What is Reiki ?

What is Reiki ?

More recent on writings have manage to disassociate Reiki with new age practices, crystals, pendulums, wands etc. none of which are linked with the original Japanese practices. It is 2024 and Reiki has been consolidated as Japanese Buddhist practice. Reiki was meant to primarily be a self practice, at heart meditation.

On Youtube you will predominantly see what can only be described as a virtual total misrepresentation of what Japanese Reiki is.

Its origins are a form of esoteric Buddhism.

Reiki originally spread from Hawayo Takata based in Hawaii who was trained by Chijuro Hayashi a student of Mikao Usui, the originator of Reiki. It first spread through the USA through the 60's and 70's then to the UK into Europe from that point onwards. It was quickly absorbed by the New age. As the teachings were somewhat different for each student depending on their sensed spiritual progress.It seems Hayashi was taught more about hands on healing which was merely a secondary aspect.

Reiki was and is a Buddhist spiritual practice. Guidance from the principles and meditation practice as a personal spiritual path. Hand positions and symbols were just tools to be used on yourself. Like a breathing technique is merely a tool for meditation. The breathing is not meditation itself, just a finger pointing to the moon. Not the moon itself.

Was Chujiro Hayashi more business minded ? We can argue that Hawayo Takata was as she charged $10,000 to train someone to master practitioner level. And she learned her master Shinpoden level from Hayashi.

The 5 precepts are linked with the 6 paramitas (Buddhist perfections) And the 8 noble truths.
Mikao Usui the originator of the Reiki system was himself Buddhist.

Buddhism at its core is defined by the practitioner reaching enlightenment or self realization. A concept of oneness, unity of all things and existence being a reflection of oneself in the all. Much is written in Buddhism about compassion and unconditional love.

As such I believe that Reiki of any form should be 100pct free in order to accord with the underlying principles of oneness, unity and unconditional love.

Otherwise it is pure business, and any authenticity nullified.

Another point to raise is if Reiki is Buddhism anyone interested can simple adhere to Buddhism, the precepts are there, the paramtas are there, the noble truths are already there.

You do not need to pay to be attune you to a universal essence that you already are (Ki/Chi).

Why do Reiki "masters" (most anything but)..ask us to pay to access energy that is already in everything.
It is everywhere and everything already. People who do Karate or Kung Fu do not need an initiation or attunement, they simply practice.

What is complete incongruous is it seems the more Buddhist the Reiki training is the higher the fees.
The core issue is one cannot adhere to the Buddhist principles of unconditional love and compassion and charge money for training or treatments. That is merely lying to oneself and living in deep ignorance.
Reiki should be free or at the very least at cost and based on compassion and unconditional love. Reiki should be done with compassion and unconditional love and cost no more than to heat the room it is performed in. i.e. $3.00

And if you really adhere to the principles you pay the person receiving the treatment $3.00 as a gesture of acceptance of the core Buddhist principles underlying it.

To be authentic in spiritual practice truth is surely very important so investigate this very carefully and take your time. If you want the new age, inauthentic version of Reiki crystals, magic, simply buy one of the popular books that appear after searching on on Amazon.

And if you want the authentic version of Reiki buy a book on meditation and follow Buddhist principles as chi is already in everything in the universe including you.

Interested in your views.

 

I have been studying Reiki and am totally convinced, even as a relative novice in my own words. It should be 100pct free, or even pay the person receiving.

I am not sure how Reiki "masters" or practitioners who charge money for training and treatments align themselves with unconditional love unless they
are entirely ignorant of the now, out in the open Buddhist origins.

Who are they kidding ? Not exactly 30 years practicing spiritual warriors meditating in a cave are they ? Looking pretty, men and women that is on Youtube and charging money for training or tratment is the antithesis of unconditional love.

I could not live with myself and feel I am "spiritual" charging people for something that is already inside every one and every thing in the universe.

The alternative is total ignorance, being a crystal waving person who cannot think for themselves. Mikao Usui did not wave crystals about over his students !

Reiki should never be paid for. It should be a max of $3 to pay for the heating of the treatment of the room and that is it.

The treating of others, is the treatment of the practitioner, they are inseparable. That is how Japanese Reiki was developed, the entirety is self treatment (for the practitioner) Any thing that can be beyond this for a very serious practitioner on the real path of Reiki not the fake crystal one, is unity of self and other, i..e breaking down of ego and unifying existence.

I think the time has come for everyone to understand this.

We need to be much clearer about what traditional Reiki is. It's Buddhism and you do not need attunements for that.

