What is Reiki?

Many people want want to know what is Reiki all about? Reiki is a Japanese type of spiritual practice also used for stress reduction and relaxation. It is a technique that also helps promote healing either for self or for other people. It is characterized as a practice of “laying of hands”.

The healing powers of the technique are based on the idea that there is an unseen “life force energy” that flows through each person. This life force is said to be the reason why people are alive. When one’s life force energy is low, then people are likely to get sick or feel weak. If the life force is high, people fell healthy and happy.

Reiki Healing

Reiki healing is also a form of meditation used as a type of therapy for treating physical, emotional and mental diseases. The name Reiki is taken from two Japanese characters that describe energy itself. The word “rei”, which means “unseen” or “spiritual” and “ki” which means “energy” or “life force” is combined to become Reiki. In English, its meaning is usually given as “universal life energy”.

Reiki Creator – Mikao Usui

It was Mikao Usui who was known to have developed Reiki in 20th century Japan. Story has it that Usui received the ability of healing after going through three weeks of fasting and meditating on top of Mount Kurama. Practitioners of Reiki use a technique similar to that of the laying on of hands.

This action is said to promote the channeling of “healing energy” to another person. The energy flows through the palms and brings along with it healing powers that can be used for self-treatment as well as for treating others.

Reiki is an amazingly simple, natural and safe method of dispensing spiritual healing and self-improvement. It is said to be effective in providing alternative treatment for virtually every known illness and malady. Not only that, Reiki also helps create an added beneficial effect, that of spiritual healing.

This method is also said to work well when combined with other medical or therapeutic techniques to help relieve side effects and promote recovery.

Reiki, although seen as a very powerful healing technique, is simple to learn. Reiki and the ability to use it effectively cannot be taught in the usual sense. The skill is said to be “transferred” to the student during a Reiki class.

Reiki Attunement

This ability is not merely learned but is passed on by a Reiki Master to the student during a gathering known as “attunement”.

After the skill has been passed on, it allows the student to tap into an unlimited supply of “life force energy” that can then be used to improve one’s health and enhance the one’s quality of life.

Although the practice of Reiki may be spiritual in nature, it is not considered as a religion. There is no set of beliefs that one should learn about before learning to practice the technique known as Reiki. The practice does not depend on any form of dogma.

It will work whether the student believes it or not. But it is said that the practice of Reiki helps people to keep in touch with their spiritual selves rather than the intellectual concept that it provides.

The practice of Reiki also aims to develop and promote living in harmony with others. Aside from practicing Reiki and its principles, the founder of the Reiki system, Mikao Usui also recommends the practice of simple ethical ideals that can lead to peace and harmony among people.

Getting to know what Reiki is may help people not only become a healing channel but also a tool to promote peace among other people.

Reiki Levels

In Usui Reiki there are three levels that are taught traditionally.

Level I – Reiki Level I (called Shoden in Japan) is taught to those that wish to learn to use the Reiki Energy. The class is taught by a Reiki Master trained to pass the attunements and teach Reiki.
Traditional Usui Healing Systems use a set of four attunements.

Reiki I class material generally includes the hand positions used when doing Reiki on self and others, the Reiki principles, and the history of Reiki.

You then receive the attunements. Once you have received the attunements you are a Reiki Practitioner. Whether you practice Reiki or not is your choice.

Level II – Reiki Level II (called Okuden in Japan)

Level II generally includes the three Reiki Symbols (Focus, Harmony, and Connection). The student is also taught Mental/Emotional Healing, Distant Healing, the use and meanings of symbols and receives one attunement.

Level III (Master Level)

Third Level Reiki (called Shinpiden in Japan) is the Master Level of Reiki. The Usui Master Symbol it’s meaning and application is taught. This symbol completes the other three symbols taught at Level II.

Masters are taught how to initiate others into Reiki using the attunement process.

4 Standard Reiki Symbols

One of the significant things that a person—who is planning to get into the practice of Reiki—must know is the Reiki symbols. This is because these symbols play a very important role in carrying out this unique form of spiritual and physical healing.

Known as cryptic symbols that were used in early practices of the traditional Reiki, these symbols were in the shade of controversy for a long period of time.

1. The Power Symbol or the “ChoKuRei.” Translated as “put all the power of the universe here,” ChoKuRei is used by many Reiki masters because it increases the focus or the power of Reiki.

ChoKuRei is usually at the beginning of a Reiki session to increase the Reiki power and also and at the end of the session for the Reiki healing powers to be sealed. It is also used in cleansing and protecting the person or other things on possible supernatural assault.

2. The Mental-Emotional Symbol or the “SeiHeKi.” In English, “SeiHeKi” means “God and humanity become one.” Reiki practitioners use this symbol in balancing the left and right side of brain to be able to achieve peace as well as harmony.

Primarily, SeiHeKi is used to aid the healing of imbalanced mental-emotional levels of a person. People who are problematic in the fields of relationships, mental issues, emotional imbalances, lack of memory, and those with addictive problems are advised to use this Reiki symbol.

3. The Distance Symbol or the “HonShaZeShoNen.” This Reiki symbol is used to clear a person’s emotional and mental state and aids in enabling the channels slowly.

In Kanji, the phrase “Hon Sha Ze Sho Nen” can mean five different meanings that include: origin or source, person, just or right, certainty or correctness, and an idea or thought.

Primarily used to send Reiki energy in a distant space or time or space. This symbol is used by more and more Reiki masters to be able to send the power of Reiki in the past or in the near and retrieve it when needed.

4. The Attunement Symbol or the “DaiKoMyo.” This symbol is primarily used in aiding the student to achieve different levels or degree of Reiki power.

Also known as a symbol for wisdom and gift of insight, DaiKoMyo is considered as an effective symbol for cleansing and healing a person’s soul and spirit.