In This Issue
Reiki Tip From Hawayo Takata
"In Reiki, there is no such thing as a partial treatment"
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Healing Stories
Welcome to the February 2009 Newsletter! John and I wish you much happiness, good health and peace this new year. This is a time of great promise and positive change for our planet. In 2009, John and I will continue to send you many exciting and informative articles you are sure to enjoy. We also plan to release Volume II of the "Takata Speaks" CD series! Many of you have already heard Volume I and eagerly await the second volume. Takata always provides us with fresh insight regarding our healing ability.
We have always known that the choices and abundance of the foods we eat may be altered by the weather occurring where they are grown or raised. Although the selection of foods found at the stores may change over time, the good earth will still provide us with the necessary nutrients for good health and healing. In keeping with this ever-present concern ... the sustenance for, and health of our bodies, as well as that of our clients ... we have chosen to present a pertinent article on just this subject called "Reiki and Food." Through instruction and story telling Reiki Master Hawayo Takata always provided her students and her clients with invaluable information on the role nutrition and diet play in their health and healing. To her, food was medicine.
By Dr. Lourdes Gray
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Although many Reiki practitioners know that Hawayo Takata brought Reiki to the West and was responsible for the spreading of this system, very few know that she had studied nutrition and not only used Reiki in her practice but she also used food as medicine. (As a side note: Takata also used psychology in her practice. This was used not so much as we understand it in clinical practice but in the form of verbal persuasion and common sense.)
Now, let us get back to food. Takata taught Reiki by telling her students stories. She often told stories of healing with both Reiki and food. We have included one of these stories in this newsletter. Takata had often said, “Reiki is cause and effect … remove the cause and there shall be no effect.” Takata believed that many of her client’s illnesses were caused by their improper diets. One the first things Takata would focus on when she started working with a client was his or her diet. She believed that overly acidic conditions in the body were at the root of many diseases … including respiratory conditions, heart disease and even epilepsy. Not only would she give her clients daily Reiki treatments but she would also make dietary recommendations that, if strictly followed, would restore the acid/alkaline balance in the body.
One of Takata’s best known recipes for restoring alkalinity to the body is her famous “grated salad,” consisting of equal parts of beets, cauliflower and cabbage, all raw and finely shredded. Diced apples may be added to improve the taste. The dressing could be made of anything as long as it didn’t contain any dairy. She said that the beets cleansed the blood, the cauliflower strengthened the bones, and the cabbage alkalinized the system. Takata often recommended this salad to clients with overly acidic conditions. She also recommended drinking unsweetened lemon water with meals …“Just add a little bit of lemon juice to the water … not too much” she would say. Takata warned against eating dairy products. She would say, “Dairy products should only be eaten by people with very strong stomachs … “Drink soya milk instead.” She recommended soya milk as a substitute. (Note: The UK uses the word “soya”. The U.S. uses the word “soy”.)
Takata said the oranges and pineapples were too acidic. She talked about how laborers in the pineapple plantations had to wear gloves and if the gloves had even a tiny hole, the acid from the pineapple seeping through would burn the skin.
Takata also thought that Westerners consumed too much sugar. She often said that people over 50 years old should stay away from sugar — sugar was too hard on their system.
Takata recommended that couples who were trying to get pregnant stay away from eating oranges or drinking orange juice. She considered them too acidic. “Drink lemon juice or grapefruit juice instead,” she would say.
Takata said that the digestive system was the “general motor of the body”. She said, "if you could get it working right, then you can get anything working right.” When she demonstrated how to administer Reiki treatments, she would start the treatment on the front of the torso over the digestive system … the first of four positions. Thus, the first four positions of what we know today, in John Harvey Gray’s lineage, as the “First Pattern” consist of Takata’s Foundation Treatment. This approach makes perfect sense since she started the Reiki treatment sending the energy deep into the internal organs.
As Takata worked with the Foundation Treatment, she automatically gave energy to the Spleen. The Spleen in Oriental Medicine is considered to be the source of Post Natal Qi. It is one of the most important producers of energy in our body. (As a side note: Over the years, there has been some confusion about where Takata began her Reiki treatments on the body. Was it on the torso or was it on the head? Many Reiki teachers, even those who follow Takata, teach their students that Reiki treatments should start on the head because they think Takata began the treatment on the head. This is incorrect. Takata always started with the foundation treatment on the front of the torso. After completing the Foundation treatment, Takata would continue the Reiki treatment by moving to the head and afterwards, finish the Reiki treatment on the back of the torso.)
