Reiki

Reiki

An Overview

Reiki is not a religion. It beholds no doctrines, creeds or contradictions to the Universal Laws of consciousness and love. No matter where the person may be at a certain point in their life, Reiki will harmonize and embrace their philosophical centre point, adding to it the Divine Presence.

Reiki is always present, but we are unaware of it until the contact is made through training. After this training, it can be received and converted into healing energy.

Once an individual is attuned to Reiki through initiations, they are permanently linked without the need of conscious alteration of the mind, either through meditation, prayer or imaging. These initiations open certain inner centres of the body so the energy can be channelled easily and safely.

Simply placing one’s hands on oneself, or another person, allows the energy to flow through the individual. It fills the Reiki channels body first and then flows out though the channels hands into the individual who is receiving the healing.

Reiki energy comes from the God-Force and is an extremely powerful healing energy. It is one of the few forms of healing that can be used to heal oneself. Reiki does not conflict with other health care, but can enhance its results. It does not interfere with traditional medical treatment, but can facilitate benefits. Reiki can speed the healing process and provide a source of restoring energy while one is ill, under medical treatment, or in recovery.

Reiki healing is a pure energy form. When it is combined with the sincere desire of the healee, who is willing to effect a cleansing within their emotional and spiritual consciousness, a total healing can occur.

We must always remember that the energy of the God-Force is neutral and awaits the positive, productive empowerment by the healee. The Reiki channel plays an instrumental part in transformation and yet, ultimately, it is up to the healee to manifest harmony and balance in their life.

The Reiki channel is an instrument and must not allow the ‘Ego-Will’ to desire the healee well. The Reiki channel must be a clear vessel through which the healing energy flows. This allows the highest Soul purpose to be the outcome of the healing.

Reiki is a tool for use at any moment, any time, anywhere for on the spot stress release, pain relief and quick energy. In short, Reiki is a holistic, self-help technique for directing natural life energy. No special environment or equipment is needed and age makes no difference. By following steps taught by a trained Reiki Master, anyone is able to direct the ‘light energy’ or Reiki to meet individual needs.

Reiki is harmless and cannot hurt anyone. It does not destroy, but builds and protects. It will vitalize all forms of life whether plants, animals, fish, fowl or humans from infants to old age and it can only do good.

• Reiki is pronounced Ray – Key
• Rei means ‘universal‘ and refers also to the spiritual dimension and the soul.
• Ki means the  ‘vital life force energy’ which flows through all that is alive.
• Japanese characters when correctly combined, present the concept of ‘universal life-force energy.’ Reiki energy is whole, not dual. It is therefore, neither positive nor negative but rather is the combination of these qualities.

The Three Degrees of Reiki

There are three Degrees or levels of the Reiki Ray. Each possesses a unique radiation of energy set forth for a specific purpose in healing.

First Degree

This degree is a permanent attunment to the Reiki Ray. Once initiated, it allows a person to channel Reiki energy for healing oneself and others. It requires no special invocation or alteration of the thinking process to ‘turn on’ the flow of Reiki. By simply placing hands on, and opening the heart to love, one automatically brings in the energy.

The first degree is the foundation of all three degrees and must first be mastered thoroughly before the person is considered for the next degree.

Second Degree

The second degree requires further initiations for attunment to the keys utilized in this level.

The student is trained to use appropriate Second Degree Keys (Symbols) which provide an increase of power from the Reiki Ray and is used for mental and emotional healing and also for absent healing.

Third Degree

This degree is the level of Reiki Master, a teacher of Reiki. The student is attuned to the full Reiki Ray, and for those guided, the path of the teacher begins its un-foldment.

The Two Precepts of Reiki

The person must ask – We must ask to be healed and in asking open our self up at the throat level. We vocalize and hear our self say, ‘I want to change where I am, I want to alter my state of existence.’ In asking, the person is putting forth a conscious decision to become involved. The request may also be made on the soul level. It is from the soul level that the person asks for a healing. As a Reiki channel, you are a viaduct or a medium through which the energy of Reiki flows. It is essential to listen and render service to the request of the soul.

There must be an exchange of energy for services – The healing energy belongs to the Universe, to God. However, there needs to be a creative exchange from the recipient (the healee), to the person whose time and services are being rendered. Energy exchange may be anything from the stored concept of energy we call money, to an exchange of services between the healee and the Reiki channel or exchange of goods.

