REIKI – SYSTEM OF NATURAL HEALING
Reiki is a simple, gentle and very powerful way of healing. Reiki is also a spiritual path which can lead us into the inscrutable and ineffable mystery of the Universe. Many of us come to Reiki seeking healing, and never learn much about Reiki’s spiritual depth. Yet, these two aspects of Reiki – the healing and the spiritual – are intertwined. Just like heaven and earth meeting each other in the beautiful dance of time meeting eternity; so too in Reiki, our absolute, eternal essence expresses in the relative, constantly changing, physical aspect of our lives.
Within this dance of heaven and earth, time and eternity, physical and eternal, we are faced with an ongoing progression of choices about how we engage with our lives. Our karma, interest, commitment, capacity, (and some luck, or grace), will determine how we choose. And the way we choose will shape the story of Reiki we’ll eventually tell.
People come to Reiki for different reasons: some for a method to heal the physical body, for use with themselves or others. Others wish to grow in peace and tranquillity. Many seek knowledge of the unseen mystery behind the physical world. And maybe all of us seek a way to deal with the suffering and meaninglessness of everyday life, and the “dark nights” of our soul. Reiki is invaluable for all this.
As a healing method Reiki offers a simple, hands-on technology that anyone can learn to use. If that’s all you’re seeking, it should serve you well. But there is more.
As a spiritual path Reiki offers a collection of skillful methods to help us come to know our real nature – not merely as a nice intellectual idea – but a profoundly intimate, ever-deepening experience of mystery, totally and perfectly beyond anything our ordinary minds might manufacture or our concepts may grasp. In fact, all we can do speaking about this reality is to point to mystery, like fingers pointing to the moon. Ultimately, it is something we’ll know as our real nature and as the nature of all things.
While this goal may seem ambitious, there is no need to be intimidated. Through Reiki, you will gradually be introduced to knowledge. And as you become able to see more you’ll recognize yourself as completely whole and absolutely perfect, since the very beginning.
Reiki challenges the unreasonably low opinion we usually hold about our own potential. It challenges us
- To be as healthy, complete, and conscious as possible, in order to fully occupy our place and role in this life.
- To become so powerful, that we may be able to make our biggest contributions to this world from the privacy of our hearts, without anyone ever knowing about it.
- To be a fountain of peace in the midst of turmoil.
- To be a source of healing amid dis-ease.
- To be a centre of tranquillity in the chaos of everyday life.
- To be a place of love and beauty in the midst of fear and ugliness.
- To be caretakers of this world, and of all creation.
Reiki is one of the gifts we have to help us along this path. It comes in humble guise, and is exceedingly gentle. Yet there is power hidden here. Through Reiki we come to recognize our dignity, our magnificence and we’re challenged to uncover our hidden splendour. We recognize our responsibility to each other and to all of life. We recognize Universal assistance as our birthright, and the miracle of unfolding as our path.
During the training you will attempt to present Reiki in its basic precious magnificence. At the core of this is the transmission of the heart-essence of this teaching: the atmosphere of compassion and wisdom which is the essence of all enlightened beings, and the skilful reminders that this is the real nature of each and every one of us. Still, the responsibility for liberation through this knowledge always remains our own, with infinite support if we’re willing to ask for it.
Reiki is not a book, nor a workshop. Reiki is alive inside you: a living current of love, wisdom, power as fresh and new as it was when Dr Usui first “discovered” it; eternally new as the in and out-breath of the Universe. May it bring you great joy and bless all the world!
A History of Modern Reiki
After almost a century of very gradual growth, Reiki exploded onto the world scene during the last 5 years or so. Despite its great popularity, the history and origins of Reiki were shrouded in myth and mystery until the fairly recent emergence of several records describing its development. At last it is becoming possible to piece together a more coherent story of the origins and spirit of Reiki, as expressed by its founder, Mikao Usui.
The brilliance of Dr Usui was that he connected, distilled and codified various complex teachings to produce an essentially „universal“ system of healing and spirituality, largely devoid of cultural trappings, thus enabling the „Sacred Science“ to be used by anyone for the benefit of everyone.
