Reiki What is it?

Reiki (RAY KEY) is a Japanese form of spiritual healing which can ease stress, clear the mind and restore clarity, relieve physical ailments and provide comfort and peace in times of trouble. It is incredibly versatile as healing energy can be transferred through the hands and applied to heal yourself as well as others and even your pets and plants!
The term comes from the words rei, meaning universal and ki, the Japanese for qi, the life force that is inherent in everything. When this life force is flowing freely, we are healthy and happy, when it is low we are far more susceptible to both physical illness and emotional stress. In Reiki Therapy, this universal energy is activated by the practitioner and passed on to the recipient where it both replenishes areas that have been depleted of energy and stimulates the body's own natural ability to heal itself.
During a session, the energy enters through the head of the practitioner and flows out through the hands into the client to heal and balance spirit, mind and body.



The Development of Usui Reiki.
The following passages trace the story of Reiki as researched by William Lee Rand. A more detailed explanation can be found in his book, Reiki, The Healing Touch.



   Dr. Mikao Usui

The Reiki Principles Just for today do not anger. Just for today do not worry. Honour your parents Teachers and Elders. Earn your living honestly. Show gratitude to every living thing.

Dr. Mikao Usui, or Usui Sensei as he is called by his students in Japan, is the founder of the Usui System of Reiki. He was born August 15, 1865 in the village of Yago in the Yamagata district of Gifu prefecture, Japan. It is thought that he entered a Tendai Buddhist school on or near Mt. Kurama ("horse saddle mountain") at age four. He also studied kiko, the Japanese version of qigong, which is a health and healing discipline based on the development and use of life energy. The young Usui found that these healing methods required the practitioner to build up and then deplete his own life energy when giving treatments. He wondered if it were possible to do healing work without depleting one’s own energy. He went on to study in Japan, China and Europe and ended up spontaneously receiving Reiki during a meditation practice on Mt. Kurama.


Usui Sensei had an avid interest in learning and worked hard at his studies. He travelled to Europe and China to further his education. His curriculum included medicine, psychology, and religion as well as fortune telling, which Asians have long considered to be a worthy skill. It is thought that he was from a wealthy family, as in Japan only the wealthy could afford to send their children to school. Eventually he became the secretary to Pei Gotoushin, head of the department of health and welfare who later became the Mayor of Tokyo. The connections Usui Sensei made at this job helped him to become a successful businessman. Usui Sensei was also a member of the Rei Jyutu Ka, a metaphysical group dedicated to developing psychic abilities.


In 1914 Usui’s personal and business life was failing. As a sensitive spiritualist, Usui Sensei had spent much time meditating at power spots on Mt. Kurama where he had received his early Buddhist training. So he decided to travel to this holy mountain, where he enrolled in Isyu Guo, a twenty-one-day training course sponsored by the Tendai Buddhist Temple located there. We do not know for certain what he was required to do during this training, but it is likely that fasting, meditation, chanting and prayers were part of the practice. In addition, we know there is a small waterfall on Mt. Kurama where even today people go to meditate. This meditation involves standing under the waterfall and allowing the waters to strike and flow over the top of the head, a practice which is said to activate the crown chakra. Japanese Reiki Masters think that Usui Sensei may have used this meditation as part of his practice. In any case, it was during the Isyu Guo training that the great Reiki energy entered his crown chakra. This greatly enhanced his healing abilities and he realized he had received a wonderful new gift - the ability to give healing to others without depleting his own energy!