I chatted with my local friend who moved to another city two months ago via Zoom app. She seemed to be enjoying her new life in a new area. I am happy for her. We had a really good time on chatting and our 2-hour flew away quickly. I appreciate her for being my close friend. It was so cheering and fun to spend time with her.

***

My husband has suffered from back pain since last Saturday. He must have been still exhausted from recent trip. He needed to drive 8 hours all by himself on both ways of the trip and he slept on the couch at his parents’ house. He could not sleep well during the visit due to extreme concern about his dad. So many reasons for him to get feeling sick. I keep giving him Reiki healing energy. I hope he will get well soon. 

It started off from a hectic morning. My daughter had a benchmark test at 9 a.m. When she tried to enter the test page, an error message appeared. It said “your computer does not have the test requirement. Your computer is Windows 8, but the test requires Windows 10 and above.” It was weird because her computer is Windows 10. Also, she has been using the school supplied computer since last year and she never had any issues on tests.

I called the Tech Support and they put me on hold for a very long time due to the high volume of calls. I needed to wait more than 2 hours. By the time I finally got hold of the Tech Support, the test was over. Unfortunately the Tech Support man could not help us without the test page opening.

We needed to try again at noon. I needed to call the tech support and wait for somebody to pick up the phone, and explained the situation from the beginning.

It was very frustrating but finally the second tech support person fixed the issue. After 3 p.m., I finally could get back to my original routine, away from the hectic computer error.

Today was the last day of Obon. I thought of my late mom. Every year on August 15^th, we used to go to the local beach to see our ancestors off back to the Spirit World. At our local beach, the community people prepared a small wooden boat for our ancestors. The people put small letters, vegetables, and snack for our ancestors on the little boat, and push the little boat onto the ocean. After said good-bye to our ancestors, we are not supposed to turn back. We have to go straight back to our house without turning back and stopping by anywhere. I don’t know why, but I always remember about this traditional custom that my mom taught me. I hope my mom is doing well and stay being happy in Spirit World, even though I know she has been.  

***

Last night I went to bed early to take some nap and woke up at 11:30 p.m. I could attend the Reiki share group with European people at midnight. There were 56 attendees. Among them 5 people including the teacher were Japanese. There were a variety of Nationalities in this group. The Reiki teacher explained in English, then three interpreters in Russian, French, and Italian followed.

As usual we started off from self-healing and followed by Shuchu-Reiki. We had 8 people who wanted to receive the healing energy. I felt calm and peaceful energy for most people while sending healing energy.

The host announced my Reiki teacher’s upcoming teaching trip to Italy and Ukraine was postponed for everybody’s safety.

We sent a birthday wish and good thoughts prayer to the Reiki originator; Mr. Mikao Usui. He was 156 years ago; born August 15^th 1865. I sent my appreciation for his contribution to the world.

The Reiki teacher shared one of the Japanese traditional habits. We say a quick prayer before and after meal. We say Itadaki-masu “戴きます” before we eat, and Gochisou-sama-deshita “ご馳走様でした”　 after we eat.

Our teacher explained like this.

“Itadaki” can also written in “頂きます.” “頂” means the top of the mountain. By using the word Itadaki, we express our appreciation and gratitude to the food.  

 “chisou” 馳走 both means “run” and “run.” So it means running around. In order to make one meal, there are so many people running around behind the scene. After we eat, we thank all the people and all the living creatures for their hidden effort and lives.

He concluded that this teaching can be applied to everything in our daily life. Every event in our daily life is an integrated work from many people and living creatures’ efforts and so, we should show our gratitude and appreciation to them.

I always respect my Reiki teacher to explain things very well.

From today my husband got back to the regular work routine. My daughter studied hard to catch up with her assignments. Her school assignments and tests are getting harder and much more complicated than last year. I see a huge gap between elementary school and middle school.

I personally had a peaceful day. I have completed email replies that I had accumulated for these past two weeks. I also completed lots of house chores that I had accumulated Now my sewing machine area and email boxes are finally cleared up.   

My husband and daughter went for a restaurant to cerebrate my husband’s upcoming birthday. i was happy that they had a good time there. I stay behind the house, because I really don’t feel comfortable of eating out at a restaurant. I enjoyed eating my homemade healthy lunch at home.

***

Today’s dream: I was in a swimming pool. There were many other people whom I don’t know in the pool. Somebody told me to show them how I can dive into the pool and how I can swim. So, I went to the diving board and dived. I could dive perfectly and beautifully. Then I swam fast in a beautiful swimming form. People praised my diving and swimming. Then I woke up.