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In one of Dr Usui’s biographical sketches he records his commencement on the path of discovery of the „Sacred Science“ (his other name for Reiki) with his birth in 1865at a time of great change in Japan. This is now called the Meiji restoration. This period followed centuries of national isolation, of the persecution and outlawing of “foreign” influences and thought in religion and philosophy. Political manoeuvring placed the Emperor as the divine head of the nation, and made the old religion of Shintoism the state religion. Japan became more outward looking and through a series of governmental and royal decrees, the populace was encouraged to develop and study both the traditional ways of Japan and to look to the West for scientific inspiration. In this climate, Usui was born in the village of Yago, in the Yamagata district of the Gifu prefecture, (southern Japan) to a Buddhist family, the eldest of three brothers and two sisters.
Usui’s family was well connected and thought to have an ancestral link to the Chiba samurai clan. His father’s name was Uzaemon and mother’s family name was Kawaai. His family’s cultural position and being the eldest son, opened many doors to him later in life. Through the inspiration of the Meiji decree – to study western science, Usui became interested in Western medicine and developed an infatuation with western things. He worked and studied with several Western missionaries, some from the USA and the Netherlands. He was particularly close to Dr. P, whom he regarded as a Christian Bonze. Through this friendship he gained an understanding of Christianity, but he never converted to Christianity. He had turned his back on his own Buddhist background as he describes:
„As a Buddhist I knew that the Buddhas were all good, but during these years from the time I was 16 (1881) until I was 27 (1892) I rejected my faith and went after the Great God Knowledge, or at least scientific knowledge, which had been brought to our country by the Gaijins. I studied medicine and I also studied physics and I became a medical doctor through the kind teachings of Dr. P and other teachers, some from Princeton University, some from Harvard University and some from the University of Chicago. I was granted a medical degree by decree of the Emperor and was allowed to practice with Dr. P and his associate, a Dutch physician, a Dr K. I began to learn the finer points of surgery, having mastered pharmacology and the treatment and diagnosis of disease.“
Whilst working as a doctor with the missionaries he was struck down with Cholera during an epidemic. At that time the treatment for Cholera was to take small pills of rolled opium under the tongue, to slow down the metabolism and help prevent dehydration in the hope that the patient could ride out the fever. Usui was cared for in this way and was in a deep state of unconsciousness, but still able to hear (and later recall) the doctor’s conversation. Dr P told his two other Japanese associates that he did not expect Usui to last the night; his blood pressure was very low, as was his heartbeat. Usui recalls how sad they were, but it did not bring sadness in him, for he started to recount his early life and teachings. He thought of the pure land of the Buddha Amida where he would be going soon at death and started to recite the Nembutsu: Amida’s mantra.
In this near-death state he then progressed through a series of experiences during which he received teaching and found he had a „mission“ – to bring together the healing disciplines of the East and West for the benefit of all beings. He made a full recovery the following day, much to the amazement of his fellow doctors. Unfortunately, Usui recounted his experiences to the doctors and they said he had been hallucinating under the influence of opium. Following this, Usui thought he should connect with a bonze in the Tendai Buddhist tradition of his family. He was immediately rebuked! How could he have such profound experiences, the bonze wanted to know, he had not even kept up the faith? Even advanced monks did not experience these things!
Feeling utterly dejected, he turned to the other esoteric school of Japanese Buddhism, Shingon, and again he opened his heart. This time the bonze (Watanabe Senior) was understanding and supported him. This experience was the start of Usui’s connection with the Buddhist tradition of healing, formally going back 2,500 years, yet claiming an unbroken spiritual ancestry of at least 17000 years. He continued his Shingon studies with Watanabe Bonze and at the same time practiced and became well known as a physician in the area around Osaka. Seven years later Usui happened upon an ancient manuscript in a bookstore that was to provide the material and further stimulation for the development of Reiki. It was a 12th Century copy of a text called the „Tantra of the Lightning Flash“. Usui describes this:
„I found an old lacquer casket which had a chop of the Emoriji Shingon Temple. Being a devout and fervent Shingonist I felt it must contain some sutras or commentaries and I immediately purchased it for a small price… I took it home and discovered the treasure that I had found, one that I had been seeking without knowing that I had been seeking, and one that had been entrusted to me by the kindness and compassion of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of the Three Times.“
Usui began to meditate on the text, and the other contents of the casket. He realised that he had received a tremendous treasure to help him accomplish the “mission” he had undertaken during his near-death experience: to develop the links between Chinese and Western medicine through spirituality and to find a way which could help all beings. The skills he had developed as a practitioner during the earlier years of spiritual practice helped him work though the texts, experimenting and learning as he went.
