Mindfulness and compassion
© Taggart King August 2003
In this article I want to talk about Mindfulness and Compassion, which I believe are two essential components of Reiki practice. Whether we are treating others, working on ourselves, empowering others or living our lives with Reiki, we should grow to embody those two states, the essence of the Reiki precepts.
According to Usui Sensei’s surviving students, Mindfulness was taught at First-Degree level, and emphasized further at Second Degree. Mindfulness is a state of living in the moment, of being relaxed, calm and fully engaged in what we are doing. Mindfulness is being aware of what is happening right now and giving ourselves completely to our task without distraction. By learning how to enjoy and be in the present moment we can find peace within ourselves.
I believe we are exhorted to achieve this state by the precepts, where “just for today” we release anger and worry. These are distractions. We don’t dwell on the past and beat ourselves up for things that did not go the way we wanted, we do not think about the future and worry about things that have not yet happened. Our reality is illusion. We can learn to release our attachments to the past and the future and just “be” now, content and accepting in the moment. For me, the precepts both represent a goal to work towards, and a description of the effects that Reiki can produce within us, over time, if we work with the energy in a committed, dedicated way.
The final precept, that of being “compassionate towards ourselves and others” is for me an exhortation to be gentle with ourselves, to be patient, to be light-hearted, to not take ourselves quite so seriously and above all to be forgiving – first of all of ourselves but also of others. By accepting and forgiving ourselves we start to release our anger and our worry, and move towards a state of contentment in the moment.
The original system was a spiritual path, a path to enlightenment, and the precepts were what Usui Sensei’s system was all about. These principles are a foundation for everything we do with Reiki; the states of mindfulness and compassion arise from following the precepts and from working with Reiki.
For example, how do we feel when we carry out a Reiki treatment? Treating someone with Reiki is a special, special gift. We feel a closeness, an intimacy, a merging with the recipient; we receive trust and we experience compassion. Ideally we should just be there in the moment, with the energy, with the recipient, with no expectations. We do not treat someone with the intention to resolve their health problem or eliminate their headache. We just merge with the energy and allow Reiki to do its work. We create a sacred space for healing to occur. If our mind wanders, as it may do, then we notice this and gently but firmly bring our attention back to the present and what we are doing. We become one with the energy as it flows through us, we become one with the recipient, and we experience that blissful contentment in the moment.
Though some are taught that you can hold a conversation with someone as you treat, or watch television at the same time, this really will not lead to the best being given to the recipient. To be the most effective channel we can be, we need to be there with the energy, fully and gently engaged in our work, giving ourselves fully to the task without distraction.
Those same principles apply when working on ourselves, whether carrying out Hatsurei ho or self-treating. The state we should seek to achieve is that of being fully engaged in the endeavour, of being with the energy without distraction, merged, aware and simply existing in the moment, with a gentle feeling of forgiveness, love and compassion towards ourselves.
So both Mindfulness and Compassion are fundamental to our life with Reiki, fundamental to the Reiki precepts, to working on others and working on ourselves. Not surprisingly they are also an essential component of the transmission of Reiki to another person through carrying out Reiju empowerments. Reiju is the ‘connection ritual’ that Usui Sensei used, and taught to his surviving students. It is simple, elegant and powerful, free from the clutter and detail that surrounds most Western attunement styles. When we perform Reiju we have no expectations: we are there in the moment with the energy, following the prescribed movements. We are relaxed and fully engaged in what we are doing, aware of what is happening right now, and we give ourselves completely to our task without distraction. That is the essence of Reiju, the essence of treatments, the essence of the precepts, and the essence of our life with Reiki.
http://www.reiki-evolution.co.uk/taggart-king-reiki-articles-13.htm
FROM: THRESHOLD REIKI http://www.threshold.ca/reiki/
Sometimes energy workers talk to me about feeling drained or unwell during or after a healing session they have presided over. This might be an in-person session or a distant one. Usually Reiki and other healing systems teach that this doesn't normally happen as it can be easily avoided. But I think often we energy teachers might only be thinking about the avoiding the effects of the negative energy or illness that a healing subject may have. Perhaps there is another reason why we as the healer might be having less than optimum experiences from a healing situation.
