Calendar of Events
2016
PLEASE NOTE!
P
hyllis and Paul have had to change some of the dates of the events or cancel some events. If you have questions concerning events, please send an email by clicking this link
April 7-10
Tradition Keepers
Paul Mitchell and Phyllis Furumoto
Lunteren Netherlands
Organizer: Boudewijn Luterink
April 12-21
Responding with Compassion 2nd Week
Phyllis Furumoto
Den Haag Netherlands
Organizer: Phyllis Lei Furumoto
Registration full
April 17
30 Years of Reiki in Belgium
Phyllis Furumoto attending
Kattebroek Brussels Belgium
Registration: Gerda Meeusen
April 22-24
Walking into the Future with Reiki: one day for masters, weekend for all students with
Phyllis Furumoto
Organizer: Anny Petersen
To register:
click here
May 22-29
Reiki Alliance Conference
Hof Pegasus North Germany
Organizers: Conference Team
Attended by Paul Mitchell
May 31- June 5
Usui Masters' Intensive III (New Offering)
Paul Mitchell & Phyllis Furumoto
Moscow Russia
Organizers: Natasha Litvinova and Olga Samugolova
To Register
click here
June 10-12
Serving the World though Reiki....a gathering for all Reiki students
Paul Mitchell and Phyllis Furumoto
Ershovo Conference Center
Moscow Russia
Organizer: Irina Kenarskaya
To Register
click here
June 14-19
Reunion of Masters Initiated or Mentored by Phyllis Furumoto
Kaluga Russia
Organizers: Luba Ivanova and Valodia Ivanov
To register:
click here
Sept. 28-Oct 2
OGM Retreat
Usui Shiki Ryoho community
Paul Mitchell and Phyllis Furumoto
Almaty Kazakhstan
Organizers: Bayan Djoldasbekova & Svetlana Ushakova
To Register click here
October 4-9
Reiki for a Better World 2.0
Ben Haggard, Jessica Palin, Phyllis Furumoto
Almaty Kazakhstan
Organizers: Bayan Djoldasbekova & Svetlana Ushakova
To Register click here
October 12-16
The Universe Is Conspiring for Our Own Good
Paul Mitchell and Laurence Fontaine
Herefordshire, England
Organizers: John and Annette Cass
To register: click here
October 19-23
The Universe Is Conspiring for Our Own Good
Paul Mitchell & Laurence Fontaine
Helios Centru
m Netherlands
Organizer: Rianne Leijten
A Walk through the 4 Aspects and 9 Elements
Paul Mitchell
Madrid Spain
Organizer: Rita Freyeisen
To Register:
click here
November 3-6
Succession Weekend
Paul Mitchell, Ben Haggard, Phyllis Furumoto
Linz Austria
Organizer: Johannes Reindl
To Register:
click here
November 11-18
Into the Center of Ourselves:
a shamanic journey in Northern New Mexico
Frank Coppetiers, Kathy Melcher, Phyllis Furumoto
Ghost Ranch Abiquiu NM
To Register:
click here
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Featured Community Resource
Fokke Brink
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written by Fokke.....
"I love the Reiki Symbols because they have been catalysts for more than 30 years. They have allowed me to understand myself, to understand Reiki and the Principles as well as the world around me.
In my mind I see Mikao Usui Sensei still sitting on the sacred mountain, Kurama. He stretches his hand out to me saying; 'Come, follow this path. I could do it and you can do it too!'
I prefer to use the Japanese brush for writing the Symbols, because calligraphy is the best way to go into a kind of endless space behind the actual forms. Using the brush can ignite the deep fire of love, the core of Reiki."
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Fokke offers workshops for students and some only open to masters sharing his joy of the brush, awakening a new level of connection to the symbols, and a deeper understanding of the kanji of Reiki.
He is also a resource for creating a "hon" or stamp for masters. This hon is connected to the essence of the person and when used declares a document to be signed by the essence of the master.
Fokke and Maria also open their home in Greece for retreats and small workshops.
For information and more connection with his offerings:
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Community Resources
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 Rev. Elaine Andres
Spiritual
Marta Getty
Healing the Family Tree with Reiki
To contact Marta,
click here.
Dr. Rainer Stephan
 Ben Haggard
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Join Our List
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Connection!
We have had good success in having a small number of virtual participants in some of the events.
We are continuing to grow into a more virtual world....not to replace being together in person, but to use our technology to keep our community moving forward and our members active.
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It's Spring up north and Autumn in the southern regions! A transitioning time for all of us.
