REIKI

The Reiki Principals

Just for today I will give thanks for my many blessings.
Just for today I will not worry.
Just for today I will not be angry.
Just for today I will do my work honestly and with integrity.
Just for today I will be kind to my neighbour and every living thing.
Just for today I will not place judgement upon the actions of others.

Principals revised from Larry Arnold and Sandy Nevius, The Reiki Handbook (Harrisburg, PA, PSI Press, 1982), p. 27

Although Reiki is an ancient healing art, it was lost untill the mid-1800's when Mikao Usui rediscovered it after a 10 year quest to uncover the method by which Buddah and Jesus healed. His many studies into ancient texts described the healing formulas, but didn't reveal how one could activate the energy to make it work. In order to learn how to activate the healing energy, Usui decided to go into prayer and fasting for 21 days on the Mountain of Koriyama in Japan. As legend has it, Usui was on his 21st day and feeling despondent that the answers he sought were not forthcoming when a projectile of light approached him. His first instinct was to run from this light, but he remained, hoping that it was the answer for which he was looking. This light is reported to have struck Usui in his third eye (the psychic energy center between and just above the eye brows), causing him to go unconcious. When he awoke, he saw millions of tiny bubbles, then finally the Reiki symbols appeared to him. He was gifted the information about each symbol an how to activate the healing energy. It was the first Reiki attunement and the rediscovery of an ancient healing method recorded to be at least 2500 years old.

There is controversy and conflicting reports in the Reiki literature about the true history of Usui himself. Some say that he was a Buddhist Monk, others say that he was a Christian Minister and Professor. We may never know his exact vocation, but it would seem as if early on, it was easier to introduce Reiki to the West with the story that Usui was a Christian Minister. With that in mind, I'll leave his personal history the mystery that it really is.

We do know what Usui did after his experience on Mount Koriyama. He named the healing method and energy, Reiki, for the Japanese word for "universal life energy". It is known as the Usui method of Reiki because in Japan the word Reiki is a general term. He then took the method into the slums of Kyoto. He lived there for several years doing healings on the town beggars. After healing each of these people, he asked that the person start a new life, but he found the same people returning to the streets to beg. He became discouraged to find that the beggars he had healed were still begging instead of making an honest living and he left the slums. Many of the beggars were angry that their physical bodies had been healed which no longer would allow them to make their way as beggars. These free healings only addressed the physical and ignored the healing of their minds and spirits.

Mikao Usui then became a pilgrim, lecturing and demonstrating Reiki through Japan on foot. During this time he met Chujiro Hayashi, a retired naval officer still on reserve status. Hayashi received his Reiki Master's training from Usui in 1925 and became Usui's successor. Usui made 16 or 18 Reiki Masters before his death in 1930. Hayashi trained teams of Reiki practitioners, both men and women, including 16 Masters in his lifetime. He opened a healing clinic in Tokoyo where healers worked in groups on people who lived at the clinic during their time of healing. It was to Chujiro Hayashi's Shina No Machi clinic that Hawayo Takata, the next important figure in the Reiki story, came for healing in 1935.

Takata, who was a resident of Hawaii, was in Japan visiting her family. She had been scheduled for surgery for gall bladder disease, but had heard a voice tell her the night before surgery, "The operation is not necessary." She heard it again on the operating table while being prepared for the anesthetic, and getting up from it, asked the surgeon if there was another way for her to heal. The doctor told her of Hayashi's clinic and she was taken there the next day.

Takata lived at the clinic and was completely healed in body, mind and spirit in four months. She asked to be trained in Reiki but at first was refused because Hayashi was not in favor of Reiki leaving Japan at that time. Eventually he relented and Takata received her Reiki I training in Spring 1936. She joined the teams of healers at the clinic and received her Reiki II in 1937. After living in Japan for two years, Takata returned to Hawaii.