Takata’s success in helping people heal is usually attributed only to her skill and power as a Reiki channel. What most people don’t know is that she also used food as medicine and was intimately involved in her client’s nutrition. Takata gave equal weight to healing with Reiki and healing with food.
And now, here is one of Takata’s favorite stories transcribed verbatim from a 1975 speech she presented at Reverend Beth Gray’s church the Trinity Metaphysical Center in Redwood, CA, to Reiki students living in the area. Correct transcription and punctuation have been attempted.
By Dr. Lourdes Gray
Story of Mother LoveTakata: “And today I’m going to tell you about epilepsy. Today I teach the class, and I know I see lot of my students are here. And so this is one thing I didn’t ask in the class and that I forgot to explain how to cure epilepsy in Reiki. It is very simple.
But the story is about a girl that was nine years old. And the nine-years-old she became to have this, what they call convulsions and passing out and, so she said she has, epilepsy. And then going to school, she had it in the bus all the time.
Then the bus driver said, ‘You can not come to ride in my bus because I’m afraid you might have an accident, or hurt or bump your head, bump on the floor. And so you have to have somebody, member of your family to come to school and go back.’
But this was impossible in their busy lives. So her mother said, ‘Well she just can’t go to school. Wait until she gets a little older and by the time she will be older with the epilepsy, she will outgrow it and then she can go back to school.’ But this went on for ten years, and when she was nineteen years old, the mother reached the age of 62. And when she reached the age of 62, she began to realize that, ‘My I’m getting old, and my daughter is still having these fainting spells and all the convulsions. It is my duty as a mother to heal her and get rid of this illness, before I go into transition. Therefore I must hurry, hurry.’
And she took the daughter to Honolulu … visited thirty-two doctors. And they said the same thing. We have no special drugs for epilepsy, but she will outgrow it. And then the mother said, ‘Well I’ve waited ten years for her to outgrow it, but now she’s getting worse and worse. Now she has eight times to eleven times.’ And so therefore she said, that ‘I am very concerned’, because I have saved a little money for her. And while the money lasts, maybe one of her brothers or sisters will take care … but what after that? She’ll go to the poor house, and not only that, she won’t be happy.’
And so the mother brought her home from Honolulu, disappointed. And when she came home she heard from the neighbors that there was a wonderful Filipino kahuna. And so she said, ‘All right, bring him over. And I’m going to ask him to.’ Then the Filipino came over and said, ‘The trouble with this is, there’s a devil living in her. And we have to chase the devil out. And when we chase the devil out she’ll be normal.’
And she said, ‘Whatever you do it’s all right as long as you can make her normal. So please help us.’ And this was during the war, early, early part, no, later part … no. The war started in 1941 and she started to have this in the last … later part, no, first part of the year, ’42.
And so when she came, and the Filipino kahuna said, ‘This is all black arts.’ And he hired three Hawaiian woman as his partner he said, ‘While I pray and chant, I want you to hit the walls and the beams and then yell and scream, so that the devil gets scared … and then be sure to bang all the house then the devil will get out of this house, and from her body, and no more.’
So the mother and the daughter was to lay in front, kneel, and then listen to the chant while this man prayed. And he was chanting in his native language. And then three hired womans were dancing up and down and screaming and yelling and hitting the walls and hitting the beams.
And when they hit the beams, you know what came out from the beams? Durum bags full of little money. The mother had a little store. And so she said, the little change she had she always put it in her durum bag and put it in the beams. And that’s where she hid it. Yeah. But then when they start beating the walls, those things bounced out. And she said, ‘Instead of listening to the prayers,’ she said, ‘I was busy picking up those (bottles ?) in my apron.’
She always wears a mu’umu’u and she had an apron. So she put the apron on and then she made a little pocket and she was busy picking, and stuff and other then, you know, following these people. But then in the neighborhood … this was a sugar cane plantation. When the sugar cane plantation, they were a Filipino camp, Japanese camp. And when the Filipinos began to hear the screaming and the yelling and the beating on the wall … they thought that they saw their countryman going in … and they thought they were beating him to death. You see that was their imagination from outside.
