Histories of Reiki Page 2
Reiki is described as coming from the word Raku Kei. Raku is the vertical energy flow and Kei is the horizontal energy flow through the body. Raku Kei is the art and science of Spiritual self improvement based upon teachings from ancient Tibet. Originally the Reiki calligraphy was utilized as part of a system of meditation utilized by the Tibetan Lamas. The participants would sit on a four legged wooden stool in the center of an oval earthenware container (representing Akasa or the etheric egg) filled with water. The stool was inlaid with silver and contained a cubical inlayed symbol upon the seat. One wall of the Temple was covered with highly polished copper; the Lama’s prayer and the calligraphs of the Reiki symbols were reflected into it. The participant, sitting on the stool would stare at the wall, allowing the full meaning of the symbols to implant within higher subconscious mind while purifying the body, mind and spirit. Because of the esoteric nature of this practice, it eventually disappeared.
A man named Dr. Mikao Usui rediscovered in ancient Sanskrit text, the symbols used as a catalyst for this meditation technique. In the beginning the Reiki Calligraphs were only used for self development through meditation and spiritual purification. The system of Reiki has undergone many changes to better appeal to the western mind. The original system of meditation required many, many days of intense concentration and memorization, coupled with exercises and postures.
Dr. Usui, as described in the story of Reiki told by Mrs. Takata, went up on a mountain where he fasted and meditated for 21 days. A vision came to him and he experienced the Calligraphs in a higher spiritual vibration, and they implanted his subconscious mind with their meaning and purpose. It was after this experience that he started to teach and work with the sick in body, mind and spirit.
In the year 1915 Rolf Jensen, an orderly to a medical doctor in the U.S. Army went to Japan to study with Japanese medical doctors. While in Japan, Rolf heard of Dr. Usui’s work and began to search for all he could find about the remarkable system called Reiki. Rolf returned to the U.S. knowing his search was not complete; he found some information, but felt he was missing the Master Key the Tibetan holy men used in the Initiation. Finally in 1952 he found what he thought was the missing Key: a symbol to override all disease. He worked on many formulas to make it work. Finally he found his answer in a mixture of ‘Silver Nitrate’, the combined frequencies of the 7 primary colors, and the 7 notes of the musical scale; when combined they formed the 7 atomic seals that have been found all throughout the earth. Image left is the Master Frequency Symbol (also called the Antahkarana Symbol)
Shortly after his discovery of the Master Symbol Frequency, he created several Reiki Healing tables. It is said that Mrs. Takata had one of these tables and used it for her attunements. Apparently Mrs. Takata only told Iris Ishikuro, one of her students of this table. Arthur Robertson founder of the American Reiki Master Association studied with Iris and he learned about the tables. After a long search, he found one of the tables in a tiny church in the Superstition Mountains in Arizona. Arthur took the table to Iris in the summer of 1985. Tables and the symbols are now being used by several hundred Japanese and occidental Reiki practitioners throughout the United States.
The Raku Kei system of Reiki is known as “The Way of the Fire Dragon”. It is claimed to be the same system that Takata taught with the addition of the Master Frequency generators (originally created by Rolf Jensen) and the White Light Calligraph (said to have been added by Ishikuro). It is claimed to differ in application of attunement and a resulting heightened consciousness. The image to the right is called the White Light Calligraph in Raku Kei and Jorei Reiki systems. It is not a Reiki Symbol, it comes from the religion Johrei and is the Calligraphic name of their primary God.
See Reiki Branches Raku Kei for more information.
The history of Reiki as passed down by Hawayo Takata is essentially same history taught by Kathleen Milner (see her book "Reiki and Other Rays of Touch Healing"), however Kathleen adds quite a bit of additional information from other sources. The major differences come in Second Degree and above; Kathleen teaches traditional reiki symbols, non-traditional symbols and Tibetan Symbols, and is continuously giving more symbols to the people she makes Reiki Masters. Some of these symbols have been retrieved intuitively by Kathleen and/or her students.
Where did 3 of the non-traditional symbols come from? Kathleen says that she never felt that the Reiki system was complete; so, she started asking Mother/Father/God for the truth. She claims that during a meditation, a Great Being appeared to Marcy Miller (one of her students), and gave her another symbol and additions to the attunement. Then the Great Being appeared to Kathleen on the inner planes, reviewed the attunement process and gave her a name for the symbol. Several months later Kathleen and Marcy were given the other symbols with additional instructions. Kathleen was told to tell people she was working with this Great Being. When teaching classes, she gives the new symbols, uses the new attunement method and mentions her experience with the Great Being; she teaches this system under the name Tera-Mai Seichim Reiki.
Kathleen states "From my working with the Great Being and my own understanding and experience, Reiki comes from the element earth, and the energy of this ray runs hot and cold just like the surface of our planet. With the addition of the information that the Great Being gave me, the color of the attunement and energy that flows from healer's hands turned from purple to gold". She also offers other healing systems which attune people to other levels of energy, which she claims brings a more complete healing.
We have found the energy of several of the symbols to be very Earthy as stated by Kathleen. In fact, some of our students who were attuned to these symbols said that the experience (during the attunement) was almost Shamanic in nature. The other symbols feel otherwordly; very high in vibration. We have found the symbols to be both powerful and valuable in our work with some clients. Each of the symbols has its own intelligence. Feel each of them and allow them to communicate their specific energy and usage to you. Do the attunements seem more powerful for some people? Do they strongly address the physical level? Is working with these energies more comfortable or familiar to some people? These questions are posed as food for thought.
