Reiki's Legendary Origin
Mikao Usui (1802-1883), the head of a Christian seminary for boys and later a Zen Buddhist monk, founded reiki as a religious movement in Japan in the late nineteenth century. Usui held a doctorate in theology from the University of Chicago. "Reiki" combines two Japanese words: "rei" and "ki." Interpretations of the word rei include "cosmic, universal energy," "ghost," "soul," "spirit," "spiritual body," and "free passage." The word ki signifies both breath and attention ("mental force"). Ki is an alleged original, fundamental, supernatural, governable, creative "energy of being" concentrated in the abdomen. "Reiki" refers both to "spirit energy" and to a method that is largely a variant of aura balancing and the laying on of hands.

The highlight of Usui's legendary discovery -- or rediscovery -- of reiki was a paranormal experience. Usui fasted and meditated for twenty days on a "holy mountain" near Kyoto. Before sunrise on the twenty-first day, he saw a "light" speeding toward him. The light struck him in the middle of his forehead, opening his "third eye"-the ajna chakra, supposedly the human body's highest source of power. In Reiki Plus Natural Healing (1991), reiki master Reverend David G. Jarrell writes:

He thought he had died and had ascended into heaven. He had never before been in such a euphoric state. His entire field of vision was a rainbow of color. Out of the rainbow came bubbles of gold, white, blue, and violet. Each of the different bubbles contained symbolic messages. A voice said, "These are the keys to healing; learn them, do not forget them; and, do not allow them to be lost."

Golden Sanskrit letters in the light -- the "keys to healing" to which Jarrell refers -- supposedly constitute the basis of reiki.

'Attunements'
In The Reiki Touch: A Reiki Handbook (1990), reiki master Judy-Carol Stewart describes the "energy" of reiki as "pure God-force" that "flows from the universe into the crown chakra, the throat chakra, and the heart chakra, then out the arms and hands." This "love healing force," she continues, "has divine intelligence and will seek its own path in discovering and fulfilling the body's requirement." The method involves touching parts of the body and "brushing" its alleged "aura" with the hands. The apparent aim is to transfer "universal life force energy" and thus effect healing and harmony. Stewart distinguishes between "Reiki I energy" and "Reiki II energy" and states that practitioners can use the latter for absent healing.

Next Page | Pages: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

American Council on Science and Health
http://www.acsh.org/
Date Published: June 17, 2000
Date Reviewed: June 17, 2000

Founded in 1978, and directed and advised by the world's leading scientists, physicians, and policy advisors -- ACSH is is a nonprofit, consumer education organization dedicated to providing the public with mainstream scientific information on issues related to food, nutrition, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, lifestyle, the environment and health.