So it was reported. ‘All my countryman get together. This is the chance. Now if the Japanese, he corralled him in the room and gonna beat him to death. We can go and massacre them.’ And so they took out their bowler knives and spear, the spear was made out of bamboo, bamboo spear, and bowler knives. And then they marched. They marched from the camp, and came and surrounded this house. And when they surrounded the house, Japanese saw them.
So they didn’t know what to do so they told the manager. And then they said, ‘There’s gonna be trouble. You see, the Filipinos are marching and they are around with the bowler knife and the spear,’ he say, ‘You’ve got to do something.’ And the manager was afraid … because there were more than sixty, almost hundred people. So he said, ‘I look through my binoculars, from my far end.’ He was on a little hilltop … big yard. And when he saw through his binoculars what was happening, he really got scared. Called the police.
And the police said, ‘Well, we have only five policeman here. And we can’t fight against hundred people. And then they are going to be very, very wild. And we can’t handle it, because they lose their senses.’ So in turn, the police call the Marines. The Marines had arrived and they were very, very much in tuned and ready for action.
So the Marines came and they lay, they put their, what they call, ‘ta-ta-ta-ta’, machine gun. And they put the machine gun and lined up and aimed at the house. And the Marines kneeled. And then the police came to the door and said, ‘Open the door!’ And they didn’t hear. They were just screaming and yelling and dancing and beating the walls … can’t hear. So police went to the window and said, ‘If you don’t open up, I’ll break through the window and come in!’ And so then they heard the police. And what did they do? Open the door. And when they open the door and saw this Filipino was not being beaten, but he was chanting and praying when all the three Hawaiian women were dancing and beating..
So he, let the one Filipino in and said, ‘You look. They are not beating your people. And so if you do not leave all your tools, your bowler knife and your spear,’ he said, ‘the machine gun will ta ta ta ta you! And so you better stand up and then show yourself to the people.’ And so he went out of the door with this policeman.
And when all the Filipinos saw about it, then they said, ‘Oh yes, we were wrong. We were just gonna kill every Japanese … massacre!’
But then he said, ‘Yes, the Marines are going to kill you. They’re all ready.’
And so he said, ‘Leave all your bowler knives and your spear here and walk home quietly.’ And they were afraid, so they did. And that’s how the police department collected all their tools in one day. So it was fine. But there was going to be a great massacre. And the manager saw that from on top of the hill.
Then he said, ‘Well, all the knives are laid, the spear are laid,’ he said, ‘I’ll come down.’ He came down and he talked to the police and thanked them, and thanked the Marines, and for the Marines said, ‘Yes, if we had to, well, we would have gone into action but everything is quiet so we go home.’ So they went home.
Then the police took hold of this Filipino kahuna and said, ‘We are going to charge you for that nonsense.’ And so they got a car to take. And then they took him. And then the Hawaiian people said, “We were hired. We were paid to come here, to make this noise, you know.’
And so he said, ‘If you ever do it again, you go to jail. But today, well … probation.’ He said, ‘You’re under probation. You have to report to the police station, one month. That you will not partake in these things.’ So that’s how it ended for this poor girl. And she was still epileptic.
And then she heard, this is around February, she heard the neighbor say, ‘Well if you really want to try another one without kahuna. Go to Takata.’ ‘Where does she live? You know. All right, I’ll try Takata.’
And so she came with her daughter, and she said, ‘My daughter is nineteen years old. She doesn’t sleep at night and she has the fits about eight times a night.’
And so I said, ‘It is very sad.’ And I said, “She is very sick.”
She said, ‘Yes. And this is mother love. If I don’t get her cured in my lifetime,” she said, “I will turn in my grave. I cannot rest in peace.’ So she said, ‘Please help.’
So I said (and this is her mother telling me this story of what incident they had few days ago, and it was very, very scary.) So I said, “Yes, mother goes through all kinds and worries and trying to think the best for their child. and even at nineteen.’ Ya know, helpless. I said she had a capacity, a brain capacity of a child about six years old. And they were her friends … five-year-old, six-year-old child were her friends.
And so I said, ‘Fine, we try.’ Reiki, we always say we try because I’m not the one that is the healer, but the man upstairs. And I said, ‘I will give time, and I will treat, and I will treat, and I am sure she will get some result.’ And this is, was my story.
