What is Reiki ?

Sources: Usui-Do Eidan, Chris Marsh, Andy Bowling, Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai. T. Mochizuki 

What is Reiki?

During his life he studied old religions and ancient teachings including forms of Zen Buddhism and Taoism.  He was also a practitioner of martial arts, a member of a warrior group of monks and knew some of influential martial arts teachers of his time.  The organisation that survived him, Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai, teaches that he experienced a very powerful personal energy (a forerunner to what we now call Reiki) during one of his traditional 3 week fasts, this one on the Holy Mountain of Kurama Yama, just north of Kyoto Japan.  The experience apparently revealed to him his life purpose and as a by-product, the bonus of a much stronger personal ki or energy and an amazing healing ability.

In Kyoto around 1914, Usui Sensei began teaching aspects of several spiritual systems that he felt could be more easily accepted and understood by the average lay person.  In 1922 he moved his family to Tokyo along with his dojo or training hall, and formalised his system into 13 levels. However, during classes, many students found they were beginning to resonate to Usui's own strong personal energy or ki, simply by being near to him or touching his robe.  He may have become known as a powerful healer due to his assistance with victims of the 1923 Kanto earthquake.  As he had a family to support, students paid dues and for extra income he rented out the dojo hall in the evenings to those who wished to lecture.  In 1923, one of Usui's senior Kyoto students, Toshihiro Eguchi, moved to Tokyo, joined the dojo and rented it twice a week.  He used this opportunity to teach revised versions of Usui's methods, which were usually approved of by Usui.

By 1925 Eguchi was also curious about Usui's natural healing abilities enough to explore his own potential in his evening sessions.  Near the end of the year, a large group of navy personnel led by 2 retired admirals joined the dojo, and during Eguchi's lectures encouraged him to develop a healing system.  Eguchi took ideas and hints from Usui's classes and by mid January 1926, a system was born under the heading of Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai (learning society).  Usui passed away shortly afterwards and the dojo was moved to the clinic of Usui student Chuujuro Hayashi.  World War 2 disrupted the Gakkai's teachings but prior to that, in 1935 a Japanese Hawaiian named Hawayo Takata studied under Hayashi and brought his evolving Reiki system to Hawaii.  In 1975 Mrs. Takata finally began teaching in mainland USA, and the following year in Western Canada.  The modern concept of Reiki spread quickly from there.

The word Reiki in its original kanji form is actually a term that Usui used in defining a set of concepts for his original system.  According to Hayashi student Tatsumi-san, he was attributing the source of his abilities and inspiration to his ancestors.  In 1980's Western translation methods however, the word Reiki was 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, this is like taking the meaning of the French words "chat" - cat, and "eau" - water, to understand the word "chateau" - castle.  In Japanese, as in many languages, words must be taken together in phrases and in the context of their use, in order to understand their actual meaning and intention. 

Returning to the URR Gakkai, Usui's original ideas and experiences were trimmed in some ways, and expanded and modified in others by his students, into a palm or hand healing system.   The background for this page contains these 6 kanji characters for "Usui Reiki Ryoho" in Usui's handwriting.  The original system of Usui-no-Michi is still being taught, due mainly to the fact that as of the end of 2002 there were still a handful of Usui Sensei's students still alive in Japan.  These people communicated their knowledge and understandings of Usui's original spiritual teachings to some Western students, who have since shared this with the West.. However, since it is highly personal and spiritually oriented, most people seem to begin with the study of Reiki, a much simpler process.

As each colour in the rainbow is actually a different frequency or vibration of white light, the Reiki energy 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.  Yet itt is well known for it's ability to bring the human energy field into balance on all levels, thus encouraging and speeding up the natural healing process - in the area of body, emotions, mind and spiritual.

What is a treatment or session like?

What can be treated or helped?

Who can learn REIKI?

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 that you begin to resnonate, 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 energy 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 energy 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 process 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 quality of energy that Mikao Usui resonated automatically. This implies that a person has received the energy in a way that  Usui's students used to pass it on to their students; that is, by way of an energy empowerment, usually given in a Reiki class, by a Reiki teacher.

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.

For more information on this topic, please see my Experienced Reiki Practitioner articles at my Reiki home page titled “Activating Your Own  Reiki Energy” and “Reiki and Highest Ki.”

A Helpful Thought for Your Journey
"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