Reiki from the Farm™
Reiki from the Farm™
Teaching, Manifesting & the Future of the ICRT - with William Lee Rand
In this episode, Pam Allen-LeBlanc sits down with William Rand to explore his journey of teaching Reiki in foreign countries, the manifestation of Reiki's global reach, and the deeper spiritual path Reiki offers.
Together, they discuss the future of the International Center for Reiki Training (ICRT) and the importance of succession planning to ensure its continued growth and impact.
Whether you're a seasoned Reiki practitioner or new to the practice, this conversation will offer invaluable insights into Reiki's evolution and role in the spiritual journey.
----
William Rand is the dynamic force behind The International Center for Reiki Training (ICRT), The Center for Reiki Research, and The Reiki Membership Association. As an accomplished author and the editor-in-chief of the Reiki News Magazine, he's penned numerous articles and influential books diving deep into the philosophy and practice of Reiki.
William's pioneering research on Reiki's origins has been groundbreaking. He's also recognized for creating the Usui/Tibetan Reiki system in 1989, developing the Karuna Reiki® system in 1995, and introducing the continually evolving Holy Fire® Reiki system, with its latest upgrade in 2018. This man's contribution to the field of Reiki is nothing short of remarkable.
Get in Touch with William:
Website: https://www.reiki.org/users/william-rand
Pam Allen-LeBlanc is a scientist, a businesswoman, and a Licensed Reiki Master Teacher (LRMT) with the International Center for Reiki Training. She is the author of "The Reiki Business Book" and a co-author of ICRT Animal Reiki training. Pam teaches Reiki, Animal Reiki, and Animal Communication online and in person in Canada, the US, and Australia.
Get in Touch with Pam:
Email: pam@reikifromthefarm.com
Pam's ICRT Classes: https://www.reiki.org/users/pamela-allen-leblanc#classes
Book a Reiki, Animal Reiki, or Animal Communication session:
https://squareup.com/appointments/book/7dvtqlfp939e8g/LPSC51C92BN20/services
A special thanks goes out to Music from Pixabay for the intro music and to Nate Miller for the meditation music!
Register for our newsletter!
Hi and welcome to the Reiki from the Farm podcast brought to you by me, Pam Allen LeBlanc from Hidden Brook Farm. I am a scientist, a businesswoman, and a licensed Reiki master teacher with the International Center for Reiki Training. Each week in this podcast you'll be entertained as you learn about a wide variety of relevant Reiki topics, helping you become a more knowledgeable and effective Reiki practitioner. We caution you, though, this podcast may also dramatically improve your life, and we are so happy that you're here. On this podcast, I am speaking with my teacher, my mentor, my friend, William Rand, the head of the largest Reiki organization in the world, the International Reiki Center for Reiki Training. Welcome William.
William:Oh, yeah. Thank you. Glad to be here.
Pamela:I'm so happy you're here too. Before we begin, I just want to let you know what we have coming up for classes. You can actually see both William and I at the Northeast Reiki Retreat. If you would like, we'll be there together from May 2nd to 4th. And ahead of that, April 30th to May 1st, Tracy Sullivan and I will be teaching our brand new health care course. Reiki course. We would love to have you join us if that speaks to you. William, you're teaching Karuna Reiki ahead of the Northeast Reiki Retreat, are you not?
William:That's right. Yeah.
Pamela:Excellent. Yes. I'd like to learn Karuna Reiki from the, the master, the originator of the system. That's a wonderful opportunity to do that. April 25th to 26th, over two evenings, I have a Level 3 Animal Communication course coming up, which is going to be evenings in North America, mornings in Asia and Australia. We'd love to have you join us. We also, in August, I have two whale classes on the island of Campobello. That is Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt's summer home. It's a Canadian island just off the coast of Maine. And in between class, we're going to be going whale watching. So there'll be a licensed level one and two. and master and then the following week animal one reiki one and two and master love to have you join us william you're all over the place what do you have coming up or should people just check the reiki. org website
William:yeah yeah i guess check the website but i'm teaching right here tomorrow i have a one and two class here on maui and then back to back I have a Rikki Masterclass here, then a day off, then a Karuna class here on Maui in Hana. And, you know, at the center, and then after that, oh, I've got some online classes here. And then I end up at Lake George Silver Bay Northwest, Northeast Wiki Association, yeah, teaching out there, and I'll be teaching let's see, Omega Institute, well, it'd be Brett Bevel's series there. And I'm going to be going to England in July, and then let's see well, then, you know, I have my whole Asia tour where I'm at this point going to Taiwan, Japan, Beijing, Hong Kong, and Vietnam. So, yeah, hop, skip, and jump all around. So, yeah, so,
Pamela:yeah, it'll be
William:something.
Pamela:Asia tour, isn't it? Yeah, Asia
William:tour. Yeah, yeah. So yeah, I'm teaching either both the master classes, Reiki Master and Karuna, and maybe Reiki 1 and 2 also in some of the places as well. So get the whole thing going over there. We also have Lucy, who is now one of our licensed teachers. And Ken Locke, and so we've got a really strong presence in Asia, and Ting too, yeah, so yeah, so we have a very strong presence in Asia, and we expect that it's just going to take off and do really well, so that is really, you know, pretty amazing development.
Pamela:I think it's wonderful that you are able to go over there and teach and support them. And we have Munakai and Lena in Japan too. So we really, yeah,
William:yeah,
Pamela:are expanding in
William:Asia. Yeah. And then I'll be teaching at Mount Cromwell again. And speaking of which I was explaining to you Pam about my lamp. So this is yeah, so when I was last there on Mount Kurama a few months ago, then we walked down, and we had I think with us was, came with us someone who was very knowledgeable about the mountain, and there was a temple off to the side, and we walked over to it, and it was closed, but we were able to look in, but on the hanging, there were these beautiful lamps temple lamps, And so we asked about them. We were, it was explained where they came from and they were made especially in a workshop for the mountain and a long time ago, apparently around the beginning of the 1800s. And so then what I kind of got back here, I looked it up on the Internet. And I did the mount corolla temple lamp and they were actually for sale. So the temple that we went to was actually, I guess, I don't know if they're taking apart or something. And so there were these lamps that got they were for sale. So I ordered one. And a few days ago, I got it in. So that's it up here. And I'm going to be getting some going to hang it right over here next to the peace grid, like getting some special chain and hanging it right there. And it's you know, the appropriate candle that goes in, it would be a beeswax or a soy candle. So I ordered those. So I'm going to get set up. And then also I may even be moving it around here in different locations. And then we're going to experiment with taking photographs for it to be on the cover of the Reiki News Magazine. So and working with Colleen Bonelli, then, and myself, we tuned into it and it has consciousness. And It's it's, it's purpose there on the mountain was to guide people up to the temple and by, by its light. And so then it's very happy to be here. And it was quite a surprise and happy that I'm going to put it right up here when I teach so that it will be guiding people up to the light. And so having something right from Mount Kurama that was present there when Asui was, you know, on the mountain, and has been there all along for, you know, a hundred or more years, that I'm just very, they say stoked, you know what I mean? I'm delighted, William. I can't wait to come
Pamela:and see it in person.
