You lay your hands on another person's back. In the first seconds you sense nothing in particular — only warmth, the fabric of a t-shirt, perhaps the movement of breath. Then something shifts. Beneath your hands a pulsing begins. Not the heartbeat — something else. A rhythm that lies deeper. Finer. Some describe it as a magnetic pull, others as a tingling, others again as a kind of silent vibration.

In the Japanese Reiki tradition this phenomenon has a name: Hibiki 響. Literally: resonance. Echo. Reverberation. And the method by which you consciously perceive and use this resonance is called Byōsen 病腺. Both terms belong to the oldest concepts of Reiki practice — and to those most forgotten in the West.

Eileen Wiesmann gives Mark Hosak a Reiki session lying down · Reiki practice
Eileen working with Mark

What is Hibiki? 響

響
Hibiki 響 — resonance, echo, reverberation. In Japanese, this character carries a wide meaning: the sound of a temple bell that lingers. The vibration that remains after the tone has faded. In Reiki practice, Hibiki describes the energetic resonance that your hands sense when they meet a field that differs from the surrounding flow.

Hibiki is not interpretation. It is perception — as direct as warmth on the skin or wind on the face. The hands sense something the conscious mind has not explained. It comes before thinking. Before analysis. It is a phenomenon of resonance between the energetic body of the practitioner and the energetic body of the receiver.

In early Reiki practice — with Usui and his first successors — Hibiki was the most important diagnostic tool. Not in a medical sense. But in the sense of: where is the density? Where does the body need attention? The hands gave the answer before the mind could even formulate the question.

What is Byōsen? 病腺

病腺
Byō 病 — imbalance, disharmony. Sen 腺 — gland, line, point of accumulation. Byōsen names the places in the energetic body where energy condenses, stagnates, or has changed in quality. It is not an abstract concept — it describes something directly perceivable with trained hands.

Unlike Hibiki — which describes the perception itself — Byōsen names the state that is being perceived. Hibiki is the echo. Byōsen is the source of the echo. In practice, both terms are often used synonymously, but the distinction helps in understanding: you sense Hibiki, and what you sense is Byōsen.

"Byōsen is the language in which the body speaks to your hands. You don't have to invent it. You only have to hear it. And anyone can hear — once they stop searching with the head." Dr. Mark Hosak

The five stages of Byōsen perception 五段階

In the Japanese Reiki tradition, five stages of energetic perception are distinguished. They do not describe different techniques but different intensities of the same phenomenon. The deeper the density, the more intense the perception in the hands.

1
On Netsu
Gentle warmth. The softest form of perception. The hands grow warm — warmer than the body temperature of the receiver would suggest. A sign that the energy flow in this area is slightly slowed. Often the first stage that beginners perceive.
2
Atsui On Netsu
Stronger warmth, sometimes hot. The density is more distinct. Some practitioners also feel a slight tingling. The hands want to linger longer in this place — a natural reflex, not a conscious decision.
3
Piri Piri
Tingling and prickling — like fine needle points or the crawling of ants. A clear, unmistakable sensation. The word Piri Piri is onomatopoeic — it sounds the way it feels. At this stage the energetic density is clearly noticeable, even for less experienced practitioners.
4
Hibiki
Pulsing. Rhythmic movement beneath the hands that is not identical with the heartbeat. An independent rhythm — slower, deeper, sometimes wave-like. At this stage the energy moves perceptibly. It is as if the body breathes beneath the hands — in a beat of its own.
5
Itami
Pain or intense sensation in the practitioner's hands. Not in the body of the receiver — in your hands. This stage indicates a deep density. The hands mirror what lies in the energetic body of the other person. It is not a sign of danger — it is a sign of depth.

These five stages are not a rigid ladder. Some places show stage 4 immediately, others remain at stage 1. And perception shifts within the course of a session: what began as Hibiki may fade to On Netsu — a sign that the density is dissolving. The stages are an orientation, not a rulebook.

Why the West forgot it 西洋

When Reiki travelled from Japan to the West in the 1930s and 1940s, something curious happened: the hand positions were preserved, but the perception behind them was lost. In the West, a fixed scheme of twelve to fifteen hand positions became standard — the same for every person, regardless of what the hands sense.

In the Japanese tradition it was the other way around. The hand positions were a starting point for beginners — a scaffold, until Byōsen perception was reliable enough to let the hands move on their own. The goal was never the scheme. The goal was the capacity to work without a scheme — guided by the perception in the hands.

Decisive difference

In Western Reiki the position is the method. In the Japanese tradition the perception is the method. The position is only the scaffold one needs until one can stand without it. In Shingon Reiki both are practised: the positions as foundation — and Byōsen as the way to grow beyond them.

Byōsen and the three secrets 三密

In Shingon Buddhism there is a concept that places Byōsen in a larger context: Sanmitsu 三密 — the three secrets. Body, speech, and mind. Every complete practice in Shingon activates all three at once.

With Byōsen, exactly that happens: the body is active — the hands perceive, the posture is upright, the breath flows. Speech is silently active — the inner mantra or silent alignment accompanies the practice. And the mind is awake but not steering — it observes without interpreting. Precisely this state — body active, mind open, intention clear but not narrow — makes Byōsen perception possible.

Many practitioners report that they perceive Byōsen more strongly after meditation. That is no coincidence. Meditation — especially Gasshō meditation and Jōshin Kokyū Hō — calibrates exactly that openness of mind that Byōsen requires. It is not a mystical capacity. It is a trainable perception — and Shingon practice is the tool that sharpens it.

Dr. Mark Hosak speaking about Shingon Reiki at the institute
Conversation at the institute

How you develop Byōsen 実践

Byōsen is not a gift some have and others don't. It is a perception refined through practice — the way a musician sharpens their ear or a cook develops their sense of taste. The basic requirement is simple: regular Reiki practice. Whoever lays on hands daily — on themselves or on others — trains the sensitivity of the hands.

In Shingon Reiki there are three ways to deepen Byōsen perception specifically. The first is Hatsurei Hō — the daily morning practice that purifies the energetic body and opens the channels. The second is Gasshō meditation — the stillness in which perception sharpens. And the third is the initiation itself — the transmission that, in Shingon Reiki, activates the channels of perception that were previously closed.

The most important thing: don't think, sense. Byōsen happens beneath the mind. The moment you start analysing — "Is that stage 2 or stage 3?" — you interrupt the flow. Perception arrives when you stop searching for it. As with so much in the Shingon tradition: letting go is the way.

"The hands always know. The only question is: are you listening to them? Or are you too busy with what you think you know?" Dr. Mark Hosak
Beyond hand positions

Discover the depth of Reiki practice

Byōsen is one of the reasons Shingon Reiki differs from Western Reiki. The initiation opens perception — practice refines it.

Your path into Shingon Reiki Japanese Reiki Techniques