(IN)FREQUENTLY
ASKED QUESTIONS
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Currently
the questions are grouped together under several separate headings:
New Q&A's
will always be added at the top of the relevant category
section
[Lastest addition: March, 2009]
Initiation/Attunement:
.
Q: My
teacher said that there is no such thing as a 'right' or 'wrong' Reiki
attunement process?
Q: Should
there be a gap between level 1 and 2 attunements? Some people are
saying that both Usui and Hayashi taught Reiki 1 and 2 together - that
this was the original approach?
Q: So,
if I am not properly attuned to Reiki, I would be using my own ki for
doing the treatment? Then, what happens when I do self healing; am I
just channeling my own ki out from the hands and back into my body?
Wouldn't feeling energised and replenised after healing self or others
be a sign I am properly attuned, and so not using my own ki?
Q: People say if you try
doing Reiki but you have not ever been attuned or initiated with Reiki,
then you are really using up some of your own personal ki. How can this
be? Wouldn't you have to learn ho to do this?
Q: OK, so
Mikao Usui discovered Reiki meditating on Mt Kurama, but how did he
learn how to do the attunements on people? Was he shown the
instructions in his vision also? I have not seen this mentioned
anywhere, does anyone actually know?
Q: What part
or action of the initiation process actually attunes / initiates the
student - at what point in the ritual do they go from not being
able to do Reiki to being able to do
it?
Q: If
something actually attunes you to Reiki, then it actually will attune
you to each level...As each level IS Reiki?
Q: They said
I must wait at least two or three months before getting my level two
attunement? Why? I heard some Reiki Masters will give you level two
Reiki straight away after level one, even on the same day?
Q: Some
people do four attunements at level 1, others do only one attunement;
does this affect the outcome, does it make a real difference or is it
all down to the intent of the person giving the attunement?
Q: I was told
you couldn't do Reiki without first having a "Reiki attunement", but
surely we're all connected to the ULE [Universal Lifeforce Energy], anyone
can channel it?
Q: I
was shown an attunement where the Reiki Master drew symbols on the
student's middle fingers. Is this a standard practice?
Q: I
have been reading about reiki and the whole process of attunement and
there is something I just do not understand: this founder of reiki, how
was he "attuned"? nobody attuned him, so can you "attune" yourself, in
that case?
Q:
Can you explain to me what exactly
is this reiju. My teacher has never mentioned it, but I heard someone
mention it on a Reiki list.
* * *
The Symbols
.
Q:
Is it best to learn Reiki
with a Japanese master, or at least a Westerner who is a master
of Japanese Reiki? I want to learn Reiki like Usui and Hayashi
taught it, not with all the add-ons, changes and confusion I'm
told exists in western Reiki.
Q: What
can you tell me about the symbol “tamarasha”? I heard
it is a fifth symbol of reiki used for grounding someone?
Q: Is
it true that Mrs Takata taught different versions of the symbols to
different students?
Q: Since
I received my attunements, my Reiki master has begun to use a new
symbol in place of one of the symbols I was attuned with, and has
requested that we all use the new symbol when attuning students of our
own. Do I need to get re-attuned with the new symbol in order to be
able to use it?
Q: I
have been taught that each Reiki symbol has its own colour and should
be visualised in that colour?
Q: Should we
use all three second-degree symbols together when doing treatments, or
just use certain ones?
Q: Is it true
some Japanese warriors used the Reiki DKM as a sign of protection when
entering unfamiliar buildings, and some modernday Japanese businessmen
still do this when going to important business deals?
Q: In Diane
Stein's book Essential Reiki she teaches something called the
nontraditional dai ko mio symbol. Where does this come from?
Q: Why
should we have to learn to say the symbol names or mantras in Japanese?
Why not just use the English translation? Same question about the
actual distant and master symbols - aren't they just the names drawn in
Japanese writing? So why not just write the English words instead. It
would be much easier.
Q: I was
taught [Ishikuro/Robertson
lineage]that if you use the master symbol
on a client during treatment this 'implies you accept full
responsibility for their healing'?'' Why is this?
Q: Do the
symbols have to be imprinted in the chakras for the practitioner to be
able to use them to intensify the healing produced by the Reiki energy?