In 1938, Hayashi visited Takata in Hawaii where they went on a lecture tour together. It was at this time, February 22, 1938, that Takata received her Mastership from Hayashi. He announced that Takata was to be his successor and instructed her not to give Reiki attunements away without charge. He also told her that when he summoned her, she was to go to Japan immediately. In 1941, Takata awoke one morning to see a vision of Hayashi standing at the foot of her bed. She knew this was the summons that she was expecting, and took the next available boat to Japan.

When she arrived at the clinic in Japan, Hayashi and other Reiki Masters were present. He announced to them that there was a great war coming and that the clinic would be closed. He was concerned that Reiki would be lost altogether, and therefore, wanted a foreigner, Takata, to be his successor. Hayashi knew that he would be called to service since he was a navel reserve officer and he decided to accept his own death instead. On May 10, 1941, in the presence of his students, Chujiro Hayashi stopped his own heart from beating and died. The war he had predicted was World War II. The clinic was taken over during the occupation and Reiki was no longer available in Japan.

Takata was the means by which Reiki survived. She brought it to Hawaii, then to the mainland United States, and finally to Canada and Europe. She trained hundreds of people in the Reiki healing system before her death at the age of eighty on December 11, 1980. Many times she would train members of the family of a seriously ill person if they were not strong enough to take it themselves. Her students were not allowed to take notes, and her instruction on healing positions varied from time to time. The trainings themselves were not identical from student to student, which may account for the variants in Reiki treatments today.

The original charges to be a Reiki practitioner were very costly. The premise behind that stemmed from Usui's experience with beggars in the Kyoto slums. He didn't believe that people would value Reiki if it didn't cost them dearly to obtain. This belief was especially true in regards to Western society, which was already noted for it's lack of respect for anything that didn't carry a high price. It cost $10,000 to become a Reiki Master at that time, and even if a person had the money, one had to be invited to become a Master. At this time, many Masters do not believe in the high cost of attunements due to the amount of healers the world desperately needs at this time for our survival. Reiki is now more widely known and more affordable to obtain than ever before.

Phyllis Furumoto, Takata's granddaughter, is Takata's successor and considered the Grand Master of the Usui Traditional Reiki. There now exist many branches of Reiki that claim to have the "correct way" for Reiki, but they are all actually teachings from Takata... they are all correct and successfully transmit the healing energy of Reiki. There are usually three degrees of Reiki, sometimes level III is separated into the Practitioner/Master level. The only difference between the two sub-levels of Reiki III is that only a Master can train and pass on the Reiki attunements to others.

History adapted and revised from notes from my Reiki classes and from Diane Steins book, *Essential Reiki: A Complete Guide to an Ancient Healing Art. by the Crossing Press Inc., Freedom, CA. 1995.

(*Editor's note: I suggest Diane Stein's book even though it's controversial in many Reiki circles. She reveals the symbols and deeper spiritual significances of Reiki with a kind of sincerity and dedication to truth that I could feel by reading the material. For many years, Reiki has been shrouded in a mystery that prevented wide-spread use and understanding. I agree with Diane when she says it's time for Reiki to be available to everyone.)

I was introduced to Reiki by a fortunate meeting with cyber friends, AstralJ (her screen name) and her husband, Doug in December of 1996. I actually met her in an astrology forum called AstroChat, and could tell by interacting with her on email and in the forum that she was, what I considered to be, a very 'knowing' person. The in-person meeting I had with AstralJ and Doug honestly changed my life. Doug asked if he could "feel my energy"... which I have to admit sounded rather funny to me at the time. He started running his hands about 6 inches away from my body, stopping at the "chakra points" to feel the energy.

Even though I had been a student of metaphysics and parapsychology for most of my life, I had only passing 'intellectual' knowledge of chakra centers. As he was 'scanning my energy field', I stood in amazement because I could truly feel the magnetic sensation when his hands 'closed the circuit' of my heart center. He did this by placing one hand 6 inches in front of my 'heart chakra' and one hand 6 inches behind my back in the same position. Then he asked me if I would like to feel 'Reiki' on my back. In my amazement, I was ready to experience anything, and agreed to feel whatever this strange concept was. He gently placed both of his hands flat against my back. A very strong and lovely heat began to emit from his hands and I was honestly dumbstruck. That wasn't just body heat I felt coming out of his hands... it had a sensation with it that was beyond anything I had experienced before. He closed this experience by 'swiping down my aura' which felt like a static broom brushing over me and explained that my energy field was so large that I needed to be careful not to pick up 'other people's stuff'.