If you are getting sick or feeling drained in the presence of others, remember that energy work is a two way street. You might have a look at my new Reiki Analogies article - the part about Reiki being like music. I feel that the vibrations (emotions, thoughts, spiritual energy) that everyone puts out is their own form of music or radiance together with their natural energies and whatever they are working with. So we are all influenced by the energy of others, especially if they are still on our minds, or they had a strong influence with us at one time, or their departure is still fresh,; and especially if they had strong concentrations of energy in certain areas of their lives that overlapped ours. But if people could actually take or drain our energy, we would shortly no longer exist,. This would especially be true around very needy people.
If you have unknowingly retained or allowed your own connection to these people, even after your departure, then you may still be listening to their music; or it may simply stronger in certain areas than your overall music. So you either need to grow your own music stronger, or you can sort of "close the window" on their energy (create that mirror) or set up a filter that changes the energy as it approaches you. You will need to do this constantly and this can be a good task to ask your guides to assist with. They can simply monitor for situations like this and then nudge you to when it's time to set up or strengthen your Light filters.
If you aren't sure about working with guides, then try the "string on a finger" approach. This is where you purposely begin to wear certain jewellery (watch, ring, bracelet) with the intention that this reminds you to set up a filter when needed. Or you can change the arm you wear your watch on, or the finger you wear a ring, with the same intention. After a week of doing this your internal program should be in place and you will automatically raise your shields or filter when needed (or all the time.
My understanding of the nature of reality is that we really don't take on or lose energy within our own personal "space"; we are just influenced by stronger, or more intense, or more interesting energies from other sources. If people or situations were able to drain our energies, we would soon have no aura (or body) to speak of. And if we were taking on these energies, we would have huge auras, extending out miles, while the person sending would soon shrivel up.
I suppose this is mainly why I like the "Reiki as Music" analogy. When we hear or play music, the source remains unchanged. That is, the music CD is always available in it's original format.
Another aspect of this that was mentioned recently on my student lists, and illustrated in some energy books like "Light Emerging" by Barbara Brennan, is that we often directly connect with others (and probably things or places) using what look like cords of energy. Usually these are temporary ones except in the case of strong or long term connections. So we might leave the location of direct influence of a person, place or thing but still be connected energetically. My guides tell me this is why some people have difficulty letting their etheric body dissolve upon death - there is too much of a connection to someone still living, or to a certain place where they lived or frequented. However, the higher levels of our aura do seem to move on after death. Apparently all levels of our aura have our complete memory of this lifetime.
I understand that at one level of our existence we are all connected with each other and with everything else via cords, much like very fine strands of lace, but I think those are more subtle, rather than concentrated like these other cords. So we might think we have disconnected with someone, but they may still be strongly connected to us, even just because they still think about us, and often.
There are lots of ways people have come up with to disconnect undesirable cords. Setting up energy filters or mirroring energies back to the person are a couple. Lazaris (channelled by Jach Pursel) suggests imagining that you are in a hot air balloon, tethered to the ground by all these cords and those of any obligations you feel. Then you imagine you go around the balloon perimeter, cutting the cords you do not wish in your life. If you like, you can invite Spirit to help, like the archangel Michael who can use his sword of Light to assist you.
Another way is to continue to work with more and more higher vibrations of energy, thus becoming a greater and greater source of Light. Thus you increase your radiance. (for more on this, see my article on Radiance.) Eventually you will notice these other energies less and less as they actually shift as soon as they reach you, and more important, as those connected to you begin to experience your higher vibrations and begin to change. Some simply have to cut the cords themselves as they are not ready or willing to experience so much Light yet.
Take some time in your day to reflect on the cords you may have connecting you to others,. And reflect on the Radiance that you are currently employing and developing. Then think about taking some action to improve on these. Notice if this enhances your daily life.
