Monthly Archives: January 2017
Questions To Ask A Reiki Master
Finding the right person from which to learn the healing art of Reiki, and receive the Reiki Attunements can be confusing and a little intimidating at first. Here is a list of questions compiled by William Rand that will help guide you in your search for the right teacher for you, and give you a better understanding of what it is they offer in their classes.
If you are already a Reiki Master, and offering classes, this list of questions can serve as a guide as to information you might want to provide in your flyers, class materials, and brochures.
- How long have you been working with Reiki?
- What training have you had?
- How often do you teach?
- How do you personally use Reiki?
- What is your lineage?
- Will this training initiate me into, or progress me within the Usui lineage?
- What qualifications are required to take Reiki Training?
- What do you cover in your classes?
- How many hours of class time is included?
- How much time is instructional, and how much is hands on practice?
- What are the specific things I will be able to do after taking the training?
- What are your fees, and will I receive a certificate and a manual?
- Can I take notes and tape record the class?
- How many symbols (if any) will I learn?
- Is there a Reiki support group in my area or can you help me establish one?
- Will you openly support me in being a successful Reiki practitioner or master?
- Do you have a positive respectful attitude toward other Reiki practitioners and masters, regardless of lineage or affiliation?
Be aware of how you feel about their answers and if they are responding in a loving manner that is supportive and empowering. Listen to your heart and you will be guided to the right teacher.
From: The Reiki News, Autumn 2002
The 21 Day Clearing Process
I like to compare the initiation process in Reiki to a vortex of Universal Energy pouring into the crown chakra. At each level of attunement, the vibratory rate is heightened, and you are able to tap into a higher, wider channel of that Universal Energy.
Some may experience this shift immediately, expanded color consciousness, a buzzing or heightened sensitivity in the crown center, or a sense of floating or light headedness. (It is important to remember to remove all jewelry, watches, and barrettes prior to any attunement as metals may create discomfort in the chakra areas.)
In order for the vibratory rate to be raised with each attunement, there has to be a clearing of old patterns and thoughts that inhibit the growth of the consciousness. This clearing takes place in an orderly fashion, proceeding up the axis chakras one by one:
Week one consists of one day each for the chakra center of the root, spleen, solar plexus, heart, throat, third eye, and then the crown.
Week two begins at the root chakra and proceeds day by day up to the crown center.
Week three is a repeat of the other two. (This is the same cycle and procedure for healing acute dis-ease in others. It is best if they are treated for twenty-one days straight to clear the chakras three times each in order to remove old patterns and pain.)
I like to compare this chakra healing (clearing) process to a check mark. When making a check mark, you have to go down before you can go up. This process may prove to be uncomfortable for many people. As the blocks that are preventing your progress are brought forward, they are released by your physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual bodies.
The effects that you may experience are wide spread, and could range from irritability and crying to the inability to eat low vibration foods (like red meat). You may also be unable to tolerate negativity of any ki8nd.
Please keep in mind that this process is detoxifying your life. What you may feel as various degrees of discomfort during the 21 day “clearing” or “cleansing” cycle creates more space for transcendence. You experience a sort of Shaman’s Death, so to speak, to go far beyond the self.
Each attunement is life-altering. I ask that you embrace the 21 day clearing cycle as a glorious opportunity for soul growth. Honor the process and be kind to yourself.
For my sources see: Recommended Reading
The Reiki Attunements
An amazingly simple technique to learn, the ability to use Reiki is not taught in the usual sense, but is transferred to the student by the Reiki Master during an attunement process. This process opens the crown, heart, and palm chakras and creates a special link between the student and the Reiki source.
Its use is not dependent on 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.
The process of attunement is what sets Reiki apart from every other form of laying on of hands or touch healing. It is the attunements themselves that are Reiki, and without this process – which must be passed directly from Teacher to student – the healing system is not Reiki but something else. The attunement is not a healing session, it creates the healer.
The attunement does not give the receiver any thing new; it opens and aligns what was already there. The process is much like plugging in a lamp in a house already wired for electricity. When the healer puts hands down with the intent to heal, the light is turned on.
The Reiki attunement is a powerful spiritual experience. The attunement energies are channeled into the student through the Reiki Master. The process is guided by the Rei or God-consciousness and makes adjustments in the process depending on the needs of each student.
The attunement is also attended by Reiki guides and other spiritual beings who help implement the process. Many report having mystical experiences involving personal messages, healings, visions, and past life experiences.
The attunement can also increase psychic sensitivity. After receiving a Reiki attunement, students often report experiences involving:
- Opening of the third eye
- Increased intuitive awareness
- Other psychic abilities
Once you have received a Reiki attunement, you will have Reiki for the remainder of your life. It does not wear off and you can never lose it. While one attunement is all you need for each level to be attuned to that level, additional attunements bring benefits which include: refinement and increased strength of the Reiki energy one is channeling, healing of personal problems, clarity of mind, increased psychic sensitivity, and a raised level of consciousness.
