A Reiki Overview©

What is Reiki?

Reiki (ray'-kee) is a simple, natural, and safe method of transmitting life force energy to bring balance and harmony to the body, mind and spirit. The practitioner serves as a conduit to direct energy for the purposes of healing. REI can be translated as spirit, air, essence or source of creation or higher power; KI is generally referred to as power or energy. Reiki Master/Teacher William Lee Rand describes Reiki as spiritually guided life force energy.

Reiki energy enters the crown chakra (top of head), passes through the third eye, throat and heart chakras, traveling out the arms and through the palms, which are placed on or near the area requiring treatment. The person receiving the treatment will only accept as much energy as the body needs. It is non-invasive, gentle, and administered to a fully clothed person.

How did Reiki Start?

Dr. Mikao Usui (1865-1926) was a teacher who studied various philosophies of the world looking for the hands-on healing technique as described in scripture. Dr. Usui studied the Lotus sutras of Japan, the Chinese sutras, and finally the Sanskrit sutras of Tibet, ancient records that date back almost 3,000 years. He learned that Buddha healed the lame and the blind as Christ did through divine love. However, Usui felt that he lacked the physical strength and spiritual empowerment to use this new knowledge.

Dr. Usui was most likely a spiritualist and psychic. People who do his kind of work were called Rei Jyutu Ka which means, people who have spiritual skill. It was during his activities as a spiritualist that he rediscovered Reiki on Kurama-yama, a sacred mountain outside Kyoto. It was at this time that he entered a 21 day fast and meditation, where he attained enlightenment and received the four symbols that are introduced to Reiki Level 2 students today.

He established a healing society in Tokyo in 1922 and started giving treatments. Usui created the three degrees or ranks of Reiki which he called Shoden (First Teaching) Okuden (Inner Teaching) and Shinpiden (Mystery Teaching). He moved to Nakano, Tokyo in 1925 and expanded his healing center.

Dr. Usui was well known for his healing abilities and was often invited to local cities to speak and do healing work. He gathered a following of what would become the first sixteen masters of Usui lineage, one of who was Dr. Chujiro Hayashi (1878-1941), a retired naval officer who was pivotal in carrying on Usui's tradition.

Dr. Hayashi was given the attunements for all three Reiki degrees by Dr. Usui in 1925 when Dr. Hayashi was age 47 and just one year before Dr. Usui passed on. Dr. Hayashi subsequently trained thirteen masters. One of those maters was Hawayo Takata (1900-1980), who initially came to Hayashi for healing, was profoundly effected, and embraced Reiki as her life work. She is credited with bringing the Reiki teachings to America in the 1970's. At the time of her death she trained twenty-two Reiki Masters who carefully preserved the Reiki tradition, perpetuating this simple, natural, safe method of healing that recognizes that the spirit, or life force energy, must be healthy for the physical body to be healthy.

How Does Reiki Differ from other Modalities?

The most significant difference defining a Reiki practitioner is that s/he undergoes an ATTUNMENT process by a Reiki Master. The attunement is an ENERGY TRANSFER that raises the vibrational level of the chakras, serving as a tuneup or alignment. The practitioner then serves as a conduit for this energy, directing the Universal Life Energy to the client. At this time, the hands often become more sensitive to feeling the subtle nuances of energy. Anyone, young or old, can be attuned to the Reiki energy for self healing.