REIKI EVOLUTION
http://www.reiki-evolution.co.uk/reiki-articles-roelofse-01.htm
FROM THE SITE:
Johan Roelofse is a Reiki Master from South Africa who has made the journey from standard Western Reiki into Japanese 'Gendai' Reiki, and beyond.
In this article he outlines some of the exciting developments in Reiki in recent years, and talks about his personal journey with Reiki.
ARTICLE
© Johan Roelofse April 2002
Reiki came to the West via Hawayo Takata, a Hawaiian lady of Japanese descent, in the 1920’s. She learned the system from a Japanese Reiki teacher, Chujiro Hayashi, who was a student of the founder, Mikao Usui. The system Takata taught was very simple, consisting of three levels, the third being to instruct people in the art of being a Reiki teacher. As Reiki spread in the West, various teachers started adding on to Takata’s original system, ultimately leading to the development of a large variety of “new” Reiki schools, such as Karunaä, Tera Maiä, Shamballa, Usui-Tibetan, and many others. Some of the developers of these “new” systems believed that they had rediscovered lost Reiki teachings, making the system more powerful. In many instances the changes had to do with adding new symbols, each purported to enhance the system and allow for deeper healing and greater spiritual awakening.
When Takata started teaching in the West the message was spread that Reiki died in Japan with the Second World War. It was also thought that Takata was the only surviving master, which led people to consider her as the Grand Master of Reiki.
In recent years it became known that Reiki didn’t die in Japan. In fact, the original society started after Usui’s death, continues teaching Reiki in Japan to the present day. This society is known as the Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai (Usui Spiritual Energy Method Learning Society). The Gakkai is a closed learning society, only accepting members on invitation from current members. Although having its roots in Usui’s original teachings, the Gakkai does seem to have altered some of the older methods somewhat. It also seems likely that Gakkai members added certain practices into the system that may not have Usui as their originator.
It also became known that other Reiki streams exist in Japan, some teaching the traditional Usui methods and others having become influenced by Western Reiki schools. Most notable of the Japanese schools staying quite close to the Usui teachings, but being open to Western methods, is the Gendai Reiki Ho (Modern Reiki Method) school of Hiroshi Doi. Doi received instruction in Reiki from Mrs. Koyama, a former president of the Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai, Hiroshi Ohta (an independent teacher of the Usui teachings) and others. Although teaching independently through his Gendai school, Doi remains a member of the Usui Gakkai.
Gendai Reiki Ho stays close to the original Usui philosophy, but has added other methods Doi either developed himself or learnt through other Japanese healing and meditation systems. In practice, the Gendai methods provide some insight into the way Reiki is taught by the Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai. In 1999, Doi went to Canada on invitation of Rick Rivard, Tom Rigler and Andrew Bowling and taught a workshop on Usui Reiki. This proved to be both enlightening and perhaps somewhat shocking to Western practitioners of Reiki. Many of the “truths” of Reiki known in the West was shown by Doi to be Western additions to the system that had very little to do with the way Reiki is taught and practiced in Japan.
Other individuals, most notably Arjava Petter (a German Reiki Master living in Japan), Dave King and Melissa Riggal (Masters in their system known as Traditional Japanese Reiki) and Andy Bowling (a British Reiki Master) also made contact with Japanese Reiki teachers and also came to the realization that Western Reiki, especially the newer schools, have strayed quite far from the true purpose and practice of Reiki.
Further fascinating insights came via Chris Marsh and Taggart King. Marsh is a high level practitioner of a Japanese martial art. Due to his insight into the Japanese way of life and the respect he gained in Japan through his practice of the martial way, Marsh was allowed access to some of Usui’s original students still living in Japan. These individuals have chosen not to be identified and have no interest in becoming famous. They certainly would not want to be overrun by Western Reiki practitioners in search of the truth about Usui’s Reiki methods.
Through the developments as stated above a reasonably coherent picture had begun to emerge on the original practice of Usui Reiki as developed by the founder. One of the first insights is that the system was never called Reiki, but rather Usui Teate (Usui hand touch method). The purpose of the system was complete spiritual awakening (satori). In the West, Reiki is often seen as a form of alternative therapy. Yes, healing was a part of the system, but spiritual development was the true purpose. As such, various Buddhist sutras and meditative practices were an integral part of the system. One of these, the Lotus Repentance meditation, is said to be the meditation Usui practiced during his 21 day retreat at Mount Kurama. It is at Mount Kurama that he experienced his full awakening, after which he developed his healing methods.