William:Yeah. So yeah, very happy to have that piece of temple the temple lantern here. So
Pamela:it, it, it, you said that they were made in the, by a certain craftsman in the 18, late 1800s. Yes, so that early,
William:early 1800s, early, early 1800s. Okay.
Pamela:So that would be present when you see we went up.
William:Absolutely. They've been there a long time. They're made of brass, but they have a black coating of some type of paint, so they're not going to rust, even if the paint is damaged or something. So that's a consideration here with a salt air, but because it's brass, it's not going to deteriorate or anything. And it's got little doors you open them and then inside there's a place you could put a tray or something to hold a candle. So that's what I'm going to be working with. I'm going to work with it. So, and then I'm going to play with it and see what I come up with. So, you know, I'm thinking right here hanging from the ceiling, but I may actually, there's other places around I might experiment with. So. I love that.
Pamela:Well, William, you know, as we're speaking of all of your plans in Asia and stuff like that, one of the questions I wanted to ask you about today is the fact that you've taught all over the world. And can I just say about your class in July in England, that is the class that I attended. It was in May, the year I attended.
William:Yeah. That
Pamela:is very special, too. So, and anybody who wants to attend any of those. You've gone all over the world. What are some of the challenges or maybe even some of the unique stories or experiences you've had when you've traveled to teach? What are, what do you, what do you notice? You wrote, you've wrote several, written several articles about them. And when I travel to teach, I really tend to follow your advice. But what would you tell people about that?
William:Well, you of course, first of all, you need a passport and you may need a visa. So you would check into, you know, what travel documents would you need, and you can go to you know, on the online and us government and traveling to foreign countries, you know, look into that and they will tell you what you might need in terms of traveling around the world. And, then one other consideration is the type of cuisine, food that they have there. Is it palatable for you? Is it food you can eat? Or if so, what types of their foods are you able to eat? When I went to India, their food was extremely hot, spicy, which is very spicy for them. Yeah, that's, to them, completely normal. And how could you not eat spicy? For me, it was like burning my mouth off. So, I had to, you know, have them tone down. Cause they're mild is still way too spicy. Yeah. Yeah. So anyway, that's something to consider is the cuisine and how is the food prepared and, you know, can you eat their food or can you, do you need to bring some of your own or. somehow pay attention to the food that's available, the diet. The other thing would be the pure, pure, the water. So in some countries the water is contaminated. In India when I traveled there, and this is not, I love India, it's a great place, but all water is polluted. And I'm talking tap water rain water river water, And just about everything is polluted. So you really need your own filter. So I brought my own water filter. I would pump and filter it. And so that's something to be concerned with because you can get there's different serious. Like you can get dysentery and you won't die from it, but you'll be sick. So you have to be careful about little tricky things like that, so food and water. And then, of course, the language and you can always use on your phone Google Translate. Yeah. It's a, it's a handy tool. Fantastic. And around the world, everybody in these foreign countries, they almost always understand and know about Google, Google Translate. And so you use Google Translate. And then the idea would be probably it's a good idea to get a translator for your class if it is a foreign language. Because even though in school, English is a second language all over the world, but they don't have a really good working knowledge of English. And so while they can communicate, basically in teaching a class, the subtle meaning of what you're saying may not be communicated. So you need a translator and you need someone who is a conversant with Reiki, knows Reiki, has Reiki. So when you get to the special Reiki words, they understand what it is you're trying to say. So that would be something to keep in mind is a translator who is Reiki knowledgeable. Maybe has reiki so they can translate the special words that you're using when you're class.
Pamela:Yeah. So, and I, you and I have talked about translation, just the fact that you, you can't go into as in depth conversations always you sometimes have. Yeah.
William:And the other thing is working with a translator. You can't you don't have as much time, right? As you speak, the translator speaks, you speak, the translator speaks. So you have to condense what you're saying to very basic sentences. So you can't elaborate and so like, sometimes I forget and I go off and they go, Oh, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, I have to stop. I have to translate that. And so then I realized, Oh, okay. So then I, you know, condense it down to very simple, basic sentences. And then the value though, is if you do have a manual translated into their language. Then they're going to be able to read it and get probably a, maybe a deeper understanding.
Pamela:That's right.
William:So that's something to keep in mind is the translation, be able to work with the translator where you talk, they talk, you talk, they talk. Then a student in class asks a question in their native tongue, then the translator will translate it into English for you. So you have to wait, English, and it goes back like that. So you're not able to teach as much because there's the translation time that takes place.
Pamela:I noticed that too. And I find as a teacher, it's actually challenging but it's lovely because you have to get really efficient.
William:Yes. Mm hmm.
Pamela:No, you have to because you you still want, you still need to cover everything and I think that people still get the nuances just with your voice, just in the energy. Yeah, the
William:energy is the same. So, the Reiki, the energy is is not be translated. It's just it's the Reiki energy and it works. Just fine. So they get the full Reiki energy. It's just the, you know, explanation of it. And right now we do have our manuals translated in quite a few different foreign languages. And we have that digital so people can go online and on their phones and read the manual. And then we have different people in different countries who have taken them and printed. Hard copy manuals and sell them there in their country. So we don't sell them so much from our center in Michigan in the US, but we they're available digitally and also hard copy being printed by people in that area
Pamela:that are licensed to do that. And that's great. Yeah, this makes this system available everywhere. Doesn't it? So You know, I remember reading an article you wrote, William, about teaching in foreign countries, and you had some really great suggestions that I follow when I travel to teach, or just when I travel. One was, always only bring carry on, and Yeah,
William:yeah, yeah.
Pamela:I, I love that. So I'll bring, you know, I went to Australia for three weeks. And I brought nine manuals and two computers, and all I brought was carry ons so yeah, one of the things you had recommended was only bringing Carrie on and that's
William:right. Yeah.