Q: I
am looking to make Buddhist connection to Reiki. In your opinion do the
Reiki symbols link to these Buddhas: CKR for Dei Seichi Bosatsu, SHK
for Monju Bosatsu, HSZSN for Ashuku Nyorai, DKM for Amida Nyorai ?
Q: My
Reiki master taught me that the CKR power symbol should be drawn
clockwise to focus the energy, but now I have been told by another
teacher that this is a mirror image of the original CKR symbol - and
also that one version is for putting energy in and the other for
drawing energy out?
Q: How
many Reiki symbols are there? Some people seem to have only a few, but
I have heard that there are lots of different ones.
* * *
Reiki
Practice:
.
Q: Is
it better to do a Reiki treatment
'hands on' or 'hands off' and is there any difference between the two
ways? Is hands off better because you are working in the aura? Which
do you prefer?.
Q: We
were taught that to end a
treatment session we should sweep the healee's aura five times from
head to toe, shaking our hands out towards the earth after each
sweep so as to get rid of the toxins and other 'stuff' we had
removed. But now I've been told this aura sweeping isn't really a
reiki technique.
Q: How
do we go about sending healing to a past trauma, is there a special
technique? What combination of symbols is required?
Q: In describing what Reiki Ryoho is
to others, should we present it as an alternative to traditional
mainstream western medical practice?
Q: I have heard you and
others mention: Holding The Healing Space in connection with a Reiki
treatment. What does this involve, are you referring to the atmosphere
you create: space clearing, toning, smudging, drawing the symbols in
the air around your treatment area, and such things?
Q: I have been reading on several
different Reiki forums about the 'three diamonds' or 'three
haras' that make up the hara system...?
Q: Is there
any way to do the Nerve Stroke (Ketsueki Kohan Ho) technique on
yourself?
Q:
Instead of placing both hands on
the healee, can you only use one? And does the total amount of energy
that would have flowed from both hands now flow from the one? And what
about placing one hand on top of the other to increase flow - I read we
were not really meant to do this?
Q: Can
we send distant treatment to several people at the same time?
Q: I
haven't used Reiki for a little while and when I started again, it
feels weaker. How can I make it strong again and if I don't use it for
long periods of time, could it disappear completely?
Q: Is there a proper title for the
person receiving a Reiki treatment? Should we call them the patient,
healee, recipient, client or what?
Q: We were
taught that we should only lightly place our hands on the healee
without any pressure. Also that we must not slide the hands between the
positions, we must lift our hand clear of the healee's body then place
it in the next position. Why is this?
Q: I was
told that when doing Reiki we should be careful not to pick up on the
other person's stuff: their physical aches and pains or emotions?
Q: I
would like to know, of the Japanese Reiki Techniques, which one should
I practice to increase my Reiki energy the most as well as produce the
greatest amount of heat in my hands?
Q: I have
heard that if you are unwell or even not focussing on what you are
doing during the Reiki session you might end up giving some of your own
energy instead of Reiki energy to the patient.
Q: While
reading up on Reiki, I notice there doesn't seem to be anything about
removing stale, blocked or negative energy from the person you are
treating - like there is in some other types of healing. How come?
Q: I have
heard that you can control Reiki. But surely it flows where it will
without any help from us other than being a channel for it?
Q: Did Mikao
Usui work with the energies of the five elements? I have learnt that
each of the fingers & thumbs are connected to a different
elemental energy, so by using a specific finger you can choose which
element to apply?
Q: I was
shown a relaxation technique where you lie down with your arms and legs
positioned so you form a five-pointed star shape and simply feel your
energy moving round your body. Is this a Japanese Reiki Technique?
Q: I
have recently done my first degree in Reiki and I have now heard
several people say that I should remove my watch, rings and other
jewelry when doing Reiki - why is this?
Q: I
am a Reiki master, but have never given an attunement- I am curious as
to how to empower images/objects so that they give reiki to others. Any
suggestions?
* * *
Takata-sensei:
.
Q: How
do you pronounce Mrs Takata's first name?
Q: Is
it known if Mrs Takata ever taught Reiki in Japan?
