A SHARING FROM JOHANNES

I Am Part of This World

I don’t know where to start and what to write. My heart, mind and body often feel empty these days and yet filled with new encounters and experiences. I often feel full of worries about my friends and our community in Ukraine and Russia, full of sadness and helplessness, and full of hope and longing for a change that would make the world look better than it is right now. 

An Open Door

Practicing Reiki has taught me not to have expectations, not to worry, and not to anger but rather to hold a door open to the invitation, to see more than I usually see. 

And I am struggling not to worry and be angry. 

I wonder about the war that lives inside of me, that I am becoming more aware of. I am part of this world whether I like what is going on or not. I hold a responsibility for the world as it is—whether I see this responsibility clearly or not. The war is close. It feels just around the corner. It is less than 1000 km from where I live. 

I remember Phyllis saying that she thought she might not live to be 30 years old because of the Cold War. When the war in Ukraine started and I heard reports about potential nuclear weapons, I thought, “Maybe I won’t live to be 45 years old.” And for many, the suffering of this war is a daily reality. 

The world is changing fast we say—and sometimes not for the better. We’ve been doing self-treatment on Zoom every Monday since the pandemic started two years ago. Since February 24 when the war began, I’ve been offering daily silent self-treatment meetings. I never imagined traveling online would take most of my attention and for so long. 

I see blessings when we meet on zoom, as well as limitations. Right now, it’s a great gift and I am very thankful we practice daily Reiki together. I am thankful for the many emails and messages I receive from our communities in Ukraine and Russia. 

Iron Curtain

I feel very close to everyone and far away at the same time. This is not new. I grew up 30 minutes drive from the Iron Curtain, at the border of Czechoslovakia. When we visited family and relatives who lived even closer, we often heard them saying, “Don’t go further than over there. It’s dangerous and too close to the border.”

My friends and I sometimes were staring at the forest that marked this boundary and could not imagine any danger. We were too young to understand. A few years later the Berlin Wall came down, and our teachers asked us to watch the news as often as we could because we were witnessing the world changing. Then, the whole Iron Curtain came down. Physically, at least. 

But in my body, heart, and mind, I still feel that border. I don’t look as easily toward the East as I do towards the west or south. I energetically feel the separation I grew up with. I feel ashamed of this and experience the pain of disconnection. It’s not a lack of caring, but I have to work consciously to overcome it. 

And yet the forest of my childhood that marked the boundary of the Iron Curtain has recovered. It’s now a national forest spanning many countries. The nature is so vibrant and alive that I can feel it’s very essence. It seems to be asking me, What would my nature be if I just let it grow? If I were completely free to grow? I can’t get my head around this seeming duality—of danger and a deep, essential truth.

Working vacation 

In April, my heart was urging me to go to Kyiv, but my mind restrained me saying, “No way, you stay home. It is too soon; it is not safe.” I reconciled that first impulse and went to Warsaw. At least I could be physically closer to Ukraine even if I couldn’t go there. I met with amazing friends in Poland, whom I had only known from zoom. 

While we were having a beautiful vacation together, I was working internally all the time processing the experiences of these days and trying to articulate questions I have that go beyond the worry and fear. 

I see how privileged I am that I can travel, more-or-less freely. Others flee their homes, leave families behind, and men stay back because they must defend their country. I also see that practicing Reiki does not mean creating a safe bubble where nothing can harm me or my loved ones. I learn over and over that practicing Reiki makes me vulnerable and asks me to stand on the edge, in this world as it is. 

Loving the World

Thomas Merton wrote a book, Choosing to Love the World. I know I am still far away from loving the world. But I have learned, at least with Reiki, to hold the world as it is; that I am part of this world, and the world is part of me. I am also sure that humanity is capable of doing better than we are doing right now. 

Practicing Reiki, starting with ourselves, we are making steps in a good direction. Starting with myself, holding the world as it is, reaching out and offering support, and asking for support when I need it, connects me more deeply with myself. This recognition asks me to end the war inside—wherever it is coming from and whenever it started. This is the job I have to do. I am thankful that I can always take refuge in our practice of Reiki.

I am thankful for the communities in Ukraine and Russia for reaching out and asking for support. I am thankful for the many who are willing to offer support. And I am often thinking of Hawayo Takata and Chujiro Hayashi and wondering what they might have talked about when Hayashi saw the war coming. And how they took care of our practice. 

With Love and Gratitude,

Johannes Reindl 

I wrote this poem after a self-treatment circle. 

Dyakuyu Спасибо

I don’t want to know how many degrees you have or how long you practice.

I want to know if you can sit in the circle with me in silence and practice with your hands on your body. 

I don’t want to know how many masters you know or how many students you call your own.

I want to know if you can sit in the circle with me and listen in silence to the gift in your hands. 

I am sure your Reiki space is one of the most beautiful places for many -

But I want to know if you can sit in the bomb shelters of Kiev with me and practice. 

I don’t want to know how successful you have been in your career with Reiki -

I want to know if you can set aside your expectations and sit in silence with your hands on your body. 

I don’t want to know how many you have healed

I want to know if you can come and put everything else aside and become one with my circle so that we can learn who the self is we are speaking of when we practice self-treatment. 

I don’t want to know how much time you have -

I am calling you to sit in my circle for as long as it takes to become really whole. 

I don’t want to know how much wisdom you call your own -

I want to know if you can hold a door open inside yourself so that Reiki can go in and do what it needs to do. 

Come to the circle with me and teach me to become a full self-treatment. 

I am waiting for you - and my circle is open to every body - don’t ask me what you will receive in return for your investment in time because I don’t want to know how much time I have wasted asking what will become of me? 

I don’t want to know if the practice meets all your needs - I want to know if you can step into the raw naked life when you sit in the circle with me and practice. 

I want to go home with you so that we finally can really meet.

It all starts with you taking your place in my circle in silence and practice. As long as my life takes my circles and my practice have my commitment. 

Johannes Reindl 4/3/2022