Hon Sha Za Sho Nen

The third symbol is pronounced Hon Sha Za Sho Nen and is known as the Distance symbol. Its origins have been traced back to five distinct Kanji characters whose collective meaning is usually interpreted as, ‘the Divine in me greets the Divine in you to promote enlightenment and peace’, (Reiki.Well). It is known as the Distance symbol because we have been taught that, with this symbol, we can transcend both time and place to facilitate healing wherever and whenever it is needed, be it a soul who lives on the other side of the world or our own past and future selves. This, however, is based on an understanding of Time that believes it to be linear - a horizontal timeline that has a past, present and future. Quantum Physics and our own growing awareness are challenging this belief, and accordingly, the deeper teachings of this symbol are now surfacing as our perspectives alter. (Note: What is written here is an understanding of what is NOW - as we evolve, new understandings will come to our consciousness. There is no ending to our understanding or experience.)

The concept of linear time was initially created by us as a learning tool to allow us a greater understanding of our own personal growth stories by making it easier for us to look for patterns in our own behaviours. With a greater awareness of our own responsibility (Cho Ku Rey), and the Compassion for ourselves to accept that responsibility without judgement (Say Hay Key), we can find the strength to fully observe ourselves. By laying out our experiences in a linear manner we can trace our triggers back to their original cause/s and finally understand, and heal, the circumstance/s that caused us to act and then re-enact a particular pattern. We transform the acting into being and the reacting into responding. We begin the transition from ego-based behaviours to Soul Being. From this, many then began to change their view of Time, preferring instead to see it as an ascending spiral that was continually bringing us back to the same situations but from a higher perspective. With this model, we edge a little closer to the truth as we acknowledge the need to gain a little ‘distance’ from our experiences in order to gain clarity, but we are still seeing Time as linear – we have changed the axis from horizontal to vertical, but it is still an axis with a beginning and an end. It facilitates a different understanding but it is still an illusion.

So, what then is the Hon Sha Za Sho Nen teaching us? To transcend both Time and Place asks for a belief in their existence so what if instead the Hon Sha Za Sho Nen is asking us to transcend our beliefs in Time and Place? The Hon Sha Za Sho Nen, unlike the Cho Ku Rey and the Say Hay Key, is not an attunement symbol; we do not need its experience on an etheric level. It is given to us to work with on the Mental level to primarily inform our experience in order to enhance our transformation. It prompts an observation of time rather than an experience of it and in doing so, it causes us to question what we have been told and see past the illusion. We rediscover the teachings of the Ascended Masters and learn anew that we only ever have the NOW. The Past and Future do not exist; we do not live in either place. All of our Selves, what we call our past and future lifetimes, are all present in the NOW and all are being played out concurrently. It is only when we look for them that they exist, and by our observation we can change their behaviour. This can be an unnerving concept to grasp as it questions the existence of all that we hold onto in times of distress, be it happy memories or dreams of the future. But in reality, these are a cage. Our current experience is continually informed by pre-conceived thoughts and expectations – each moment is already stale. To let go of memory and expectation is liberating. We start each moment afresh, able to experience without preconceptions to colour our experience. When we begin to let go of Past and Future, our relationships with others and ourselves undergoes a deep metamorphosis. The energetic invitation of the Hon Sha Za Sho Nen is for the Divine in ourselves to greet the Divine in others and we can only do this by letting go of what has passed before, and what you expect your own and others’ behaviour to be, based on these ‘past’ interactions. When we greet ourselves and others anew in each meeting with no ‘grudges’ or expectations, we are each free to be who we truly are and Judgement ceases to exist. An unpleasant reaction or response does not detract from this experience - you have acknowledged the Light in another and you are at Peace within yourself. You have mastered enough ‘distance’ from your own emotional reactions to allow another the freedom of response without expectation or judgement. It is deeply transformative to all involved.

It also takes a lot of practise! The ‘key’ to this Mastery is ‘distance’ and it is not a physical distance, it is an emotional one. Within our third dimensional experience our emotional reactions govern every facet of our lives, as our Ego struggles to evolve and grow. With the guidance of the Cho Ku Rey and the Say Hay Key we gain the knowledge of personal power and Loving Kindness that encourage us to parent ourselves into a new awareness of who we really are and what we are really here to learn. With the Hon Sha Za Sho Nen we gain the knowledge of how to create emotional distance that offers us a crystal-clear clarity, whilst still allowing an emotional experience. It may seem like a contradiction in terms, but instead it is an evolution of our emotional body into a higher state of being. We let go of being hurt by others and ourselves as we begin to understand that nothing is personal. Others can only interact with us based on their own experiences and understanding which will always differ from our own as we are all unique. What we actually distance, is ‘reaction’. We stand back, we observe. We learn not to take offence or be hurt as we start to see that another’s behaviour towards us is their responsibility and not ours. We learn to accept and to not judge. Crucially, we learn to not distinguish between right and wrong responses (Judgement) but to consider instead, what is most loving and most kind. As we evolve our relationships, we evolve our Ego and we start to lose the Fear that we created in such abundance. We slowly learn not to fear our emotions and by losing our fear of them we can both distance ourselves to gain greater clarity and experience them more deeply. We open to new understandings of our existence and we open to deeper teachings of these beautiful symbols, which in this case, relates to the concept of Time. This perspective of the Now enables a deeper transformation again of our relationships and opens us up to hold even greater frequencies of Light. We accept and know that not only are we all unique, we are also, all One.

We do not lose ourselves when we let go of our illusion of Time, we are always the sum of our experiences, it is our perspective on ourselves that changes. We are who we are, NOW. We only hold power in the NOW. And in our NOW we have that power over every aspect of our lives. In our every moment we have the choice over how we respond, interact and transform with all that appears in our NOW. We are all energy and energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transferred/transformed. It is not constrained by time or place. The Present is a Gift and it is only in the Present that we can transform our energy. And when we transform our energy, we can create lighter and more loving realities for ourselves. With the Reiki symbols and the teachings of Ascended Masters, such as Buddha, we have both the guidance and knowledge to do this and to do this NOW. Infuse each moment with loving kindness towards yourself and others and the Universe will respond in each moment. What are you creating right NOW?

With Love x