Most people associate Reiki with laying on hands and relaxation. That's not wrong. But I've always been curious about what's actually inside the word itself. I spent about three years doing research at Kyoto University, often in temples, walked the 88 temples of the Shikoku pilgrimage on foot, and wrote my doctorate on the origins of Reiki. In this article I'd like to explain what the characters of Reiki mean, what Usui wanted with his method and where the practice comes from.
The characters 靈氣
Reiki is written with two kanji, 靈 rei and 氣 ki. Together they mean spiritual life energy. It gets interesting when you take the two characters apart, because each of them is a small picture.
Today Reiki is usually written in the simplified form 霊気. In rei the three mouths were replaced by a single horizontal stroke, and in ki the rice grain was swapped for a simplification mark with no meaning of its own. That's why I deliberately use the old full forms, because only they still show the original meaning.
Where the characters come from 文字の起源
Kanji come from China, and the oldest surviving characters had a ritual function. They were carved into turtle shells and ox bones, which were then put into fire, and the answer of the oracle was read from the cracks. Each character was originally a picture, of a mountain, a river or a person, for example. The rain magic described by rei is an image for shamanic rituals of the kind that mattered so much in ancient China and in shamanic Daoism. You ask for something through certain actions, receive a blessing, and bring that power to bear on earth.
What Usui wanted with his method 臼井靈氣療法
Usui called his method Usui Reiki Ryōhō 臼井靈氣療法, where ryōhō literally means method of treatment. What's interesting is what the memorial stone says, the one his companions put up in Tokyo in 1927. In essence it says this spiritual method shouldn't be limited to treating illness and bad habits. The key point, it says, is that the extrasensory abilities of one's natural gifts form the basis for perfecting the spiritual heart, keeping the body healthy and embracing a life of prosperity. In other words, for Usui Reiki was a spiritual path from the very start. More in the articles on the memorial stone and on what Usui actually meant.
The five life principles (Japanese: gokai 五戒) belong to this path as well. According to the memorial stone they're to be recited aloud morning and evening, with attention in the spiritual heart. I explain what's in each principle in the article on Usui's life principles.
The roots of Reiki 歴史
Usui didn't start from scratch. I think it's very likely he drew on several traditions that have existed side by side in Japan for centuries and merged with one another: the esoteric Buddhism of Shingon, the Shugendō of the mountain ascetics, Shintō and shamanic Daoism. In Japan the old isn't thrown out when something new arrives; it lives on alongside it. The Reiki symbols show this nicely, because they contain a Siddham seed syllable (Siddham is called Bonji in Japanese), Buddhist kanji and elements of talisman craft. Usui had his decisive experience after 21 days of fasting and meditation in the Kurama mountains, an old place of power where these lines cross. More in the article on Kurama.
The hands 手
When a child bumps an elbow, it puts its hand on the spot without thinking. Laying on hands is one of the oldest human gestures there is. Reiki turns it into a conscious practice and connects it with meditation, initiation and the life principles. The nice thing is that you always have your hands with you. I lay my hands on myself every morning right after waking up, to wake up and start the day relaxed.
How to pronounce the Japanese Reiki terms 発音
In Japanese almost every consonant is followed by a vowel, and words are spoken without strong stress, so they sound fairly even. The rhythm comes from the long-vowel marks (ō, ū). A line over a vowel simply means you hold it a little longer.
The ei in Reiki, by the way, is a long e with a very light i at the end, close to "ray-key," just a bit softer.
Shi sounds like "shee" in "sheep," chi like "chee" in "cheese," and tsu is one quick syllable, closer to "tsoo" than to "soo."
More than relaxation 目覚め
Many people come to Reiki looking for calm, and that's perfectly fine. But some notice at some point that there's something else, a kind of perception that isn't easy to explain. According to the memorial stone, these are exactly the abilities Usui put first. If that sounds familiar, Reiki may be more than a method for you, a path that deepens with practice. What first made you curious about Reiki?
Experience Shingon Reiki
If you'd like, take your time and see which way in fits you. Shingon Reiki Level 1 is held live online over two days.
Your path in Shingon Reiki