Performing A Reiki Session

A normal Reiki channelling session lasts about one hour or in severe or extreme cases the session could last longer. The client takes off his/her shoes and lies down on a massage table. At times, a chair, couch or bed could be used however, a table provided for the specific purpose usually works best. The Reiki channel then sits or stands at the head of the client and places his/her hands on or over the body in specific positions, with no pressure, no sliding and no manipulation. The hands stay in one place until the area being treated stops drawing the energy. The energy flow will adjust itself automatically to the needs of the client.

If the area under the hands requires a lot of energy, the flow will be felt very strongly. If the requirement is small, the flow will be slight. Keep your fingers tightly together at all times. If the channel’s fingers are separated, the energy is scattered. The various hand positions may be covered by one channel or by a team effort.

A minimum of three consecutive daily Reiki treatments is recommended when you treat a person for the first time. Do as much Reiki as time allows and remember, some Reiki is better than no Reiki.

Experiencing Reiki

Some people feel Reiki as a warmth, others as hot energy and some feel nothing at all. If the client feels nothing, this does not mean they are not receiving Reiki, only that their particular sensitivity level may not be quite as intense as others. Some clients will feel light headed for a time after treatment, so it is best not to arise too soon or too quickly from the table.

Who Are Reiki Channels

Reiki channels are people from all walks of life, all races, all occupations who have received energy keys from a qualified Reiki Master Teacher. Everyone has this potential, we are all composed of this Universal Energy and can use it for healing. Those who go on to share and teach the system are helping to clear and purify the planet.

History of Reiki

The origin of Reiki can be traced back to ancient Tibet, thousands of years ago. This technique was rediscovered in the mid 1800′s by Dr. Mikao Usui of Japan.

The tradition of Reiki was an oral one and was passed on by master to master and student to student by word of mouth. The story most likely has been dramatically embellished by each storyteller over the years to emphasize the wonder and beauty of the legend of Dr. Usui. The following is the story as we and others have heard it.

In the city of Kyoto, Japan, Dr. Mikao Usui (a Christian Minister) was giving a sermon. After the service, two seminary students asked him to explain how Jesus did the miracles of healing and furthermore, whether or not he could perform those same miracles. Dr. Usui was not able to give the students an answer of ‘yes’. He felt that he understood the Bible intellectually but he did not understand how Jesus healed.

This marked the beginning of Dr. Usui’s lifelong quest to uncover the source of ancient healing techniques. He left Japan, went to the United States and studied at the University of Chicago. During his stay in the United States, he earned a Doctorate degree in Theology. He searched the scriptures to try to uncover the secret of how Jesus and his disciples healed the sick and performed miracles but he did not find the answers he sought during his time in the United States.

Upon his return to Japan, it occurred to Dr. Usui that the Buddha had performed the same type of miracles as Jesus. He too had healed the sick and had great control of energy. He channelled the power of God and the Universe. Dr. Usui began asking the different Buddhistic sects if they could perform the miracles that Buddha performed. Could they heal the body? The Buddhists felt that healing of the spirit and healing of the body was not always directly connected. They concentrated on the spirit and not on the body, they left the healing of the body up to those in the healing arts.

Finally, Dr. Usui went to a Zen monastery. He asked the same question of the head monk. Do the Zen know how to heal the body? The monk explained that they were concentrating heavily on healing the spirit and there just was not time to teach the physical healing of the body.

Dr. Usui requested that he be admitted to the Zen monastery so that he could study the Buddhist scriptures, the sutras, in search of the key to healing. He was admitted and so began his study.

Dr. Usui first studied the Japanese translations of the Buddhist scripture but did not find the explanation he sought. Then he learned Chinese so that a wider range of Buddhist writings were available to him  but still without success.

He was guided through his mediations to learn Sanskrit so that he could read the original Buddhist writings and have access to those writings that had never been translated into another language. After mastering the language of the Sanskrit, he began reading the teachings of the Tibetan Buddhistic Sect. From those writings, Dr. Usui discovered what he felt to be the keys to healing. Dr. Usui found the symbols, formulas and description of how Buddha healed.

