When people meet Frans Stiene from the International House of Reiki for the first time, they often become fransified. It is a process when they go from “Oh this guy is fun, I am super impressed by his knowledge, and he really understands me” to the point they are smitten with him. At least, this is what happened to me when I first met him in 2016 and have been observing this phenomenon since then. My friend and colleague Nathalie from Dive Into Reiki wrote a very entertaining piece about hosting Frans here.

For the past four days I had the opportunity to spend extended time with Frans, as a participant in and translator for this Shinpiden course in Cologne, Germany, and we also shared an AirB’n’B together. These four days were grounding and elevating – at the same time.

During Shinpiden, the mystery teachings, the level 3 training in the Japanese system of Reiki, we focus on being Reiki, our inner great bright light, and interconnectedness. For two of the three days we practiced reiju, the spiritual blessing in Reiki which can be confused with initiations and attunements, over and over again. When practicing reiju, the spiritual blessing when giver and receiver are one, we burn away the layers of the illusion of separateness. We learned in Okuden, the inner and hidden teachings of Reiki, which is often referred to as Reiki 2, that the third symbol represents interconnectedness. That when we are in the right state of mind, we are all one. That the object and the observer are all one. That form and no-form are one. That giver and receiver are all one. One of what, one may wonder? One of all there is, one of the Cosmos, the Universe, and this thing called life, of what can be seen and not seen.

For many Reiki practitioners this perspective of Reiki (the more I learn about Reiki, I realize that Reiki is Life) can be confusing. I can only imagine how challenging this concept can be when one hasn’t had a direct experience with Reiki. But here’s when being fransified comes to help.

Frans simply is. He is who he is. He is pure joy, someone who lives his practices and interweaves them into daily life. As a result, he is not side-tracked and distracted by anger, worry and fear. Instead he exudes gratitude, compassion, kindness and joy. Through his practice and teachings, which he has been doing for almost 25 years, he embodies the Reiki precepts wherever he goes and wherever he is. From this space, he embodies the Japanese concept of san-mitsu (mind-body-energy), because he is in harmony with himself – and with the world. So much so that his “good energy” is contagious. Being around him feels like being seen for the first time, that we are so much more than just our physical package. We are touched in our essence.

Through the practice of Reiki, practitioners open up to all the possibilities of what is and what could be. We strip away the layers that cover up our essence, our joy, the inner great bright light, as we learn in Shinpiden. We become in tune with ourselves, more connected with ourselves, and therefore, also with others – and with each other. And in interacting with Frans we are reminded of what our essence is (or could be). When we are fransified, and think that we are smitten with him, we actually are smitten with ourselves.