Just for now, do not worry Just for now, do not be angry Honor life in all the ways Show gratitude for everything

What is Reiki?

Reiki is a Japanese technique for stress reduction and relaxation that also promotes healing. It is administered by ‘laying on hands’ and is based on the idea that an unseen ‘life force energy’ flows through us and is what causes us to be alive. If one’s ‘life force energy’ is low, then we are more likely to get sick or feel stress, and if it is high, we are more capable of being happy and healthy. The word reiki is made up of two Japanese words - rei which means ‘God’s Wisdom or the Higher Power’ and ki which is ‘life force energy’. So reiki actually means ‘spiritually guided life force energy’. Reiki is one of the more widely known forms of energy healing. Energy healing involves direct application of Chi for the purpose of strengthening the clients energy system (aura). Chi is the term used by Chinese mystics and martial artists for the underlying force of which the universe is made of. Mystics in all cultures have talked about the physical universe being made of an underlying form of something, much as modern physics research is now coming to understand that the universe is made of energy which is subject to (or affected by) thought. Just as modern physics says that this energy is affected by thought, the mystics also say that this underlying form is affected by thought, going as far as to claim that we create our own reality from our thoughts and those we share amongst us every day. Stop and reflect on this for a moment. Imagine the implication of the fact that the universe around us is made from energy and can be shaped and manipulated by thought.

I invoke the healing Buddha and the Master Spirits of Reiki. I ask that my channel be pure and clean. Without fear and with honor and love for all.

The Ideals of reiki happened to Dr Usui after years of meditation. These principles came in part from the five prinicples of the Meiji emperor of Japan, whom Dr. Usui admired. The Ideals were developed to add spiritual balance to his practice. The purpose is to help people realize that healing the spirit by consciously deciding to improve oneself is a necessary part of the reiki healing experience. In order for the reiki healing energies to have lasting results, the client must accept responsibility for his healing and take an active part in it. Therefore, the Usui system of reiki is more than just the use of the reiki energy. It must also include an active commitment to improve oneself in order for it to be a complete system. The Ideals are both guidelines for- living a gracious life and virtues worthy of practice for their inherent value:

The secret art of inviting happiness The miraculous medicine for all diseases Just for today, do not be angry Do not worry; be filled with gratitude Devote yourself to your work.
Be kind to people Every morning and evening, join your hands in prayer Pray these words to your heart Chant these words.

The power of energy is the reason for matter to exist. Thought is more powerful than any thing in the world. One thought can bring a revolution, transformation, upliftment. Can we really say that a thought which is not even visible to the eye can change the destiny of an individual, of society, of a country or of the whole world? Indeed it can!
Modern physicist say energy has formed the whole world and mystics said that this very energy which is inherent in the world can change form too. A thought can bring abouy a change in the body, as the body is nothing but a form of energy. Hindus called it ‘shakti’, the Chinese called it ‘chi’ and scientists call it ‘energy’. This is the implication of both quantum physics and ancient metaphysics. Could this make some diseases easier to explain, especially those which have no apparent physical cause? Could this make miraculous cures easier to explain? Today modern science accepts that 70% of human diseases are psychosomatic, i.e. the mind is responsible for the disease - therefore, until we cure the mind, the body cannot be totally healthy.
There was a research study done a couple years ago, which showed that prayer improves the health of those who are prayed for. The focus of intent in the prayer sends thoughts out in the form of ‘I wish such this to happen’. So, if the world is energy which is subject to the power of thought, then prayers must work (depending on how clearly and carefully you hold and elaborate on the prayer or thought). Remember this while practicing reiki or while praying.
Reiki is very easy to learn, very simple to use and beneficial for all. It is one of the many forms of healing through the use of natural forces which were given the name of ‘chi’ by ancient Chinese mystics. Some forms of healing using chi energy forces are Chi Gong, Pranic Healing, Chelation (as taught by Brabara Brennan and Rosalyn Bruyere), and Polarity Balancing. All (apparently) use the same energies, with the difference being in the techniques of application.
A treatment feels like a wonderful glowing radiance that flows through and around you. Reiki treats the whole person - the body, emotions, mind and spirit - creating many beneficial effects that include relaxation and feelings of peace, security and wellbeing. Many have reported miraculous results.

Reiki is this love which allows us to transcend our wounds and helps us remember our true nature

