What is … Reiki?
by Cheryl Caruolo, M.F.A.

Where did Traditional Usui Reiki start?
According to records found in present-day India and China, elementary school-aged children received Reiki training as part of their basic education. Touching another being to comfort and console is a natural instinct for most people. Think when your a child falls - the impulse is to put your hands directly on the area of the body.  Similarly, when friend is distraught, we reach out to hug them – an act to comfort the heart. 

In the mid-1800’s, Mikao Usui, a Christian, was also a professor in Kyoto, Japan. When several of his students asked about the method by which Jesus healed, he began a decade-long search to find the answer. Usui sought information through Buddhism when Christian authorities in Japan told him that the ancient healing modalities rumored used by Jesus were not widely known, or discussed.  Buddhist monks told Usui that because the methods had been lost, or denied in Christian records, the only way to re-discover them was to study Buddhist teachings. (Over the years, many spiritual and academic scholars have noted the uncanny similarities between the life of Buddha in India [Gautama Siddhartha 620-543 BC] and the life of Jesus).

Eventually, Mikao Usui came to the United States, but did not find the clarification he was seeking. A significant number of years in his travels are unaccounted for, but Usui ultimately returned to Japan, as a Buddhist, and lived in a Zen monastery. Decades later, Reiki was introduced to the West from Japan.

How does Reiki work?
There is evidence that Reiki healing ability is programmed into human DNA.  Once “attuned,” Reiki practitioners have awakened the ability to amplify and direct universal life-force and use it to assist others to heal.  Healing energy is transferred to a person by the light placing of the hands on various parts of the body.  The “ki” in the word Reiki is the Japanese form of the Chinese “chi” and refers to the universal life-force field found in every living being.

A Reiki treatment is safe, non-intrusive, and non-manipulative; no substances are applied to the body and the recipient remains fully clothed.  During a full session, the practitioner directs healing energy to several areas of the head, the upper body; from neck to pelvis, and the back; from shoulders to tailbone.  Reiki works primarily with the seven major chakras (spinning wheels of energy located along the spine) that pulse within the physical body.

It is important to remember that the Reiki practitioner is a channel for the energy and therefore, not actually “doing” the healing. Reiki works in conjunction with, and as an adjunct to medical treatment and other alternative therapies. The receiver’s willingness and acceptance determines healing progress.  The Reiki practitioner does not direct the energy, nor is it necessary to study clandestine theories of the universe to use it. It is simply intent that causes the energy to flow - what shows up in the physical world manifests, in some way, in the higher vibrational levels as well. Symptoms begin with a breakdown of the other bodies – mental, emotional, energetic – eventually manifesting in the physical body as disease or other disturbances such a strained muscle or headache. Reiki has an innate sense of intelligence and will go precisely where needed.

There is a treatment protocol traditionally taught which involves a series of hand positions spaced in a specific order along the client’s body. While the energy flows where it is most needed, it is frequently observed that the spot under the practitioners’ hands emanates intense heat. The traditional hand positions are a good place to start, but they should be respected as a guide.  With experience, a practitioner will administer a treatment as her intuition instructs.

In addition to the formal body positions, Reiki can be applied to any part of the body. The sensation felt by the recipient is usually a deep feeling of warmth, calm, and comfort. Reiki evens works through bandages and can be transmitted at a distance.

By acting as a conduit for Universal Life Force, practitioners use Reiki to help “right” the askew energetic patterns that have lead to system collapse.  Reiki can relieve pain and acute symptoms quite rapidly while more chronic issues may require extensive treatment. Length of treatment depends on the root cause and the amount of energy needed to re-vitalize and re-balance the bodies. Undergoing initiation as a Reiki practitioner takes this treatment process one step further.

Reiki “attunements” are passed from Master to student in three levels. In general, level one introduces Reiki history, lineage, hand placement positions, and by some masters, the first power symbol invoked during treatment. Level two concentrates on a deeper understanding of the seven major chakras  through which Reiki is transmitted and introduces two additional power symbols; one to address emotional issues, the other for long distance healing. Finally, level three provides a master symbol and a deeper definition of Reiki as a energetic modality interconnected to other healing methods as well as intertwined with spiritual evolution.  While each additional attunement raises the healing vibration, a level one practitioner can be just as effective as a master.

What is a Reiki Treatment like?
A Reiki treatment consists of the practitioner placing his or her hands on the client’s body with the objective to summon the flow of energy.  There is no complicated ritual to perform – only the simple exchange of energy between two or more people.  The intent to share healing. The desire to ease the burden of another.  And the willingness to receive. 
                                                                                                              
Like many eastern therapies, Reiki is not widely accepted in the west. Through persistent education by practitioners, it is now embraced in many hospitals, with credits offered towards nursing continuing education requirements. Progress is slow, but finally notable.

Years ago, when I was studying with a master geologist, he showed a video tape of a clinic in China.  A fully-clothed woman was lying supine on an examination table surrounded by six physicians resting their hands lightly along her body.  They were all chanting a mantra in Chinese. Periodically one of the physicians shifted his gaze to an ultrasound machine displaying a mass in the patient’s stomach.

Thinking our master was showing us a new eastern therapy, our class watched the video intently.  After about three minutes (in real time) the mass began to shrink; after six minutes, it was almost undetectable; at seven minutes, the mass was no longer visible on the ultrasound screen. The physicians gently lifted their hands off the patient, bowed to her, bowed to each other, applauded, and then turned to the nurse and motioned for the next patient.

After a long silence, a colleague asked our master what they were chanting.
“They chant only three words, he replied.  “It is done.”

Universal Life Force Energy is omnipresent and immortal. And since energy does not die, but rather transforms, Reiki is a part of every one of us.

Specializing in writing & editing about healing arts and psychic phenomena, Cheryl combines extensive holistic training with her formal education in psychology and fine arts. She has been a Reiki Master/Teacher since 1998. cacto2012@yahoo.com.