What is Reiki? 靈气

Reiki learning, at least the one that I underwent consists of three levels. More accurately, it should be called stages. But then, “levels” has a nice ring to it, giving the student the feeling of having attained something. Levels give the feeling of height and progress. The student likes it, the teacher likes it so it stuck. Stage is more horizontal and does not have give the same impression of moving upwards or forward as level does.

Reiki Level One

So Reiki has three levels. Levels 1,2 and 3. Many teachers teach level 1, instructs the new student to practice on themselves for a certain length of time before teaching level 2. Some teachers combine these two levels in one teaching and this is often done over a few days. Many take level 2 to offer healing to others.

The basics of healing are taught and of course what Reiki is all about is explained. Strangely or maybe not really so, each and every teacher seems to explain Reiki in a different way. I believe this is so because each teacher experiences the energy in their own special way. This does not take anything away from Reiki though.

Traditionally the hand positions are taught. Most would explain the hand positions as helpful in covering every part of the human body, the organs, the glands and so forth but essentially Reiki is, on its own, able to go where necessary to complete the treatment. In fact, that is the way that I would like to look at it. Reiki will provide healing as appropriate with the circumstances at hand.

Some teachers will teach a little ‘medicine’ and this may be necessary, at least, provide the newbie with some basic knowledge. After all, we are dealing with healing. And yes, I must mention there is an initiation ritual which is to provide the link between the new student with the Reiki lineage.

Reiki Level Two

Reiki Level 2 adds on to the earlier level. In level 1, we send healing Reiki to ourselves but in level 2 we are taught to take it a step further. We learnt the process of channeling healing energy to others. Isn’t this beautiful? We are taught to look beyond our ourselves, to help others.

Symbols are taught in level 2. These symbols invoke the cosmic energy that is ever present making it more present and powerful. Why do we need symbols? It sounds very supernatural. Just like mantras which some believe to grant supernormal or mystical powers, symbols are similar. It aids us to focus on the work we are about to do. This is where its potency lies.

Reiki symbols are representative of the mind behind the healing. For quite some time, these symbols were treated with great secrecy but as with all secrets, they are no longer so. Out of respect to my teachers who believed that I should stay with the ethics of their tradition, I shall not reveal them here.

However, I think it is alright for me to discuss them briefly here. Each of the symbols has a name. The names themselves reveal the intention of the healer. It allows the healer to direct, to harmonise and to connect with the healee. By chanting the mantra associated with the symbols, it acts as a focusing tool as well as a prayer. Wonders are possible with prayers.

Reiki Level Three

Level 3 is the ‘highest’ level of Reiki. Traditionally it is meant for those who have intention to teach and this makes it special.

To continue on to level 3, the preparation is just as important, if not more so, than the formal lessons. It is good that the master-to-be examine their inner self. Soul searching contemplations like motivation, knowledge, spiritual awareness, embodiment of the core Reiki values, cross healing modalities amongst others.

These are the basics. I believe that Reiki cannot be Reiki if one’s own motivation is selfish. The underlying power of Reiki is non-selfishness. If this quality is missing, it is hard to imagine that Reiki works. In some ways, the receiver merges with the energy and aura of the giver. Colorations can alter the quality of the Reiki process.

Knowledge is necessary in all aspects of our life. As part of the process of growing to be a Reiki master, it is inevitable that the student picks up many aspects of the world of healing. The world is such a wonderful place and there are so many wonders of the known and unknown. Our mind learns to break mental barriers. Sometimes, long held beliefs are broken down and new ones take its place. We think and act out of the box.

Whether one likes it or not, most who works towards Reiki mastership has in them some spiritual leanings. I may be wrong but many of the healers I know have gone through life challenging circumstances which put them on the threshold of Reiki mastership. There are mediums and channellers, health care providers, alternative therapists and truth seekers.

I came upon Reiki by chance. And before I realized what was happening, I got a piece of thick paper with ornate flower motifs with my name on it. It proclaimed that I had undergone all the necessary training and requirements to be a master and teacher. Wasn’t that something!? But that doesn’t that make me a master. True mastery means being a master of oneself.

This morning, during that routine, I got thinking. The way one looks at a person makes a world of a difference. For example, seeing a person as a spouse and loving that same person is entirely different.

When a person is a spouse, there are expectations. Got to be this tall or that pretty. Got to measure up. Got to be successful. Doesn’t snore and throw out the rubbish. Works a full time job and still cooks dinner, washes the dishes too. Afford a maid and the holidays twice a year as well.

Being a spouse exposes one to all sorts of dangers. And limitations as well. Not to forget the rules of behavior, unilateral rules naturally. Every misstep is glared at and toted up in that mental book that never gets erased. You may not see it but it’s there.

To love someone is entirely different. Nothing has changed, at least on the outside. The love of our life still snores the same way and the rubbish is still feeding the cockroaches and the ants. To love someone makes us see all the sweet and wonderful things about them. We see their kindness, their concern for us, their love. They are angels and their light glows every time we bring them to mind.

When we love someone, we want the best for them. For to us, they are the most delicate thing in the world. We fear for them, we want to protect them. We feel their every hurt and our hearts break when they are in pain. We will give everything and anything to take their pain away. We want them to be happy.

I think that when someone becomes a spouse, there is this ‘taking’. When we love someone, we ‘give’. There lies the difference. And to give is to love. And vice versa. And I believe this same thinking applies to whether a child is a naughty incorrigible rascal or … is that an old troublesome grumble or the mother who nursed to what we are today?

