Semantics
Words have a specific meaning that may
be dependent on the context in which it is used. Sometimes the meaning
changes over time. If we are working with older texts we need to know what
the word meant at that time.
Etymology
Some words are "borrowed" from other cultures.
For instance, Modern English contains thousands of words that originated
in Greek, Latin, Norman French, Saxon German and Danish. Etymology traces
the transitions between cultures and looks at the components to elicit
meaning.
Western Languages.
Western languages tend to use an alphabet
(Roman, Greek, Cyrillic) made up of arbitrary shapes that represent phonemes
(consonants and vowels). There is not necessarily a connection between
these sounds and the things they represent.
Chinese Languages.
The world is described in terms of a complex
set of characters called Hanzi. Each hanzi has an image and
has one or more meanings dependent on context. The same set of hanzi are
used throughout the Chinese-speaking world but can be pronounced differently
in different regions (Mandarin, Cantonese, Hokkien etc.). Chinese is a
pitched language. The Pinyin pronunciation is that of modern
Mandarin.
Transition to
Japan
Around 540 CE the hanzi made their way
to Japan along with Buddhism and cultural ideas. Prior to this time the
Japanese language did not have its own script. The Japanese reading for
hanzi is kanji.
Initially the kanji retained a modified,
unpitched form of the original Chinese pronunciation and were used for
record keeping. They retained the Chinese order of writing. Later the kanji
were assigned the native Japanese sounds (known as kun readings).Two phonetic
syllabaries known as hiragana and katakana to filled in the gaps and the
sequence of writing the kanji was changed to more closely follow Japanese
grammar. The "classical" language went through several changes throughout
the Nara, Heian, Kamakura and Edo periods. In modern times the Japanese
grammar has been simplified. In recent years this "modern" Japanese has
been written with simplified kanji, culminating with the Joyo revision
of 1981.
In general, terms originating in China
are given ON readings and those developed in Japan are given kun readings.
There is often a semantic difference between the ON and kun readings of
a kanji. Kanji often occur in groups of 2 or more (known as compounds)
which do not necessarily have the meaning of the constituent kanji. In
order to get an accurate understanding the meaning of material imported
to Japan from China it is necessary to use a character dictionary and to
understand the semantics and etymology of a given compound before and after
its import to Japan. This information is not necessarily known by native
Japanese who already have to learn over 2000 kanji, 46 katakana and 46
hiragana by heart in the first 5 years of school. Modern Chinese can use
around 50,000 kanji with around 5000 in common use!
Compounds
Imagine a French dictionary that is divided
into syllables. Let us further imagine a tourist with no knowledge of French
who sees a sign: CHATEAU and picks up his syllable French dictionary and
looks up each syllable.
CHAT - a cat
EAU - water!
Ah! a place where cats can drink (or bathe
maybe)... We cannot divide French words like this!!!! Neither can
we break up kanji compounds and translate them individually. We need to
look in a character dictionary.
KI
This kanji is pronounced QI (chee) in
China. The original image
was of "nothing" over
fire .
Here is the classical form:
and here is the modern, simplified kanji:
which has the lower 6 strokes representing rice reduced to 2. The ON reading
is KI or KE and the kun reading is iki.
The image of this character is the vapour
ascending from rice
during cooking but the meaning is Spirit or
mind as it relates to Man on Earth. In Taoist cosmology
QI nourishes a "metal soul" known as PO. It is also used in Japan to mean
mood, intention, atmosphere or even smell. There is an application of this
kanji used in Chinese Medicine that describes a transport system of a fluid
similar to that of blood that flows in a system of vessels known as jing-luo.
These vessels are called "meridians" in the West where QI is interpreted
as a form of energy.
REI
This kanji is pronounced LING in China.
The original image for REI
is in two parts. The upper part shows (3 drops of) rain
descending from the heavens.
Below are two people working together
in harmony
(in this case to collect the raindrops).
In a more esoteric context the image becomes
a shaman summoning rain. The Chinese simplified image is hand over fire
(warmth) .
In the Japanese simplified form
the raindrops become a horizontal line and the lower image is replaced
by a container to catch the rain. Note that there is no difference in meaning
between the old and new forms –only the image
is changed. The ON reading is REI or RYO and the kun reading is tama. The
meaning is Soul or spirit as it relates to
Man under Heaven. In Taoist cosmology LING nourishes
a "wood soul" known as HUN.
REIKI
Reiki is a compound of REI and KI imported
directly from China where it is pronounced LING QI. In Taoist cosmology
the act of conception unites the souls called HUN and PO. When that being
dies HUN returns to Heaven to be reborn in another incarnation and PO returns
to Earth. However, if that being achieves a state of "nirvana" it may choose
not to "die" in which case the souls remain on Earth and may become a source
of guidance to those who come after. The result is simply a presence, not
a "form of energy". It is only in very recent times that this term has
been used to describe a specific form of energy connected with Usui Mikao
and others of the post-Meiji period in Japan.
In the mid 1990s my associate Shen Lissa
stayed for a month with Tatsumi-san who was a student of Chuujirou Hayashi
from 1927 to 1931. One day she pointed to a photo of the Usui concepts
in Tatsumi-san's house. She noted the term "Reiki" and said that this was
how the West referred to the hand healing system. Tatsumi-san said that
the hand healing was simply referred to as te-ąte, and that by
using the term "reiki," O-Sensei (Usui Sensei)
had been referring to his ancestors. Usui
Reiki Ryoho simply means 'Usui system
for connecting with your ancestral self'- something that
is already within each one of us from the moment of conception.
Shen Lissa mentioned that in the West it
was believed in some quarters that there was a special form of intelligent
energy called Reiki that could only do good. Tatsumi-san had not heard
of this either and said that if it were intelligent then why would it respond
to a set of moral values and why would it need someone to "give’ the energy.
Richard's note:
Here is the katakana often used in Japanese
articles or ads for the term "Reiki".
This allows the author to introduce the
subject without the concern that people may misunderstand his or her intentions.
The reader may then look at the term as a foreign word.
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