Reiki: Healing in a Touch
No one knows for sure how long the healing power of Reiki has been available on the planet. For thousands of years, healers have used “laying on of hands” to help those in sickness and pain recover. It has been theorized that even the healing that Jesus of Nazareth used in his earthly ministry was a kind of healing similar to Reiki that he had learned during trips abroad during the “lost years” from age 12-30 when no mention is made of him in the Bible.
The fact of the matter is that Reiki healing, by whatever other names it may be known, has been around for a very long time. The process is easy to learn with the help of a Reiki Master Teacher and once learned, can never be lost or forgotten. Classes are held for each of the three levels. The first class teaches the proper placement for the healer’s hands and includes two attunements. This consists of an energetic opening of the higher chakras of the body to provide unimpeded energy flow from the crown Chakra at the top of the head through the third eye, throat, and heart chakras and out through the hands.
What exactly is Reiki and how did it come to modern America?
Traditional Reiki began in the 1800’s, but Reiki was ancient even then. Mikao Usui was a Christian minister and the principal of Doshisha University in Kyoto, Japan in the mid 1800’s. Spurred on by his students, who asked to be shown the method of healing used by Jesus, Usui began a ten-year search for the skills. When he found no information in Christian writings or traditional teachings, he turned to Buddhism. There are striking similarities between the lives of Buddha in India and that of the historical Jesus. Usui was told that the ancient spiritual healing methods had been lost and he must study Buddhism if he hoped to recapture them.
It is said that he traveled to the United States to study with the Christian scholars and experts of the time but got no answers, despite earning his Doctor of Theology degree. While studying comparative religions and philosophies, he learned to read Sanskrit, the ancient language of India and Tibet. He returned to Japan and resided in a Zen monastery. Interestingly, no records can be found of this and some scholars speculate that Usui’s trip to America and theology degree were added as window dressing by the West to make Reiki more acceptable to the Occidental mind.
Regardless of the America trip, his search for records of the healing method was rewarded in that monastery. He found written records describing the methods. Unfortunately, the ancient Sanskrit texts did not give any instructions on how to activate the energy and make it work. Frustrated, he decided to take a three-week retreat to meditate and seek the answers spiritually. On the final morning of his quest, he saw a projectile of light coming toward him. Rather than fleeing from it, he calmly waited, accepting this as the answer to his prayers and meditation. The light struck his “third eye” Chakra between his eyebrows, and he lost consciousness.
When he woke, he saw “millions and millions of rainbow bubbles” and finally discerned the symbols for Reiki as though drawn on a screen before him. As he studied each of the symbols, he was given information about them and how to activate the healing energy. It was the first modern day Reiki attunement, a psychic rediscovery of an ancient healing method that had been lost for hundreds of years.
Knowing that he had found what had been searching for, he descended the mountain and experienced what is traditionally called the Four Miracles. First, he stubbed his toe. Instinctively, he sat down and held his toe between his hands. His hands became hot and the torn toe healed. Next, at the bottom of the mountain, he found a pilgrim’s house and asked for food. Despite the fact that he had fasted for twenty-one days, he ate a full meal with no repercussions. Third, the woman who served him had a severe toothache, which he healed simply be placing his hands on her face. The final of the four miracles occurred when he healed the head of his monastery from an arthritic attack upon his return to Kyoto.
Usui was the one who named the healing force “Reiki” which means universal life force. He began healing those who needed his help and began teaching others who dedicated their lives to healing with this universal energy. He had trained many first and second level practitioners by the time he died in 1930, but only 18 Master Teachers capable of teaching others. Of these, Chujiro Hayashi continued his work, training 16 Master Teachers. One of these was Hawayo Takata, who first came to Hayashi in 1935 for healing while in Japan to see her parents.
After her healing, she devoted herself to learning the practice of Reiki, and for two years lived at the clinic studying, earning her first and second level degrees. In 1938, Hayashi visited her in her home in Hawaii and in the clinic she had established. He was impressed by her devotion and dedication to Reiki, and in 1941, called her to Japan to attune her to the third level, that of Master Teacher. Though he had earlier believed that he should not allow a foreigner to be able to teach Reiki to others, he realized that due to the war, there was a danger of Reiki being lost to the world if it stayed only in Japan.
Takata taught Reiki in Hawaii, Canada, and the United States. She initiated 22 Master Teachers, from whom all the Western Reiki practitioners originate. Takata charged for both teaching Reiki and for healing treatments, whether the clients were family members or strangers. She felt that the modern Westerner did not appreciate something that had not been paid for and priced the Master Teacher/Level 3 training at $10,000.
Currently, Reiki Master Teachers locally do not charge nearly that much for training. The first level averages about $100 and takes eight hours of instruction with two attunements. A person completing this training can heal himself or another with a hands on session. The session can be done by holding the hands at a distance of six inches, in case the client prefers not to be physically touched.
Level 2 requires a four-hour class and an attunement and teaches the practitioner several written symbols that permit long distance healing. The practitioner then no longer has to be physically with the client to send healing energy. This level usually costs $100-500, depending on the Master Teacher.
Level 3 requires one additional attunement and a class in which the new Master Teacher learns the correct way to pass attunements and is counseled in the ethics required of a Reiki Master Teacher. This level is the most expensive and can cost from $250-5,000, again depending on the Reiki Master Teacher. There are several local Reiki Masters who provide attunements at very reasonable cost and some who will give a healing session at no cost.
A good way to experience the energy of a Reiki healing is to attend one of the group Reiki sessions that is open to the public. A small love offering is usually given to cover the overhead of the meeting space. Some group sessions are held in church meeting halls, such as the one at Unity Church for Creative Living on Race Track Road in Julington Creek. Other sessions are held in the homes of members of Reiki groups who meet regularly.
For further information on Reiki healing, consider the following books:
Essential Reiki by Diane Stein: She has a feminist perspective, but the Reiki information is the best I have found.
Reiki: The Healing Touch by William Rand. He is the head of the Center for Reiki Training in Southfield, MI and has a free newsletter available for those interested.
Reiki Energy Medicine by Libby Barnett and Maggie Chambers: Focuses on Reiki at home, hospital, and hospice. Good practical advice for using Reiki wherever it’s needed.
The Power of Reiki by Tanmaya Honervogt: Excellent photos and illustrations of the chakras, the energy centers of the body. Well worth the time.
The Therapeutic Touch by Delores Krieger, RN: I’ve included this book because it deals with hands on healing which is similar to Reiki, though this does not require the attunements to open the higher chakras. All the energy comes from God, whatever name you give to him or her and healing is done through the practitioner but by God and the client.