Reiki Healing Hands

Well, not really my first Reiki treatment but the first time that it really set me thinking about how Reiki benefits.

Many of us, and I think that would include many Reiki practitioners, sometimes do wonder how this universal energy helps in healing bodies. That treatment got me thinking about how Reiki energy works. We were taught to give Reiki to others (some teachers make it mandatory to give Reiki to oneself and to clock in hours in giving to others as well) but it is in receiving Reiki that one gets a good insight into the energy of Reiki.

This ‘first’ happened during a Reiki course. It was a pretty hectic course, helping here, giving a hand there, making sure everyone is comfortable that I was quite tired from all the running about. During one of the intervals, I lied down for a quick rest on one of the tables that was free. My fellow masters (I think they liked me) gathered round and laid hands on me. With the tenderness of six pairs of hands on me, I slipped gently off to dreamland.

Sort of snoozed off but I could feel the charge of their hands on me all the while. That was what I thought. In reality, they had long wandered off leaving me for dead (they didn’t like me that much after all!). But to me, their hands were there all the time.

I woke refreshed, very much so. And the wonderful thing is that during the rest of the day, I felt fully charged and the Reiki energy did not diminish.

A traditional Reiki treatment calls for the laying on of hands and most traditions teach twelve hand positions on the front and back of the body from head to toe. It is an effective way to focus on the whole body allowing Reiki energy to work as it deems fit.

As it deems fit. That sums it up. In my case, the energy refreshed me. With my body fully charged, it was functioning at its peak. I believe that sums up how Reiki energy works. Our body is a complex organism. If each part is well-oiled and is working in tip top condition, all maladies can be overcome. Reiki energy charges the body giving it the resilience and power to heal itself. There is no need for diagnosis, no necessity of the practitioner trying to be knowledgeable or smart.

Try a Reiki treatment. Given with love and sincerity, it is one of the most wonderful and natural gift.

Reiki Healing Hands

The river of life flows almost always in strange ways. Things that we used to do before suddenly become relevant again. Sometimes they take on new meanings. What do they call it? Oldies remake? Retro?

Recently, Reiki nudged me again.  Its coming back brought back stories of great Tibetan Buddhist masters who say that it is the power of compassion that facilitates curing of the sick who came to them for healing. There is also the story of The Buddha who was ill and got relief when he asked one disciple to chant a paritta for him. Recently, I heard a Tibetan teacher whom I greatly respect speaks favorably of Reiki. It seemed that he has received and benefited from Reiki.

Healing was and still is a catch word for the ills that confronts us daily. Some credit this to the new media and info overload that make it seems that some catastrophe or other is happening every moment. I would disagree. Back in the old days, we had newspapers too but natural disasters do not occur as frequently as they do now. Our Mother Earth seems to be sneezing. Is she ill? Goodness – what if she starts coughing? Heaven forbids!

I like it when I meet people who are genuinely involved in energy work. They energize me. They are often weird people and they have beliefs which appear very arcane to the point of seeming insane. For example, there was this wonderful lady whom I interviewed. Petite she was but in that small body was loaded mega kilo tons of dynamite enthusiasm. Talk to her about lightworks and world healing, her minute arms will flail and if you are not careful, hit and imprint you with bolts of memory so strong it will stay forever in your memory cells.

Reiki. I had never heard of it when I was first introduced to it. Little did I know then that it eventually led me to learn and teach it. Call it one of those twists in an otherwise colorless life, it happened at the right time. Reiki appeared at the same time as an old interest in the mysterious and the unknown flickered.

This Reiki is a Japanese healing art. It calls for nothing more than the laying on of hands. Simply idiot-proof. It calls for no diagnosis, no herbs, no frowning focus of directing “energy”, no visualization. Completely idiot-proof. But if you google it, I promise you will be amazed at the number of pages that shows up ( at the last search, there were about 9,810,000 results). Impossible to read them all.

Sorry but Reiki is, to my mind, the utmost simplest healing art. Very contrary to what you will read from those pages or some books. Some practitioners have combined new age arts, healing arts as well as non-healing arts and ideas alike into Reiki. So do not be too surprised that Reiki has evolved with many new ‘masters” who carry “true’ lineages. There will also be many who are carrying “new transmissions from other dimensions”, there will be those who have channeled from avatars, angels, higher beings, spirits etc, there will be…these go on, limited only by the capacity of the mind.

Somehow, I like to believe that Reiki is for everyone. By that I mean that everyone can do Reiki, that is, everyone can heal. It is a simple art requiring no more than a simple initiation and much from-the-heart good intention. The stories just told are proof of this. Jesus was recorded as administering to the sick by touching them. That to me, is proof enough that miracles can happen through our hands and our hearts.

Reiki Healing Hands

For those encouraged to learn Reiki, I say, practice ignorance – ignore all that is said, claimed, publicized, hyped and what-not by Reiki people you may have heard or read about. Motives vary from individual to individual. Reiki cuts across all barriers. It represents one of the basic essences of human life. That is the cry for help, for healing, for soothing of the trouble soul and mind, of the abundance of compassion and love in each of us, our capacity to manifest and increase love and kindness and live fruitfully this human life.

Oh, I forgot. Reiki was (they say) re-discovered by a Japanese man called Usui (click to know something about him). With respect, to Him, I pay homage and respect.