What is Reiki? 

Reiki is a natural expression of life’s infinite intelligence and can only do good. No conscious effort in allowing the energy to work is required. Reiki communicates intelligently with the receiver’s body-mind and goes to where it’s needed, just as the oxygen we inhale, the nutrients we take in, the water we drink don’t need to be guided by our conscious mind to where in the body they are needed.

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The Reiki energy is the fundamental Life Force of the Universe, a conscious and intelligent energy that flows through and nourishes all life. Reiki originates from the infinite source of all there is. It can only do good and in its essence is Love reaching beyond all romantic or religious concepts. Reiki is the conscious energy essence of Divine Love which is the vital impulse for beings to come into existence.

 

Reiki is life energy expressed and guided by Spirit. If you pay attention you will feel the presence of Reiki when you practise hands-on healing. If you listen, Reiki may give you guidance when making choices. When you open your heart, Reiki will inspire you and give you a sense of connectedness with all of creation. “Spiritual life force” and “vital energy” may appear as being mysterious forces not easy for the mind to grasp. Yet, electrical currents or even the pull of gravity are just as mysterious to the mind. Scientists don’t really know what gravity is, yet we experience its power in every moment of our life.

 

Reiki Healing is an ancient way to activate and harmonise our natural life energy. It has been rediscovered by Mikao Usui (1865 - 1926) after years of research, practice and meditation. The Usui Method of Natural Healing is a method of receiving and passing on the Reiki energy. This is done primarily through laying on of hands.
During a treatment, the Reiki practitioner is a channel for the energy and does not pass on his or her personal energy or absorb anyone else’s. The Reiki energy protects, refreshes and vitalises both receiver and giver.

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Reiki is energetic nourishment promoting relaxation, detoxification and a good overall balance within body, mind and soul. It is a natural force that works by itself.  When Reiki is being given and received in meditative stillness, it fosters an awareness of the life force that connects us all and all life on earth.

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The History of Usui Reiki

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Mikao Usui was born on 15th August 1865 in Japan in the village of Taniai, Miyama Cho district of the Gifu province, near the present-day Nagoya. Little is known about Mikao’s mother Sadako Usui. His father Uzaemon Usui owned a retail business selling rice, grains, miso, salt, timber and charcoal and was one of the wealthiest people in Taniai. His grandfather had owned a sake brewery. Mikao had one older sister and two younger brothers. Usui’s ancestors appear to have descended from the samurai clan of Tsunetane Chiba. His family were Jodo Shu (“Pure Land”) and Tendai (“Lotus School”) Buddhists. Mikao’s education began in Taniai’s temple school at the Jodo Shu Buddhist Zendo-Ji temple.

As a young man, Mikao moved to Tokyo. His spiritual training included a Japanese form of energy work called Kiko which involved meditation, breathing and moving exercises similar to the practises of Tai Chi and Chi Kung, as well as techniques for healing through the laying on of hands. Further training included Shugendo (a blend of shamanism, Daoism, Buddhism and Shinto), Zen and Tendai Buddhism. Important spiritual groups and movements that are likely to have had an influence on Usui were the Omoto Kyo, the Kurozumi Kyo and the Konkokyo.

His career path included working as a journalist, in prison ministry, as a social worker, as a missionary for a Shinto group and as the private secretary to the states man Baron Shimpei Goto (1857 - 1929). In this position, Usui travelled abroad extensively and met many influential people. These contacts helped him set up his own business. He married Sadako Suzuki and in 1908 their son Fuji (†1946) and in 1913 their daughter Toshiko (†1935) were born. After modest success, his business started to decline around 1914 and finances became tight. The resulting crisis inspired Usui to reconnect more deeply with his spiritual aspirations.

 

Around 1919, Usui started a meditation retreat in a Zen temple in Kyoto that lasted three years. In March 1922, he decided to climb Mount Kurama, a sacred mountain near Kyoto and spend 21 days fasting and meditating to accelerate his spiritual opening. Towards the end of this retreat, Usui had a profoundly transforming spiritual experience. He described it as a great light entering through the top of his head, filling his entire being with light and attuning him to an energy that he decided to call Reiki. As Usui descended from Mount Kurama, the legendary “four miracles” are said to have occurred: he stubbed his toe and it healed instantly as he placed his hand on it; he ate with comfort a full meal after a long fast; he healed a woman’s toothache and he freed the Abbot of a Zen monastery from arthritis.

 

From that time on, he found his healing abilities to be greatly enhanced without depleting his own energy when treating others. He was filled with joy and gratitude for his new gift and soon went on to initiate others into Reiki and to teaching the healing techniques he developed. A month later, in April 1922, Usui moved to Tokyo and founded his Usui Reiki Healing Method Society (Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai). On 1st September 1923, a devastating earthquake hit the Kanto area and destroyed several cities including Tokyo. Usui and his students offered all the help they could and soon the word spread and Reiki came to the attention of many.