Pamela:And yeah,
William:that's, I've learned that, well, I mean, here's the thing. It's now the problem, but when you get to the airport. It's going to take longer. Now, you know, nowadays you can actually get your boarding pass on your phone and you can, you know, check into your for your flight and everything on your phone. And then if you got the TSA approval pre check TSA pre check, then and you have carry on, you just, You know, go to the airport and go right to the pre check line and go through and get on the plane. If not, you have to go up to the desk and then check your bags. And when you land, you've got to wait for your luggage to be unloaded and come down and get your luggage. Feel it off. So you're going to save, you know, maybe a total of an hour altogether and travel time half hour at each end, probably, or maybe longer. Sometimes it takes a really long time for that luggage to get down there and then then get your bag and carry it. Whereas if you just walk off the plane and you're you're gone. So yeah, Carrie, if you can. You know, and the thing is what I used to do is I took things just in case I might need it, you know, and And so and then often I didn't even need it. And so I thought i'm going to take things I absolutely have to have only and then you can always often if there's something you just really need you can usually buy it Or something while you're there. So yeah, I just pared that down now. The other thing is i'm a guy and I know You know, it's just the nature of, you human beings and women have more clothing and other things they have to take with
Pamela:them. I only travel with carry on William and you see that saved me so many times like even when I kind of got stuck in England during COVID when we're closing and flights were going down. They were trying to get me an earlier flight and, and it was gonna be complicated with a check bag. And I said, well, no, I only have carry-on. Yeah. And they're plugged out and they went, well, you can get any flight then, Yeah. And that just saved so many times. I just walk off the plane and go to the rental car or whatever. I just, I will never go with more than carry on, no matter how long I go for.
William:Yeah. Yeah. That's what I learned. And you just gotta. Learn how to do that. And it just makes it so easy. And I got what I've got is like a backpack. That's my I got a back because they allow you one bag plus a carry on. And so I got a backpack. And so then I got my little roller bag. So I take the straps and tighten up the straps on my backpack. Push it, let it bound over the, the the, the strap handle. And then sometimes, what I do too now is I've got a little short bungee cord that I wrap around it. Because sometimes the straps aren't tight enough, it kind of flops over. So I get it, tighten it up. And then I just roll along. And then I go on the plane. And I take my backpack, put it up in the rack. Or sometimes I put the backpack under the seat. And I've got all my stuff. For on the plane, I might want, you know, sunglasses and water, whatever I might want. And then the other thing is water. They don't allow you through the the TSA check. With to take water. So you can take an empty water bottle. If you have a special water bottle you want to take with you, you just empty, you go and when you go through, then buy your water and then fill up your water bottle, or you can just buy the plastic water bottle and take that with you you know, in instant from the airport. And so you like that. And so you know, there's a couple of pointers,
Pamela:I guess, around that.
William:Yeah.
Pamela:And you used to recommend like making some granola and oh,
William:yeah, I made my own granola. In fact, I think that recipe is still available prairie prairie granola or something. I mean, I called it and yeah, I how to make your own special granola. You can get all your grains and stuff, put them together. You bake it in the oven and then you got your. Yeah, Prairie. I didn't call it. My silly name was Buffalo chip granola, but it's not a good name. But anyway, It doesn't sound appetizing. Yeah. Yeah. No, no, no. It's just Prairie, Prairie granola or something like that. So yeah. So I think there's a, like a holistic granola. You can make yourself by buying stuff from the health food store and making your own granola.
Pamela:Yeah.
William:So I,
Pamela:I love it. I love it. And so, you know, right from the beginning, you were guided to take Reiki around the world, various cultures. What have you noticed? Like, do you find Reiki is embraced differently in different cultures? And have you ever noticed that you've had to adjust, make adjustments to how you teach in certain cultures?
William:Well, one thing that is a little bit of the opposite of that is that Everybody that has Reiki has a basic core essence that's the same. Yes. And so that's almost, it's almost like Reiki is a language. And so you, it's like, you're, you're all Reiki people. So it's like, you're all part of the same culture and in a lot of respects. So Reiki, okay, I got Reiki. Sure. So that bonds people together, the Reiki energy. And so Let's see, are there differences in how people practice and different. I don't think there's too much too much difference. So,
Pamela:it really does have that common thread then.
William:Yeah, it does. The only thing is this that you have to be respectful of the religion. So, like, we're from a Christian country where it's like, we're so used to Christianity being normal. And while Christianity is understood, like I go to Taiwan, they are, you know, they're Daoist. They, they speak Mandarin and they have a Chinese background and so they're into that type of background as being the standard norm and and although they, they, they respect Christianity, it's Kuan Yin and Buddhism and Taoism that they look to. So that would be something to check into is what deities do they rever? And become familiar with them and make sure you talk more about them. And but so Kuan Yin in Taiwan is definitely a deity they respect and look toward. And I think that's nice also for feminism. And whereas when you've got Jesus, you know, that's a little different. But they are into Kuan Yin as their deity. But the main deity in Taiwan. I imagine in some parts of China, but now that it's communist, it's a little different in terms of what's, what's going on there in terms of religion.
Pamela:Yeah.
William:Yeah, I would, that's one thing I would check into is what's, what are the religions that they practice there and who are the deities that they work with. And then, of course, with Holy Fire, we work with the Brothers and Sisters of the Light who are the founders of all the world's religions and spiritual paths. So you just find out which ones. Would, you know, from the brothers and sisters that are going to be more prominent there. And
Pamela:which ones fit that's a really good advice and you know, this, this takes me back to William it makes me think like from the early 90s when you started teaching Reiki, you began teaching around the world did you. Realize then, or did you have a clear vision of how it would spread and, and, and how do you feel about how it has spread and how the ICRT teachings are worldwide? How does that, you know,
William:yeah, when I first began teaching, I was like, not I was somewhat of an outsider because the Reiki Alliance was the dominant teaching organization in the U. S. And then you know, I was just a newcomer and I was part of it because my teacher was part of the Reiki Alliance, Bethel Faye. Yeah, and she was one of the masters that she learned from Dakota and so the Ricky then the Ricky Alliance was formed after Dakota passed on. And so that was the main organization in the US that promoted Ricky. And so then I was a little different though, because there was, some break away from that a little bit. So Iris Ishikura was one of Tsukada's masters. And the price, the going price for mastership was 10, 000. And so when I heard that, when I became a master in Hawaii, I just thought, well, that is so beyond because back then 10, 000 was more like 40, 000 now. And also I was living like just a very. subsistence, you know, living where I was just, you know, I wanted to meditate, go hiking, go to the beach, hang out and all that. So I was doing my astrology and past life progression therapy and then eventually Reiki. So I wasn't, I didn't have a lot of money or anything. So, you know, master 10, 000. I just thought, well, whatever, you know, it's obviously I'm not good. That's not going to happen for me. But but then the main thing that Bethel said was Reiki can guide your life. And she said, this is a really important thing and talking about how we all come to this life with a spiritual purpose. And then it's sort of waylaid by a cultural values and you find out, oh. You know, that's not what we're supposed to be, we're supposed to be, you know, getting a good education and going to church, of course, and then also getting a job and then hopefully, possibly moving up or getting to a nice neighborhood and nice clothes and all that, and that's value. And whereas our spiritual purpose is a lot different, may not have anything at all to do with money or material possessions or anything at all. And so then those are often at odds, but then Bethel was talking about that, that Reiki helps us discover our purpose and help us, helps us to achieve it. And so the interesting thing though is that Reiki actually is a business. So, you know, it's, it's spiritual and it's a spiritual business. So then that allows you to think about this and integrate. You know, money and spirituality, the business aspect and the spiritual life together. And so that helps out too. So you know, those are some of the things that in the beginning I had to consider, but then as I got more involved with it, I, I helped, it sort of helped me to integrate them.