Q: Why
is it that Mrs Takata didn't allow her students to make notes about
what she taught them?
Q: I am
having certificates printed and was wondering if you can tell me what
wording Takata used on her certificates?
Q: Just where
in Hawaii did Hawayo Takata have her Reiki Clinic?
Q: Was it Mrs
Takata who came up with the idea of the 'energy exchange' - the
requirement that payment must always be made for treatment/training:
that they are not allowed to be given for free? And why is this; are
free treatments believed to be less effective - didn't Usui treat
victims of the Kanto earthquake for free?
Q: I
read somewhere that Mrs Takata only attuned 22 students in all her
years of of Reiki practice. How come?
Q: I
know Mikao Usui is buried in Tokyo, Japan, but do you know where is Mrs
Takata buried?
Q:
Did any of the people Mrs Takata
made Reiki Masters make any Masters of their own while she was still
alive?
Q: Is
it true that Hawayo Takata used to run a health spa ?
* * *
General:
.
Q: On
a web site I read about a Reiki Master who was meant to be trained by
one of Mikao Usui's students still alive today who is known as the
Soke Dai . It said Soke dai is a Buddhist title for the current
lineage bearer, tho someone else said it had to do with martial arts?
The Reiki Master gives his lineage as Usui Mikao, Soke Dai, and then
himself.
Q: I have read the account given by Mrs Takata of Usui's
experience that led to him (re)discovering Reiki. Where can I find
Usui's own first-hand description of the experience?
Q: Was
Chujiro Hayashi a Christian, I thought it was outlawed in Japan?
Q: I contacted a Reiki Teacher about
doing my level three, but this person wants to do an assessment of my
knowledge and practical abilities before he will consider attuning me
to level three. Why is this?
Q: Can you tell me what REIKI NI REI
means, you sign your posts with it on some Reiki group forums?
Q: In your Reiki Timeline you say
"Cognisant of the likely entry of Japan into what we now designate
W.W.II, and of the moral and ethical conflict between resuming military
duty and his Reiki values, Hayashi Sensei … committed seppuku
(suicide)". But surely as a doctor his job would have been to save
lives - to heal the wounded?
Q: I
am thinking about doing a Reiki course, but I've read that new students
go through this 21 day period of automatic detox, and that it can be
unpleasant depending how out of balance your system is. This worries me.
Q: How
do you pronounce the founder of Reiki's name: Mikao Usui?
Q: Is Reiki
really derived from Japanese Esoteric Buddhism?
Q: I read
somewhere that Master Usui had a brother and sister, and also children
of his own?
Q: Is the
expression "Usui Shiki Ryoho" a proper one? If 'Shiki' means method or
system and 'Ryoho' healing method or therapy, why use both these words
together: Usui Method Healing Method - why say it twice?
Q: In Frank A
Petter's book the Reiki Fire he mentions that Chujiro Hayashi died in
1941?
Q: Is it true
that there's an asteroid named Reiki?
Q: Some
people say Reiki was created by Dr Usui, but other people say it was an
ancient system of channeled healing?
Q: My teacher
told me that Reiki comes from a form of shamanism combined with Shinto
magic and that the symbols and their jumon all come specifically from
Tantric Buddhism, is this true?
Q: What
is the difference between being a Reiki Master and a Reiki Grand
Master, and how do you become a Grand Master?
Q: Isn't
Reiki just another name for Chi or Ki, I mean, they are all spiritual
energy, right?
Q:
At the beginning of the Reiki
Principles, when it says 'The Secret Method To Invite Happiness'; what
does the 'Secret' part mean?
Q: Is it true
that Dr Usui found Reiki while he was doing something called Lotus
Repentance meditation?
Q: I
have heard that Mikao Usui's '5 Principles' were endorsed by the
Emperor Meiji, is there any actual evidence of this?
Q: On
a website about Raku Kei Reiki they showed something called Kanji Hand
Positions. I thought kanji was the name for the characters used to
write Japanese, so why are the Hand Positions called Kanji?
Q: Is
Reiki Jutsu a particular style of Reiki or just a term for Reiki in
general - in my Japanese dictionary it says jutsu means art - so Reiki
Jutsu is Reiki Art or Art of Reiki, am I right?