Knowledge from
a living practice.

What is Reiki? The characters 靈氣, Usui’s memorial stone and the roots of the method, explained by Dr. Mark Hosak.

Shingon is a school of esoteric Mahāyāna Buddhism founded in 9th-century Japan by Kūkai (Kōbō Daishi), and one of the roots of Reiki. An overview by Dr. Mark Hosak: Kūkai, mikkyō, kaji, Dainichi Nyorai and Kōyasan.

Reiki is more than laying on hands. Usui's memorial stone speaks of spiritual growth and supernatural abilities — and of the four roots he drew from.

What Reiki carried at its source — and how Shingon Reiki brings it into the practice.

Where do the four Reiki symbols come from? The Siddham seed syllable behind Sei He Ki and the kanji of the symbols, explained by Dr. Mark Hosak.

Sei He Ki: the Siddham seed syllable hrīḥ, the pronunciation 正癖 and the beings of light behind the symbol, explained by Dr. Mark Hosak.

The distance Reiki symbol: five kanji, their translation and the pagoda in the symbol, explained by Dr. Mark Hosak.

The three kanji of the master symbol, sun and moon, and Dainichi Nyorai, explained by Dr. Mark Hosak.

Raku in Reiki: where the name comes from, the possible characters, the character 楽 in calligraphy and Raku ware.

Where does Reiki initiation come from? Buddhist kanjō, kaji and reiju, explained by Dr. Mark Hosak.

How a Shingon Reiki session unfolds: preparation, the session and the closing, explained by Dr. Mark Hosak.

Reiki and meditation: Dr. Mark Hosak explains Usui’s instruction to practice gasshō morning and evening, the breathing exercise jōshin kokyū hō and the three mysteries of Shingon.

Kenyoku, Byōsen, Reiji Hō, Hatsurei Hō: what the Japanese Reiki techniques are and what the sources actually support.

Reiki scanning: Dr. Mark Hosak explains what it means to perceive the energetic body with your hands, what Byōsen Reikan Hō means and how it relates to byōsen.

What hibiki and byōsen mean, and why both happen at the same time when you give Reiki.

What the spine, eyes and ears mean in Shingon and Shingon Reiki, explained by Dr. Mark Hosak.

Oxytocin, empathy, and sensory perception: the biochemical bridge between sensuality and spiritual development in Shingon Reiki.

How does distance Reiki work? The symbol Hon Sha Ze Shō Nen, the Buddhist idea of dependent arising (engi), the mandala, and distance prayer rituals in Japan.

Can an initiation work across distance? Why distance transmission has a long tradition in Japan, from kaji kitō to enkaku chiryō hō in early Reiki, and how online and live events complement each other.

Chakras in Reiki from a Japanese perspective: Dr. Mark Hosak explains the five rings (gorin) of Shingon, their Siddham seed syllables, the five-ring pagodas and the hara.

How Reiki and Traditional Chinese Medicine connect: meridians, Qi, and the five phases of transformation.

Yakushi Nyorai, the Medicine Buddha: Dr. Mark Hosak explains his name, his vows and the three mysteries of body, speech and mind, and the role the Medicine Buddha plays in Shingon Reiki.

From the first initiation through symbols and distance Reiki to the Master Path. Dr. Mark Hosak explains the levels of Shingon Reiki and the Japanese kanjō tradition behind them.

What gohonzon (御本尊) means: the kanji, the principal object of veneration in Japanese temples, its place in the two mandalas, the five elements as a way of seeing the altar, and the personal altar in Shingon Reiki.

The Shingon Reiki Master Path over 24 months, and what the Japanese word dō (way) has to do with it.

Reiki for the eyes in the Japanese tradition: the eyes as mirror of the heart, Yakushi Nyorai and the liver meridian.

Spinal Reiki: the spine as the axis of the body, the five elements, kaji and Dainichi Nyorai in the Shingon tradition.

