This week, in the lead up to the beautiful moon that is lighting up the sky this weekend, I was inspired to record a healing journey with my trusty drum sidekick, Sky Dancer. This inspiration came from the fantastic podcast episode of two of my Reiki teachers talking about their encounter with Lady Wisdom with interspiritual minister, Rev. Theresa “Rivka” Gevurtz, and a subsequent series of conversations about various forms of the Divine Feminine in relation to Reiki.

Kuan-Yin (also spelled: Guanyin, Kwan Yin, Quan Yin, or Kannon) has always had a connection to Reiki, as she is the goddess of healing and compassion in many Chinese and Japanese traditions. I have encountered many Reiki practitioners who have had experiences with her and invoke her as a kind of patron saint of the practice. However, I have long had a relationship with White Tārā, who comes from the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. I perceive these two figures to be the same, just with different facets that are common to their respective cultures.

Interestingly, just before I recorded this guided meditation, I had a conversation with my acupuncturist, who said that some believe that Kuan-Yin is a combination of White and Green Tārā (yes, she comes in different colors — 5 to be exact!, which correlate to the 5 Buddha families). This kind of blew my mind in the moment because I have always thought it was curious that some traditions think of Green Tārā as the highest form of the Divine Feminine, while others view White Tārā to be the most revered. Though, upon further reflection, this makes perfect sense because it is most often thought that Kuan-Yin is a feminine form of Avalokiteśvara, the Buddhist Bodhisattva of Compassion, who plays an important role in the origin stories of Tārā. One of which is that Avalokiteśvara was so distressed by the suffering of the world, that he shed two tears, one from each eye, which became White and Green Tārā.

Some of you may be asking, what does this have to do with Reiki? Reiki is a Japanese spiritual path, most commonly known as hands-on healing modality, which promotes a return to stillness and ease. Reiki is translated as “spiritually guided life-force energy”, which to me, translates to Divine Consciousness.

In my years of chanting and praying to White Tārā, whose great siddhis (or gifts/ super powers) are Wisdom and Healing, I have come to realize that she is Reiki, just as every representation of the Divine Feminine is.

This is because the Divine Feminine is the womb of creation, she is the consciousness from which all form is created. So, she is the web in which all things are created (and destroyed). When she comes in contact with the Divine Masculine, the driving force of creation, we get all of thing material things in the universe. No genders here, by the way, just opposing forces of the same Great Source of all things, like the 0s and 1s of binary code.

A super interesting factoid that I just picked up while gathering information, and correct spellings, for this write-up, is that Guanyin is short for Guanshiyin, which means “Perceiver of the Sounds of the World”. This is so intriguing to me because the way I most connect to this energy of loving compassion is through mantra and sound. I credit my chanting practice to White Tārā as the impetus for my being able to step out as a teacher of Reiki and meditation, but also to record myself singing and playing my drum and singing bowl in hopes of easing suffering around the world.

Also, because just before we had a discussion in our Reiki community about Kuan-Yin, I drew my favorite card of the Beyond Lemuria oracle deck by Izzy Ivy, “The Sound of the Universe”.

The spoken invocation at the beginning is A Prayer to Noble White Tārā by Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö, found on the Lotsawa House website.

Mantra for All Tārās: OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SOHA

Mantra for White Tārā: OM TARE TUTTARE TURE MAMA AYUR PUNE GYANA PUNTIN KURU SOHA

Further exploration of these mantras can be read in this article about White Tārā by Yolanda O’Bannon.

Towards the end of the experience, you will also hear an invocation of the 5 Reiki Precepts, repetition of which are the foundation of the Japanese practice based on the inscription of them on the memorial stone of Sensei Mikao Usui, founder of Usui Reiki Ryōhō:

招福の秘法 — SHOFUKU NO HIHO — Mystic art to invite happiness

萬病の霊薬 — MANBYO NO REIYAKU — Miraculous medicine to heal all diseases

今日丈けは　(KYO DAKEWA) — Today only

怒るな　(IKARUNA) — Do not anger

心配すな　(SHINPAI SUNA) — Do not worry

感謝して　(KANSHA SHITE) — With thankfulness

業をはげめ　(GYO WO HAGEME) — Work diligently

人に親切に　(HITO NI SHINSETSU NI) — Be kind to others

朝夕合掌して心に念じ (Asa yū gasshō shite kokoro ni nenji) — Morning and evening, join your hands in prayer, think in your mind and chant with your mouth.

心身改善 (Shinshin kaizen) — Improve your mind and body

臼井霊氣療法 (Usui Reiki Ryōhō) — Usui Reiki Healing Method

Translation above by Reiki and Wellness Teacher & Practitioner, Bruce Taylor.

Thank you for joining me in this practice, may it be of benefit to all! 💖

Join me on a relaxing journey into gratitude inspired by Thanksgiving. Light the fire of gratitude in your heart and spread it all around. Read aloud, but not recorded was a shortened version of the Thanksgiving Address, written by Colleen Benelli of Reiki Lifestyle, in her Gratitude Ceremony:

Today we have gathered and we see that the cycles of life continue. We have been given the duty to live in balance and harmony with each other and all living things. So now, we bring our minds together as one as we give greetings and thanks to each other as people. Now our minds are one. We give great thanksgiving to the Earth Mother, the Waters, the Fish and the Plants. We are grateful for the Food Plants, the Medicine Herbs, the Animals, and the Trees. We give great thanks for the Birds, the Four Winds, the Thunderers, The Sun and Grandmother Moon. We send Blessings to the Stars, and the Enlightened Teachers. And we send our deepest gratitude to the Creator.

THE IROQUOIS THANKSGIVING ADDRESS "Ohenton Kariwahtekwen" Colleen sites: “I found this version of the Thanksgiving Address at www.deerdance.org. Terry Kem, founder of Deerdance, was first introduced to the Thanksgiving address through Wilderness Awareness School and later from an Elder of the Iroquois Nations, Jake Swamp.”

I am grateful for you, thank you. 💖

May all beings benefit! In Gasshō

The five spiritual elements of Tibetan Buddhism, also referred to as the Five Pure Lights, are important features of this belief system. They represent various aspects of the individual consciousness and the Universe.

* Water (E) – Represents fluidity, cohesion and adaptability. It is also associated with emotions and intuition.

* Air or Wind (Yam) – Represents movement, change and the intellect. It symbolizes freedom, expansiveness, and knowledge.

* Space or Æther (Bam) – Represents boundlessness, possibility and the infinite divine mind. It serves as the source of other elements and symbolizes unity and wholeness.

* Fire (Ram) – Represents vitality, warmth and transformation. It is often associated with passion and wisdom.

* Earth (Lam) – Represents stability, solidness and endurance.

First we purify each element by embodying it fully within ourselves, so that it will then purify each of the elements in the collective and our environment. Inviting a wave of serenity to wash through us as we remember we are all one.

This practice was taught to me by the warm souls Lama Tsultrim Allione, Lopön Ellen Booth Church, and Dorje Lopön Charlotte Rotterdam of Tara Mandala - International Buddhist Community.

Image created in collaboration with Copilot.

As we celebrate the sun at its peak, we'll soak in its vibrant energy to rejuvenate our spirits.

In this meditation, we'll experience the power of the sun's energy, allowing it to fuel our mind and soul. This celebration is more than just welcoming summer; it's about radiating love and peace to the world around us.

Music by Geoffrey Harvey from Pixabay

Picture by Johan Nilsson Holmqvist

Voice by Laura White