Reiki Overview

REIKI ENERGY

Reiki is a hands-based healing system originating in Japan. Reiki energy is unseen and is understood to arise from the ether, with Healers acting as conduits. Unlike Chi in TCM meridians or prana in yogic nadi, no comparable conduits have been identified for Reiki. Rather, Reiki energy is understood to flow partly as directed by the Healer, and partly as required by the Patient. We might say, Reiki has its own wisdom and purpose and is entirely in keeping with the laws of karma.

REIKI HEALING VS REIKI ATTUNEMENT

“Reiki Session” refers to Reiki Healing, not Reiki Attunement. Reiki Healing is simple. It requires no preparation and is open to anyone. On the other hand, Reiki Attunement is for those who have studied and practised the healing art of Reiki, who live their lives ethically, and who wish to go deeper into Reiki and self-development for their own benefit and for the benefit of others.

REIKI ATTUNEMENT & SELF-DEVELOPMENT

Reiki is one of the simplest and most accessible means for spiritual progress. No membership or institutional affiliation is required, there is little ritual or complexity, and anyone can begin practice at any age, even children.

Attunement is an essential initiation for Reiki Healers and also a significant step in personal cultivation. Each Attunement is cumulative, and to begin the path of Reiki Attunements is to support one’s own development as a spiritual aspirant.

Attunements and Healings are both generally offered as paid services. Given the financial and time commitments involved, it is wise to consider taking Attunements early on, since even Level I Attunement confers the capacity for self-healing. And by Level II, it is possible to give Reiki Healing to others, assisting family members, friends, pets, plants, and also purifying foods or living spaces.

REIKI PRECEPTS & ETHICS

The ethical base and credo of Japanese Reiki, are the Reiki precepts traditionally recited three times at Reiki Shares. In Japanese they are called Gokai
(五戒): 今日だけは　怒るな　心配すな　感謝して　業をはげめ　人に親切に
Kyō dake wa, okoru na, shinpai suna, kansha shite, gyō o hageme, hito ni shinsetsu ni.
Just for today: do not anger, do not worry, be grateful, work diligently, be kind to others.

ORIGINS OF REIKI CHARACTERS

靈氣 (Classical Chinese: líng qì) and 霊気 / 靈氣 (Japanese: reiki) characters:
Chinese 靈 (líng): numinous, efficacious, spiritually potent, responsive, mysterious vitality.
Chinese 氣 (qì): vital force, functional life-process, dynamic activity.
Japanese 霊 (rei): spirit, numinous presence, subtle sacred force.
Japanese 気 (ki): vital energy, mind–spirit state, animating force.
Japanese Reiki, 霊気 is systematised as a universal healing energy accessed through a defined method, whereas Classical Chinese, 靈氣 describes the numinous vitality of places, persons, or Heaven–Earth processes. In modern contexts, Reiki is also written in Japanese katakana: レイキ (rei-ki)

MOUNT KURAMA AND MIKAO USUI

Mikao Usui (1865–1926) was a Japanese spiritual practitioner who founded the system now known as Reiki in the early twentieth century. He taught a method centred on personal cultivation, ethical precepts, and hands-on healing, and founded the Usui Reiki Ryōhō Gakkai in Tokyo to transmit the practice. His approach combined elements of Buddhist discipline, meditation, and self-development within a distinctly Japanese framework.

In 1922, during a period of fasting and meditation on Mount Kurama, north of Kyoto, Usui underwent a profound spiritual experience in which he perceived a powerful light and received insight into the healing method he later taught. This incident on Kurama-yama is regarded within Reiki tradition as the decisive moment in the emergence of the system.

Visitors to Japan are encouraged to visit Mount Kurama and to follow in the footsteps of Usui Sensei. There are numerous Shinto shrines along the path, and near the summit stands the Buddhist temple Kurama-dera, long associated with mountain ascetic practice and esoteric tradition.

REI-KI & CHI

Extensive research in China and elsewhere in Asia has examined Chi and the meridian system within TCM and Daoist frameworks. Although no universally validated scientific characterisation of Chi (or Reiki) energies has been established, studies of Reiki report measurable biochemical and physiological benefits. There is a significant and continued presence of Chi-based healing across Asia in everyday practice, as well as in the widespread network of TCM hospitals and clinics.

However, in Japan, and perhaps also in South Korea, the strong adoption of Western scientific medicine has weakened familiarity with older healing traditions, and public opinion of Reiki in Japan is often sceptical. At the same time, there are many areas in which people in modern Japan seek to reconnect with aspects of their spiritual and cultural heritage. And although Reiki itself is a modern system, we feel that its roots may reach further back into older understandings of healing.

Given the difficulty of direct comparison between Rei-ki and Chi, and the cultural differences between Japan and China, we consider that the two systems are best regarded as distinct. The Reiki practiced at Koyasan Reiki Space remains Japanese in both origin and style, as our training and attunements have all been in Kyoto, Japan.

VALUE OF A REIKI SESSION

A Reiki Session is a relaxing and restorative experience. The Patient rests while the Healer offers Reiki in a calm and attentive manner. Many people find that this experience allows the body and mind to settle, often bringing a sense of balance, clarity, and renewed energy. Reiki is increasingly offered in hospitals as a complement to standard medicine. The relaxation that Reiki brings is a counter to stress and an aid to successful healing.