Grounding with Reiki: why rooting comes first, the earth element (chi) and the Siddham A, an overview of the four-stage grounding from the hara to the soles of the feet, and grounding in everyday life.

Reiki hand positions on the upper body: kaji, the five elements and Dainichi Nyorai in the Shingon tradition.

Reiki and crystals: quartz, rose quartz and amethyst in the Buddhist tradition — and why the force lies in the practice, not in the stone.

The two great mandalas of Shingon, Womb Realm and Diamond Realm: what a mandala is, Siddham as the sound of the Buddhas, the five elements in the body (gorin), Dainichi Nyorai at the center, and the connection to Reiki.

Rituals in Reiki: sanmitsu, goma, kaji, Kuji Kiri and kanjō, explained by Dr. Mark Hosak.

Kūkai (774–835), Kōbō Daishi: from the state academy into the mountains, the Gumonji-hō, the transmission from Huiguo in China, Kōyasan and Tō-ji, sokushin jōbutsu, and his presence on the Shikoku pilgrimage today.

The Siddham script as seed syllables of Buddhas and bodhisattvas: where it comes from, how it came to Japan and its connection with the Reiki symbols. Dr. Mark Hosak on his dissertation, Siddham in Japanese Art – Rituals of Healing.

The Siddham script travelled from India through China to Japan, where it arrived as early as the 6th century and became a sacred script.

Every Siddham syllable embodies a Buddha or bodhisattva. A stands for Dainichi Nyorai, Hrīḥ for Amida and Kannon. The seed syllables of Shingon meditation.

Siddham calligraphy and writing with ki: shodō, Kūkai's Siddham works and the connection with the Reiki symbols.

Dainichi Nyorai, the Great Sun Buddha at the center of Shingon: the meaning of his name, Dharmakāya, the mudra chiken-in, the two mandalas, his mantra, and his connection to Reiki.

Kannon (観音), the bodhisattva of compassion: the meaning of the name, the six Kannon and their forms, Kannon in the Womb Realm mandala, the Senju Kannon mantra and the seed syllable hrīḥ, and the connection to Reiki.

Kongōsatta (金剛薩埵), in Sanskrit Vajrasattva, the diamond being: his name, his place as second patriarch of Shingon, the hundred-syllable mantra, the transformation of anger, vajra and bell, and the connection to Reiki and Kuji Kiri.

Kokūzō Bosatsu, in Sanskrit Ākāśagarbha, is the keeper of the Akashic records: the meaning of his name and the Gumonji-hō that Kūkai and Mikao Usui practiced.

Batō Kannon, the horse-headed form of Kannon: name, iconography, his role as protector of animals in Japan, and what matters when you give Reiki to animals.

Fudō Myōō, the Immovable Wisdom King: what his sword, rope and flames mean, how Buddhism understands karmic patterns, wrathful compassion, and his place in Shingon Reiki and Kuji Kiri.

Kotodama (言霊) — the soul of the word in Shintō, in Shingon and in the names of the Reiki symbols.

Calligraphy as spiritual practice in Japan: shodō, writing with ki, ofuda and the Reiki symbols.

What Buddhist practice in everyday life can look like in the Shingon tradition: gyō, the three mysteries of body, speech and mind, Reiki as part of this practice, and how to start simply.

Setting up a simple Buddhist altar at home for your Reiki practice: the butsudan in Japan, the classic offerings of light, incense and flowers, a sensible arrangement, and what an altar is not.

Yōkai, yūrei, kami and tennin: what stands behind the spirits and invisible beings of the Japanese tradition? Dr. Mark Hosak explains Japan's spirit world and where it comes from.

What a torii really is, how to walk through one and purify at the temizuya, how to pray at the hall, and why Fushimi Inari has thousands of gates. By Japanologist Dr. Mark Hosak.

Temple 85 of the Shikoku pilgrimage, on a mountain of five swords, where one of Sanuki's three great tengu is said to come down at night — and people leave wooden clogs out for him.