Pamela:Did you, did you expect that it would ever grow, the ICRT would ever grow to be the size that it is today and have the reach that it has?
William:Well, I, I didn't have the full vision on it, but the thing is this, that I had already had a business. I was a businessman and I, I I was into racing motorcycles. And so I developed a business selling racing parts for motorcycles. And so I had that business going so, and that evolved and developed. And so I had a lot of business experience. So then when I became a Reiki master, I noticed these other masters didn't know hardly anything about business and I was, and also they had sort of an aversion to it, like it was not, not their thing, but they were the spiritual part and all that, but I already was into business. And so it was very natural for me and easy for me to then adapt many of my the business principles and like marketing and advertising promotion and put that together. And so my, my business took off and in fact, prior to that, I had I was had spiritual development classes and so started, I learned how to teach. By doing that and got my spiritual development classes going and there was a metaphysical paper in my area and I went to the owners and I asked them, well, what do I, you know, I know about a lot of stuff I could write about. How do I do it? And they said, oh, just go ahead and write and we'll edit it. And so. By seeing how they edited my articles, I became a better writer. So they corrected things and, and pretty soon eventually, you know, they said, Oh, you know, we're doing, you're doing so well. We didn't have to edit it at all. So, you know, it's because I fixed every single thing that they had to fix. And so I conformed my writing style to what they wanted. And so I became a writer and you know, a teacher, I was a businessman and There was word that you could become a master for 500. I thought, oh, it can't be. It's supposed to, you know, the 10, 000 is a, like a required fee. And it's like a part of the initiation. You have to get the 10, 000 together to be a master. This can't be the real thing. So I went to the teacher and I talked to her and she says, Oh, no, no, this is the real deal. And she explained that Takada taught Iris Ishikuro as one of her masters. And she taught two people. You know, after Takata passed, she taught two people for 500, the master level for five. So she was an authentic master trained by Takata and she just changed the price to 500. And she just taught two people though. And then Arthur Robertson was one of them. He was a teacher of Tibetan shamanism. So he began teaching master for 500. And so that's where that's, I think, one of the ways that it got out there for the lower price. And then it just spread and more and more people were doing it. So I got in on, you know, 89 as a master for 500. And so my calling card or attractive thing was it's master for 500. And so so that's that way I was attracting business because of that. And they hit what, what, what, you know, five, Oh, really? Is this, Oh, really? Oh, wow. So, I mean, people were, no, cause everyone, you know, learned up to level two. But they could never go to Mass because they didn't have, unless they were wealthy or something, they didn't have 10, 000. So then this is a way, so I got a flood of students and everything. And then I realized well, a lot of people then are starting to teach for 500. And if I don't do anything, I'm going to be just the same as everybody else. So I decided I'm going to really need to refine my teaching skills and improve my writing and produce a really high quality product that will allow people to easily teach. And so one of the issues around then when things were getting going is there was a lot of competitiveness and stifling that the teacher didn't, they wanted to get your money. And teach you, but they didn't want you to do that. Well, so they didn't, you didn't have the energetic blessing of them. And they, there's kind of like a fearful energy around them. Don't you ever try to do it better than me? I'm at the top here. I'm the one and you're beneath me. And so but I realized this and I decided I'm going to teach the same way, the same way. as a teacher I would have liked to have met when I was looking for a teacher. And so I taught, we're wholeheartedly wanting everybody to do as well as they wanted to do, and practice Reiki in a way that's just right for them. So because of that, then I wrote my manuals. And I freely made them available to everybody, and so they could use the same quality manual I was using, and then I paid attention to keep updating it as soon as new information came along, and then I just made them available, and so then that was very attractive to students that already had a manual that they could use, because the way it was taught before was you have to write your own manual. Right. So to be a master, you would have to write your own manual. Did you experience that Pam?
Pamela:No, I only studied at the master level with you. And I would never have wanted to start from scratch writing my own manual. I, you know, it made it so easy, William, to be able to use those beautiful quality manuals of yours when it was time to teach. It just made it so.
William:Yeah. So that was, that was a reorientation in my mind that took place. Toward wanting everyone to do well and doing everything I could to help them. So, you know, class outlines, class manuals, and then wholeheartedly encouraging them to do well, wanting them to do well. So they felt free and they didn't feel like, oh, no, I better not let him know I'm doing this because he might not like it. And so, no, I'm happy. I'm happy that you do well. And so because of that,
Pamela:that's what you wanted for us. And that's,
William:yeah, yeah, like a very positive rapport and wholeheartedly wanting everyone to do well and feeling good when they do. And what that did for me, though, is made it very easy. Because when you don't want people to do well, then it puts up a lot of negative energy within you and you don't feel good when people do well and there's a little anger and resistance towards other masters. And so you know, my attitude was just have a very positive attitude toward all Reiki masters. I want them to do well and be happy when they do well. And then it just opened me up to be very free and easy and just everything flowed. And so yeah, that style just really helped me teach very easily. And I mean, it helped it spread because people picked up on the
Pamela:vibe. I agree. And I think that's one of the reasons that it became so popular. And, and you wrote an article, William, about how you, you actually were able to correlate just vast improvements in the world as a result of there being more Reiki masters in the world. You wrote two articles about that.
