The Reiki Principles- Do Not Be Angry?
Some people find it impossible.
Kyo dakewa – (Just for today)
Ikaru na (Do not be angry)
Shinpai suna (Do not worry)
Kansha shite (Be grateful)
Gyo o hagame – (Do your duties)
Hito ni shinsetsu ni – (Be kind to others)
The five principles are described by Mikao Usui, as a clear map to rediscovering our pure mind, free from distracting thoughts and dualistic judgments. If you take the principles at face value. A mere platitude that u say in words and never actually use, or a virtue signal that encourages projection or suppression of your bad feelings, that is as far as you will get. In truth they are an empowerment, a launchpad of deep healing and a path to world peace.
I’m going to do a deep dive into each one in blog form. We’ll start with the angry one.
Ikaru na (Do not be angry.)
At first glance, this principle can feel to those, comfortable with the emotion of anger, a lot like toxic positivity. A lot like suppression.
You see anger isn’t all bad. Anger is a catalyst. It gets things done, no messing. It’s passion. It’s written a billion songs. Painted a billion fabulous paintings, art thrives on enlightened rage. It has been the rise of all rebellions, to end of oppression and injustice. Anger is not the enemy…..all the time…..
Anger unchecked however, is wildfire.
Denial of one’s feelings,
especially feelings of rage or fury can be the sources of disease, at all levels of society. The authentic processing of emotion is key for healthy connection to love and enlightenment. Such processes ensure good healing methods and ethics. Suppression of emotion likewise creates a blockage between us and love, degrading our ability to channel with a truly pure mind.
Anger unchecked and unhealed, is a destroyer but if we catch it in time, before we light the world on fire, it’s a window for restoration. When used in self-healing, triggers can be used as a scalpel to operate a surgical intervention on our hearts, to open what has been closed, to heal what has been broken. Then we can function authentically at peak performance, still connected to that loving, enlightened reiki energy. No denial, no cracks in the aura, no blockages in the chakras, no more crazy outbursts.
Alternatively, healed, enlightened anger is a sharp sword to cut through any awful situation we find ourselves in. Enabling discernment and precision, maintaining our decorum and respect for whatever opponent we face, while ensuring a good outcome.
We owe it to ourselves to actively heal, rather than stuffing down fury and pretending it doesn’t exist.
Scratch the surface of anger and you will find the roots. Roots of fear, shame and subordination. Within the roots, you can be healed. From healing comes authenticity, empowerment, strength, courage, compassion and wisdom.
There are many descriptive terms for anger within the Japanese language. As we have rage, passive aggression, fury, disgruntlement and passion, the Japanese also have their own descriptors.
Common Classifications are
Ikari (Ikaru verb) (怒り): The core noun for "anger" or "rage". It represents the general concept of wrath and is heavily featured in the ancient classical concept of kidoairaku (joy, anger, pathos, and humor).
Gekido (激怒): Intense anger or fury. This denotes extreme, outward outbursts of rage.
Hara ga tatsu (腹が立つ) / Atama ni kuru (頭に来る): Idiomatically, these refer to bodily and situational anger. Hara ga tatsu literally means "the belly stands up" (a physical manifestation of anger), while Atama ni kuru translates to "it goes to the head."
Iraira (イライラ): Onomatopoeia for persistent, simmering irritation or frustration. It is often used when one is continuously annoyed by small, lingering stressors.
Kankan (カンカン): Onomatopoeia denoting explosive anger, traditionally associated with someone being "red in the face" with rage.
If definition is key,
I must assume, from his choice of words ‘Ikaru na’ he had a specific kind of silent, hateful, vengeful anger in mind. Insidious by it’s nature. Unfortunately human. I would also think he wanted us to do more with it than just ignore it.
If suppression of anger has a direct correlation with ill health, would Master Usui suggest that we just, ‘Don’t be angry’? Surely that is an oversimplification that would ultimately cause ill health in the healer. Was his idea of ‘pure mind’ mere ignorance of our deep wounds? As a healer? No way.
Ikaru refers to a particular state of anger.
Dr. Isabelle Gagné says in her engaging deep dive, A Closer Look at Ikari: Exploring The Depths Of Anger “Ikari is not just plain old anger; it’s anger intensified, anger with a purpose, anger that can drive action. You know, like when you’re not just annoyed but furious about something fundamentally unjust?........ Ikari is often suppressed or expressed indirectly due to cultural norms emphasizing harmony and avoiding open conflict. But that doesn’t mean it’s not felt! Instead, it might manifest in subtle ways, like a change in tone, a pointed silence, or even passive-aggressive behavior. This indirect expression of ikari is deeply rooted in the cultural values of collectivism and maintaining social order.”
There are moments in our world where people have every right to be furious because the unforgivable has occurred. There are whole nations who are desperately in need of justice.
Deserving of peace.
There are those who are actively damaging their own lives and the lives of those around them from pure unapproachable, unhealed rage.