And she said, ‘How long do you think?’
I said, ‘Perhaps you have to come six months, one year.’
She said, ‘That’s alright even if I have to come one year and if you know, if I know that she’s gonna get help,’ she say, ‘it’s worth it. This is my last straw.’ And then she started to come in from February and after she came a month she was better.’
And so I said, “Perhaps by Easter. When we celebrate Easter. I am sure you don’t have to come everyday. Maybe twice a week.’
‘Oh,’ she said, ‘I noticed she is getting better.’
Now, how to treat these chronic cases, but everything it comes from the stomach, it was the acidity in the stomach. Now these kind of people always drool. Always having some water drooling, colorless, very, very acid drool from their mouths. And that is the acid.
And so I said, ‘No ice cream, no milk, no oranges. All the candy, she’s been pouring in too much sugar, too much acid.’ So I said, ‘She has to go on a strict diet.’ And the diet was cabbage, cauliflower, beet, grated salad. And then I said, ‘… very little meat. But she can have some white fish, something very light. And then not too much rice. No starches more than one. Don’t eat any potato, bread, and rice. If you have potato, no rice. If you have bread, no rice, no potato.’ And so she went on a strict diet. And the drooling stopped. And sure enough, by Easter she had no more fits. And the mother was so happy, happy that she said, ‘Now,’ she said, ‘I have every reason to believe in Reiki.’ And we had a very big class in her area, in that camp … Japanese camp at the sugar plantation.
And then after about a year, this girl told the mother, ‘Mama, I have been a sick girl for many, many years, over ten years.’ And therefore, now since I feel fine and I do not have the fits, I will get up at four o’clock in the morning to cook the lunch, and fill up the lunch pail, and make the lunches for my brothers and sisters (who went to work in the plantation).’ And this family had twelve children. And so she said, ‘I can do this. And then you stay in bed until I come and wake you up.’ And when 7 o’clock came, she had the breakfast ready, and she said, ‘Mother, it’s time for you to get up, breakfast is on the table. I’m ready to eat breakfast with you. And so she had breakfast with the mother, and then she cleaned the dishes. And then she said, ‘Now, I go to bed. Now, Mama, you go back to the store, and you work in the store.’ See?
And so she became very, normal child. And not only that but very, very sympathetic and kindness and she realized what troublesome child she was to the parents, What she went through all these years, she remembered. So that is why that child was not senile nor childish. And the reason why she was that way was because she lacked in sleep. If anybody have eight fits, eleven times a night, she had no time to sleep. And that’s why her brains were not settled. When the parents and all the friends took Reiki they treated her brains and One, and Two, and Three, and Four, and the back … gave her a complete treatment, she became a complete whole.
Then after about year and a half, she said to her mother, ‘You ought to send me to a sewing school where I can learn to make shirts for my brothers.’ ‘Do you think you can handle machine?’ She said, ‘I think I can.’ And so there was a shirt maker and a pants maker in this camp. So she set over there, and in a few weeks she was making shirts for the brothers to work in. The working clothes.
And so she became very, very normal. And in two years, now, when she was second year she said, ‘Mother, I think I want to learn Reiki. And I wonder whether Mrs. Takata will accept me or not, but will you ask her?’ And so one day the mother comes and said, ‘I want you to look at my child.’ I said, ‘Yes, she looks very well.’ I said, ‘No drooling?’ She said, ‘No, that stopped a long time ago, and she’s very, very normal now. And so she wants to take Reiki.’ I said, ‘I’m sure she can.’ So after two years she became a Reiki student. And I did not visit them anymore. I didn’t have to because I know that family became a complete whole.
And that is the story of mother love, of how she suffered, and how she prayed, and how she found Reiki. And so Reiki is a complete whole. So no matter how bad, how (cornered ?) ya know? It is up to us to try. And then because it is not us, but we are the ones that, we lend the fingers, and the hands, and the healing is done from him, from above. God let it. And then, so when there is an honest confession, when truthfully when you are in sorrow or all that. The truthful confession is God’s wish, you shall have a chance for recovery. And when God does it, it’s complete.
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Thank you for taking the time to read our newsletter. John and I wish you a healthy, peaceful, and prosperous month.