William:Yeah. Yeah. You know, looking back, On the state of the world and the level of peace in the world, you know, Takata came started teaching Reiki well, it was just before World War II started, but she really got going after it was over, and it came from Japan, so so then as this spread around, now when we look back at the state of the world we see, That there have been no world wars since the end of World War Two, which is right when Reiki began to grow. And so we can see that when we're not, I'm not saying it's the only thing that's doing it, but certainly the prevalence of Reiki developing in the world has promoted a greater level of peace. And so I think people really need to look at, you know, have a perspective around this and go all the way back to the world wars. And how we haven't had one in a really long time and we do have wars, and that's I'm not saying we like them at all. We don't like wars at all. We would rather that there not be any words at all. But now we don't have world wars and, and so in fact, when there are wars, there's a lot of concern and how can this be contained and prevent from expanding and things. And so there was a book called the greater the better angels of our nature by Steven Pinker. And that's what, what he, he was a psychologist. He is a psychologist and he thought things were getting worse in the, in the world. And he thought, well, I'm going to chronicle this and get the stats on it to show how the world's getting worse. So he started doing that and he found out the opposite was true. That every aspect of strife in the world was diminishing, including crime and war and any sort of things like holding people back and racism and all sorts of things like that. We still have a lot of these things going on, but they're getting less and less and less. And so that he's, that's a wonderful book. It's was written a while ago. But Steven Pinker, the better angels of our nature he's got facts and stats and everything showing that actually everything's getting better. Now, I don't know what he's done since then, you know, how things are going, but it probably it's still getting better. It's hard to say, but you know, of course, you want it all to you know, we do get less and less and reduce and but the, when we look back at the history of a war and difficulty and famine and so forth that there are fewer, fewer people going hungry in the world fewer poor people fewer people with fewer disease and illness. And ever since Reiki started to become prevalent at the end of, you know, around the World War II and the end of World War II is when it happened. So we we look at all that and pretty amazing that Reiki, you know, Reiki, you know, has had at least one of the contributing factors to that taking place.
Pamela:Yeah, I, I agree. And you know, William, part of this, you know, obviously you followed your spiritual path You know, one of the key messages you learned early on was that Reiki can provide us with that divine guidance. How do you think Reiki helps practitioners on their spiritual journeys? And what are some ways they can deepen their connection with Reiki so that they can follow their own path?
William:Well, I think basically one of the things would be to send Reiki to your future. And Send Reiki to the formulation of your plans for your Reiki practice and ask Reiki to guide you. So one of the things I began doing that immediately had an effect is I began saying a prayer. The prayer was initially guide me and heal me so that I might be of greater service to others. And then I added guide me and heal me so that I might be of greater service to myself and others. And so that really had a very powerful effect. And I was living in Hawaii, and I don't know if any of the listeners have, you know participants have been in Hawaii, but it's a beautiful, beautiful place. And when I moved there, I thought, this is it. I'm never leaving this place. I'm going to stay in Hawaii the rest of my life. This is it. And I thought, if I don't do anything else except live in Hawaii, that accomplishment will be big enough to make my life meaningful. I don't have to do anything. I'll just live here. And so, so and of course I did more than that. But then, I started seeing my prayer and you know, like I say, it was five, I paid 500 for level two and then it was 10, 000 for master. I said my prayer and then I was guided. Things happened where it become more and more difficult for me to be there. Now, prior to that, it was like, I'm here. I belong here in Hawaii. It feels like this is it. But then it's like things started breaking up and I felt like maybe I don't belong. I just, I don't know. I just feel strange. And so a friend of mine had moved to San Francisco. He said I could come hang with him. So that's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna go over to Lawrence in San Francisco. So I went out with him, stayed there a while, and then what happened? Is that eventually I ran out of money, I call my parents and said, can you loan me 1, 000? Keep my business going. I had this big spiel how practical this is. It's a good thing and all that. And I talked to my mother about 2 weeks later. She says, well, we can't loan you any money, but we have a way better. And she thought this is the greatest thing she ever thought of. You can actually come back home and live with us. And she just had no idea how I felt about it, but she thought, Oh, of course, I'm going to want to do that. Come back to my parents and live with them. Great. Fantastic. But I mean, are you kidding me? There's no way I want to do that. So anyway, because it felt like they wanted to come back there. So it would make me just like them. And I thought, I can't do it. I can't be like them. There's no way. No, I can't do it. So anyway, I said a prayer and I asked what it says. Give it a try. And I go, well, is that it? I mean, what do you mean give it a try? Well, well, well, it says give it that so it says meditate on that. So I meditate it goes. Oh There's something there a lesson or something something. So I okay. I'm gonna go back there eyes open Looking around, learn that lesson as fast as I can, get out of there, go back to Hawaii. So I went back, and then my parents had a different idea. They wanted me, they thought I, what I was doing was, they could not understand how I could possibly be doing what I was doing, earning money. So they wanted me to get a good job, big company, with a big company, with lots of benefits, go to work every day. And they said, when you get older, you will look back on a happy life. And I thought, I don't have to do that. So anyway, I did do that though. And with U. S. Sprint long distance service. And I did extremely well, and actually I could see, I, I became number two in sales in a department of 70 people, and I could see that I could actually stay with the company, understand the corporate ladder and climate. So I, I thought I could see how I could do it. But then another part of me said, well, what about, you know, the Reiki and the past life regression therapy I was doing and the meditation and astrology, what about that, you know, I'm. I was undecided. And then what happened is they had a meeting. They laid off the whole department. I go, Oh, there's my answer. So I don't even have to think about it. So I went back to my parents and and I, I was real happy and smiling. Why are you smiling? And is it now? You got to turn around, go back out there and do the same thing. Just persistence. Keep doing it. And I said, now, wait a minute. I just did what you told me to do and it didn't work. But I know what will work and that's my astrology and past life regression therapy and the Reiki and all that and they were very disgruntled. And so I started doing that. It ended me with me having to move out of the house with my parents. And so then I moved into another place called the Health First House and that's all they were into. Meditation and diet and exercise and healing and all kinds of stuff like that. So, and then that's where I learned to be a writer, learned how to teach, and then eventually found out about being a master for 500. At that moment. I paused and I realized this wasn't a problem, a mistake, because when I told people I was going back to Detroit, they looked at me with a lot of worry, like, you know, that something bad is happening to you. And so when I found out all this, I looked at it and I thought, look what happened. I learned how to write, how to teach. And now I can be a master for 500 and I didn't, I never heard of this and so I realized this was my path. I was being guided. So then from there, it all went really, really well. My Reiki business, you know, just got better and better and better and better and better and better and better And also I kept saying my prayer now, one of the things that happened very mystical that happened is just before I started this journey back, I was living in the house there and in Honolulu, it was a plantation house, very wonderful place to live. A two bedroom and the kitchen living room and so forth bathroom and very nice place to live. And there were two other houses like that. I was part of this group called the living church of life. And we hung out, we'd hang out together, go play ball at volleyball and picnics and stuff. And we'd support each other and help each other move or whatever. And so anyway, though, then I had to move from there. You know, after I said, start saying the prayer, then suddenly I had to move. I had to move around just like I was saying, and then eventually come back and go all the way back to Michigan and so forth. So I'm still on, but back there, what happened was we had a mutual washer and dryer and one night around midnight went out to get my laundry. I look up and the stars are very vividly clear like it's sort of some nights you may not notice this but there's some nights when the atmosphere is like crystal clear and that's what this was like. I could see stars that were closed further away and further and like out into the vastness you could just feel the vastness of the universe and it just expanded my consciousness and I'm I'm, I walk in with this feeling and then I realize there's a presence there. And it says, there is a way for you. And with that, I see this vision of a path going off into the distance. And I'm looking at it and go, wow. And then it says, there is a way for you. And this is a very momentous time and you need to make a decision. You can't simply be aware of this path. You have to decide if you want to accept it. And the being said also at first it will be difficult, but I will be here to help you through the difficulties. And in the end, you will achieve your life purpose. I'm going, wow, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. And so so then it, but it says you, you have to decide if you want to accept it. So I just pull it together and I go, I accept this path then, you know, so very clear. And then I was guided. And so this being was there. And but it said that it was going to keep its identity secret and that we had a relationship and that was the important thing to focus on and it was guiding me and everything. And then recently some more guidance that came to me and said, I'm an angel. I go, Oh, okay. Then, like, the next day it says, I'm an archangel. I go, Oh, all right. And then it says, I'm archangel Michael.