It is like saying you need an attunement to exist.

 

Reiki is a very wonderful thing when no payment is taken. And I know there are some pleasant people involved. For all those who self practice
and by that I mean meditate and live the 5 precepts as well as possible and treat others for free, I think it is amazing, a worthy pursuit for humanity
and self development.

But charging for anything Reiki ? No, that is in direct contradiction to unconditional love. It is unconditional love for those who can afford it.

That's not love at all. That's business.

It is really a parallel to the Guru business. It will come down to the individual as to whether they can reconcile payment of money
for spiritual reminders. That's all they are they are not practice, you do the practice, no one else. And it does not matter from what ethnic background you are either, even if you are Japanese and do Reiki training, it is not in accord with unconditional love and compassion.

If you don't live it and give it for free it is not authentic.

You cannot be authentic at any level if you charge for Reiki.

The essence of Reiki is love and unity of all, not attachment to money and wealth.

Reiki is a system that is nothing more than a reminder to practice Buddhism. So you have to be on board with every aspect
of Buddhism to be a Buddhist. You have to believe in what Buddhishm presents.

And with the word belief there is significant ambiguity.

 

It is quite easy to find evidence to the contrary.

Reiki Is Better Than Placebo and Has Broad Potential as a Complementary Health Therapy

I am not here to discredit Reiki as a valid Buddhist practice.

I wanted to bring up the differences between the new age version with the crystals, pendulums, mixed up with all sorts of other practices and the original Japanese traditional Reiki that was being practiced in tandem at the same time yet distinct from the version which spread through the west.

 

And the clear incompatibility of unconditional love, compassion, universal oneness and operating a business based upon only those who can afford to pay for training courses and treatments.

 

Mikao Usui who invented Reiki was a wealthy Japanese Buddhist and as such it was greatly inspired by Buddhism and Buddhist practice amongst other Japanese esoteric practices including Shinto and a mountain asceticism called Shugendo.

Reiki is 100pct an oriental system of Buddhism and yet no word of it in the new age crystal wavers videos.

Reiki is an amazing practice. My points of contention are :

1) Most of the "Youtube Reiki" has very little connection to the original Japanese Reiki after it had left Japan via Chujiro Hayashi and to Hawayo Takata in Hawaii. Hayashi taught her to Master level. Hayashi was very much interested in the palm healing side and that is what he taught to others and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. That was his area of greatest interest and so naturally this is what he disseminated.

He never used crystals, pendulums, wands, smudge, ASMR, mixed in a bit of this and a bit of that like the new age did. New age was western oriented a pick a and mix mish mash of anything that seemed to fit. That is not what Reiki used to be.

2) Charging for Reiki training and treatments seems not to be in accord with universal compassion, unconditional love or self realization.

I practice Reiki, just not 'Youtube Reiki' and I do not charge.

Beyond relaxation which in itself, if that alone is what anyone suggests Reiki is. You will benefit from a multitude of health benefits as the body has time to rest within the parasympathetic nervous system for a period.

However much of Reiki's philosophy falls back on the existence of Ki/Chi. A paralele of which exists in Indian Ayurveda known as Prana which is a large part of the basis of Yogic breathing techniques. And there are PhD level biologists accepting and writing about that.

I am not discrediting Reiki. The opposite, I am a lover and proponent.

My 2 points of contention are raised above.

I am studying a book on Reiki right now and literally just read about a student of Hayashi, I quote : "In those days Reiki was performed as a social service and not as a business." This quote relates to the 1930's internally inside Japan.

 

I think my view might have been somewhat wrong here, it is not black and white when I consider it a bit more. If someone is a Reiki practitioner they maybe have a choice to do a mundane job or can choose to practice Reiki. If clients are ok to pay moderate fees, why deny people who want Reiki treatments that possibility ?

There is a real difficulty aligning compassion, unconditional love and unity to receiving money. That is a very difficult thing to get to sit well together.
I often read that money is merely an exchange of energy. I find that nonsense and very convenient for a Reiki person to state. If Reiki is freely forming the fabric of the universe and in everyone already these fees should be absolutely minimal to accord with compassion and unconditional love.
I think it healthy for Reiki to have this out in the open and discuss.

The two important issues are its Buddhist origins being lost and even intentionally ignored and the issue of running a business and unconditional love and compassion.