Mrs Takata, in her account of Reiki (the one most commonly used in the West, even though now known to be considerably more metaphorical than factual) stated that Mikao Usui had found a formula in Sanskrit from the Buddhist Sutras, and that he tested the formulas through a series of meditations on Mount Kurama during a 3 week retreat and fast.
Mount Kurama, the mountain north of Kyoto, had a long history of spirituality and was dedicated to Kannon (Kuan Yin) the deity representing universal compassion. For hundreds of years it had a temple, and was a place of pilgrimage, and intensive meditation by Yamabushi of the tradition of Shugendo. The ‘Yamabushi, sought ‚Kantoku‘ (inspired knowledge) through a variety of testing practices including: fasting, seclusion, solitary meditation, group pilgrimages, chanting incantations and prayers, sitting or standing under waterfalls. From around 1911 through to 1949 the temple was popularised and changed to an independent group known as Kurama-Kokyo. Drawing on its esoteric background, it adopted the divine qualities of power, light and love as the aspects of the Supreme Deity, the Living Soul, the Supreme Soul of the Universe, Glorious Light, and Activity of the Soul. Usui’s monument reads:
„One day he went to Kuramayama to commence „shyu gyo“ (intensive spiritual training using meditation and fasting). On the 21st day, he suddenly felt great Reiki over his head and he received spiritual insight into Reiki „Ryoho“ (healing method).
There are no recorded dates so far publicly available of Usui’s visit to Kuramayama, but the inscription on the monument and Mrs. Takata’s description leads us to believe that this was a milestone in the development of Reiki5. On the subject of Usui’s experience of Kantoku or Terma, Mrs Takata said:
„He saw the Great White Light come from the right, and then, like a screen. He glued his eyes to the screen. He said what he had studied in Sanskrit, and what he saw and studied in the Sanskrit, he said, one by one came out.“
Mrs. Takata’s account of Usui’s vision is a clearly recognizable description of an advanced tantric meditator’s experience. Through his ‘inspired vision’, Usui received confirmation of his path and was empowered to use this spiritual material more directly. After this experience he started developing the system into the simple practice we now call Reiki. Based on the complexity and power of the original tradition, he understood how simplification and codification could make the benefit more generally available to people who could use the healing, but may have less interest, capacity and commitment to follow the practices in the original form.
This development of Reiki happened over several years. After finding the Tantra of the Lightning Flash he sought to find teachers and similar texts. He collected information from libraries and monasteries throughout Japan, but found that he probably had the only public copy of the Tantra in Japan. He found that the original text had been brought to Japan from China by the Kobo Daishi, Kukai, in the 8th Century and monks on the Northern island of Hokkaido had hid his copy during wars. Here again in Dr Usui’s words:
„After reading it, my mind was inflamed and I sent an agent through China to Tibet to see if any complementary texts existed… We know that the Tibetans hold many secrets and have preserved portions of the Dharma that have been lost to the rest of the Buddhist world. Of course this is because in their mountain land they were able to abide in peace and escape the wars and fighting that have so plagued both China and Japan. In this wondrous place of peace and contemplation the Tibetan people have been enabled to put aside mundane matters and cultivate only the enlightened mind. That is why I am seeking to obtain Tibetan material, especially any material from the great medical college at Lhasa… “
„I would so love to travel to that place which most certainly must resemble Amida’s Paradise of Great Bliss and drink from the incomprehensibly deep well of their spiritual wisdom in person, but age and infirmity prevents the realisation of this desire at least in this lifetime. So I must depend upon my friends and co-searchers for truth who are utilising the trade connections of the Indian merchants through Shigatse to Lhasa. …. So for the present time we must remain patient and wait, hoping our prayers and expectations might be fulfilled by the infinite kindness and compassion of Medicine King, for I am sure our intentions and aims are beneficial.”
Eventually another copy came to him from Tibetan Monastery at Chokpori Ling. In comparing the texts Usui had this to say:
„…The text contained two chapters which my text did not contain, but was missing five chapters which my text contained. Using the Tibetan text, I was able to correct the Sanskrit of my text which had travelled through China to Japan. I considered this very important because of the use of the sounds in summoning the transcendental healing energy. My text had an introduction of Moral Precepts that the other lacked.“
Through years of study and practice, he tried and tested the method. Helping the sick and injured, he assisted communities to overcome their problems. There is evidence that he helped the survivors of the 1923 Kanto earthquake. From Usui’s Memorial Stone:
“September of the twelfth year of the Taisho period (1923), there were many injured and sick people all over Tokyo because of the Kanto earthquake and fire. Sensei felt deep anxiety. Everyday he went around in the city to treat them. We could not count how many people were treated and saved by him. During this emergency situation, his relief activity was that of reaching out his hands of love to suffering people. His relief activity was generally like that.”