Pamela:So,
William:you know that's so, so amazing because I, I, a long time ago I got this painting of an artist. And it was Archangel Michael, and I have it in my in my living room. So, but it's Archangel Michael. So no, he's still there still guiding me. And, and I think recently, there was a moment last summer, when I went for a hike and came back up here. And they the the guides were up there, they're very happy. And they say, Oh, you know, you fulfilled your life purpose, you're all done. And now you can come back here and they, the energy I got with that were there. I was like a country club. Everything's happy. It's all. Everything goes really well there. You can come up with us up here. We're going to hang out. You know, we just have a lot of it's just really good here. And now you can come back meaning. So I, but I and I would see I've been thinking about this already. And I realized. It just took me a really long time to get where I'm at. And so what I had realized though over the years is that the beings there don't have time and sometimes it's hard for them to understand it. So I explained to them this, that it just took me I don't know if it was 60 years or something like that to get to this place in 60 years is a really, really, really long time. And I don't, you know, if I were to die and go up with you guys, hang out and come back, it might take me that time long time again. And I, you know, I, but I got, I already did it. So why not just stay here and so for a while and enjoy it and also continue to be, because I'm, I have all these resources to help people. It's very easy for me to, you know, be helping. And then what they said is, all right, we're going to give you an extension. So, so I got that. And at first, then this extension was more or less, well, what you were going to do is come up here and enjoy yourself and have fun and everything. So we're going to set that up for you down here on earth. You just enjoy yourself having fun. So that's gone on for a little while. So then I came back and I said, well, I'd like some more assignments and that just, you know, kick back and, you know, all that. So that's feels good. Sure. It's great. But I'd like, you know, I like to be busy and doing something productive. So can you even some, not just enjoyment, some maybe upgrades and stuff? They said, yeah, yeah, we can do that. So then now I'm starting to get the inklings of like a next step for holy fire.
Pamela:Really? Oh, that's exciting. You heard it here first, everyone.
William:Yeah. Yeah. No, I don't want to say too much about it. But what's happening with these upgrades is that on the other end, where the guides are, they have to get it together to figure out what the energies will be, how to put them together to channel them so they can be grounded down in Earth. So they have to prepare all this. And so they're doing that, and then they're preparing me. So I'm the lead person, so they'll get me ready, and then once I'm ready with it and everything, then I will add it to my teaching, and it will be something I will, you know, talk about, and it will open up a whole new doorway. Of value to Holy Fire Reiki.
Pamela:Amazing. And I, I love it. And this, that, this is a perfect segue, William, because one of the things that you did first, I have just a quick question. It's just something I've been curious about forever. Did you ever pay 10, 000 for a masterclass?
William:Nope. You never did. Okay. I never paid it. No, I never paid it. And cause I got it for 500. Boom. I got it. Hey, why would I pay 10, 000? I got the, cause it was the real deal. It was the real teaching complete total. No, no, nothing left out at all.
Pamela:So no. And I, the reason I asked is because I just know that you've studied with different lineages and different teachers over time. I did have a student I wanted to let you know, and he, he was a medical doctor or he wasn't a student actually. It was somebody who reached out from one of my articles and Dr. Joe and he said You know, Pam, just to check, I did do a 10, 000 masterclass because, and he had studied with you and then, or with one of us, and then he had also studied the 10, 000 and he said, actually, you know, there was no difference energetically, but I think I liked the IC, for him personally, he liked the ICRT class better. And I said, that's really good. Yeah,
William:they Yeah, I think they're, they're definitely a valid you know, school of Reiki and they were responsible for bringing it and expanding it and everything. And but the thing is that they, they vary and I mean, there's, they're limited in what they teach and often, at least back when I was studying it you know, aware of it, their main thing, their main teaching point is, You have to pay 10, 000. That is the main thing for you to do to be a master. Nothing about teaching, learning or anything like that. Paying the 10, 000 is the initiation and you become a master. And so that was their emphasis. And so because of that. Often there wasn't much more to the teaching. It was like you pay the money. That's it. Boom. You got the ticket. So literally you paid your ticket. So then you're a master. And then and also they said there's to be nothing in writing. There's to be no, you can't allow your students to take notes, no manuals, nothing to give to your students. And so very limited. And you know, I took some of the classes from Phyllis Furumoto, who is the so called Grand Master of Reiki, or at least of the Reiki Alliance, and her teaching was very limited. There wasn't hardly anything, any content to it. And now I'm not saying that they're all like that. I'm sure some of them do have a lot more content, but it was almost like you're she said that Ricky too was to be taught in four hours. That's it.
Pamela:I don't know how
William:you know it was like an official proclamation, because she was the grandmaster for hours. And so,
Pamela:I struggled to fit it into nine hours, William, or ten hours. Yeah,
William:well, yeah, so, yeah, so anyway yeah, I took it from her and I went. She had an Adobe house in Santa in Taos, New Mexico, and I met her I took level one down in Albuquerque, and then she invited me up to Taos, so I went into her house up there. And I think I stayed there or something anyway. So anyway, yeah there was very little material or information that was taught. And anyway, but my thing was to learn as much as I can and you know, expand it. And,
Pamela:That's what I've done. Study different lineages. And then one of the other things that you did, William, which I am forever grateful for, is that when you began to have too many students as you, early on as you were teaching, you wanted to refer students to people, but you also wanted to make sure you were referring them to quality teachers. And so you started the Licensed Reiki Master Teacher Program. And it had different names over the years. years, but it's essentially the program that I was able to go through, where we do an extra thousand hours of training to ensure that our teaching and our understanding of Reiki is deep and that our teaching is the quality that, that You want and I think that's really you know, can you tell us a little bit about your inspiration there?