The Reiki attunement can start a cleansing process that affects the physical body as well as the mind and emotions. Toxins that have been stored in the body may be released along with feelings and thought patterns that are no longer useful.
After the attunement, all that is necessary for the use of Reiki is to place hands on the person to be healed with the intention of healing. The Reiki energies will begin flowing automatically.
For my sources see: Recommended Reading
The Evolution of Reiki
The Usui System of Natural Healing has evolved over time. In its current state it is much more organized and structured than the simple, flexible, intuitive method practiced by Dr. Usui.
The following is a description of the evolution of the Usui System of Reiki:
- During his mystical experience on Mt. Kurama, Dr. Usui received the ability to do Reiki treatments, the Reiki symbols, and the ability to pass Reiki on to others.
- Later he added the Reiki Ideals and the idea that one needs to receive compensation for a treatment.
- Dr. Hayashi added the standard hand positions, the three drees and the attunement processses.
- Mrs. Takata added the fee structure.
- The required waiting periods between classes were added by several of Mrs. Takata’s Masters after she passed on.
After Mrs. Takata’s transition, a few teachers began making changes in the way they taught Reiki. Most of the changes were beneficial, and included the addition of knowledge and healing skills the teachers had learned from other systems or had acquired from inner guidance.
However, some changes were restrictive, making it more difficult for students to progress. Some took the Third Degree and divided it into several small parts, calling each new part a new Degree and charging additional money.
Often, the fact that the Usui system had been modified was not mentioned and when their students became teachers, they began teaching what they thought was pure Usui Reiki when in fact it was not. In this way, many varieties of Reiki have developed with some thinking they have the only authentic version of Reiki when actually what they are teaching is a modified form.
For my sources see: Recommended Reading
Reiki Comes To The West
Hawayo Takata was born at dawn on December 24, 1900, on the island of Kauai, Hawaii. Her parents were Japanese immigrants and her father worked in the sugar cane fields. She worked very hard as she was growing up. She eventually married the bookkeeper of the plantation where she was employed. His name was Saichi Takata and they had 2 daughters.
In October of 1930, Saichi died at the age of 34 leaving Mrs. Takata to raise their two children. In order to provide for her family, she had to work very hard with little rest. After five years she developed severe abdominal pain, a lung condition and had a nervous breakdown.
Soon after this, one of her sisters died and it was the responsibility of Hawayo to travel to Japan, where her parents had moved, to deliver the news. She also felt she could receive help for her health in Japan.
She took a steamship and was accompanied by her sister-in-law. After informing her parents of the death of her sister, she entered a hospital. It was found that she had a tumor, gallstones and appendicitis. After resting several weeks, she was ready for the needed operation.
On the operating table, just before the surgery was to begin, Hawayo heard a voice. The voice said, “The operation is not necessary. The operation is not necessary.” She had never heard a voice speak to her like this before. She wondered what it meant. The voice repeated the message a third time even louder. She knew she was wide awake and had not imagined the voice. It was so unusual, yet so compelling that she decided to ask the doctor.
She got off the operating table, wrapped a sheet around herself and asked to speak to the doctor. When the doctor finally come, she asked if he knew of any other way that her problems could be helped. The koctor knew of Dr. Hayashi’s Reiki clinic and told Hawayo about it. This was something she wanted to try.
At the Reiki clinic, she began receiving treatments. She had never heart of Reiki before and did not know what it was. Using their Reiki hands the practitioners could sense what was wrong with Mrs. Takata. Their diagnosis very closely matched the doctor’s at the hospital. This impressed her and gave her confidence in what they were doing.
Two Reiki practitioners would treat her each day. The heat from their hands was so strong that she thought they were using some kind of equipment. She looked around, but saw none. Seeing the large sleeves of the Japanese kimono one of the practitioners was wearing, she thought she had found the location of the equipment. She grabbed the sleeves, but found nothing. The startled practitioner wanted to know what she was doing and when she explained, he began to laugh. Then he told her about Reiki and how it worked.
Mrs. Takata received daily treatments and got progressively better. In four months, she was completely healed. Impressed with the results, she wanted to learn Reiki. However, it was explained that Reiki was Japanese and that it was intended to stay in Japan. It could not be taught to an outsider.
Mrs. Takata talked to the surgeon at the hospital and convinced him to ask Dr. Hayashi to allow her to learn Reiki. Since Dr. Hayashi wanted to teach Reiki to another woman besides his wife, and since Mrs. Takata was so persistent, he decided that she should be the one. In the Spring of 1936, Mrs. Takata received First Degree Reiki. She worked with Dr. Hayashi for one year and then received Second Degree Reiki.
