Usui Reiki
Healing
Background
Reiki Levels
History of Reiki
Additional Reiki Information
Background
Reiki (pronounced Ray'-Key) is a Japanese word meaning Divine Light (Rei) and Life Force Energy (Ki). During a lengthy fast and meditation in 1920, Mikao Usui, a Japanese businessman, was seeking spiritual enlightenment. During this extended meditation, he had a "Satori," an enlightening experience during which he was instantaneously given complete knowledge of a system of healing through touch that he later called Reiki. He taught this method of healing to over 2,000 students before his death in 1926.
Reiki is a healing energy which comes from the Source of Life itself. Since Reiki is multi-dimensional, it can be a catalytic factor in one’s personal evolution no matter what beliefs are held. The experience of Reiki is a vehicle to becoming fully consciously aware of your own spiritual nature regardless of faith or religious concepts. Reiki is not a system of religious beliefs -- the world does not need another religion.
Reiki is a complete system for healing not only individuals, but also for healing the entire human race. Dr. Usui understood this; however, as Reiki is currently used by most practitioners in the Western world, it is apparent that much of Dr. Usui's knowledge and practices has been lost. As we are now learning, Dr. Usui's perspective of Reiki was that Reiki is a complete and comprehensive system for spiritual development of each Reiki practitioner. Healing others through the use of Reiki is not the only goal of the Reiki practitioner; rather, healing is used as the practitioner's pathway toward his own continuing process of spiritual development and further enlightenment.
The discovery of Dr. Usui's Reiki instruction handbook that he gave to each of his students, and its recent translation into English, has provided a most valuable insight into the original nature of Reiki as it has been practiced uninterrupted in Japan to the present day. I invite all interested readers to visit the website of Frank Arjava Petter, www.reikidharma.com, which amplifies and discusses this new information.
The healing energies of Reiki are conferred to an individual through an "attunement" or initiation process which energetically "retunes" the energetic vibrations in that person's Human Energy Field (specifically, the chakra system). This allows the Reiki practitioner to subconsciously or consciously connect with and direct this universal healing energy either to himself or to others through the use of certain symbols. These symbols represent different forms of healing energies which can be invoked and transferred to another person. Conscious knowledge or awareness of what the symbols look like is not sufficient to "retune" the chakras and enable a person to heal others. One can be initiated into the energy of the Reiki symbols only by one who has already been so initiated (a Reiki Master Teacher).
There are many different forms of Reiki currently being practiced around the world. The form I practice and teach is "Usui Reiki," and is based on the principles and precepts of Dr. Usui's teachings and the specific set of energetic symbols provided to him during his transcendental meditation. Usui Reiki is composed of four levels of healing proficiency and personal development that the Reiki healer may learn and demonstrate. The capabilities and emphasis for each Reiki level of proficiency are:
Level I (Reiki Practitioner) - The Level I attunements open your chakra system and your palms so that you may energetically connect with the Reiki healing energies from the Universe and transmit them for healing to you own or another person's physical body using your hands. You are initiated into the energy of the two physical healing symbols, but are not taught or shown what these symbols are. Since this level allows you perform only local ("hands-on") healings, you do not need to know the symbols for this level. Instead, emphasis at Level I is placed on developing an ability to sense the client's energy bodies and centers (chakras) with the hands and fingers, to sense how Reiki energy feels as it is channeled to the client, and to learn to trust the way your hands provide energetic information from the client's body and energy fields. Usually a minimum practice period of about three months is needed to develop proficiency in these skills and prepare the student for Level II.
Level II (Advanced Reiki Practitioner) - The Level II attunements provide an additional symbol which specifically provides healing for the emotional level, and one which heals specifically the mental level of the client's Human Energy Field. Another symbol is used to open each foot chakra; this allows a freer and much more effective connection to the energies of the earth. A fourth symbol allows the Level II practitioner to direct healing Reiki energies remotely to a person regardless of where they are ("distant healing"). The Level II students are given knowledge of all Level I and Level II symbols, and are instructed in methods of consciously connecting with and directing their healing energies to the client, wherever they may be. Level II initiates are also instructed in how they may, if they have not already done so, establish a regular meditation routine that includes energetic and spiritual healing practices. Normally, at least six months or more of regular practice in the Reiki Level II techniques is required before the student will be prepared for Level III.
Level III (Reiki Master) - The Level III attunements provide one additional healing symbol which is used specifically for heightening the Reiki practitioner's spiritual awareness of and connection with his or her own higher aspects and the spiritual dimensions. By regular use of the Level III symbol to connect with the spiritual self during advanced meditation practices, the Reiki Master becomes very aware of his or her true spiritual nature. As this awareness during meditation is brought back into your consciousness and into your daily life, the "big picture" of life and your own role or life purpose in that picture becomes clearer. This is, in itself, very healing on the spiritual level of your being. The Level III practitioner will have established a regular meditation practice, and also is expected to provide regular Reiki healing services in a professional setting for the general public. When the Reiki Master is prepared to accept, instruct and support the development of his/her own students, he/she is then ready and qualified for Level IV.