And so….. at the end of his long search, Dr. Usui had found what he sought, but not quite. Although he believed he had uncovered the knowledge, he still did not have the power to heal. He discussed this with his old friend the monk and they meditated upon the path to take. They were told that Dr. Usui should go to a designated place upon the holy Mount Kuriyama. There he was to fast for twenty one days and meditate to seek the power to heal, during this time he would receive enlightenment and spiritual clarity.

Dr. Usui climbed Kuriyama to a certain level and found a place that faced East. Since he had no calendar, he gathered twenty one small stones and placed them before him. Every morning he awakened before the sun rose and would throw away one of the twenty one stones to keep count of the days.

Each day he meditated and fasted. On the twenty first day, Dr. Usui awakened to a darkened morning. It was like a new moon day, when no light shone in the heavens before the breaking of dawn. When he awakened he could not even see his hand in front of his face. He found his way to his meditation spot and picked up the last stone. Dr. Usui prayed before throwing the last stone off the side of the mountain. He asked God for confirmation of his findings and asked to be given the enlightenment of how to use it.

As he threw the stone off the side of the mountain, a light appeared far off in the East. It began getting brighter and coming closer to him. It frightened him, and he wanted to run away. He thought to himself, ‘You have searched for years and years and you have meditated and fasted for twenty one days. You have asked for enlightenment and confirmation and now you want to run away from it?’ So Dr. Usui quieted his intellect and said, ‘No, if that light is for me, I accept the enlightenment.’

The light became very bright and streamed across the heavens and hit him directly in his third eye. For a moment, he thought he had died and ascended into heaven because he had never before been in such a euphoric state. He saw many many bubbles in all the colours of the rainbow. Then came the powerful, bright white light, followed by golden Sanskrit letters – the secret formula of the Universal Life Force and how to contact it. As a bubble would move into his field of vision and pause, the instruction in the use of this symbol would be given. As soon as he had committed the information to memory, the bubble would move away and another would replace it with a different symbol. In this fashion, Dr. Usui was given the full teachings in the meaning of the symbols. He now had the secrets for which he had searched. He knew this was the Universal Life Energy which he called ‘Reiki’ and thus was born the ‘Usui System of Natural Healing.’ Finally, the bubbles, the light and the Sanskrit letters had come and gone. Dr. Usui felt rested, full of life and energy.

Dr. Usui jumped to his feet. He wanted to hurry back and tell the monk of his exciting news. In his rush, he stubbed his toe on a rock. He reached down to comfort the pain and to stop the bleeding. He found that the pain and the bleeding quit very rapidly. He realized that something was different about the energy in his hands, they had become very hot. After healing his toe, Dr. Usui continued his pilgrimage down the mountain.

Soon he began to feel hungry, so he stopped at a home that served travellers and ordered cold rice and cold tea. In a few moments, a Japanese girl, with  a bandage wrapped around her jaw, brought Dr. Usui his meal. She told Dr. Usui that her tooth had been aching for days. Encouraged by his own phenomenal pain relief, Dr. Usui asked, ‘May I give you a healing?’ She accepted his offer gladly. He put his hands around her jaw, and within a short period of time the pain and swelling started going down. She was very happy and went to tell her grandfather.

Dr. Usui ate his meal and then tried to pay the grandfather. He reached into his pocket to get some coins, but the man said, ‘Thank you, sir monk, but I cannot accept the money. You have rendered unto my grand daughter a service for which I do not have the money to pay. Please accept the food in exchange for the healing services that you have rendered.’ Dr. Usui accepted the food in exchange for his services as a healing channel.

Upon returning to Kyoto, he went to tell his friend the monk what had happened. He asked for advice on what he should do now that he had received the keys and the energy of healing. He wanted to learn more about its use and how to develop it. Dr. Usui was directed by the monk to meditate on it.

From this meditation, Dr. Usui was guided to go into the vast slums of Kyoto where he would offer healing to the beggars. He would then send the younger ones to the monastery where they would be trained by the monks in skills which would help them earn their living. In those days the slums were an unsafe place for strangers to enter, for the beggars banded together under a leader and they did not welcome others among them. Dr. Usui sought out the chief of the beggars, asking permission to live there and heal the people. His only requirements would be a place to sleep and to do his work along with three bowls of rice a day. His request was granted. He moved into this area and started the healing work among the poor people.

