Japanese Reiki Techniques by Light
Published in the
October 1999 issue of "The Messenger"
Adonea and I had the good
fortune of hearing about a Reiki workshop being taught in Vancouver,
British Columbia. The advertisement stated that a Reiki teacher from
Japan would be teaching Japanese techniques. This peaked our interest
and after receiving additional details, communicating with the host,
sending in our deposit, we were off to the bustling, ethnic-rich,
western Canadian city of Vancouver. At the first gathering of
participants, we recognized a few faces of people that we had
previously met in our early Reiki travels, but there were many other
Reiki masters who were unfamiliar. We were issued nametags that helped
us to finally put faces with the names of our internet chat buddies
that we had communicated with for the past three years. What a thrill.
.. like meeting long lost cousins at a family reunion. The energy was
high to say the least. There seemed so much to say/share with many of
the participants, but the opening ceremonies were beginning, so we
took our seats and listened. As welcoming speeches were made, we
continued to look around for a couple of masters whom we were
expecting to attend, but we curbed our impatience, paying attention to
the descriptions of the weekend ahead.
Rick Rivard, one of the
workshop’s founders and coordinators, told how he had been exchanging
email with a Japanese student of Mr. Doi for about 6 months, and how
he had come to ask if Mr. Doi would consider making a trip to
Vancouver to share information with Western Reiki masters. Rick had
received some of the techniques from the Japanese student and realized
their effectiveness, so desired to make the information available to
all who might be interested. The first evening belonged to the host
and his fellow workshop coordinators: Tom Rigler and Andy Bowling.
They demonstrated several techniques used and taught by Chujiro
Hayashi that we had been unfamiliar with previously. It is a widely
known in Japan that Mr. Hayashi indeed took training from Usui, had
once belonged to Usui's Gakkai organization, but left after Usui's
death. He then changed Usui's teachings to fit his own preferences and
liking. We were told about and shown Hayashi’s attunement process,
his extended hand positions, and were given some thoughts on why he
might have chosen to move in a different direction. Each participant
received a 74-page manual complete with photos and step-by-step
procedures for these techniques, and many more that we were to learn
throughout the weekend. What we watched was pure simplicity... poetry
in motion. Although interesting, I am sure that most participants were
a bit foggy just how these techniques would be incorporated into
their present Reiki classes. After demonstrations and a Question &
Answer session, we were released for the evening. Most attendees
stayed around for a couple more hours renewing friendships and/or
making friends.
The next morning came early and we were introduced to
Mr. Hiroshi Doi, the Reiki teacher for the weekend, Mr. Yukio Miura,
Ms. Yuko Okamata, both students of Mr. Doi, acting as translators and
demonstrators of the techniques, and Mr. Akihiko Uechi, who helped
translate materials into written form. All had flown in from various
parts of Japan. Mr. Doi is a member of the Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai,
the organization of Reiki practitioners begun by Usui Sensei in April
1922. Today there are 500 members, not so many considering the great
numbers of practitioners in Japan. To become a member, one must be
sponsored by a current member, and voted into the organization.
Doi-San went on to explain that there are only six current Shinpi-den
level teachers (equivalent to Master/Teacher of Western lineage’s) who
teach the three practitioner levels. There are of course many Reiki
instructors in Japan, but few that gain membership into the Gakkai.
Each level takes many years of practice before one is able to receive
higher training. The three practitioner levels within the Gakkai are
Sho-den, Oku-den, and Shinpi-den. Gakkai teachers can not seek their
own students, but are assigned students who want to learn Reiki from
Gakkai members. Training is ongoing; students must attend regular
gatherings where they must practice meditation, chant Emperor Meiji's
Gyosei (125 Waka poems expressing spiritual truths), practice
Hatsurei-ho, receive Rei-ju empowerments, group recitation of Usui’s
principles and exchange of hands-on treatments with other students.
New teachings are given to a student who shows accomplishment with
previously learned techniques. There are 6 ranks of proficiency with
the system of natural healing (Reiki), and each student must be able
to demonstrate the level of energy they can channel, as well as their
proficiency of healing techniques. Usui assigned himself to the 2nd
level of energy proficiency, and that became the measure for all other
practitioners. No other practitioner has ever gone past the 3rd level
of proficiency to date. Although there are teachers (Shinpi-den) who
pass on Usui’s teachings, there is continuous dedication to the work
of raising one’s vibrations so they can contain and transfer large
amounts of sustained Reiki energy.
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