A second insight is that Usui was not a Christian minister, as is said in Takata’s teachings. He was in fact a devout Tendai Buddhist. Tendai is a mystical sect of Japanese Buddhism. Usui was also well versed in various other practices, such as KiKo (energy work), martial arts, meditation, philosophy and more. It seems that he developed his Usui Teate through combining and distilling the best of some of the other systems he studied. This, in combination with his awakening on Mount Kurama, seems to have led to the development of what we now know as Reiki.
The healing side of Usui Teate also differs from what is known in Western Reiki. Usui apparently didn’t use standardized hand positions, apart perhaps from treating the head. He mainly made used of Byosen (energy sensing) and Reiji (spiritual guidance) when treating people. He also didn’t use both hands very often, but rather used an energy focusing technique with one hand to treat problem areas. Apart from this, various other practices, such as healing with the eyes and the breath were incorporated into his healing methods.
It is not fully clear how Usui taught his system. What seems to be the case is that he taught a three level system, consisting of different modules. Level one (Shoden – the first teachings) was about connecting to the Reiki energy and learning to use it for healing. A variety of meditative and energy practices were also taught. Level two (Okuden – the inner teachings) was divided into two sections. In the first section the focus and harmony energies were taught as well as Byosen and Reiji. In the second section, the connection energy and distant healing were taught. These three energies became the basis for the three second degree symbols taught by Takata. One of the biggest surprises about Usui Teate is that Usui didn’t use symbols. In fact, he taught the symbols to only three people, one being Hayashi.
It is believed that he included the symbols as some kind of training wheels for individuals having difficulty connecting directly to the energy. Instead of symbols, he originally taught students to connect directly to the different energies. He also made use of meditations and sacred Shinto kotodama (seed sounds) to invoke the energies. In the West these were replaced by saying the “names” of the symbols three times. Level three (Shinpiden – the mystery teachings) was devoted to further spiritual awakening. It also consisted of two sections, the first being for spiritual development and the second for becoming a teacher of the Usui method. Usui apparently also gave certain higher empowerments to students who have completed level 3. There is not much known about these empowerments in the West, but they likely had to do with further spiritual awakening.
A further interesting insight is that Usui didn’t use attunements like we know in the West to connect students to the energies. He made use of a simple ritual known as Reiju. The word “Reiju” can translate as “giving or receiving blessings.”
During Reiju, no symbols were used. Apparently Usui had frequent contact with his students. During each visit, Reiju would be performed. This led to a continual expansion in the student’s ability to use the energy as well as an increase in the level of spiritual awareness. In between these contacts between teacher and student, it was expected that students practice a special meditation known as Hatsurei Ho (method for cultivating the Spirit). Hatsurei Ho assisted students in their spiritual awakening and also facilitated an increased ability to channel the Reiki energy.
A final interesting insight is that Usui used crystals in his healing work. He made use of three crystals that were placed in various positions on the body of the patient. As those of us familiar with crystal healing would know, this facilitated a deepening of the healing and often led to profound trance states during healing.
In my own practice of Reiki, I had gone down many paths, often arriving at dead ends. I have studied many systems in the hope of finding that illusive something that would somehow lead to instant enlightenment or make me a master healer overnight. When I first discovered the Japanese methods via my friend, Keith McFarlane, I was astonished at both the depth and simplicity of the teachings and practices. Keith is a Master in Usui Reiki Ryoho and Gendai Reiki Ho. A while later I discovered the work of Taggart King, who led me deeper into the essence of Japanese Reiki. It is through him that I was taught some of the original Usui methods not often seen in the west.
