It has been a few days since I have been able to tend to my blog. Water it and tell it hello, say positive things to it so it will grow. A challenge of having interesting times and experiences is actually having the time to capture them, share a view and an experience. These past few days have been filled with Buddhists meetings, making connections and Reiki Treatments. And yesterday friends from New Orleans came to Hamburg to stay and visit for a few days bringing a piece of comfort and home to Altona with them. So I am full. Satisfied.
Loslassen is my German word for the day although I find even as I type the word it seems to drift away from my mind, memory and lips. Perhaps that is the very nature of this word as it means “let it go”…I grabbed this word at a local SGI Buddhist meeting I went to a few nights ago. Put it in my pocket and took it with me. So refreshing to hear and always a useful reminder! This meeting took me to someone’s private home just behind the Altona train station. It was a group of all women gathered in a pretty soft room with magical containers of sparkling lemon water, tea and crackers. The quieter softer energy of their collected chanting nurtured me and treated me like a friend. Afterwards I received the gift of their company over tea for me and wine and beer for them at a local cafe. We talked of horoscopes and yoga, cats and gardens, and it was fun. Fun to be and connect and spend time with other women.
And then recently I connected with a Reiki Master who lives in Hamburg. We escaped to her flat in the suburbs of Hamburg and I took refuge in the spaciousness of her place. We met for a Reiki exchange and I spent the night. The next day we had some time to walk around her neighborhood – an integration of suburban shopping and old homes and fields and paths in the woods.
A gift of our meeting was hearing and learning more about her Reiki teacher, Phyllis Lei Furumoto. For those of you who don’t practice Reiki, Phyllis is the Grand Master of the traditional Usui System of Reiki. Phyllis’ grandmother Hawayo Takata was the Japanese American woman who brought the teaching of Reiki to the United States. There are many systems of Reiki in the United States and in the World. The traditional system seeks to maintain the integrity of the practice as brought to United States from Japan by Takata.
I learned that Phyllis has her own internet radio talk show called Reiki Balancing Form and Essence. We listened to a segment and I got to hear the warm but powerful and soothing voice of Phyllis and be reminded and guided in the practice of Reiki. In her show she interviews Reiki Masters all over the world, many of whom I knew and recognized.
And for now… there is a moment of time. Time and space and a quietness moving through the air as the sounds of construction assemble themselves in the background outside my flat. The air is cool today and I have not seen the sun. But for now I am content…giving way to the comfort and solemness of the soft lazy day.
Gypsy Woman 
How nice that you connected with an Usui Shiki Ryoho Reiki Master in Hamburg!
And that she invited you to her Reiki share! What’s her name? How was it to be with a group of Reiki students in Hamburg & all that Hamburg brings?!
Also, glad to hear of your SGI connections too! New Orleans visitors? Wow! Wondering if I know them! Did this Reiki Master tell you of any other USR Reiki Masters in Hamburg? I was looking for you . . . 😉
Hey E, The visitors are Hamilton Simons-Jones and his wife Annette. Hamilton was a student at Tulane when I used to work there and currently I know them through Landmark.. They are at the beginning of their world tour! They arrived in Paris last week, then Amsterdam and now are taking a break here in Hamburg.
I actually have connected with two Reiki Masters in the Usui Shiki Ryoho system. One woman is Barbara Maelger who I met in Wettenbostel. She was initiated by Phyllis. She and I connected just for a private exchange. And the other is Simone Grashoff who hosts a weekly reiki group and was initiated by a couple who lives in Germany, can’t remember their names, and the couple was initiated by Phyllis.
Going to the group was… interesting… for me always a little exciting to navigate my way to a new place on my own… 🙂 The group was small as many people are on holiday this month. And it was more formal than our group. She served ginger tea and cookies, nuts and little chips. And we started in a circle on the floor first, connected and held hands and just did a little meditation. Then we went to the table. That portion was like clockwork and while they did things just a little bit different than us… some things were very similar… like the loving care given while on the table. A blanket carefully placed on you if you like, careful placement of the bolster, thoughtfully removing it in timely manner when you are done. Much care given. It was really sweet.
As for other USR Masters in Hamburg, I was not told about any specifically. But generally I am told there are many. But there don’t seem to be many Reiki circles that I can tell so far. It seems that with Phylllis working with Reiki Masters in Europe that has contributed to the number of Masters in Hamburg. However, in Germany there are some barriers to working with and practicing Reiki… even offering a Reiki Circle. From what I have heard so far, to be legal Reiki Masters much complete a clinical practitioner course of some sort to give them a more medical and psychological background. It seems the program is about 2 years and anyone offering any type of alternative therapy must complete this before legally being able to teach or offer their services… So you can be a Reiki Master but if you do not have this certificate, legally you cannnot practice.