Level IV (Reiki Master Teacher) - The Level IV attunements provide the final symbol, the Reiki Master Teaching Symbol. This is not used for healing, but instead gives the initiate the energetic ability to attune the Human Energy Field of others into any Reiki level, including Level IV. In addition, instruction and practice in conducting attunement ceremonies is provided so that the initiate can gain confidence in the correct procedures for conducting attunements for their own students.
Anyone can become an effective Reiki I healer -- it’s very simple, and the only thing you need is the desire to do so. Reiki is also very simple to use, and is beneficial for all, including the Reiki practitioner. Remember, while you are channeling the Reiki energy through your own Human Energy Field down your arms and hands and into your client, you are also receiving the benefits of its healing properties!
The complete description of Reiki as taught by
Howard Batie is available as a convenient downloadable document. Click
here to download "Reiki With Howard Batie." Then click
"Save," navigate to the folder you want to save it to, and click
"Save" again. Once it's Saved to your hard drive, you may open
the file, read it, and print it out if you wish. The document describes in
detail what you will learn and what abilities you will have after receiving each
Level of Reiki from Howard Batie.
History of Reiki
The records of Reiki available in Japan indicate that Mikao Usui was born on August 15, 1865 in the village of Yago, in the Yamgata district of the Prefecture of Gifu. He was a Buddhist, not a Christian, and he married Sadako Suzuki, by whom they had two children. Mikao was a private secretary to the politician Shimpei Goto, who was the Secretary of the Railroad, the Postmaster General, and the Secretary of the Interior and State. Dr. Usui died in Fukuyama, Japan on March 9, 1926 from cerebral apoplexy, and is buried in the Buddhist Saihoji Cemetery in Tokyo. [NOTE: For a very complete and informative discussion of Reiki in Japan, see the three books by Frank Arjava Petter, all published by Lotus Light Publications, Twin Lakes, WI: "Reiki Fire" (1997), "Reiki -- The Legacy of Dr. Usui" (1998) and "The Original Reiki Handbook of Dr. Mikao Usui" (2000). Additional information may be found on Mr. Petter's website www.reikidharma.com.] and in an excellent reference book on Reiki, "The Spirit of Reiki" co-authored by three Reiki Masters, Walter Lübeck, Frank A. Petter, and William Lee Rand. The correct teachings of the real Reiki history are available through the resources at the website of the International Center for Reiki Training: www.reiki.org.
One day in May 1920, Dr. Usui went to a peaceful area near a waterfall on nearby Mt. Kurama to meditate, as he had frequently done before. But this time, he took with him a strong desire to pursue his quest for wisdom and his own spiritual growth. He decided to meditate and fast for twenty-one days to understand the meaning of life. While under or near a waterfall on Mt. Kurama, he had a transcendental vision which showed him the path he could take toward this greater enlightenment -- the path of serving himself and those around him through healing their physical, emotional, mental and spiritual wounds. He was given complete knowledge of this process.
Following his vision and transcendental meditation on Mt. Kurama, Dr. Usui began to use his new healing abilities on himself and on his family. Since it worked so well, he decided to share his knowledge with the public at large. In 1921, he founded the Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai (Usui Reiki Healing Method Society) in Tokyo, and acted as its first president or spiritual leader of Reiki. It is also recorded that immediately after the devastating Kanto earthquake that shook Tokyo in September 1923, Dr. Usui went to the area of devastation; there he treated and healed many of the survivors. At his healing clinic in Tokyo, he held healing demonstrations and brought healing to many people during the remainder of his lifetime. His Tokyo clinic soon became too small to handle the many clients who came to him after they heard of his remarkable healing abilities. So on February 14, 1925, Dr. Usui established a larger clinic outside Tokyo in Nakano, and his fame soon spread to nearly every part of Japan.
In addition to healing those who came to him, he held Reiki instruction workshops as well, and ultimately initiated about 2000 Reiki practitioners. But of these, he accepted and initiated no more than eighteen to the level of Reiki Master Teacher. Before he died, Dr. Usui nominated a Mr. Ushida as the president of the Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai, and Mr. Ushida served as the spiritual leader of Reiki. There never has been a title such as "Reiki Grand Master" in Japan. In addition to Mr. Ushida, there has been an unbroken line of successors as president of the Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai down to the present time. The complete line is given as: Dr. Usui, Mr. Ushida, Mr. Taketomi, Mr. Watanabe, Mr. Wanami, Ms. Kojama, and the president in 2001 was a Mr. Kondo.