Apart from the fact that my practical repertoire increased greatly, I now had meditations and healing methods not known to me before, something much more subtle started happening. The first subtle change I began to notice was a general feeling of well-being, contentment and inner peace. Although not dramatic, these feelings were definitely apparent. Furthermore, they lasted. It was as if something in my consciousness had been permanently transformed. I began to notice that people or situations that would previously have angered or frustrated me, now left me feeling centred and compassionate. I also came to a very important realization shortly after completing my Gendai Reiki Ho master level. I suddenly realized that my constant search for newer, more powerful attunements and systems had been driven by a deep sense of dissatisfaction with myself and with the world.
Simply put, I have been deeply unhappy, searching for something out there somewhere that would make me happy. Instead, I realized, the answer lies within. I started doing the simple Japanese Reiki methods, such as Hatsurei Ho and reciting the 5 Reiki precepts, on a daily basis. Soon I began to notice that the principles became part of me, to such an extent that any thought or action not in harmony with them would stand out like a sore thumb. I began to realize the profound depths contained in Usui’s simple system: Regular practice of the Reiki principles and methods is indeed the “miracle medicine for all diseases,” as Usui used to say. The biggest disease, as I see it, is a feeling of dissatisfaction with life, based on a sense of being disconnected from the basic goodness of the Universe.
Usui’s quest, which led him to Reiki, started at this very point. He felt dissatisfied with his life. He was seeking the secret of happiness, or perhaps enlightenment. One of his Zen teachers apparently told him that the secret can only be discovered through death. Usui, so desperate for the truth, vowed to find the truth or die. This lead to his 21 day retreat on Mount Kurama. During his meditation, in a moment of complete insight (satori), the answer came to him: Anshin Rytsu Mei – the state of your mind being totally at peace, knowing what your life’s mission is and being bothered by nothing. Through my practice of Japanese Reiki I have begun to realize that the Usui system is essentially a system designed to bring students to this same realization, or satori. After his awakening, Usui sought a way to bring others to this point of awakening. His answer was what we know in the West as Reiki. The ultimate purpose of Reiki, which is achieved through diligent practice of both the philosophy and techniques of the Usui method, is to discover inner peace, an awareness of our connection to and place in the Universe and an undisturbed mind.
I am in no way an enlightened master now, but, following the example of Usui, I have found a path to greater peace of mind, inner harmony and physical well-being. It is my wish that this article captures some of the true spirit of the Usui method. I leave you with these final words from Usui sensei himself.
The secret method to invite happiness
The miracle medicine for all diseases
For today only, do not be angry.
Do not worry, and be grateful.
Work hard and be kind to others.
With your hands held in prayer, in the morning and at night, say them out loud or in your mind.
The Usui Reiki method to improve mind and body.
The founder, Usui Mikao
(c) Taggart King 2007. "Reiki Evolution" is a business name owned by Taggart King and registered with the National Business Register plc.
SHEREE'S NOTE: Regarding the symbols Usui is said to have shared / taught 3 students.
I have a strong intuitive sense, and a numerical sense using JCN that the Usui Teate Symbols (which were not original to him) were very sacred to him, and those he studied with in his life. They were not something he gave to help students focus, or in happenstance. If they were given to any number of his students, that fact has been kept quiet.
It is born out in the numbers that the symbols are directly connected to the creation of the Universe, and further, the Law Of Sevens. They contain messages. They are meaningful and obviously- enough so that there was a concerted effort to keep them secret. I understand why. There are beings, not of light, who would dedicate a lifetime to infusing toxic energy into the symbols. Fortunately, the light is powerful and numerous.
I would not be at all surprised to find members of the Gakkai fudging the truth on the symbols. Can't say as I blame them. Symbology was a big part of Usui's study in his lilfe. Why would it suddenly cease with Teate? It wouldn't.
Whether or not Usui passed the symbols to Hayashi is uh...questionable. He may have, I doubt it. Hayashi, in his role as a Naval Commander, could have had his own personal access to these symbols- as they were not new with Teate. But, it would later play out in important links, to have Usui pass them to Hayashi. It doesn't add up.
The symbols Usui used for his hands healing system are critical components of Teate.
