I have been studying and practicing Reiki for the past fifteen years. It has become to me not only a tool of healing but also, and most of all, a way of life. I try to live by Reiki principles every day and I teach their importance to all my students. There are 5 Reiki principles, and each of them start with the same words; words that are setting the intention and the time frame – JUST FOR TODAY.
Why are those words so important? Because they show us how in todays’ world we can become calm, relaxed and truly happy. To comprehend today we have to place it in a time frame. And what is time? Following a definition of time – “it is the indefinite continued progress of existence and events that occur in apparently irreversible succession from the past through the present to the future”. Today is the present, and present is the only thing that truly exists in the frame dictated by time. If time can be understood as an illusion created by the human mind … the only time that truly exists is The Now – the present moment. In this moment I’m sitting in front of my computer writing these words, and you are sitting on the other side of now, which right now is in my future, but is also already in my past, reading them. And in that great illusion, is there anything else that should count? No, because if we would begin to worry about it, according to the time definition, we would worry indefinitely and continuously; and I wouldn’t really recommend that. So let us be present in our own lives. Let us inhabit them fully and truly. Just for today, since only Now and only Today truly exist.
You are probably wondering what triggered my sudden outburst of thoughts about Reiki and time. It was this beautiful and wise poem that I’m going to share with you now. And if you think that “Just for today” concept is a modern one – you couldn’t be more wrong. This poem is proof of that. It is a Sanskrit poem written by Kalidasa, an Indian playwright and poet who was active during the 4th and 5th century AD. Please let me share one more thought with you before the poem. “Just for today” seems a concept easy enough. It is one of the most difficult in my life, but so much worth remembering and trying to live by – just one day at a time – JUST FOR TODAY.
Look to this day,
for it is life, the very breath of life.
In its brief course lie
all the realities of your existence;
the bliss of growth,
the glory of action,
the splendor of beauty.
For yesterday is only a dream,
and tomorrow is but a vision.
But today, well lived,
makes every yesterday a dream of happiness,
and every tomorrow
a vision of hope.
Look well, therefore, to this day.