Welcome to the second week of the Usui Retreat 2010. If you have not taken part in the first week of our inner adventure please take some time to read what was written before and integrate it; it does not take time, for the truth is timeless and change happens only in this moment. Surrender the troubles of your daily life, the troubles of the past and the anticipated troubles of the future right now and we are ready to begin.

Love

Now that you have shifted your focus towards the essence, I would like to ask you to invite love into your life. Whatever you and feel, think and perceive this week, please always remember to filter it through your heart. You might want to look at your heart as having two chambers. One is the emotional heart, and the other, the transcendental. In this week please pay attention to the transcendental.

The Emotional Heart

The emotional heart is not really capable of love, because it lives in the realm of duality and conditions. It beats in the rhythm of the love of a small child and this love is limited by fear and desire, by the longing for recognition and the fear of rejection. Lets call this love unenlightened love for the moment. It is the right stuff, yet it is clouded by the psychological/emotional memories and traumatic experiences of the past.

Remember the spaciousness you felt in last week’s meditation. It is colorless and nameless. It does not have any attribute other than being all- inclusive, for it gives space to everything there is.

Today, I am asking you to give this spaciousness the quality of love. The easiest pathway for love to enter your being is the heart. Feel love pervading the center of your chest right now as you read these lines.

The Meditation

Sit in a quiet place and make sure the telephone is turned off and you are not disturbed for 30 minutes or more. It is helpful to sit with your back erect in a 90-degree angle and to breathe as deeply as you can in your lower abdomen. Breathe in and out through your nose, letting the breath touch your Tanden (two or three fingers width below your navel). Forget everything else and know that there is nothing to be done, nothing to be changed and nothing to be achieved. Allow everything to be as it is; let the neighbor’s dog bark and the wind pass through the trees. Allow the trucks drive past your house without judgment. There is no need to say yes to this and no to that. Everything is as it is.

It may be helpful to close your eyes lightly and focus your attention on the point between your eyes, the third eye. This will help you to focus your attention.

Now let your heart be filled with love. If you need a little help to feel this, think of someone you love dearly, your partner or your child, your parents or anyone close to you. When you feel this love flooding both the chambers of your heart, allow it to fill your whole body, step by step. If you are a visual person imagine love passing through all the cells of your body, from head to toe. If you are kinesthetic, feel love

streaming out for your heart into the far corners of your own personal Universe. If you are the auditory type it may be helpful to chant the word love, love, love in your own language…Pay special attention to any body parts that you may not feel comfortable with. Maybe there is an illness that you feel uncomfortable with or a physical part of your body that you find hard to accept. Maybe you think that your nose is too big or your legs too short. Disregard this dislike for the moment and allow that body part to become all love.

Then extend this exercise to your mind and allow it to fill up completely with the nectar of love. If there are mental qualities or habits present in your mind that you usually dislike, pay special attention to them right now, and let them be filled with love. Whatever your mind is like- it is loveable and lovely- shortcomings and all. Let your whole mind be filled with love until the exclusive content of it is love.

Now include your emotional body in this all- inclusive love and let it be filled with love. If there are any emotional patterns that you usually dislike about yourself, pay special attention to them and let them be filled with love. You are "right" just as you are. Being human includes the emotional ups and downs; there is no need to be super woman or super man. Let your emotional body fill with love so completely until nothing remains but love.

Remain in this state for a few minutes and cherish the love you have generated. This love will spread from you to your environment and to everyone you encounter this week. Please make an effort in every moment of this week to remember the love in your heart. Let it shower upon everyone you meet. Allow every being sentient or insentient to part take of this love. Love the wind and the rain, love the mountains and valley, love every human on this planet and include in this love, yourself.

Before you go to sleep at night, send this love into the world, without asking for anything in particular.

If you need some guidance during this week, please email me at Arjava@ReikiDharma.com

Arjava