This was not an easy article to write, mainly because I, like so many of you, struggle with the concept of war. We are outraged at the violence and destruction of Russian-Ukrainian War, particularly in the aftermath of our continued battle and endurance of the worldwide Covid-19 pandemic. And yet, war has been a constant part of our human existence since the beginning of time. Just in the past century or so we have seen World War I, World War II, Spanish Civil War, Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, Falklands War, Gulf War, Bosnian War, and war in Afghanistan, Iraq, Korea, Vietnam, Ruanda, and Eritrea, to name but a few. Whether we like it or agree with it or not, war is (and has always been) an expression of part of our human condition – greed and power that are rooted in an exaggerated and unbalanced (and most likely unhealed) part of our ego-expression.
Living in South Africa, I understand only too well that fight, flight, or freeze is inherently part of our human nature when we respond to the world around us. It is a survival instinct. But nothing about war is about survival… it is about the interplay of greed and power… both based on ego, where ego seeks only to serve itself.
As human beings most of us live and survive on this planet by maintaining a good balance between ego and soul, trying to live in peace and harmony with all of humanity. Our response to the Covid-19 pandemic is testimony to this. The Russian-Ukrainian War seems to be out of place and out of sync with the shift that so many of us have experienced over the past 2 years. Where the Covid-19 pandemic pulled us towards our spiritual nature, with love and compassion towards our fellow humans, war is slamming its ego-fist into everything that was created in the months before.
As individuals we have very little control over the ego-based decisions of the political leaders (or mis-leaders in some cases) in the pursuit of power, supremacy and the conflict and war that so often result form this. We do, however, have the ability and responsibility to choose which path we follow – a path dominated by ego or the path of spirit.
For me, Reiki is a powerful expression of spirit and the spiritual path we choose. In the practice of Reiki, we seek to create balance and harmony in body, mind, and spirit/soul. We acknowledge that we are ego, but it is our choice not to live by ego alone. With Reiki we step into our spiritual nature, honouring our soul’s essence of love and compassion.
In the practice of Reiki, we live by the Five Precepts – one of these being honouring all life. This is where war does not fit into our Reiki nature as it contradicts everything we live by – heart-centred living, love, compassion, and the absence of judgment. We understand that everything and everyone is connected and that your experience of Reiki is having a spiritual life that connects us to Universal life-force energy.
War affects everyone and we cannot condone it. We also…
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