I remember that weekend with those two remarkable people as one of the most transformative of my life. They are now very close friends of mine for life. In the short two days that I was with them, I experienced their working knowlegde of energy fields through all sorts of simple demonstrations. AstralJ placed several crystal stones in my hands, and for the first time, I identified a slight buzz in my legs and body when I gripped the stones. Let's say that I had some very loving teachers brought into my life at just the right time for me to grasp the concept of 'everything is energy'. I went home from that little visit a very changed person. They created a bit of a monster actually, because I set about to understand the chakra system (that I now knew was real), and to learn more about Reiki. It seemed that the weekend I spent with those two powerhouses served to clear some blockages in my energy field and I found that my sensitivity to energy was strongly tangible. Needless to say, it was research time for me after that weekend. I began to read book after book about Kundalini, Chakra's, Reiki, Energy Fields, Crystals, etc. The employee's at the The Dancing Moon Bookstore in Raleigh, NC, knew me on a first name basis.

One month after my meeting with AstralJ and Doug, I decided that I wanted to get a full Reiki treatment to get my energy aligned and centered. Joyce Ligon from The Dancing Moon Bookstore in Raleigh was certified Reiki level 2 and facilitated an hour long session at my request. Gadzooks! I left that session in nearly a daze from all the energy rushing through my body. She had also placed certain stones on my energy centers to further vitalize the chakra centers... I was buzzing and tingling all over during the session and saw pulses of light through my closed eyes. I went through some amazing shifts the following three months after this session. Apparently, getting my energy 'right' was a necessary step in further growth and development for me.
BR> It wasn't long after the session that my psychic center opened up and I began to be able to channel energy through my hands in a rather strongly intuitive way. It seemed that I was discovering my own inclination to energy healing even though I was very confused by the 'information' that had been popping into my head while I was 'working' on my friends. So, of course, I had to hit the books again to understand what it was that I was doing. My next round of research involved Shamanic Healing, Energy Healing, and Vibrational Healing. To my further amazement, some of the things I had been drawn to do intuitively while I was working on my friends showed up in the books as valid techniques used by gifted Shamans and Healers. Now I really began to wonder what was going on. It felt as if my body already knew what I was doing and, if I got out of my own way and didn't try to analyze the situation, that I was being intuitively guided to do exactly what was necessary.

I began to work on anyone that would lie still long enough for me to facilitate a session. My father, who had been battling cancer for over a year at that time, was one of my main targets. I had been researching alternative healing for over a year at that time to assist my father in his healing process... and now I had something brand new to contribute. When I visited my parents in New Jersey he agreed to let me work on him, even though he was very skeptical. He fell asleep almost immediately as I worked on him, which isn't a strange happening... he can fall asleep sitting up in two seconds flat. I placed my hands on his chakra centers and imagined the energy coming in from the top of my head and going out through my palms. I also imagined that the tumors inside his body were melting and being flushed out the top of his head in a stream of light that was emitting from my hands. I personally felt that the level of energy passing through me was quite strong and was a bit discouraged when my dad woke up and claimed that he didn't feel anything unusual. I left him to go back to sleep and began discussing some of the possible 'side effects' of energy work with my mother. I had noticed that many of the people I worked on experienced detoxification after a session that manifested in...well, the runs. So I told my mother that dad might experience this, but not to tell him about it so that he couldn't explain it away as 'suggestion' if and when it happened. Later that day my mother walked up to me and excitedly announced that dad had just told her that he had the runs! HA! I facilitated several other sessions with dad, at least one happened after I was in the process of being attuned to Level 1 Reiki.