Temple 81 of the Shikoku pilgrimage and the burial place of Emperor Sutoku, who died in exile here and became one of Japan's most feared vengeful spirits.

Temple 82 of the Shikoku pilgrimage, where a creature called the Ushioni was brought down by an archer — and where the temple took in the body and prayed for it.

Temple 84 of the Shikoku pilgrimage, on the plateau where the Genpei war was fought — and home to Tasaburō, one of the three great tanuki of Japan.

Temple 87 of the Shikoku pilgrimage, where the most famous woman of the Genpei age is said to have cut off her hair and renounced the world.

The head shrine of some two thousand Hakusan shrines across Japan, at the foot of one of the country's three sacred mountains. Who lives there, and what people come to ask.

A temple in Komatsu, Ishikawa, founded in 717, where a path runs through a cave in the rock and coming out the other side is understood as a rebirth.

Keta Taisha on the Noto Peninsula and its sacred forest Irazu-no-mori, "the forest one does not enter": who is enshrined there, why the forest has been left untouched, and what to know before you go.

In the Kurama mountains near Kyoto, Mikao Usui had the experience Reiki grew out of. The place had been a site of power for centuries, with bears, venomous snakes and visions.

Mikao Usui and Tendai Buddhism: Taimitsu, the Lotus Sutra, nyūga ganyū and Kurama in Usui's time.

Usui's practice in the Kurama mountains and the mountain tradition of Shugendō: the yamabushi, Kuji Kiri and the roots of Reiki.

What do we actually know about Mikao Usui? Dr. Mark Hosak on the memorial stone at Saihōji, which he translated from the original, the Usui Reiki Ryōhō Gakkai and the legends that were added later.

Kōyasan, the mountain center of Shingon founded by Kūkai in 816: the eight peaks, the Konpon Daitō as a three-dimensional mandala, Okunoin, temple stays (shukubō), and the connection to Reiki.

Goma (護摩), the fire ritual of esoteric Buddhism: from the Vedic homa via China to Kūkai, the role of Fudō Myōō, the gomagi sticks, the five kinds of goma, and what the fire has in common with Reiki.

How the Shingon tradition accompanies dying and death on four levels: impermanence (mujō), Amida and the Pure Land, the Mantra of Light (Kōmyō Shingon), dosha kaji and memorial rites up to the 33rd year.

Meditation with Yakushi Nyorai, the Medicine Buddha: his name, the lapis-lazuli light, the twelve vows, the Siddham bhai and his mantra, and my experience with his mantra on the Shikoku pilgrimage.

What "healing" means in Buddhism: freedom from suffering (dukkha), the three poisons, kaji, the Medicine Buddha Yakushi Nyorai, and where Reiki fits in. Spiritual practice, not medical treatment.

How the Shingon tradition deals with deep-seated emotions: the kleśas (bonnō), bonnō soku bodai, compassion (jihi), Reiki as a safe space, and the goma fire ritual. Spiritual practice, not psychotherapy.

The life of Reiki's founder, told close to the inscription on his memorial stone.

The five Reiki principles, kanji by kanji. The original Gokai by Mikao Usui as contemplative meditation, energy work and spiritual practice. Dr. Mark Hosak translates the Japanese.

The inscription on Mikao Usui's memorial stone at Saihōji in Tokyo, the most important source on his life and practice. Translated and explained by Dr. Mark Hosak: Japanese original, romanization and English, passage by passage.

Usui's memorial stone mentions the instructions of the Meiji Tennō. What is meant is the Imperial Rescript on Education of 1890. Its twelve points, how it differs from Usui's five principles, and where "earn your living honestly" really comes from.

Cho Ku Rei: the spellings 勅令 and 直靈, the Engi shiki and the inner kami, explained by Dr. Mark Hosak.

Buddhist massage as spiritual bodywork: the tradition around Jīvaka, the Buddha's physician, its spread through Asia, Kūkai's idea of awakening in this very body, and the Aizen Myōō initiation in Shingon Reiki.