Our work is taking us deeper and deeper into the possibilities of the practice, Usui Shiki Ryoho, as well as the global Reiki movement.
We are happy to be working with so many fantastic
people who are voluntarily contributing time, energy, attention, and vision to the work of a developing spiritual practice.
Phyllis Furumoto and Paul Mitchell
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Historic Meeting in Australia
Paul Mitchell
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Over a year ago I was invited to be a keynote speaker at the international conference of Reiki in Australia which took place in October 2015. The event was sponsored and created by Australian Reiki Connection or ARC, which is a membership organization of Reiki masters and practitioners of different Reiki lineages. This particular conference was the inspiration of Hilary McPhee, ARC's vice president.
Hilary's vision was to bring together well-known masters from these different lineages and practices to speak to the topic:
The Future for Reiki: Pathway to Wellness. The invited speakers were William Rand, Frans Stine, Hyakuten Inamoto, Pamela Miles, Kathleen Prasad, Sue Lake Harris, and myself.
Pamela Miles and William Rand were not physically able to be there, but streamed their live presentations through the internet. Each presenter included time for questions after their presentation. The final event of the conference, a panel of the presenters-William Rand, myself, Hyakuten Sensei, Frans Steine, Kathleen Prasad, and Sue Lake Harris-responded to questions from the conference participants.
The clearly expressed ethic of the gathering was that all interactions be conducted with utmost respect for the individual, their practice, and what they had to share. Everyone did a wonderful job of living up to this expectation.
This was my first time sharing a conference stage with Masters from other lineages. It was something that I had looked forward to for the entire year. I wanted the opportunity to be with, interact with, and be present with leaders from the larger Reiki community. I wanted the in-person experience of living the values of inclusion that I had intellectually embraced but not practiced in person, simply for lack of opportunity.
Each of these presenters has made a significant contribution to the practice of Reiki in the world, resulting in a following of dedicated students and colleagues. Just as I am deeply committed to my form of practice so was every other presenter. All of our systems draw students who hold their practice of Reiki as central to their lives in terms of personal healing and development and service to the world.
I aspire to live in a way where I no longer feel the need to honor and affirm my own spiritual or healing practice or culture by denigrating and criticizing the others, perceiving my own to be "better than." Personally, this has not been an easy stage to arrive at or to continually act and speak from. It's requiring both conscious desire and discipline.
As I listened to the offerings of each of the presenters, I notice the reaction of my heart, the expansion I felt when what was shared struck a deep resonance, and when I felt my heart constrict as I heard something that bothered or challenged me in an uncomfortable way. My practice was to notice when I felt constriction and not run with that feeling into judgments or constructing counter-arguments.
It was so clear that this respectful honoring of the other felt infinitely richer and easier to practice because of our physical presence with one another, being together in the totality of our humanity. This "being together" was clearly enhanced by the fact that we spoke together in breaks, we ate together, we touched one another.
In contrast were the two participants who could only be present through the wonder of technology. I have known Pamela Miles for years and have had the opportunity to be with her many times. I actually spent time with her the month before this conference. I have never met William Rand. The experience I had during his live-streaming presentation was very different. This highlighted for me what I had gained from being with the others and what I missed by not being with William.
During the panel at the close of the event, there was a clear call from those attending the conference for the leaders in the Reiki community to come together, dialogue, and model mutual respect both personally and for the practices they carry. For me, this does not come from the notion that "It is all the same." I don't find that is true. It comes from opening ourselves to respect each path, celebrating and acknowledging our common roots, and trusting in the shared journey of healing and service to humanity to which Reiki calls us all.
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Influences Beyond Control
Phyllis Furumoto
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Sunset Haleakala by P Furumoto
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The events that the OGM is offering now are not the usual workshops in which participants come to listen and take in while Phyllis and Paul facilitate. The OGM has shifted its way of working to offering times for groups of Masters and students to bring their gifts of experience, questions, and knowledge of the world to support the development of the system, Usui Shiki Ryoho, and the maturity of the Global Reiki community.
This way of working has been made possible by working with Ben Haggard, a resource for regenerative development. The potential for the development of the system is becoming more and more obvious as other ways of thinking and understanding the way the universe is ordered are learned. At first this all seems like a mind game.....however when the switch starts happening, one realizes how many closed doors there were in the old way of thinking - Linear, one level of awareness kind of thinking. As an example: We work, we earn money, we buy what we can, this is our worth. This is who we are.
