent that they become capable of fructification at will.

The affix of the word 'today' in each precept points to the importance of the present moment, which is the key to all spiritual awakening and enlightenment. Our journey using the five intertwined spiritual doorways connects us to the Supreme Healer and sources the being to come into complete harmony. This results in spiritual healing and release from karmic bondage of illness and sufferings. Irrespective of whether you are a Reiki channel or not, pursuing them is bound to fill your life with joy and blessings.