They are major numerical signatures in JC numerology, and align deeply with THE END OF THE MAYAN CALENDAR. It is impossible that the symbols would align with these other strings were they not very important in their function. It is my opinion they would be most helpful to use during hands healing sessions- and I personally draw them in my palms often, with mantras/ affirmations.
FROM JAMES DEACON'S SITE
www.aetw.org
Hawayo Takata taught the system known as Usui Shiki Ryoho - or as it is more commonly called: 'Reiki'.
Until relatively recently, it was understood that Usui Shiki Ryoho was identical to the system conceived, developed, practiced and taught by Usui Sensei in the 1920's.
However, if we are to accept the validity of the newly emerging information concerning the origins of Reiki, it seems that many of us will have to revise our understanding as to what exactly Usui Sensei's system was.
It is currently being implied that (- rather than being a purely therapeutic modality,) what Usui Sensei originally founded and developed was essentially a spiritual-philosophical system involving elements of Buddhist and Shintoist belief - a system 'for the improvement of body and soul' - that is, a system primarily focussing on self-development, but one which also incorporated a self-healing element.
If this is in fact the case, then in effect, what Usui Sensei created was a spiritual or philosophical 'way' - which to a certain extent - could be said to fall within the above-mentioned category of 'Spiritual Groups/New Religious Groups'.
According to some, Usui Sensei did not actually give his system a name; yet others say it was known as Usui-do (the 'do' part of the name implying a philosophical/spiritual path), or as 'Usui-teate' (Usui Hand/Palm Healing' - from which we can assume that, albeit primarily a spiritual system, it did indeed include a 'therapeutic modality' component).
[ The Reiki Precepts / Principles, however, speak of the system as: 'Usui Reiki Ryoho'.]
It is of course possible that the names 'Usui-do' and 'Usui-teate' were given to the system by Usui Sensei's students, who, it seems, did not know or use the name 'Reiki'.
(One source seemed to have a vague recollection about how the term Reiki had been used by Usui Sensei in the context of some form of respect for his ancestors)**
After Usui Sensei's death in 1926, 'Usui-do' / 'Usui-teate' - i.e. Usui Sensei's original spiritual system - seems to have gradually been ousted from the newly evolving and expanding 'Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai' - who moved the emphasis more towards personal healing through Reiki.
However, a number of his most senior students saw to it that Usui-do / 'Usui-teate' continued.
And, alongside Usui-do / -teate' and the 'Gakkai system, other new expressions of the system also evolved, the primary ones being - so we are told:
- a hand/palm healing modality: 'Eguchi te-no-hira Ryoji' (developed by Toshihiro Eguchi - a friend and student of Usui Sensei, and incorporating elements of Usui-do )
and the version developed by Hayashi Sensei in 1931 as: Hayashi Reiki Ryoho
It is from Hayashi Reiki Ryoho that Takata Sensei's ' Usui Shiki Ryoho' evolved.
Morphogenetic fields and Rupert Sheldrake
Rupert Sheldrake, trained as a plant physiologist, became interested in the way that plants, and all living things, took on their form. What starts as a single cell splitting into identical copies eventually changes, with some cells taking on specific characteristics, some become leaves, some stem. Once these changes have taken place, the reverse is no longer possible, leaves cannot be changed back into stems.
At the time of his research in the late 1960s and 1970s, the reasons for this sort of development were unclear. In the 1920s, embryo regeneration and the capacity for willow shoots to grow whole new trees, were thought to imply some such fields or knowledge or memory in the environment. The later discovery of DNA appeared to offer an explanation, but since the DNA remained largely identical throughout an organism, it was not, of its own, able to explain form. It explained that a cell was human, but not, it was thought, what part of a human. It was thought at the time that mechanisms encoded in the DNA were responsible for the development of form, but the exact nature of the system remained something of a mystery.
Sheldrake instead developed a completely new theory to explain this problem, one based on a universal field encoding the "basic pattern" of an object. In Sheldrake's view, the existence of a form is itself sufficient to make it easier for that form to come to exist somewhere else. This Sheldrake called in 1973 morphogenetic field, in this view, nature may be a set not of laws, but of habits.
