The Way Of Reiki – Past, Present And Future

By Edwina: All things have a past, present and future. Reiki is no different and by the very nature of ‘time’ it serves to help us on our journey through life. So take time now and lets go back to the beginning with a brief history, to help us better understand this esoteric art.

The story began on August 15, 1865, in the village of ‘Taniai-mura’, known as today as Miyama-cho, in Japan. Where a child was born who would later grow up to become Dr. Mikao Usui, the founder of Reiki. It is believed he grew up in a wealthy family, since from a young age, he studied at a Tendai Buddhist monastery school. The Tendai owed patronage to the Imperial House and the noble class. It was, and is, regarded as a system grounded in the notion, that Buddha-hood, our ability to reach enlightenment, is programmed in all living things. Through meditation, mantras and such this method of Buddhism flourished in Japan. It was therefore no surprise our young Usui found himself studying here and it would help direct his path to future self discovery.

In his adult life, he also studied medicine and shared a working career in many professions including; office worker, industrialist, reporter, missionary and many more. Yet he eventually returned to where he started and became a Tendai Buddhist Monk, which would lead him to Reiki. It is said he would go to Mount Kurama and meditate for 21 days at a time, on more than one occasion. On one occasion a beautiful occurrence took place and Reiki was born into our world. Though the specific origins of how Reiki was realised by Dr. Usui is slightly shrouded in some mystery, I believe his realisation of Reiki can be contributed to that of a Reiki attunement, which all Reiki students must undergo to practice this hands-on art.

Dr. Usui, the founder of Reiki, died in 1926 and over 90 years later Reiki has survived the passage of time, opening millions of people to new awareness and understanding of how we can enrich our lives. As a practicing Reiki Master, I have been taught the traditions and practices which encompass the full system. There are many aspects Reiki teaches and I will share with you the 5 Reiki Principles, all Reiki practitioners must endeavour to fulfil.

They are as follows:

Just for today I will not get angry.

Just for today I will not worry.

Just for today I will be grateful.

Just for today I will work diligently.

Just for today be kind to others.

Now to understand the 5 Reiki principles better, let’s consider what they are stating. As you can observe, they all begin with ‘Just for today.’ which basically means these are not rules we cannot break! The Reiki way understands we are only human and our path to true enlightenment can be lengthy one with many challenges. ‘Just for today.’ implies a principle does not want to take away anything from your existence, instead, remind us of the ‘good’ we should try to endeavour to share. Through following such principles we can relieve stress in our own lives. After all, stress can contribute to ones’ dis-ease and therefore we must heal ourselves before we can heal others.

This is for me, the fundamental lesson we can award ourselves by acting positively. ‘Just for today’.

All things have a past, present and future; we have taken a glimpse at the origins of Reiki and shared the 5 principles of ‘Just for today.’ So what about tomorrow? Where will the story of Reiki take us next? When you think about it, Reiki has accomplished a great deal within its first century of existence. It has traversed its physical borders of native origin, Japan and stretched enormously across the globe! For me the real excitement of Reiki evolution occurred when the Internet came into existence.

You only need to type in Reiki into your Google search engine and you will be inundated with websites packed full of information for everyone to read and share. One element of Reiki which greatly benefits from the use of the Internet is Long Distance Healing. As a Reiki Master I am able to send my friends and family, healing even if they are not close to me.

Therefore, I can also do the same for my clients I connect with over the Internet. I call this ‘Longline’ healing and it is an ever growing industry, where all can benefit. I hope as technologies advance, so will my physical and spiritual connection develops further with my clients. I also hope you have this blog both interesting and engaging.