My family and I went to the consultation appointment at the orthodontist office. There we had an uncomfortable experience. I expected to meet the orthodontist himself, but a female worker came to talk to us. She said she could not have the consultation because my daughter still has 2 baby teeth left. It seemed their receptionist was wrong about their rule. When we made an appointment, we told the receptionist about the baby teeth. The receptionist told us they could still have the consultation and give us a rough estimate of the fee and duration based on the examination. The female worker was not nice and never sincerely apologized on behalf of the receptionist’s mistake. I was disappointed for our visit being in vain. We just wasted our time and energy. I didn’t like the experience, but from next time I will be more careful on making an appointment. And of course I will stay away from this orthodontist’s office forever.

Right before I sleep, I always say a nice prayer and express appreciations to my family spirits. There are still lots of things that I can appreciate. I appreciate their constant support that my family and I can stay healthy and happy, and all our belongings are well-protected. I appreciate everything I am provided.

My husband safely came back home from his parent’s house. I know he went thought a tough time with his dad but it should be beneficial for him to spend time together in the tough time. I am glad he came back safely.

He shared a story of their new puppy with us. My in-laws have a puppy. The puppy is just 2 months old. When he came to their house, my mom-in-law had been occupied with taking care of my dad-in-law and didn’t have time to toilet-train the puppy. Now the puppy freely does toilette everywhere in the house. Since the puppy has big, cute, and innocent eyes, nobody can really scold him nor has time to train him. I feel sorry for my mom-in-law to keep cleaning the entire floor of the house, which is extra jobs for her.

***

In the evening I talked with my Japanese friend on the phone. It is always great to spend time together with her. I really hope we can see each other in person soon.

It was a nice cool temperature morning. In the afternoon we had thunderstorm with heavy rain, lightening, and thunder. My plants in the backyard seemed to be enjoying the rain. The re-planted bagel is now securely rooted and looks good.

***

In the evening I attended the online Reiki sharing at 5 p.m. It was my third attendance in this gathering. There were 29 attendees.

It was always good to see my Reiki teacher and my new friends at the gathering.

As usual we started off from the opening prayer, and proceeded to self-healing and Shuchu-Reiki. We had 11 people to send distance Reiki.

At the Q&A session, somebody asked what the spirituality is. The teacher explained it as 人格 (human quality) 品格 (a person’s dignity or grace). I thought it was a good way to explain. I would also explain as spiritual maturity or spiritual age.

Before the closing prayer, my Reiki teacher shared the zen word 因縁果. I never heard of this word. It is pronounced as In-Nen-Ka. Each Kanji means “Cause” “Condition” “Result” respectively. He said we tend to forget the middle factor of “condition.” When something happens, depending on the condition of a person who goes through the experience. It was a good reminder for me to stay inner peace no matter what or to keep peace regardless of the outer condition or environment.

It is always good to see my Reiki teacher and hear his teaching.

My dad-in-law is getting weak. He likes to walk around the store, but he has not gone to the store for the past days. Today he really wanted to go to the store, there, he could not walk around. He needed to sit down on the bench and wait for the family to walk around doing shopping. He could not hold his tears and started weeping about his ill-health condition. My husband was there with him and had heartbroken. I know exactly how they felt as I went through these experiences from my late mom. I cannot do anything but keep sending love and good prayers for them.

***

Today’s dream: It was an interesting dream. My Reiki teacher visited me in my dream and told me to give a birthday gift to somebody whom I don’t know in the real life. He told me the person was my life saver in the past life and showed me the vision. When I was about to be killed in the war scene in the past life, the person appeared and saved my life by using his own body. The person was killed on behalf of me. I asked my Reiki teacher if he can clearly see other people’s past lives. He said now he can because he is well matured in spirit. It makes sense to me. I can feel his spiritual age is well-matured and he stays in his inner-peace in any circumstances. It is true that once a person reaches to the Anshin Ritsumei, Satori, the spiritual gifts are accompanied with the accomplishment.

Today’s dream: I was with my 10 friends with my family. They were cerebrating my birthday. They gave me nice gifts. Then I woke up. My real birthday is March, so I think this dream indicates I will start something new and my family spirits are encouraging for the new start. I still don’t know exactly what I will start at this moment.

***

I know my husband and my in-laws are having a tough time about my dad-in-law’s ill-health condition. I will keep praying for them to have a good time together and enjoy the family time fully.