It was the work I did with my father that further fueled my interest in Reiki. The next CAT scan he had after the period of time that I facilitated the energy healing sessions with him showed some remarkable results. Although dad had gone through some very specific laser precision radiation on just one tumor that was intruding into his heart, the CAT scan showed that ALL the tumors (over 30 in his lungs) had become smaller in size. The laser radiation, according to his doctor, would not have effected the other tumors. Well... that convinced me that what I was doing may very well have assisted dad in accessing his body's defense system to combat the tumors. At the very least, it was worth further consideration and research. I became Reiki Level 2 certified in July of 1997, a month after dad got the results of the CAT scan. I did notice a tremendous difference in the flow of energy emitting from my hands after becoming Reiki I and II certified. The flow was much stronger and the intuitive guidance that seemed to fall into the category of shamanism also increased... or perhaps I just began accepting the information with more trust and confidence.

It would be another 6 months before I chose to go to the next level of Reiki. I believe it was a good decision not to jump into Level III right away because the attunements themselves also clear and release energy blocks of the student. My Reiki level 2 attunement process was actually quite uncomfortable for the first week because I had, what my Reiki Master described as, a 'clearing'. It felt like I was walking through wet cement in a very deep depression for a week. Level II Reiki clears the 'emotional body' of the student, and boy, am I one emotional person... so no wonder I was experiencing difficulty with it.

The Reiki literature stated that it may take a person a full 6 months to properly integrate the energy of Reiki level II and to clear away unqualified energy blocks of the student. I thought it a wise choice to wait that time out so that I could properly anchor in the next level of Reiki in a balanced way. I became a Reiki Level III-Practitioner in January of 1998... and went on to the Master-In-Training Level the same weekend. The Masters with whom I was a student, differentiate between Level III practitioner and Master-In-Training. The difference is that Level III Practitioner has additional symbols to work with than Level II, but cannot pass on attunements to other students. The Master-In-Training Level is the one in which you learn to pass on the attunements and teach other students. It requires a training period of practice with the attunement process and complete understanding of the history of Reiki and it's uses. I'm currently in the practicing stage of passing attunements, and it seems to be working nicely. I'm looking forward to the end of the Summer, 1998, when I will have completed my In-Training time and can officially teach and pass on Reiki. It's been a wonderful blessing to me, my friends (many have also been attuned to Reiki), and family.

My family has been very patient with me during my growth considering that many fairly unusual things have been happening to me. Now, when I go home to visit the family, I freely talk about my experiences with confidence and loving compassion to embrace where they are on their own path. I see myself as showing by example to whomever is open to experiencing this unique and unusual gift of life force energy. I've observed members of my family going through subtle shifts that seem to have opened them up to the possibility that 'something deeper is going on' through my non-invasive way of just simply 'speaking and acting on my truth'. I try to show people the reality of energy by facilitating a real and tangible experience with it, usually through a demonstration with Reiki. I know from my personal introduction to Reiki and Energy Fields, that one can't truly understand and 'know' before feeling it for oneself. It's the kind of 'logic busting' that we all crave before we take any more steps outward into the unknown.

I would encourage anyone to prove it for themselves, to give themselves the gift of subjective experience... to understand. You can find Reiki practitioners anywhere now, just do a websearch for Reiki in your area. If you don't want to commit to a healing session, you can look around for Reiki 'Open Houses' or 'Reiki Shares'. Many practitioners are very active in bringing Reiki into the community for people to experience free of charge. Sometimes Masters even have their students perform practice healings for free during the Open Houses so that they can perfect the hand positions on real people. I will leave you with a belief of mine, that I think I heard on Star Trek as a child: "There is nothing unnatural, only unknown." My stepping-off point was my introduction to Reiki, and my life...well, it's full of magic every day. I have learned that all of life is energetically connected to everything else and it's impossible for me to feel separation from anything now. That is the ancient law of ONE, that is 'Unity Consciousness'... and it's my truth that we are all heading towards that goal in record speed.