Mrs. Takata returned to Hawaii in 1937. She was soon followed by Dr. Hayashi and his daughter who came to help establish Reiki in Hawaii. In the winter of 1938, Dr. Hayashi initiated Hawayo Takata as a Reiki Master. She was the thirteenth and last Reiki Master Dr. Hayashi initiated. She, in turn, initiated 22 Reiki Masters before her transition in 1980. That list can be found here.
For my sources see: Recommended Reading
The Original Twenty Two
Between 1970 and her transition on December 11, 1980, Mrs. Takata initiated 22 Reiki Masters. This is the list she gave to her sister before she passed through transition.
- George Araki
- Barbara McCullough
- Beth Grey
- Ursula Baylow
- Paul Mitchell
- Iris Ishikura
- Fran Brown
- Barbara Weber Ray
- Ethel Lombardi
- Wanja Twan
- Virginia Samdahl
- Phyllis Lei Furumoto
- Dorothy Baba
- Mary McFaden
- John Gray
- Rick Bockner
- Bethel Phaigh
- Harry Kuboi
- Patricia Ewing
- Shinobu Saito
- Kay Yamashita
- Barbara Brown
The original 22 teachers have taught others. In the decade since Mrs. Takata experienced transition, Reiki has spread rapidly in the West. It is now practiced throughout North and South America, Europe, New Zealand, Australia and other parts of the world. There are now (at the time of this writing) an estimated 50,000 Reiki Masters with as many as 1,000,000 people practicing Reiki throughout the world.
Every Reiki Master should be able to trace their lineage back through time to the original Reiki Master, Dr. Usui Sensei.
About Dr. Chujiro Hayashi
Dr. Chujiro Hayashi was a retired naval officer. He received the Reiki Master initiation from Dr. Usui about 1925 at the age of 47.
Hayashi is often considered to be Usui’s chief disciple and the second Grand Master of Reiki history. He played a major role in the transmission of Reiki out of Japan and for turning it into a less mystical practice.
Up to this point, the Usui sysbem of healing consisted of the energy itself, the symbols, the attunement process and the Reiki ideals. This was what Dr. Usui had receoved during his mystical experience on Mt. Kurama.
Dr. Hayashi went on to develop the Usui system of healing. He opened a Reiki clinic called the Hayashi Reiki Kenkyu-kai in Tokyo and kept detailed records of the treatments given. He used this information to create the standard hand positions, the system of three degrees and their initiation procedures.
In 1940, Hayashi performed seppuku rather than join the war.
For my sources see: Recommended Reading and wikipedia
Kirlian Photography and Reiki
Before Reiki
After Reiki
Kirlian photography is a technique of photographing the etheric energy patterns around living things. Pioneered by Semyon Kirlian, a Russian researcher in the 1940’s, it is based on a phenomenon known as corona discharge. This discharge pattern seems to follow the pattern of the etheric aura. As you can see from the images above, the energy after Reiki is stronger, more organized, and more balanced.
How Reiki Works
The knowledge that an unseen energy flows through all living things, and is connected directly to the quality of health, has been part of the wisdom of many cultures since ancient times. The existence of this “life force energy” has been verified by recent scientific experiments, and medical doctors are considering the role it plays in the functioning of the immune system and the healing process.
We are alive because life force is flowing through us. Life force flows within the physical body through pathways called chakras, meridians, and nadis. It also flows around us in a field of energy called the aura. Life force nourishes the organs and cells of the body, supporting them in their vital functions. When this flow of life force is disrupted, it causes diminished function in one or more of the organs and tissues of the physical body.
The life force is responsive to thoughts and feelings. It becomes disrupted when we accept, either consciously or unconsciously, negative thoughts or feelings about ourselves. These negative thoughts and feelings attach themselves to the energy field and cause a disruption in the flow of life force. This diminishes the vital function of the organs and cells of the physical body.
Reiki heals by flowing through the affected parts of the energy field and charging them with positive energy. It raises the vibratory level of the energy field in and around the physical body where the negative thoughts and feelings are attached. This causes the negative energy to break apart and fall away. In so doing, Reiki clears, straightens, and heals the energy pathways, thus allowing the life force to flow in a healthy and natural way.
While everything that has life has Ki, a Reiki attunement connects you in an increased way to your limitless source. With the first attunement in Reiki 1, you become a channel for this life force energy. For the rest of your life, all you need to do to connect with healing Ki is to place your hands on yourself or someone else and it will flow through you automatically. You experience an energy that first heals you, and then heals others without depleting you.
This is truly a gift of life.
From: Reiki The Healing Touch by William Rand
- Cindy Plante: Gedoku-Ho
- Gregory: Natural Power Spots
- Alexander Boyd: The Seven Subtle Bodies
- Alexander Boyd: The Seven Subtle Bodies
- Alexander Boyd: The Seven Subtle Bodies