What is Reiki ?

What is Reiki?

The system of Usui Reiki Ryoho grew out of the original teachings of Mikao Usui, a Japanese man, around 1922.  He had called his system "My Method" or Usui-Do.  In the West, it was previously thought that it was his purpose to find out how famous healers like Buddha and Christ healed the sick, without depleting their own inner energy. However we now know that he had a very spiritual experience or vision in which the meaning of his life was made clear to him.  He then set out on a 3 year quest to discover how he could attain this. 

During his life and especially during his mission he studied old religions and ancient teachings including the Japanese forms of Taoism.  He was also a student of martial arts and knew the founder of Judo, Jigoro Kano, very well.  The organisation that survived him, Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai, teaches that he experienced a solution and a very powerful personal  energy that we now call Reiki, while fasting on the Holy Mountain of Kurama Yama, just outside of the spiritual city of Kyoto, Japan.  According to Gakkai history, he received a powerful form of energy while in meditation and was knocked unconscious for hours. He awoke feeling wonderful and refreshed, and had the ability to recall the energy.  He soon discovered the energy gave the bonus of an amazing healing ability.

UsuiSensei (also called Sensei or O-Sensei) tested this new found energy on his family and friends, then took the resulting process out to the Japanese public. He traveled to Tokyo and began healing and teaching others there. He also found he could easily transfer the ability to access and use this energy, to anyone.

The word Reiki was actually an adjective that Mr. Usui used in defining a set of concepts for his original system; he was attributing the source of this energy and inspiration to his ancestors. In Western translation however, the word Reiki is seen as being made up of two Japanese words - Rei and Ki. Literally, taken one word at a time, Rei can mean supernatural force or spiritual intelligence; Ki can mean life energy. Thus Reiki is often described in the West as "spiritually guided life force energy". However in Japanese, words must be taken together and in the context of their use, in order to understand their actual meaning and intention. 

O-Sensei's system was trimmed in some ways, and expanded and modified in others by his students to become Usui Reiki Ryoho (method).    The background for this page contains these 6 characters in O-Sensei's handwriting.  The original system of Usui-Do is still being taught, and as of the end of 2002 there are still a handful of O-Sensei's students still alive in Japan, who communicate with some Western students. However, since it is highly personal and spiritually oriented, most seem to begin with the study of Usui Reiki Ryoho.

As each colour in the rainbow is actually a different frequency or vibration of white light, the Reiki ray can be considered a range of vibrations of the Universal Energy or The Light, but perhaps a range that is beyond the normal access of each individual. But it is well known for it's ability to bring the human energy field into balance on all levels, thus encouraging the healing process.

What is a treatment or session like?

A treatment creates a wonderful radiance that is deeply relaxing and includes many beneficial affects for both client and practitioner.  At the very least, you will feel very relaxed during a session, often to the point of falling asleep.  A Reiki session always seems to impress those who say they find it difficult to relax.

As a Reiki practitioner, you can also treat yourself by placing your hands on yourself. Reiki will flow into you and begin its healing work.  As in other forms of energy healing, a Reiki practitioner can also "send" a treatment to another person who is not in the same room or location.  This is usually called Distant Reiki.

What can be treated or helped?

Reiki is both powerful and gentle. In its long history of use Reiki has aided in healing virtually every known illness and injury including serious problems like cancer and heart disease as well as skin problems, cuts, broken bones, headaches, colds, sunburn, insect bites, insomnia, lack of confidence, etc.

Reiki can also be used to relieve stress, to overcome unwanted habits, to achieve desired goals, and to protect from harm. 

Many Reiki practitioners have found that plants and animals also respond well to a Reiki session.

Who can learn REIKI?

After that, the student simply places her or his hands on someone with the intention of healing and the Reiki energies will automatically flow through the student into the recipient. Because of this unique attunement process, Reiki can be easily taught during a one day class, or less.

The Reiki Empowerment is actually a powerful healing experience in itself.

Can children learn Reiki?

Note: Children under 16 can receive free Reiki training when their parents take a Threshold class

How does REIKI work?

An Analogy

The water can be thought of as the Reiki energy. It comes from a source outside of you, and seems to have no limit to its availability. The person is the Reiki practitioner. The hose is like the purified Reiki channel that is opened within the initiated Reiki practitioner. It is very pure and strong and nothing can penetrate it; i.e. your energy does not get mixed with the Reiki ray before it leaves you. The energy flows out the palms of your hands, your nozzles (as well as other chakras in the body), and the recipient's energy does not flow back into the practitioner (so you don't take on their mis-qualified energy). The Reiki practitioner can just stay in one place projecting the energy on or towards the person who is receiving it, but typically moves around the body, starting with the recipient's head (just like watering the favourite flowers first). While the Reiki energy fills and surrounds the recipient's body with its gentle vibrations, if there are parts that require more balancing of energy (called energy blocks), the Reiki ray will focus more in those places. The potential end result is a balancing of all the energy in the body, plus in the other levels of the aura.  So in this way Reiki spreads into the emotional, mental and spiritual areas as well.

The Reiki channel can also be thought of being similar to a sprinkler hose with little holes all around the sides of it. Like the sprinkler hose, the Reiki also "leaks" out into the Reiki practitioner, causing her/him to receive a gentle Reiki session also.

The result of this latter fact is that the Reiki practitioner feels energized and vibrant after giving a Reiki session, and is quite capable of performing several sessions in a row.

Am I Already Using Reiki?

First of all, what I qualify as "Reiki" would be the same energy that Mikao Usui originally experienced sometime before his move to Tokyo in April, 1922, and then  taught to his students. This implies that a person has received the energy in a way that Mikao Usui used to pass it on to his students; that is, by way of an energy empowerment, usually given in a Reiki class, by a Reiki "master".

Perhaps it would be more appropriate to discuss whether a person is using the same energy as Reiki.  In my experiences with those who have a healing skill, all who have gone on to  receive the Reiki attunement have told me that the energy they had previously thought was Reiki, was either quite different, or not as strong, or not as easily accessed as Reiki. They talk about Reiki as being a higher vibration, or that it has a different colour, or that it flows through them differently, than what they were previously using. 

I think the only way to determine if your energy is the same as Reiki would be to receive a Reiki attunement, or to ask a very good clairvoyant to compare your energy to that of a Reiki practitioner.  Or you may simply want to sample a Reiki session yourself. This is not to say that Reiki is better than what you are already using. There are indeed other energies that seem to work the way Reiki does, but have a different feel or vibration to them.  Yet I wouldn't be surprised if some children are coming into the world now with this energy already flowing - a legacy to our most unusual times.

I have found that the most benefit seems to come from a combination of the person giving the energy, the person receiving, the situation, the presence of compassion and Love, and the energy technique. Sometimes a hug is the most powerful technique.

A Helpful Thought for Your Journey (April)
"There is a new you every day. Every morning when you wake up you are literally being born anew and afresh. Try new routines each day; see if you can make even the small things more conscious. When you do new things you are conscious and aware of the present moment. You are paying attention, fully alert. Doing new things is invigorating to the physical body." 
from the book Living with Joy

Research on Reiki and Other Energy Healing Techniques