I suspect it is in the interests of business to deny Reiki's Buddhist origins so such ventures can be used to profit. There is a difference between running a practice to cover operating costs and keep things going and charging very high fees.Anyone would need to consider room costs, heating, insurance. To myself it would seem that a face to face treatment should really not cost more than $20 as someone working from home and $20 plus room rental if you rent a room. Beyond this this $ are ego taxes on the client. I have seen people charging $100 for an hour and this tends to be the more Buddhist of Reiki. Through their ego tax they are saying 'their' universal energy (Ki) is more valuable than any others, which is preposterous.

Here is some authors on Reiki to read for those interested, the first are more new age and the more you go down the list they are more traditional Japanese Buddhist Reiki.

Walter Lubeck - likely the most new age of authors
Mari Hall
Penelope Quest - quite broad
Frank Arjava Petter - quite broad Japanese and new age, his books evolved towards more Japanese style
Frans Stiene - a very Japanese Buddhist perspective

The history of Reiki and its spread to the west meant it was changed to be more palatable for the west, in part due to the second world war and fear of Japanese belief systems. It was not easy for those practicing at that time in fact Chujiro Hayashi committed suicide as he was being forced to join the army again and he could not face that since becoming a Reiki man.

What is certain is that the origins were Buddhist, Mikao Usui was Buddhist so to think he was not influenced by his own belief system is ridiculous.

Bear this in mind as you research Reiki if you are interested and beware those charging you for their own ego's tax.

 

William Rand is another author, he seems quite new age. And seems to have a registered trade mark of a certain style.

That seems like total blown up egotistical nonsense to me.

Not at all in accord with Buddhist origins. We do have to consider that the Buddhist origins of Reiki and Japanese practice
were little known about until around the 1990s. However 30 years have now passed and I feel it is time that Reiki started to reflect
a lot more on what it has become, especially the Youtube variety and this $100 and hour variety.

Maybe it is time to reflect on the origins and work back towards the original forms but without the big ego's and asking for $100 an hour
for Ki which is everywhere.

 

My experience of Reiki was only in Japan in the 1980's so I don't know much about how it is presented here in the West.

One thing I would like to point out is that anytime you discuss traditional Japanese metaphysical subjects, magic, mysticism, etc. one thing that is largely overlooked is that it is heavily influenced by an archaic domestic shamanism handed down through Shinto. Whether it is Reiki, the Yamabushi (mountain hermits), Mikkyo mysticism, (all three of which today are largely seen as Buddhist traditions) or whatever it is, it has come from ancient shamanic traditions.

There is very little written or studied about this. The exception being that of Noh Plays. There is an understanding and discussion that Noh plays are ancient Shamanic stories, and the theatre is ancient shamanic dances. I have one book on the trail of ancient shamanism through Japanese belief systems, and it is buried somewhere in my library so I'd have to find it to share the title with you. It is in English. Granted, I have not kept up with this, so there may be more literature on this today in Japan or in English.

One problem, I believe or theorize, is that the Japanese did not really label these old folk beliefs and traditions. These traditions would have fit comfortably alongside Shinto, which is a shamanic tradition. In centuries past, the Shinto maidens were the Shamaness and would perform Kami-oroshi, or call down the spirits. The Koreans on the other hand did label their Shamaness as such and so there is still a shamanic tradition in Korea labelled as such. But in Japan, it was just a hodgepodge of beliefs that went alongside of Shinto.

When Buddhism entered Japan from China, Shinto took on a more formal, or what I refer to as a religious (as opposed to spiritual), structure imitating Buddhism. If you are born Japanese, you are born into Shinto and Buddhist traditions together. These old traditions kind of got melded into the mix. Hence things that you might refer to as Buddhist in a Japanese sense, may not make as much sense to MeAgain as the Buddhism he is familiar with.

However, in China, as well, you saw a similar dynamic as Taoism came directly from ancient Shamanic traditions, which in turn was combined with Buddhism to create Zen Buddhism.

 

Thanks you seem knowledgeable and I have read about these aspects of Japanese belief. I mentioned Shinto earlier on.

As I try and understand Reiki it becomes apparent that there can be some seeming potential for conflict of interest and reluctance
to acknowledge that it is a spiritual path of the self rather than predominantly healing hands. 99pct of most people's first contact with Reiki
is that it is healer others. It is not generally initially presented as a practice that one does on themselves. The essence of which is meditation with a view to self realization. If that is ever achievable in a single lifetime.

In Mikao Usui's system of Reiki it is quite clearly a simplified and accessible form of Buddhist practice.Hawayo Takata (Hawaii, USA) learned Reiki from one of Usui's students, Chujiro Hayashi in Japan. Living in Hawaii was clearly under pressure from the US authorities during the onset of second world war.

