Reiki Precept no. 1 - Just for Today, I will let go of Anger

Each month I am going to write a mini blog about one of the 5 Reiki precepts. The Reiki precepts were designed to give a structure or framework to your spiritual practice when you start to take responsibility for your own energies and ultimately your health and wellbeing on all levels. I hope this will provide some insight/guidance that may help my Reiki students and practitioners to understand their deeper meaning and integrate them better. Equally you don’t need to be attuned to Reiki to meditate upon these precepts as greater self-awareness can benefit everyone. Working with and integrating the Reiki precepts will speed along your own spiritual development, whether you are attuned to Reiki or not.

 

Reiki Precept No 1:   Just for today, I will let go of anger

 

Anger is corrosive; it has a negative, destructive effect on all areas of your life. Anger is futile and makes you feel impotent. It often proves embarrassing when we vent our spleen without thinking and we usually end up regretting those angry outbursts, especially when we end up looking foolish. We’ve all done this, you’re not alone. This feeling of foolishness however contains a lesson because it may just make you think twice next time… maybe. Even if you manage to contain your anger, it doesn’t necessarily mean that your anger should be ignored. Anger is there for a reason. Getting to the root cause is key. Anger stems from unresolved emotional issues – hurts and injustices from others, the perceived unfairness of life, anger at yourself for making wrong choices etc all contribute to a simmering underlying resentment.

 

When you meditate on this precept, keep asking yourself “Why am I angry?” Keep going deeper to find the original cause. It is like peeling the layers off an onion. What you find can be both painful and enlightening but ultimately it must be released.

 

For some people anger can also be very controlling so can appear to serve a purpose.  A difficult question to ask would be “What do I gain by being angry?” For some people anger can be a learned behaviour pattern that established itself in your earlier years. You may have seen this behaviour pattern played out among the adults around you and learned how it could be used to get what you want. After all, as children we soak up everything we see around us without question, both good and bad. If this is the case, does this behaviour pattern still serve you now? Some people will find that they are angry about something that happened in the past, such as abandonment, most likely when they were too young to understand.  A young child cannot process things and talk things through like an adult can – they just express emotion.

 

If you are angry with yourself for wrong choices or perceived failure, self-acceptance is essential. Don’t blame others; the responsibility lies with you. Maybe your expectations just weren’t achievable at the time. If you are angry at hurts and injustices inflicted by others, practising forgiveness and making peace with the past is the only option for the benefit of your emotional health and wellbeing. Forgiving others doesn’t mean you are letting them ‘get away with it’ – it is setting yourself free from pain. When you let go of anger, you let in peace. On the emotional spectrum anger is very near the lower end along with fear. On the other hand, peace is at the top end of the emotional spectrum along with love. Love and fear are therefore opposites. When you let go of anger you also let in love – love for yourself as you are allowing yourself to be at peace. This love is healing – healing from the hurts and pain of the past, allowing recovery and enabling you to energetically vibrate at a healthy frequency. You are valuing yourself enough to choose love. Anger carries a dark, low vibration. Peace and love carry a light joyful vibration. You always have the power to choose how you respond. It may not be easy but it is definitely worth a try.

 

 

You may like to set aside some meditation time and sit and meditate on this precept, asking yourself what anger means to you, where you hold anger, where it stems from and what purpose it serves, going deeper each time.