What is Reiki, and how does it Work?
The word Reiki is composed of two Japanese words – Rei and Ki. The word Rei refers to the Wisdom-Heart of the Universe: the Source of all that is. The Precious Teacher, Padmasambhava describes:
- This self-originated Clear Light, which from the beginning was never born,
- Is the child of Rigpa, which is itself without any parents – how amazing!
- This self-originated wisdom has not been created by anyone – how amazing!
- It has never experienced birth and has nothing in it that could cause it to die – how amazing!
- Although it is evidently visible, yet there is no one there who sees it – how amazing!
- Although it has wandered through samsara, no harm has come to it – how amazing!
- Although it has seen buddhahood itself, no good has come to it – how amazing!
- Although it exists in everyone everywhere, it has gone unrecognised – how amazing!
- And yet you go on hoping to attain some fruit other than this elsewhere – how amazing!
- Even though it is the thing that is most essentially yours, you seek for it elsewhere – how amazing!
You may recognize this as a description of some of the qualities which in the theistic traditions would be associated with Great Mystery, or God who mystically is known as tenderly holding the evolution of all creation, from the opening and closing of each flower, to the unfolding and dying of every galaxy.
One way in which we may know Rei as humans is through mystical experience. This lies beyond concept, dogma or the questions of belief or disbelief. Through this we may come know eternal essence which underlies our life in physical form. It is my sincere hope that your practice of Reiki may enable you to have this experience again and again and again!
Ki is the “non-physical” life energy that animates all living things. When a person’s ki is high, that person generally will experience good health and well-being. When it is low, the person may feel out of sorts and will be more likely to get sick. We receive ki from a range of non-physical as well as physical sources: air, food, sunshine and sleep. The amount we have access to and the freedom with which it flows through our system to ensure all-over well-being, is greatly influenced by our mental and emotional state, our beliefs, thoughts, attitudes, intentions etc.
Our bodies are reconstituted with every breath we take. Atomically we are in constant flux. Different parts of the physical body are renewed at different rates, but ultimately all is continually replaced. What keeps constancy in the physical form is the relatively static nature of our individualized, physically attached consciousness. All too often we’re imprisoned by our addictions to psychological patterns and attitudes; and by our blind attachment to keeping physical ‘reality’ humanly rational, unchanging, pleasant and under our control. All our thoughts, feelings, impulses, etc. – mostly pre-verbal and ‘pre-conscious’ – provide the blueprint according to which the body is re-built, and the glue which keeps it together.
This is why it is relatively easy to improve our life-experience and our health through changes in consciousness, through for instance replacing “negative” patterns with “positive” ones. However, these smaller therapeutic disturbances of consciousness often only induce superficial, temporary benefits. Usually only transformations that overthrow the entire egoic structure associated with dis-ease and our “old selves” open the gates to profound change. This latter kind of transformation frequently seems to be associated with involuntary “surrender” experiences. Surrender has the capacity to free our attention from the contents of consciousness, and allow us to fall into experiences of Consciousness Itself. This is where the ecstatic aspect of mysticism arises. Nonetheless, by and large we are too tightly guarded and closed to allow anything genuinely new and unknown into our lives; even if this refusal means limitation, unhappiness, or death.
Reiki can thus be regarded as divinely guided life force energy. This describes the experience of many Reiki practitioners who notice that it functions with an intelligence of its own, flowing where necessary in the recipient and creating the healing conditions to serve the person or situation’s needs.
While we can invite Reiki into a certain situation, person, or body part, great healing energy flows best when we rest in the experience of Consciousness Itself and so become able to recognize the inherent perfection of the person, condition or situation exactly as it is. This wholeness and perfection always exists and provides the unseen supportive matrix within which that which can become visible may manifest. No matter what form any observable phenomenon may take as it expresses at the physical level, the underlying Reality is eternally perfect.
The quality of Reiki therefore, is not limited by the experience or ability of the practitioner, but rather by our incapacity to get out of its way. Neither can it be mis-used. It always creates a healing effect. Nonetheless, there are methods to enhance our ability to work with Reiki.
A > text about Reiki < for different audiences including teachers, students, hobbyists, self-healers etc…
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