William:Yeah. Well, let's see. Now. I well, let's see. I had Reiki training and then there was the spiritual frontiers fellowship organization, which I think is still around. And then I was invited. Let's see how that work. They knew that I wrote for phenomena news, this paper. And so they wanted me to come and teach a class in, let's see, maybe, I think it was past life regression therapy. And so I went to just outside of Kalamazoo, and they had, they took over, I think I don't know if it's, one of the colleges there, and they, so we had the rooms and stuff at the college and everything, and then there was a man named Arthur Robertson there, and he was a Reiki master, and he was teaching a master level class there, and you know, I talked with him briefly, And then I did there was a woman that got the mastership and then afterwards we hung out together and she gave me the master attunement, you know, so that was really something. So I got that, that the attunement, but not, and I, she showed me how to do attunement. So somewhat of a superficial kind of a master training and didn't really, No, that much. And so that was the beginning. And then that's, but then I learned about Diane McCumber teaching the full master for 500. And so I took her training and then you know, upgraded my knowledge, but at that time it was 10, 000 for master. And so that there was very just bits and pieces of information. And so that's kind of what I got at first. And but then I did take the full mastership. And became a master in March of 89. And then I, like you were saying, and then I decided that I was going to study with other Reiki masters. And what I discovered. Was they, they knew more, like they taught the core principles of Reiki, but they had a lot of additional training and teachings that they had. So I studied with six other Reiki masters, and it greatly expanded my comprehension of Reiki, and how it works, and how all these other people were teaching, so it broadened my understanding, and gave a lot more depth to what I was doing. So that was, that was very valuable.
Pamela:And then you decided to train us so that you could refer people to us.
William:Yeah, I was getting more students than I could, felt comfortable teaching. So I began referring them to a few other people and I realized, well, I don't know how well those people are teaching. And so then that's when I started to develop a certification training and then so that's what it was, a certified teacher training and Marvin Whitbeck was the first one. And so that was a very, he was, he actually was probably one of the sponsors of the Spiritual Frontiers Fellowship. So he, you know, had that going and then he invited me up to Big Rapids. I taught Reiki up there and started traveling around and then eventually I thought it was supposed to be an oral tradition and But I, people, I, I said, are you guys practicing or what? What's going on? And they said, well, you know, I, well, you know, I couldn't quite remember how to do it. And I talked to this one student who wasn't my student, but she said, well, there were no notes or I couldn't take notes. There was nothing in writing. I couldn't remember how to do it. So I forgot how to practice Reiki. And she said, she went back to her teacher and the teacher said, well, you're going to have to pay the full fee again. And this time, remember what I teach. And she said, you couldn't afford to do it. To pay it. And so she said she never practiced. Right. So that's where I realized, well, I do I want my students to be like that, you know, oral tradition. So I thought, well, you know, I could go with what I believe is supposed to be the way it's to be taught, or I could break that rule. And I write the very best workbook I could put together. And so that's what I did. And I went down to the copy shop. And I, they coached me on how to use a Macintosh computer. And I started writing my booklet. And then they were in the copy shop. They made copies of it. So I made my my first manual. It's a Xerox copy. And I gave it to my students. I let them take notes. And then a while later I checked up and I said, how are you guys doing? He says, Oh, fine, fine. We've got the manual. Sometimes we forget something, we just look it up. Or we got the notes and everything. Yeah, no problem. We're just teaching and doing it and everything. We go, Oh, it's working, it's working. So then that's when I, I called a bookstore just to see if they had additional material on Reiki. And they said, no, no, there, there isn't really any books on Reiki at all. And so we can't recommend you, you know, give you any recommendations about it. And I said, oh, well, I have this manual I wrote on Reiki. And I just wanted additional reference material from it. And he said, what did you say? I said, I have a manual. And you have a manual on Reiki? I go, yeah, I got a manual on Reiki. And he says, Send me copies. I can sell them. I go, what do you mean? He says, we don't have anything to give to people on Reiki. There's nothing on Reiki out there at all. If you've got a manual, we can sell it. Don't you get it? Send me copies. So I send them copies. They started selling them. And then I thought, well, I could try some other bookstores. In fact, they wanted it too. So pretty soon my manual gets sold in all these bookstores. And then I start getting people calling. Like, I got this man, like sort of a quizzical. I got this manual in this bookstore about Reiki, and they're just wondering can you come to our town and teach Reiki? I go, oh yeah, I could do that. So I wrote it without any secret information, no symbols or anything in it, so it could be sold like that. And then then after that, I went to a professional book manufacturer in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where they publish books. I asked them, what do I need to do to actually make this into a professional book? And they gave me the ideas and everything. And so that's when I had my first manual published. And This was the cover and it looked like it was not as thick as this, but I had it published in a book publishing company. They did an excellent job. And also, I was going to the Tony Robbins workshops, who he just started, and he started in Hawaii. Then when I went to San Francisco, he was coming to San Francisco for the first time. When I went back to Detroit, he was coming to Detroit for the first time. And so I met the people, the people that organized it and everything. And in there, there was an artist. And so I mentioned to her about wanting to put together a Reiki manual with the hand positions. And she said, well, she could really, she knew how to do that. And so she said, we'll take photos of people doing the hand positions, and she'll use them as a template to that to the drawings. And so with that, I got the really good hand position drawings. And so you know, so my very first manual after that had all of these beautiful hand positions in them. And so I still have the same drawings. And so Sherry Machko was the artist and I met her through Tony Robbins. And so yeah, so all these things kind of worked together and I had this really beautiful manual and it became a selling piece for my classes. And I started traveling all over the place. I started going to Canada, even in the Caribbean. They asked me right away down in Curacao. I went down there. That was pretty early in my career. And then Albuquerque, New Mexico, and just all over the place. And then then what I did is I came out with a newsletter, and then it was just four pages. And then it grew eventually to 48 pages. And then somebody said, if you put a cover on it, you'd have a magazine. And I, I'd never thought of that. And I go, oh, wow. I, oh, okay. So then I, we did that sort of put a cover on it. It was a magazine and then I realized, well, I need to develop this because someone was saying, you just got to be a regular look as good as a regular magazine. So that's when we did that. And it's been became a, a 80 page, glossy. Yeah. Magazine, and I got all these, all these people to write for me and everything and it's still going. Yeah, it's beautiful. I've
Pamela:had articles published in it. Yeah, so that
William:was an additional piece, the magazine.
Pamela:So you developed the ICRT, you trained licensed teachers, and now William, one of the things I have to tell you that I'm so impressed with is how dedicated you are to succession planning. I've been privy, as one of the assistant directors, I've been privy to some of the details and information on succession planning within our organization. And I just want to say, I have never seen such in depth, organized consistent, impressive succession planning. And I know that that's, I know that that's you, you, this is very important to you that the ICRT goes on beyond you. And can you tell me something, you know, I really admire how the organization is stepping forward into this. What made you, what made you begin putting this all in place?