Since the 90's Reiki has been bit by bit looking backwards. At least by some individuals, Frank Arjava Petter being one of the first... taking Western Reiki back to Japan and learning traditional Reiki techniques inside Japan. Both western and Japanese Reiki seemingly evolving in various ways. In the West greatly influence by the new age. And in Japan was being practiced (presumably traditionally).

It makes for a rather strange mix of teachings being disseminated, some of which are arguably inauthentic to Japanese methods.

Anyone wishing to get involved should investigate the differences between new age Western inspired Reiki and traditional Japanese style Reiki.
Otherwise you might feel somehow that what you learn in western Reiki training, see online, read in books, that you have somehow learned a watered down, incomplete, meaningless additions (crystals/pendulums and so on) maybe even incorrect version of Reiki.

Reiki masters and teachers owe it to themselves and students to be very clear about the now well know origins of Reiki and stop
disassociating it from Japanese Buddhism, of which Mikao Usui was. Rather than it being a case of having a magic spell cast on you, (Reiju) and you become a crystal healer. It is a case of your Reiki practice will rely less on your crystal stick waving and more on how much meditation and self practice you are putting in over a sustained progressive spiritual development to become with one with Reiki and the universe.

Something totally lost on the very vast majority of advertorial Youtuber Reiki channels.

It is a lot to pick through and I want to go into it knowing what Reiki really is.

The word healing is not a word to use lightly for any thinking person, who feels responsibility and has intellect.

Sitting pretty, waving your hands about, speaking shallow repetitive buzz word nonsense on Youtube is not good enough in 2024.

 

Here is the history of Mikao Usui.

Mikao Usui - Wikipedia

The system of Reiki was inspired by a Satori experienced in a 21 day Buddhist cave retreat, if that is not Buddhist in origin I don't know what is.

To partially quote... "Gakkai members said Usui Sensei taught the way to Satori very intensely to those......." A quote from a book by Hiroshi Doi.

There are Shugendo teachers that suggest the Reiki principles are a teaching pointed to the path of self discovery for Japanese Buddhist practitioners.

I am personally satisfied that Reiki is very closely linked with Buddhism.

 

I think I was being over critical now I reflect, as was softened a bit in my subsequent posts. People can and will do and charge what they want
for whatever they want as long as it is legal in the country of origin.

I think it is good to consider all of this though.

 

The unignorable question would be if you can be serious about your own spiritual practice whilst earning a profit from disseminating the principles of that practice along with products such as 'crystals infused with Reiki'.

As I study more it seems Reiki is spiritual and not religious even though the practice very clearly draws from Buddhism, Shugendo, Shugyo, Shinto, Mykkio inspirations and is based on systems which are clearly linked to obtaining enlightenment.

What is clear is that crystals, feathers, smudge and Chakra's have 100pct absolutely nothing to do with traditional Japanese Reiki that was being practiced inside Japan at the very same time Hawayo Takata was spreading Reiki from Hawaii in the USA and then into Europe.

If you are someone serious about a spiritual path which at heart is about transcending ego, flailing around on Youtube with your wands has to be reconsidered as participant or viewer or student.

Reiki is internal personal spiritual practice.

In my view it has a complex future. The crystal wand wavers do not fit in with the traditional practice and those pushing the Japanese traditional version
with their very high prices for treatment and courses will repel those whose religious beliefs lie with anything other than Buddhism - being the most likely of practices in the Western world relative to Japanese mystic/cultural belief like Shinto etc. A serious person must encounter these things. Whilst they are the history, culture, explanations, techniques and not Reiki itself.

I do understand that Hawayo Takata had to change some aspects to protect herself during the second world war and it has taken time to work through
the changes and misunderstandings and that many have done very good work and research on Reiki to uncover more clarity and depth of origins.

We can see money has already influenced dissemination.

The important question is : Can one be serious about your own spiritual practice whilst earning a profit from disseminating the principles of a system of enlightenment ? I think this will almost certainly impede ones own ability to spiritually progress.

Every serious individual must go into this themselves and satisfy themselves.

The Buddha said : 'Come and see' not 'believe in this.'

Whilst there is nothing wrong with being good looking and wearing fancy clothes and putting on the act for Youtube for this version
of reiki that is presented, questioning authenticity will be important for some. And authenticity will also potentially repel as its Buddhist
origins may be incompatible with other religious beliefs.

Just a load of thoughts.

Sarah.

 

Many of our ozarker neighbors are too scared or disgusted to allow distance reiki on them. But the ones who do have benefitted.

 

I wonder if mudra's can be done @ distances too.