.To truly master healing,
we as reiki healers have an obligation to understand and heal our own anger and triggers as they arise .
There are great qualities to enlightened anger. Transformative qualities. Empowerment. Endings to injustice. Healing. Changes on a global level.
Whether you are bottling your anger to deny your feelings, creating passive aggressive situations, projecting onto others to express what is unhealed, vengeance quietly burning a hole in your belly, if you’re a hater, you’re probably unknowingly expressing Ikari (hatefilled anger) and I think we all do it to an extent.
So how do I transform my experience of my ikari and the ikari of others into something more valuable?
When we have come to the point where someone, or indeed a situation has driven us over the edge, what do we do with reiki, that enables an easing and an enlightening of our fury. To alchemise it into a sharp sword to cut through the problem at hand, and a scalpel to operate on our suffering?
They would’ve benefitted from my Reiki 1 Course….just sayin…..Things like this dont have to happen.
Healing Ikari
There are so many possible approaches and so many different types of angry situation, I will offer a few healing techniques and open the comments section and you can add your favourites as I’m sure you have your own ways. A healed reiki practitioner creates their universe, internal to external. So if your internal world is regulated, the way you experience the external world will be much improved.
1.Releasing The Story.
We immediately need a high degree of healing here. There is push back. Our stories are key to our personality and can become our excuses for our behavior. So the first place we send loving enlightened reiki, is the part of us that grips on to our story.
The first place we heal is the energy surrounding our unhealthy determinations. Because our determination to make excuses, stay small and hold on to negativity is held there and from that point, the healing journey can begin.
2.Healing the core heals the instincts and your guidance system.
Our most challenging instincts are our instincts created and learned through core wounding. Unhealed, they will hold us back from success. Stop us asking for a raise. Block our ability for self-care. So when we send reiki through our timeline to heal our core wounding we are upgrading our internal and external navigation system. Imagine the benefits when you are working with a reiki client.
3.Healing Yourself Where You Have Learned To Let the Fury of Others Penetrate.
From angry act comes angry response. When anger is being projected, either directly or passive aggressively, we can be sponges for the anger of others, which can result in our own anger-based responses, creating a chain reaction of unhealed fury.
If this remains so, we will be on the receiving end of negative energy from people who in many cases, should be angry with themselves but their only means of processing is projection.
Breaking the chain involves healing ourselves, in all the spaces where we feel responsible and/or protected by, the processing of emotions in our environment. When we can release the determination to control other people’s responses, and recall our own emotions and process them, we can be truly free.
Living with an open heart is not living like a doormat to other people’s responses. When the heart is open, we can care in the right way for the right people. It is the height of discernment.
Healing The Need To Regulate The Emotions Of Others.
It should be noted, control is an expression of anger, all be it one hidden by the desire to keep everyone happy in this instance.
As reiki healers we can be the most amazing processing units. In many cases we like to observe the self. We are not afraid to feel emotions. We understand the healing power of a good cry. In situations of self-protection however, we can find ourselves fielding the emotions of others as a defense mechanism.
Isolate the why…..It might be hereditary responses to genocide or it might be you grew up as the only feeling one in your family and held the pain for everyone. There are many options. Journal. Meditate. Ask your reiki to show you.
Create a self-healing plan around those wounds. This may be fixed in 10 mins or carry on for a week or a month. You will know what works best for you.
3.Heal yourself in all areas where you struggle to take responsibility for your actions. Go deep. Dig in. Shine a light on everything. Your responsibility is your empowerment to self-heal. Responsibility is not blame. It just is your percentage of the problem with no frills and knowing it enables everything to change for the better.
4. Give people back what belongs to them and call back what belongs to you and heal that too. If it wont go straight back, sent it to The Love and Enlightenment of the Multiverse. They always know what to do.
These are just a few ideas for healing your triggers. I honestly cant speak for everyone but hopefully I’ve enabled a few downloads for you to get creative and start working on the roots of your ikari. Feel free to drop any comments you are feeling.
An authentic healer is grounded in the truth of who they are, using reiki to heal the energy and spirit of a client’s consciousness, healing and clearing in equal measure.
An authentic healer is responsible for their feelings, for their actions and for their energy.
With this as the standard we create circumstances for our sessions that are compassionate, powerful and safe. Nothing is festering. Nothing hated. A healer healed and unafraid of their authentic emotions, can heal the world.
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Madder - Groove Armada
References
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JL0QIENyLrc -Madder-Groove Armada
https://groovearmada.com/ for more great music.
Art Work
I dont know where its all from but if any of it is yours let me know and I’ll tag you properly
Ikaru
https://www.centremulti.qc.ca/qc-news/ikari-exploring-the-depths-of-anger-1764798965
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E3%81%84%E3%81%8B%E3%82%8B
Non duality of anger
https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/anger/about-anger/
https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/explore-mental-health/publications/cool-down
https://www.sokaglobal.org/resources/study-materials/buddhist-concepts/ten-worlds.html
Correlations between chronic illness and anger suppression.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3019061/