One of my students asked a question that I have never been asked, yet, it made perfect sense to ask it. I had to think about the answer, but I finally did come up with one, and according to James, the right one.
As preparation for Reiki, we do a lot of things including scanning, cleaning and aligning the charkas, and brushing off the aura. The actual steps start with scanning, then cleaning the charkas and then the aura. What I was asked by my student was why we were scanning before cleaning off the aura. Apparently, she had been to several places where they clean off the aura as soon as someone comes through the door, and wanted to know why we don't do it in the same manner.
I had actually never given it much thought. I did the same things in the same order (the order I was taught) all the time. I would hate to give and answer of 'just because' or 'because I have always done it that way'. After thinking about it, and analyzing it, I came out with (or was supplied with) this answer...
When a problem exists in the body, it has an energy signature or emission. That emission radiates out through the aura. If we brush off the aura, we start moving those energies around. In fact, they may move to the point that cover up the emission from the problem and make it harder to find. I guess that just like in many situations where there is a problem (like with computers), one wants to see the situation as it is, untouched, before any changes are made.
This actually makes sense (and not just because I want it to). If you have a hill of dirt, and there is a problem in it, you don't first push it away and flatten it. You look at it and try to determine where the problem is. The same thing is true with the body. And James looked at me and said that this was exactly why we do it as we do.
It was an interesting question, causing some thought to come out with the answer.