"The idea is that there is a kind of memory in nature. Each kind of thing has a collective memory. So, take a squirrel living in New York now. That squirrel is being influenced by all past squirrels. And how that influence moves across time, the collective squirrel-memory both for form and for instincts, is given by the process I call morphic resonance. It's a theory of collective memory throughout nature. What the memory is expressed through are the morphic fields, the fields within and around each organism. The memory processes are due to morphic resonance.
"Basically, morphic fields are fields of habit, and they've been set up through habits of thought, through habits of activity, and through habits of speech. Most of our culture is habitual, I mean, most of our personal life, and most of our cultural life is habitual.
The whole idea of morphic resonance is evolutionary, but morphic resonance only gives the repetitions. It doesn't give the creativity. So evolution must involve an interplay of creativity and repetition. Creativity gives new forms, new patterns, new ideas, new art forms. And we don't know where creativity comes from. Is it inspired from above? Welling up from below? Picked up from the air? What? Creativity is a mystery wherever you encounter it, in the human realm, or in the realm of biological evolution, or of cosmic evolution."
Robert Gilman about morphogenetic fields
Morphogenetic fields are basically non-physical blueprints that give birth to forms. Morphogenetic fields carry information only, not energy, and are available throughout time and space without any loss of intensity after they have been created. Morphogenetic fields are created by the patterns of physical forms (including such things as crystals as well as biological systems). They help guide the formation of later similar systems. And finally, a newly forming system "tunes into" a previous system by having within it a "seed" that resonates with a similar seed in the earlier form.
"Thus, from this perspective, the DNA in the genes of a living system (like an oak tree) does not carry all the information needed to shape that system, but it can act as a "tuning seed" that tunes in the morphogenetic fields of previous systems of the same type. Morphogenetic fields are thus the repositories of what might be described as genetic habits.
"In addition, these same concepts can be used to explain some of the mysteries about human memory. In effect, our brains are not so much libraries as they are sending and receiving stations that leave a continuous trail of experience imprinted in morphogenetic fields and then "recall" previous experiences by tuning in to that trail....[thus] using morphogenetic fields as the carrier of memory implies no absolute separation between minds.
Further, it suggests that our identity is dual, like an electron that is both a particle and a wave. We have aspects that are unique and totally individual, yet at the same time much of our thought and behavior is shaped by, and participates in, and helps create transpersonal morphogenetic fields....We are thus both individuals and expressions of and creators of a group mind - like the Jungian collective unconscious, but more extensive, and in come aspects more changeable.
Because our brains contain levels (mammalian, reptilian, etc.) that connect us to other species, that group mind includes all life. We may even find, as we explore the possibilities of consciousness associated with what we know think of as non-living matter, that we are linked in consciousness to all creation. We would thus be linked to the stars not only through the chemicals in our bodies, but through our minds as well.
Accepting the idea of morphogenetic fields also opens the door to the scientific investigation of the idea that consciousness and mental processes can function without physical support. This would allow the existence of non-physical beings (gods, angels, life after death, etc.) - a subject of prime interest to most religious and spiritual traditions."
Morphic fields measured scientifically
In the laboratory of Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research (PEAR) at Princeton University/USA, research on the topic "mind-machine-interaction" has been ongoing since the late 1970s. As far back as the late 80s, extensive studies proved that diodes with white noise might be used as an interface between man and machine.
The diodes has now been used for measuring not only the consciousness of individuals but also the global consciousness of mankind within a study called "Global Consciousness Project".
Since 1998, about 50 diodes with white noise have been distributed worldwide. One can envisage them as a radio, which is tuned between two stations to an irregular noise. The raw data of this noise is transmitted daily from each computer, which is connected to one of these 50 diodes, to a host system at Princeton University via the Internet. The data is evaluated and tested for statistically significant abnormalities especially in the case of emotionally moving incidents, which are broadcasted worldwide via media and press.
The results have been published and indicate synchronized reaction of all diodes to incidents of worldwide interest such as the war in Iraq, Lady Diana's funeral or the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 on the World Trade Centre in New York.