Behind the hand signs from anime is a real tradition from Shingon, Shugendō, Shintō and shamanic Daoism. Dr. Mark Hosak explains.

Where the nine characters come from and how the Kuji Kiri master path in Shingon Reiki is built, layer by layer.

Ninjutsu is more than martial art. The spiritual side — Kuji Kiri, Shugendō, and esoteric Buddhism.

Usui’s warrior-family background and what of it lives on in Reiki, explained by Dr. Mark Hosak.

Kuji Kiri and the martial arts: where the nine signs come from, how they came to Japan and became a system of their own, their role for mountain ascetics and warriors, the nine qualities, and the protective ritual of the nine cuts.

Ki in martial arts and ki in Reiki share a character, not the same energy. Kiai, zanshin, mushin: what Japanese warriors knew, and what it means for Reiki practice.

Why Japanese warriors meditated: Dr. Mark Hosak on mushin, Takuan's letter to Yagyū Munenori, Fudō Myōō, Shugendō and the idea of ken zen ichinyo.

What does being a warrior mean when there is no outer enemy? Inner strength, clarity, resolve — the warrior qualities Shingon Reiki carries forward today.

Fudō Myōō, the Immovable Wisdom King, as protector of warriors: his name, the Kurikara sword, the rope, the flames, his veneration by warriors and mountain ascetics, and his place in Kuji Kiri and Shingon Reiki.

Kokūzō Bosatsu, in Sanskrit Ākāśagarbha, the "treasury of space," and what he has to do with intuition in spiritual martial art. Kūkai's Gumonji-hō, the Tengu of Kurama, and the bridge to the Tengu Akasha Dojo.

Kōyasan, Shikoku, Kyoto: the places of the Shingon tradition, and the next journey to Japan in May 2027.

How Dr. Mark Hosak came to Reiki and to Shingon Reiki: from Japanese lessons at 13 in Bremen and a skeptical start with Reiki in 1993, through calligraphy, Japanese studies in Heidelberg and research at Kyoto University, to the Shikoku pilgrimage and Ninjutsu. A personal account.

Sûsokukan, the breath-counting meditation of Shingon Buddhism: what the name means, why the count goes to 108, and where the practice sits in Shingon meditation.

Gachirinkan, the moon disc contemplation of Shingon: what the name means, its source in the Bodaishinron, the moon as an image of the pure mind, its link to Ajikan and the Siddham A, and its place in Shingon Reiki and Kuji Kiri.

Mirror-image meditation: relaxation with an inner mirror, and what the mirror means in Shintō and esoteric Buddhism.

Finding the right meditation posture: chair, seiza, cross-legged, half and full lotus (kekka fuza), simple hand positions, belly breathing, and the most common mistakes.

Nine resistances that come up in meditation again and again, from a distorted sense of time to self-doubt, and how to meet them calmly. By Dr. Mark Hosak, from Shingon Reiki practice.

The bodyscan meditation: where it comes from, what happens when you move your attention through the body, the Inner Smile from Chanmi Qigong, and how all this relates to Reiki.

Chanmi Qigong combines Chan (Zen) and esoteric Buddhism (mikkyō). What the name means, the principle of the circle, nen as directed attention, and why a Japanese qigong book counts Usui among the great qigong masters.

Ki and Qi are the same character. Dr. Mark Hosak on the shared roots of Qigong and Reiki.

Belly breathing, hara, tanden: how Qigong breathing and Reiki breath practice connect, and what the breath has to do with ki.

High sensitivity and Reiki: what the research on highly sensitive people says, why subtle perception (hibiki, byōsen) often comes easily to them, protection with goshinbō, and the Buddhist idea of kannō.

Negative influences from a Shingon perspective: the three poisons, imprints, energetic burdens, and why purification starts with yourself.

Energetic protection in the Shingon tradition: Fudō Myōō, omamori, incense and the ancestors. Protection as something that accompanies you on the spiritual path.