Vision Cafe
Tsi Dup Yang Bod: The Origins of Reiki
by Mitch Nur, Ph.D.
Eastern energetic systems for healing, personal transformation, and spiritual conditioning, such as Feng Shui, Jin Shin Jyutsu, Reiki, and Qi Gong, have been present in the West for the past few decades and are enormously popular. Their reliance upon simple instructions and intuitive common sense has opened them to many converts. Entire training systems have been developed in the West to facilitate their acceptance, and these systems, which initially appeared non-traditional and even suspect, are now gaining acceptance in traditional medical circles.
One of the most popular of the Eastern energetic systems is Reiki. Thousands of people have been trained in this modality, although little is known about its history. Many know about the influence of Japanese practitioner Usui on Reiki, but most students don’t know much about the man himself nor about Reiki’s historical and spiritual roots.
Usui was a modern day Samurai and a ‘householder’ priest of the Shingon School of Japanese Buddhism. It was not so much a new system Usui was developing, but rather one that stemmed from a specific set of ancient teachings. Usui spread the knowledge that would become modern day Reiki throughout the monasteries of the East and revealed it to the contemporary world.
The actual system from which Reiki descends wound its way through the Chan school of Buddhism and the Tantric Tibetan Buddhist system. However, centuries before Buddhism made its way to Tibet, an indigenous spiritual tradition called Bon was practiced for thousands of years. Bon originated from the kingdom of ZhangZhung and it was within this spiritual tradition that many of today’s energetic practices, including Reiki and Feng Shui, were developed.
Bon is still practiced today, with its monastic seat being in northern India. Seldom do monks venture from within its walls, and their culture has just begun to be examined by academics. This coming May, there will be a rare opportunity to learn about Bon and the original system of Reiki known as Tsi Dup Yang Bod. This knowledge will be brought to the U.S. by Geshe Chongtul Rinpoche, who at age twenty-three, was awarded the geshe degree, the highest level of education in Tibetian philosophy, and is currently the secretary of the Yungdrung Bon Center and President of the Bon Student Welfare Trust. The retreat will be the first time that healing practitioners can receive the “complete ‘transmissions and empowerments’ of this ancient Tibetian healing system from a high Lama.”
For more information on this once in a lifetime event, visit www.nineways.org.
Voices: A Women’s Rights Film Series
Eveoke Dance Theatre and The Cultural Worker will co-sponsor a film series about women’s human rights to celebrate Women’s History Month in March. The series, entitled Voices, includes God Sleeps in Rwanda, a film by Kimberlee Acquaro and Stacy Sherman; Soraida, Woman of Palestine, a film by Tahani Rached; Keep Not Silent: Ortho Dykes, a film by Ilil Alexander, and A Woman’s Word, a film by Siliva G. Ponzoda. The screenings will be accompanied by dance performances, community discussions and a photographic exhibit. Each night will culminate in a creativity workshop. The program is designed to foster a supportive environment for creative action toward social justice and local scholars will be facilitating discussions after the films and dances.
Under poet Muriel Rukeyer’s motto, “Exchange is Creation,” The Cultural Worker and Eveoke Dance Theatre hope to raise cultural consciousness and encourage critical thinking about women’s human rights issues through Voices. The theme for Eveoke’s 2008 season is “collaboration and collective soul.” For their 2008 season, Eveoke will collaborate with the California Arts Council Artists-In-Schools Project, Be Present, Shakti Rising, transcenDANCE Youth Arts Project, and Eveoke’s own emerging choreographers Yvonne Hernandez and Ericka Moore. The Cultural Worker’s mission is to combine the arts with the humanities in order to develop community programs that will open up a sustained dialogue and facilitate a deep understanding of the human condition.
To make reservations and purchase tickets visit www.eveoke.org or call 619.238.1153. Eveoke Dance Theatre is located at 2811 University Ave, Suite A in San Diego.
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The San Diego Indie Music Fest (SDIMF IV) is the first exclusively independent music festival of its kind in the United States. And it is gearing up for its fourth year! At the end of March, the renegade event will again explode with enlightened passion for the Indie Revolution and all it represents. The Fest is organized by executive producers Danielle LoPresti (frontwoman of Danielle LoPresti & The Masses) and Alicia Champion (Champ Records/ Durga Sound). “It all totally fits in to this idea of independent thought and independent business,” explains LoPresti.
For this year’s event, SDIMF IV is joining forces with some of the most powerful voices in San Diego, including Results, The Women’s History Museum and Educational Center, San Diego Foundation for Change, Sun and Moon Vision Productions, Eveoke Dance Theatre, North Media, The Tariq Khamisa Foundation, The San Diego Gay and Lesbian Center and more. SDIMF IV will feature over fifty extraordinary independent artists and bands, unique independent film showings, interactive art projects, Indie artisans selling their creations, henna tattooists, tarot readings, jewelry making, tile painting, independent businesses, a voter registration booth, a children’s area, featured appearances by renown community leaders, a beer garden and mature audiences stage, massage, and delicious and affordable food and drink. All ages are welcome all day long. The Fourth Annual San Diego Indie Music Fest will take place in San Diego’s North Park area, in between Utah and Ray streets on March 29 from noon to midnight. The festival is a non-profit project of Results Educational Fund.
For more info or to buy tickets, visit SDIndieMusicFest.com or call the Birch North Park Theatre at 619.239.8836.