Another option: We work to benefit ourselves, our community and our planet. With this work accompanied by passion and commitment, money flows to us and we are able to be where we wish to be. We understand that we are human beings, a sacred being connected to everything we see in a mysterious way that allows continual movement up and down levels of awareness and understanding.
Many of the inexplicable happenings in our lives become activating or restraining energies that when explored and developed are essential to our development as human beings and as community members. Reiki becomes the reconciling force that brings us to a creative place in which to form new beginnings.
In taking a step back to see an expanded view, it is the movement from the relative world of fact and information to the absolute world of having myth and tradition to stand on as a firm foundation and seeing that there are so many options for us in any given situation that it sometimes would feel better if we remained stuck in the corner without any choice at all but the dead end in front of us.
The practice of Reiki immediately turns our bodies around from the dead end corner. As we swing around to see the rest of the world from the corner, we see our choices, (I encourage you to stand in a corner and experience this yourself.) Reiki also is there to assist in choosing which choice resonates with the physical body at a given time. Additionally Reiki is there to provide comfort or courage when needed! What an amazing practice!
The simple practice given to us in a few hours of time, has become not only a way of life but a means to life through its gift of a pathway. As we explore the aspect of Tradition Keepers, the lost is found and the path shows us our way through the dark and scary forest. Each of us gains our own pathway, as humanity finds a possibility for another option other than destruction and annihilation.
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My first stop on arriving in Arizona in early January was to a room with several tables covered in papers, photographs and yellowing newspaper cuttings. Also present were the Takata Archive Team: Susan and Paul Mitchell, Justin Stein, and Robert Fueston. Justin is a PhD student writing a dissertation on the history of Reiki focusing on the life work of Hawayo Takata. He is also a scholar of Japanese language and culture whose expertise and enthusiasm have been an essential part of this work. Robert is also a researcher whose book,
The History and System of Usui Shiki Ryoho, was recently published.
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| Archive group missing Joyce Winough |
The atmosphere was one of focus and deep respect as this group dedicated their third and last week of work on Hawayo Takata's life and work. A few days later, all was neatly boxed up and ready for dispatch to a university in California, where these precious records will be available for future generations of scholars, biographers and the general public interested in the earliest years of Reiki in the West.
Work is now starting on the next stage of this story, the Furumoto archives, and I have been introduced, so far, to three of the large number of boxes to be sorted, scanned and filed. This will be a mammoth task, no doubt involving many volunteers and constant input from Phyllis.
As I look through old magazines and newsletters for articles written by Phyllis over the years, I am reminded of faces, projects, meetings, conversations and conferences from this story, extending from the early 1980s to the present day. It has set me wondering about archiving in general, and archiving our Reiki history in particular. Why is it important?
Scholars throughout time have depended on original records for their research, and often find themselves frustrated by gaps in the records. Documents may be casually discarded, destroyed by flood, fire or textual deterioration, and even by deliberate destruction for ideological reasons. Such gaps can lead to speculation and the development of theories by people with personal attachment to a particular version of the stories, leading to argument and dissension which are occasionally settled
by surprise discoveries of ancient documents neglected for years in some descendant's attic. So I find it exciting and am in admiration of the devoted work of these volunteers who have given the gift of properly preserved material for future researchers.
My imagination leaps forward over the next seven generations, and I see people as yet unborn, fired by their experience of Reiki, their interest sparked, desiring to fill in the gaps, perhaps write or tell their own story and root it more firmly in the ground of their predecessors. My hope for them is that they will find nourishment in this rooting, just as I witnessed Paul and Susan - touched and inspired by their increased knowledge and understanding of the teacher they met when they were young and she was old. It seemed that, for them, her life was fleshed out and brought more alive by the time they dedicated to this work. No doubt others will similarly find renewed respect and gratitude to the extraordinary commitment of the woman whose life gave us all the opportunity to be touched by Reiki.
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to our organizers, hosts, and hostesses
We have spent 30 years traveling the world, being supported by numerous people who have picked us up from airports, fed us, taken us in to stay overnight or for a few days between workshops.
These same people often make sure that we have special food or make travel arrangements for us. These people were also at times our organizers for events and workshops. Making sure that the place we are going to work is compatible for us, making financial arrangements, contacting the cooks and planning menus, collecting the fees, exchanging money from one currency to another, and on and on. We can't possibly name you all, but you know who you are.
These years have been far beyond what we can imagine! And you were the people in the background who made it all happen. Now we wish to place you in the foreground and bow deeply to you.....acknowledging our gratitude personally and for the support of the practice of Reiki.
Phyllis Furumoto and Paul Mitchell
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