My Journey

It was in the summer of 1994 when I received a message that I needed to rush to Delhi to meet my mother who had unexpectedly fallen perilously sick. It came as a bolt from the blue as I had met her, merely a few days prior to that. My mother was my best friend, my guide, and my inspiration. I sprinted off with my 8-month-old baby in tow. I could not fathom life without her. She was the core of my being. How could a gentle soul like her fell prey to an illness of such mammoth proportions!

My first ever trip into an intensive care unit of a hospital left me numb and pulled me into a vortex of shock, denial, and rage and needless to say, left me perplexed and aggravated. We were informed that the subsequent 24 hours after her surgery were critical and that she would gain consciousness gradually. In anticipation we prayed and then 24 became 48, 48 became 72 hours and the wait endless. Everybody's levels of anxieties kept intensifying, as she was not gaining awareness. Throughout those days of waiting I visited various places of worship and prayed to God to grant a new lease of life to my mother.

My prayers were answered, but partially. God gave her life, but not response and mobility. What ensued was a vegetative existence for the remaining six and a half years of her life.

I do believe my mother’s sickness befell us for many reasons. For my father to value and cherish her more than ever before, and for us children to gain comfort and solace from each other. It was a silent struggle that strengthened the bonds of our family inexplicably.

It was in these six years that my yearning to know more about life, souls and karma emerged within. Therein commenced a journey, which led me on a quest of learning and set me off on a spiritual path, albeit very early in my life.

As per some divine plan and fate, a few Reiki teachers were visiting my city. I signed up for the seminar out of curiosity and without actually knowing much about Reiki then. During the course of the 2-day seminar with Amita Singh, I learnt self-healing and continued to practice Reiki for myself over the years.

In year 2000, six years had transpired since our mother had been bedridden. Six long laborious years of praying for a miracle to occur and getting disappointed each time our hopes were shattered. Sapped and drained emotionally, it was around this time that I started praying for her salvation. My prayers were miraculously answered sooner than expected. Our mother left for her heavenly abode leaving me bereft with pain and consumed with a loss that was unbearable. A loss that was irreplaceable and one I was having trouble surviving without. I wanted to connect with her, communicate with her. The yearning inside was mounting.

Another five years after my mother’s demise I learnt of Ranjani Mitra, from whom I eventually learnt my second level Reiki.

The days and months that ensued altered my very being, my emotions, and brought within me a sense of balance, harmony and an innate understanding of questions that were previously left unanswered. Over a period of what I can justifiably call 18 glorious months I learnt the 2nd and 3rd degrees of Reiki. It was a magical journey that my Reiki teacher embarked me on. I went through several in-explicable experiences and today I live in abundance. In 2006, I connected with Tejinder Singh, someone who I remained constantly in touch with till 2009. It was in 2009 that he finally handed the teaching Masters degree to me, one of his three out of 600 students.

With my Reiki degrees and practice it does not mean that I am free from diseases or turmoil in life. It has only made me stronger and given me the wisdom to handle any situation with ease and calm. I now live in acceptance. I accept that whatever is happening to me today or will happen tomorrow has been designed for my own learning. I now live in the divine moment- in the Now.

I have learnt that I'm responsible for what I am today. I have chartered my own path. I have learnt that I am a soul living a human experience, which has been drafted by me at another plane for the alleviation of my own soul. My human experiences of today are a result of my previous lives, which in turn enable my soul to evolve. Our spirits heal our bodies as we go through pain. These arise out of fear, resentments, unfulfilled creativities and desires, disillusionments and many others. It is my Karma that got me in this human form, but I am no longer bound by it. My Karma is released by using my divinity and the awakening within me formulates the pattern for the growth of my spirit. My spirit does not know the outcome of my journey here, on earth. God does not know what is going to happen. God does not have an agenda for me. My journey is about experience, which changes and affects my creation. My expanded consciousness brings about an awakening in me. It helps me release negativity and heal my past, allowing the integration of my divine and my human self. It thus makes me accept darkness with joy and helps me live in the Present Moment with this newfound understanding.

I believe that there is no time or space in my divine plan. These conditions were only created when we came to earth. I have learnt to believe that every cell in my body is a soul in itself and that I also have a strong belief in the energies i send. I now communicate with my soul, which has immense power.

I believe that all physical problems manifest at the soul level and its treatment lies within one’s own self. Healing of any kind is essential not just for the body, but also for the mind and the soul. Pains arise when there's an obstruction in the flow of energy in a human body. Simply put, as negative emotions accumulate in a certain part of the body, a person experiences physical pain. Reiki helps in balancing the energies through the chakras and other body parts. Energy follows thought and that is how Reiki energy heals. I have learnt that I should not judge people. I have stopped trying to change the world because each human is going through his or her own learning experience.

In conjunction with teaching Reiki, I am also offering Vinyasa yoga sessions in small settings. I am a certified Yoga teacher from the American Yoga Academy, trained under Claire Diab, who is an Internationally acclaimed yoga instructor.

This is my prayer everyday, one, which I believe in with utmost conviction:

I am that I am.
I am all that I am.
I am all that I am and all this IS
I am ONE.
I am God also.
I am the Ocean and a drop in the Ocean.

With this prayer and my perception, I live in the Now, in abundance, in acceptance and with bountiful energy, loving myself. I am grateful to myself, my parents, Reiki energy, my Reiki teachers, Dr Usui and my God, eternally.

~Priya Sethi