Misty Visions

Reiki, a Path to Self Discovery

All great systems of thought are born out of a religious experience, and Reiki is no exception.The founder of Reiki, Dr. Mikao Usui, a Japanese national born in 1865, said that he experienced what he later called "Reiki" for the first time at Mount Kurama in Kyoto in the year 1922. Mount Kurama is the home of millions of ancient cedar trees as well as the Japan famous Kurama Dera, a temple that was associated with Tendai Buddhism until 1949 and now teaches its own doctrine.

He had gone there on a twenty one day meditation and fasting retreat in order to pierce the veil that obscured reality from his eyes. When he came down from the mountain after his fast, he brought with him the Reiki power, the exquisite energy science that has traveled all over the globe and has given happiness to millions of people from all cultures, creeds and social backgrounds.
In April of 1922 he incorporated an association with the name of Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai, with its main branch still operating today in Tokyo, Japan.

The word "Reiki" is made up of two Chinese characters. One character is "Rei", and it can mean spirit, occult, heart, feeling or mood. And the second character is "Ki" and means energy. Translated into contemporary English the best description would be "cosmic energy" or "universal life force".

After his religious experience at the Kurama mountain, Dr. Usui quickly created a system that aimed at self discovery. Healing, and the laying on of hands were just one aspect of the system, and in my understanding, both are a mere by product.
It is unfortunate that the practice of Reiki has been misinterpreted by foreign Reiki teachers in the 1980's and 1990's to be bodywork. In fact Reiki has nothing much to do with body work., a fact that Dr. Usui demonstrated in his daily practice. He is said to have preferred the so called absentee healing method over actual hands on healing. In the absentee healing technique the practitioner works on the energy body of the client, whether the client is present or in another country...

In an interview that I published in my second book, "Reiki, the legacy of Dr. Usui", Dr. Usui says that healing begins with the spirit. He tells us to live according to the following guidelines, part of which is also known as the five Reiki principles:

The Five Reiki principles

The secret method of inviting happiness
The spiritual medicine for all diseases

Just today

1- don't get angry
2- don't worry
3- be grateful
4- work hard
5-be kind to others.

Mornings and evenings, sit in the gassho position( with your hands folded in front of your heart), and repeat these words in your heart and say them out loud. For the improvement of body and soul, Usui Reiki Ryoho. The founder Mikao Usui."

For eighty years the students of the Reiki system in Japan were taught to meditate daily and to bring this meditative-ness into every aspect of their life. At present day, the members of the Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai do not practice hands on healing.

Reiki and Massage

And this is the first difference between Reiki and Shiatsu, Massage or Acupuncture. We do not need to use our hands to transfer healing energy. But of course it can be done, and every practitioner of the above healing modalities, who has been initiated into Reiki, will pass on Reiki as they work on a client's body. And this is the next difference between the above mentioned. In order to be able to pass on Reiki energy to another, one needs to have gone through a Reiki initiation. This energy transmission is vital in the Reiki system: without it, it doesnÍt work. As we have seen above, it would be a grave mistake to categorize Reiki as one type of massage. To do that would be the same as saying that Chinese food is the same as Japanese food, because people in both countries use chopsticks to eat it!