Many Warm and Wonderful Wishes,

Stacie

There are several degrees, or levels, of Reiki certification. The flow of energy and methods available to facilitate healing increases with each level. There are a set of Reiki symbols, as a pattern of energy, that are placed into a student's auric field during the attunements. The symbols have different uses and potentials for healing. Each higher level of Reiki introduces more symbols to the student to use at their discretion as appropriate during a session. I will explain the healing potential for each of the Reiki degrees and add the most likely students for that degree.

Reiki Degree I: This is the beginner Reiki certification. The student is primarily taught the history of Reiki and the practical hand positions to use for self-healing and healing others. There are no symbols taught at this level, so the work that can be done from a Reiki Level I practitioner is simply the physical laying-on-of-hands to pass the Reiki into another. That is certainly worthwhile in and of itself by any means, and can be a tremendous gift to anyone that would like to be able to channel life force energy for themselves and others.

I would suggest that anyone that is chronically or seriously ill to take, at least, Level I Reiki for their own healing purposes, even if they never intend to work on another being. The attunement to Level I clears and balances the student's own energy and will enhance the flow of vital energy that the body can hold to promote other healing functions. This is a great certification for anyone that is curious about Reiki and wants to enhance their vital energy, but doesn't care to take on the role of a 'healer' to other beings.

Reiki Degree II: This is the intermediate Reiki certification. The student is taught three Reiki symbols that serve to increase power, heal the subconsious, and to 'anchor in' a distant subject to perform a 'distance healing'. The distance healing ability is very handy when the person you would like to assist is not physically present. Like the work Dr. Larry Dossey has done on the effectiveness of prayer on sick subjects, Reiki also has no limitations of time and space as an energy source. Healing prayers are a form of directed energy with the intention of assisting another. Reiki Level II allows a person to bring the intent to heal to a very magnified force, and send it with precision and accuracy.

I would suggest this level for the serious student that has learned to utilize Reiki Level I energy in a healing way with others. It can be used for self-healing purposes for seriously ill people, but the ability to use this level for the greater good is almost a responsibility once it's possible to assist others in this way. The attunement to Level II Reiki clears and balances the student's emotional body, and can assist in bringing up past trauma to be healed in the present. I would suggest this level for any person that feels a calling to assist other's in their healing process, or health care providers of any modality... especially nurses and massage therapists. Many Nurses already practice 'therapeutic touch' and while that is different than channeling Reiki, I believe that Reiki can greatly enhance the effectiveness of being able to sense fluctuations in a patients energy field, and to send harmonizing energy to that area. I would like to see more partnering of conventional and complimentary therapies this way, and the nurses are in a particularly good position to act as the bridge between the camps.

Reiki Degree III: This is typically the Mastership level of Reiki, but some split it into a differentiation between a Level III Practitioner and a Master.

The Level III Practitioner is introduced to psychic surgery techniques of removing energy blocks, and given another symbol to use during a healing session. The symbol is actually the 'Master Symbol' that serves to clear and balance the students spiritual body, but no attempts are made to show the Level III Practitioner how to teach Reiki or to pass the attunements on to others. It is specifically for the serious healer that doesn't care to teach Reiki to others.

Reiki Master: This is the top of the line in Reiki, you can't go anywhere from here in the traditional Usui teachings. Reiki Masters have taken this certification because they feel a passion and dedication to spread the Reiki teachings and to assist others to become channels of Reiki. Additional symbols are given that are used in the attunement process to pass the energy to another. All Reiki Masters have to go through a period of learning, and are thus, Reiki Masters-In-Training. They have had all the possible attunements and strength of flow of a certified Master, but are in the process of learning how to pass on the attunements and to BE Reiki.

I don't have to suggest this level to anyone, because most Reiki Masters know that it is part of their life purpose immediately. I knew in the moment that Doug finished putting his hands on my back that I would someday be teaching it myself.

If you are in need of a professional Reiki treatment, I would suggest at least, a Level II Degree Reiki Practitioner. Level II and beyond have the ability to employ additional techniques to assit the client in many various ways. The higher the certification, the stronger the flow of Reiki through the Practitioner and the more ways in which to support the healing process. You may find the typical fees for an hour-long Reiki session to be around 50-60 dollars, depending on the area.

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