As practiced by Dr. Usui and his successors in Japan, Reiki was a system to bring spiritual enlightenment to the individual and to the world. Further, the initial practice of Reiki involved developing a keen sense of energy awareness on the part of the practitioner so that he/she could physically sense elements of the Human Energy Field and consciously direct the healing energies to where it was most needed. But when Reiki was brought to the Hawaii and Western world in the 1940s by Mrs. Hawayo Takata, much of Dr. Usui's energetic emphasis on Reiki was lost. Perhaps Mrs. Takata believed that the Western world was just not ready to hear about spiritual meditation techniques and chakras, and embrace the Eastern philosophies which had been using human energy fields for healing for thousands of years.
For whatever reasons, Mrs. Takata restructured Reiki to fit the Western mindset at that time, and retained (at Level I) only the concept of placing the hands directly on the physical body to transmit the healing energies. Dr. Usui's method of using the hands and fingers to "scan" the client's chakras and physical body to locate and address energetic imbalances or blockages wherever they may occur was discarded; instead, Mrs. Takata's teachings to her students emphasized placing the healer's hands directly on the body in a specific sequence that covered the head and major physical organs. Similarly, Dr. Usui's Level II and higher practices of meditation as the focus for the Reiki healer's own spiritual development were not carried forward and taught by Mrs. Takata.
Mrs. Takata did not initiate any Reiki practitioners to the Master level until 1970. (Mrs. Takata taught three levels of Reiki, her Level III being what I call Reiki Levels III and IV combined.) Between 1970 and her own death in 1980, she initiated and trained 22 Reiki Masters. These have initiated other Masters , who also have initiated others, and so Reiki continues to spread worldwide. However, as additional new energies have been coming in more recently, many other forms of healing have also became popular, most of which also use the Universal Life Force Energy found in Reiki. Some Reiki Masters have begun to incorporate additional symbols found in these other healing systems into the version of Reiki that they pass on to their students. Today, a Reiki initiation in Brazil may be very different from one in Belgium, and differences are also apparent from one teacher to another here within the same city in the US.
The form of Reiki that I practice and teach is based on Dr. Usui's principles and concepts of Reiki as a healing system for spiritual enlightenment. This system also provides significant beneficial healing capabilities for the practitioner, and incorporates a set of standardized attunement procedures that uses only the Reiki symbols provided by the Universe to Dr. Usui. After all, the Higher Dimensions know better than we do what energies are required for this system of healing and what spiritual knowledge we are, as human beings, ready to accept.
Please contact The Evergreen Healing Arts Center by phone (360-748-7287) or e-mail for further information if you have any questions about Usui Reiki concepts, classes, or attunements.
Reiki energy is always safe for the client, cannot be overdosed, and goes through clothing, blankets, and even casts.
Always remember that you do not heal any symptoms or
diseases.
The client must do their own healing. However, you can help the process
by revitalizing the client's energy system so that sufficient energy is
available for conversion into tissue and cells by the client's own healing
processes.
The client must do three things for a Reiki session to
be effective. They must relax, they must consciously want to be healed, and they
must subconsciously accept the healing energy into their body. If for any reason one or
more of these requirements are not met, the session will not be effective.
The number of sessions required will depend on the
nature of the client's symptoms. Traumatic or recent injuries (e.g.,
sprains, bruises, lacerations, etc.) usually respond quickly after one Reiki
session, or two sessions on successive days. For broken bones, bruises
and swelling, ice should immediately be placed on the injury to reduce the
swelling and inflammation before Reiki is applied. Broken bones must be
set and immobilized before Reiki is applied.
Longer-term or chronic conditions which have existed for
some time may take many sessions. In this case, a good "rule of
thumb" is to provide sessions every other day for four or five sessions,
and then, if needed, every week until the symptoms abate. Monitor the
client's condition before each session to determine if further sessions may be
needed. IMPORTANT!! Reiki sessions should be considered as complementary to care and
treatment provided by traditional doctors, and the doctor should be made aware
that Reiki sessions are being provided. This is particularly true where
the client's symptoms include hormonal or chemical imbalances in the body for
which medications have been prescribed by a doctor (e.g., diabetes, arthritis,
asthma, etc.).
Reiki can be effectively used to quickly detoxify the
body of harmful toxins. A Reiki session on each of four successive days
will move the energies within the body and release many built-up toxins.
It is essential that plenty of water be drunk during this detoxification
process to eliminate the toxins from the body. At least eight full
glasses of pure water (preferably distilled) should be drunk each day.
Reiki is a very powerful process, and the client should expect some possible
temporary side effects such as headache, nausea, perspiring, etc.
Reiki is universal energy and can be transmitted to any
living thing, including people, animals and plants or trees. Animals and
babies love Reiki energies, but will also let you know when they've had
enough! Usually 10-15 minutes is sufficient.
Your Reiki attunements are good for life; you will always be able to transfer the energy. However, giving regular Reiki sessions is necessary to keep your energy channels working at best efficiency. The longer you go without giving Reiki, the longer it will take for the energy to begin to flow when you want it to. If you give at least one Reiki session per week, you will have no trouble starting the energy to flow within a minute or two.
This page last updated October 8, 2006
