Reiki symbols are not abstract marks. They are keys to a living tradition — rooted in the Siddham script (Bonji in Japanese), in the esoteric calligraphy of Japan, and in a practice that has been passed on for more than a thousand years.
Each symbol carries its own quality. In Shingon Reiki they are not only tools — they are gates to specific Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of the esoteric tradition.
Reiki symbols are ritual signs. They are activated in the Reiki initiation and serve as keys to specific qualities of force. Their roots lie in the Siddham script of esoteric Buddhism, where every sign embodies a Buddha or a Bodhisattva. For a long time they were often treated as abstract tools, and their origin stayed in the dark.
That is astonishing. Because the symbols carry a story far larger than Reiki. They connect to the traditions of esoteric Buddhism, Shugendo, Shinto and shamanic Daoism. In temples like Kurama-dera near Kyoto — where Mikao Usui had his decisive experience — these signs are still alive today.
Dr. Mark Hosak researched exactly this connection in his doctoral thesis at Heidelberg University. Three years of research at Kyoto University, much of it in the temples. Translation of Japanese and Chinese source texts. The result: the Reiki symbols are not modern inventions. They are echoes of a ritual practice carried forward in the temples of Japan since the 9th century.
In Shingon Reiki the symbols are not only used. They are practiced in their full depth — with mantra, mudra and Siddham. The way they once arose in the temples. Not as a tool. As a living connection.
Each article opens a door. Step in.
"I had already strongly suspected it — and experienced it on my path to Reiki master — and I do work with the force of the Reiki symbols. Even so, I was astonished that when practicing the art of calligraphy the energy flow becomes tangible through the brush — and is even visible in the result on the paper."
"What I use most are the symbols. They are a really cool enrichment for my work with Reiki."
In The Big Book of Reiki Symbols you will find the full story — from the temples of Japan into your hands. And on the Shingon Reiki path you experience what no book can hand over: the living initiation.
Each symbol carries its own story and its own practice. Here are the pieces that go deeper.
Mark Hosak earned his PhD at Heidelberg University on Siddham in Japanese art, did three years of research at Kyoto University and walked the full Shikoku pilgrimage of all 88 temples on foot. He is the author of the international bestseller The Big Book of Reiki Symbols and has been carrying Shingon Reiki forward for more than 25 years.