An amazingly simple technique to learn, the ability to use reiki is not taught in the usual sense, but is transferred to the student during a reiki class. This ability is passed on during an ‘attunement’ given by a reiki master and allows the student to tap into an unlimited supply of ‘life force energy’ to improve health and enhance the quality of life.
Its use is not dependent on one’s intellectual capacity or spiritual development and therefore is available to everyone. It has been successfully taught to thousands of people of all ages and backgrounds.
While reiki is spiritual in nature, it is not a religion. It has no dogma, and there is nothing you must believe in order to learn and use reiki. In fact, reiki is not dependent on belief at all and will work whether you believe in it or not. Because reiki comes from god, many people find that using reiki puts them in greater touch with the experience of their religion rather than having only an intellectual concept of it.
But one issue has to be addressed seriously: many people have used this humanitarian service as a business. You cannot be a true reiki practioner if you have worldly or ulterior motives for its practice, or where the patient is not your friend but a client who will fill your coffers. Compassion, universal brotherhood and selfless love should be the basis of your practice. While reiki is not a religion, it is still important to live and act in a way that promotes harmony with others. Dr. Mikao Usui, the founder of the reiki system of natural healing, recommended that in order to promote peace and harmony, one practice certain simple ethical ideals which are universal across all cultures.
Energy is present everywhere and the teacher helps the student to tap into his or her reservoir of energy. Energy is in abundance and present everywhere, the healer just becomes a channel through whom the energy or force flows to the patient. I’m reluctant to definitively say that reiki uses chi, because I am not an expert on what the Chinese mean by this word. To me the force referred to by the name of chi is the same as prana, orgone or odic - they are all names for the same force.
As the word reiki means ‘universal life force energy’, it, strictly speaking, refers to the energy and not to the specific techniques taught by reiki masters. The techniques are more properly called the ‘Usui System of Natural Healing’ after the founder of the system, Dr. Mikao Usui. However, as reiki is the common name, and a fine name at that, this is the name we will use here.
A reiki healing is performed very simply. The practitioner places his or her hands upon the person to be healed with the intent of healing to occur, and then the energy begins to flow. The reiki energy is smart since the ‘universe’ is a very smart place indeed. The energy knows where to go and what to do once it gets there, or else is being directed by a higher intelligence. The energy manages its own flow to and within the recipient. It draws through the healer exactly the amount of energy which the recipient needs. All this happens without direct conscious intervention by the healer. The healers job is to get out of the way, to keep the healing space open and to watch and listen for signs of what to do next.

Reiki’s Capabilities

Reiki is a simple, natural and safe method of spiritual healing and self-improvement that everyone can use. It has been effective in helping virtually every known illness and malady and always has a beneficial effect. It also works in conjunction with all other medical or therapeutic techniques to relieve side effects and to promote recovery

Reiki is capable of healing anything because it works at the fundamental levels of reality. Even though the capability is there, this is not what always happens. The limits to reiki seem to be in the recipients willingness to cast off old habits and patterns, to accept change and to accept healing. The level of reality where reiki operates is the underlying energy structure of matter, as the physical matter we see around us is a solidified form of energy. Remember Einsteins famous equation which says that each unit of mass is equivalent to a certain amount of energy? At the level where reiki functions, anything can be changed because all is fluid-like and very malleable. Or so is the theory and the experience of reiki practitioners. Emotional problems are just as healable as physical ones, as emotional issues are even more directly present in the energy structures.
In this context, the word ‘healing’ has a somewhat different meaning from the widely accepted one. The widely accepted meaning for healing seems to be a curing of symptoms, for that seems to be what medical doctors and the like seek to do in their practice. The other meaning of healing, used in the practice of reiki, as well as other related systems, is the return to greater wholeness.There is an ideal form each of us has; this ideal form being the highest and clearest expression of who we are. Pain or disease comes from any deviation of the persons current form in the three dimensional physical world from his ideal form. Healing then, is to bring the physical form in closer alignment with the ideal form.

The way we deviate from our ideal form is by accepting limitations in our life. Most of this comes from early childhood, because that is the phase of life where we are the most open and inquisitive about life. A limitation may be a parent yelling “BE QUIET!!” so often that the child learns to not speak. Another limitation may be a limp that continues long after the physical injury has healed, maybe even with phantom pain. These limitations are behavior patterns, eating patterns, physical limitations, imagined physical limitations, psychological, mental or emotional ways of being, living, expressing or loving that are not in alignment with our personal highest expression.
In any healing, the goal is to find the limitation, recognize the pattern, recognize where it came from and then to let it go. Reiki accomplishes this by providing the recipient with enough to step above (metaphorically), to see all that, and to have the courage to let go. Usually this does not happen consciously as a result of reiki, but sometimes it happens that reiki gives the recipient the conscious awareness of the pattern and recognition of where it came from. Our lives are a constant flow of patterns of activity (like the pattern used to accomplish eating breakfast) and it is our choice to have these patterns remain stuck in limited expression or to release the old patterns and try new and shinier ones.
Reiki is also a gateway, shining pure love into the universe. It is this love which allows us to transcend our wounds and helps us remember our true nature. My vision is to have everybody in the world know reiki and use it in their lives. This is not a utopian vision that instantly creates a world of complete harmony and total peace. Yet having reiki allows greater peace and harmony to flow. Over time, the healing of the worlds ills will be accomplished, and with reiki in the hands of everyone, that day will come more quickly.
Reiki is a wonderful gift which can be shared by all.
In this vision, each new teacher of reiki increases the rate at which reiki spreads. The growth is exponential, as more people teach and spread this gift. It is like a flame being passed on from person to person, lighting a light within each person it touches - like lighting a candle does not diminish the flame, rather there is more light.