For the next seven years Dr. Usui worked on healing the sick in the beggar kingdom. He worked from daylight to dark, healing the young and old alike and saw many beautiful results take place. He began to understand how Reiki flowed through him into the healee and how the body became well.

One afternoon, Dr. Usui took a walk to the edge of the beggar kingdom. He saw a young beggar who looked familiar. Finally, Dr. Usui asked if the beggar new him, and the beggar said, ‘Of course, Dr. Usui, I know you. Do you not remember me? I am one of the first beggars that you healed.’

Dr. Usui said, ‘I healed you, and you are still a beggar?’ The beggar looked back at him and said, ‘Oh, Dr. Usui, yes, and I did just what you told me. I went out to the temple to receive a new name, went into society and began dealing with my karma, doing just what you told me to do. I even got a job and soon married but it was too much responsibility. So I decided that I would rather be a beggar. That way, I wouldn’t even have to be responsible for myself.’

Dr. Usui was greatly upset and thought, ‘What a terrible thing I have done. Perhaps the churches were right – the physical is not enough – the spiritual has to also be healed. Never again will Reiki be given away, always there will have to be an exchange of energy.’ He decided to immediately leave the beggar kingdom.

As he walked back to the monastery, Dr. Usui was greeted in Spirit by the teachers who had greeted him on Kuriyama. At this time, he was given the five spiritual principles of Reiki by the teachers.

Just for Today:

• I will not worry
• I will not be angry
• I will do my work honestly
• I will give thanks for my many blessings
• I will be kind to my neighbour and all living things.

These five principles created significant changes in the subsequent healings of Dr. Usui. He realized that he had been giving healing away without requiring the healee to take any responsibility whatsoever. Also, there had not been an exchange of energy for the services rendered. The new teaching provided spiritual concepts to be integrated with the physical aspect to the Reiki energy.

Soon afterwards, he left Tokyo and returned to Kyoto. Dr. Usui got a torch and lit it and went walking. He was stopped and asked why he was carrying a lit torch in the middle of the day with the sun shining so brightly. He replied that he was searching for people with a heart full of love and with enlightened hearts, but who are sad and sorrowful and do not know the true Light, or who were ill or depressed and who longed to be healed. He invited the people to come and hear about Reiki. In this way, he started teaching Reiki throughout Japan and gathered a following of sixteen teachers.

In the mid 1920′s he met a man who became his most dedicated disciple, Dr. Chujiro Hayashi, a forty-seven year old Reserve Naval Officer. With the transition of Dr. Usui, Dr. Hayashi became the Reiki Grand Master, carrying on this tradition of teaching and healing from his clinic in Tokyo.

Dr. Hayashi ran a private Reiki clinic in Tokyo where unusually severe illness and disease could be treated with Reiki. He also continued in Dr. Usui’s tradition, travelling, teaching and dedicating his life to Reiki. This clinic was where Hawayo Takata fist received Reiki treatments that would later lead her into studying with Dr. Hayashi. At first, Dr. Hayashi did not want to teach her, first because she was a woman and second because she was not Japanese. Through her persistence, she became his student. He trained two women to be teachers. One of these teachers stayed in Japan, the other, Mrs. Takata, returned to Hawaii.

Dr. Hayashi came to Hawaii in 1938 to initiate Mrs. Takata into Mastership of Reiki. On Dr. Hayashi’s death in 1941, Mrs. Takata succeeded him as Grand Master. Mrs. Takata worked with Reiki with another woman in Hawaii, Iris Ishikuro. During the 30′s 40′s and 50′s they both healed with Reiki throughout the Hawaiian Islands. In 1973, Mrs. Takata initiated Iris Ishikuro into Mastership of Reiki. Mrs. Takata took her teachings to the United States and Canada.

She first began to train Reiki Masters herself in the United States when she was about seventy four years of age. She trained and taught six original students to be Masters in Reiki, one of which was her granddaugter. These six were:

• Iris Ishikuro
• Virginia Samdahi
• Beth Gray
• Barbara Weber Ray
• Ethel Lombardi
• Phyllis Lei Furumoto (Mrs. Takata’s granddaughter)

There are only eight Masters between myself and Phllis Lei Furumoto.