William:Yeah, that's a good question, because I remember I was teaching, it might have been San Diego or maybe Redondo Beach, and someone said, well, this is all great, William, but what's going to happen when you, when you die? I mean, they put it pretty bluntly. What are you going to say? And I, I was, I don't know, just say, well, you guys, you know, whatever you can, whatever, do whatever. And so then I thought, well, I'm going to, then I'm going to really, yeah. get more involved with this. So over the years I have been creating a more of a succession plan and then now there are, we have a succession team. And so we just had a meeting today and we're going over in detail about the whole thing and we did talk, we also have a law firm and what our, the attorney said basically is, well, actually It takes about a year and a half before so see what we want to do then is make it into a nonprofit and they were saying, well, this happens frequently and that it's acceptable for it to take about a year and a half for there to be a transition from the profit company over to the nonprofit. And at first, it's still a profit and then it transitions into a nonprofit and that's normal. So That takes a lot of the pressure off, but the succession team is concerned. And so we've been putting together a much more detailed succession plan and covering all the different aspects of it. And they also want to know what my wishes are for how this will continue. And so that I'm getting to put a lot of input into it. And even though it may be 10 or 15 or 20 or 30 years before I hope so, yeah, it might be that long. It could be that long. I don't know that having this in place. Makes me feel good, but it also makes the students feel really good that they're getting involved with something that will continue on into the future. It's not depending on me being alive. So there are other nonprofit spiritual organizations like that who had, you know, very new and outstanding founders. Who had the wisdom to set this up. The Rosicrucians is one of them. And then the man that started H. Spencer Lewis had his son take over and then after that, there's now another leader and they've, they're all, you know, they're nonprofit and they, you know it's a beautiful organization. And so, you know, we have that sort of as a As a template, and there are other others like that. So, yeah, we're working on our succession planning and going into detail on exactly how this is to flow. And and what will happen so, you know, even the people in the succession planning now might have passed on. I don't know. It's hard to say that but we're getting it together so that there will be a succession planning will be built into the. Organization so that it will just naturally be there generation after generation and then just keep going.
Pamela:I, I am, you know, I am privy to some of the details as you know, and it's just, it's really impressive. I applaud you for that. I don't think that. not everybody does that. And so then you build up this beautiful organization. And, and then there isn't the succession planning. So it doesn't always continue. So
William:yeah, yeah. So well, part of that is I have part of my psychic awareness. Is I have somewhat of an awareness of the other side and of the spiritual beings there and so forth and I know that I'll be on the other side looking back and I don't go. Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I don't want to be doing that. You want to. Yeah. That's good.
Pamela:And we want things to be the way you want it to.
William:Yeah, I don't want it to you know, end or anything. So, yeah, so working on this with that in mind. And also we already know there are people who have been in the ICRT who are on the other side now. And so my thought is as well, that there will be an ICRT on the other side. And that people involved with Reiki and ICRT. will actually be welcomed when you pass over and we'll have things set up there. There could even be a temple or school that we, you know, you could go to and things like that and higher beings and all sorts of things on the other side. So we'll have a, you know, this side and the other side kind of working together. And yeah,
Pamela:amazing looking for the future. And I know after this, you're going to lead us in a lovely meditation, William, but looking for the future, what's your vision for the next generation of Reiki practitioners and, and is there anything you can say about how you see the energy and the organization evolving?
William:Well, I think one thing we would be doing is paying attention to the way the world itself is changing and what each new generation is like as they come into Reiki and be working with that because there are cultural shifts that happen and take place. And like even our generation, you know, the adults, like we didn't like them and you know, so they're, they're too old. They don't know what they're doing and they're trying to make us like them. We don't we want to bust out of that. So yeah. So just being open to that, that, you know, there are shifts and open to changes. Not so much, not away from quality or organization, but just, you know other shifts and changes and that need, like, gender, using gender friendly pronouns and stuff and that sort of thing you know, whatever is happening in that respect to be going with that flow as well as long as we retain the spiritual focus and quality of our work.
Pamela:I love that. William, would you, could I ask you to lead us in just a brief meditation today, just to help us with our own personal evolution?
William:Yeah, I can do that. So we're going to do a meditation. This is the Holy Fire Reiki meditation. So just make yourself comfortable. Take a couple of deep breaths. And close your eyes. I'd like you to imagine it's a very beautiful day, a warm day, not a wintry, cold day, but a summer day, a beautiful, wonderful day. And I'd like you to imagine that you're barefoot and you're walking through a beautiful forest and take a moment just to be aware of the plants and flowers and trees and bushes and grass all around you. Walking along, it feels very friendly here, very safe. And as you walk through the forest, you notice, oh, there's another path going off to the left. And you just wonder, well, gee, where does this path go? And just imagine walking off to the left, and then you see it going uphill somewhat, and up ahead, there's an open space. A meadow. You walk through the meadow, and at the end there, there's a hill. A small hill. Just imagine walking up to the top of the hill. There's some soft grass. It's a wonderful summer day. Light breeze blowing. Look around at the countryside. Take a really deep breath. Breathing all the beauty and peacefulness here. All the life. And you notice, oh, there's some nice soft grass there. It might be a nice place just to lay down and relax for a moment and go ahead and lay down in the soft grass. You take another deep breath, and as you gaze overhead, you realize, oh, there's a beautiful white puffy, puffy cloud, a wonderful cloud overhead, and you just take a moment to admire it, beauty and peacefulness, and as you're watching the cloud, the wind kind of swirls in the middle, and oh, a beam of light shines down through the cloud, shining down all around you now, a wonderful light. It feels warm and soothing, relaxing, yet so powerful it feels like it's shining right through you. allowing you to relax very deeply, letting go. This light comes down from the highest spiritual source. It's filled with healing and love, blessing, kindness. And just imagine gazing up into the light now. And it feels like the light is calling you and actually lifting you up. And imagine now rising up into the light. And the light begins to guide you now, going ever higher and higher. Allow yourself to be guided by the light. And now begin taking a couple of really deep breaths. And then slowly bring your awareness to your eyes. And when you feel ready, slowly open your eyes and return.
Pamela:I always love meditations with you, William. They go so deep. And Thank you so much for taking the time to be here with us today. Thank you for all of the effort and everything you, that you've put into the ICRT that has made it possible for so many of us to receive quality Reiki training and, you know, to improve our lives. So thank you so much.
William:Oh, you're welcome.
Pamela:Yes. Thanks for inviting me. It's my pleasure. And to all of you who are listening, thank you for being with us today. Keep shining your light and keep listening to your guidance and following your path. It will only lead you to beautiful places. Namaste.