See Reiki Branches Tera Mai for more information.
Here are additional places to learn more about Tera Mai:
Centuries ago, southern India was the location of gathering places for scholars and healers. One ancient system of healing wisdom, translated from Egyptian hieroglyphics into Sanskrit was called Seichim (pronounced Say Keym) “Living Light Energy”. When barbaric tribes invaded the civilized south, those who were able, fled to Tibet, China, Japan, Polynesia and parts unknown. It was at this time the knowledge of Seichim was dispersed and why today there seem to be several different lineages called by different names, yet seemingly so similar in content. Each system has its unique attributes and all work well in conjunction with one another. There seems to be no such thing as too much “Living Light Energy”.
In those long ago times, it took many years of devotion and great personal sacrifice to learn these various healing systems. Most have been traditionally hierarchical for excellent reasons, such as keeping information intact and viable and guarding against misunderstanding, misuse and misinformation. Today the average person is considerably more educated than even the rulers of centuries past. We live in a time, when more than information is necessary to create peaceful lives and a world without hunger or war. Now, a re-establishment of each individual’s inherent right to control his or her life is required. Now teachers, who assist each individual to become ever more independent and empowered, are valuable. Repressive systems, requiring elaborate and endless financial and personal sacrifice is no longer meaningful. Systems which require supplicants and promote dependent personality development are dissolving, as individuals become aware of other choices. Spirit cannot be captured or controlled by human beings; it transforms us by its energy. As we experience its healing, we can unlock deeper levels of understanding of the world around us.
Everyone is born with a personal “energy envelope” of living light energy. It’s what we use to power our bodies, heal broken bones and fight infections. It is this personal energy system that can be stimulated by acupuncture, sound therapy, color therapy, homeopathy, chiropractic and many other techniques, to keep us alive and well. Some of us are born with just enough of an “envelope” to keep us functional. Some of us are born with much larger “envelopes”. These are people you may know, who just with touch, can calm a child or ease fevers and headaches. Then there are those who are born with huge “energy envelopes” like Olga Worrall who has used her energy to heal many people. Often times, after helping to heal so many people this type of healer is drained and needs time to regenerate. Sometimes healers in using their own energy, can develop symptoms similar to the symptoms of those healed. This kind of energy transference is a gift and often a great sacrifice of self in service.
Outside the energy in our personal “envelopes”, there is a vast limitless “sea” of living light energy. This is a balanced, resonating, harmonizing healing energy available to everyone. It is already integrated. It has no positive or negative charge. It has no yin or yang to consider; it’s whole and complete, ready to be utilized.
Several healing methods have surfaced, that access this “sea” of energy. The religious ways require a belief system like prayer, which many times is combined with the laying-on-of-hands”. Other techniques build mental constructs which connect the healer with the energy. Through practice, concentration and with training by high quality teachers like Brugh Joy, people can become channels for healing energy.
Seichim is the Western pronunciation for the Sanskrit character meaning living light energy and is used to designate both the energy itself and the healing system using this energy. Using ancient wisdom, the Seichim initiation empowers the initiate, regardless of belief systems, to use living light energy as a personal tool for growth and transformation. The active use of Seichim promotes healing and balancing of the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual bodies. Acting as simply as a first aid kit, Seichim works on the complexities of acute and chronic diseases, as well as anxiety, fatigue, depression, frustration and other symptoms produced by stress.
Living light energy addresses the more subtle aspects of cause, releasing even the deeply held thought forms in the etheric body which create the symptoms of blockages in our physical form. In the physical body every molecule and cell is affected in a cleansing, balancing, healing manner by consistent use of Seichim. Seichim is a powerful, compact, effective system for becoming permanently and experientially connected with living light energy.
The ancient masters of Seichim revealed the existence of seven (7) facets. At this time Seichim Master/Teachers are empowered to teach five (5) of these facets. Each facet is unique and complete within itself. Some of the facets build on information from other facets which necessitate a numerical linear designation for each. Anyone becoming an initiate of first facet Seichim has complete, permanent empowerment of the unique attributes of that facet. No other course of action is necessary or required. No further education or involvement with any organization is required. Each facet is similar, in its unique completeness.
Some people may wonder why there are different facets; why not just do one big empowerment and get it all? Each initiation triggers healing, cleansing and balancing in the initiate. This is a powerful energy and requires time to adjust to being transformed, before moving into an even more powerful stream of living light energy. Second Facet through Fifth Facet all require cognitive learning. It takes time to memorize the material and integrate the techniques into an individual’s daily life. Once initiated, a practitioner’s life starts moving quickly. It contains new experiences and opportunities, to share and enjoy in each of its unique aspects. In a way, rushing through all the facets compared to enjoying each one to its fullest and then moving to the next, is like the difference between sailing a cruise ship or flying a 747 jet. Cruising allows the traveler to fully experience the countries and people along the way. Likewise, learning and moving at an even pace allows each initiate to fully explore each facet before moving to the next, if that is the intention.
See Reiki Branches Seichim for more information.
Here are additional places to learn more about Seichim/Sekhem:
Sun Li Chung Reiki is the healing art of the art of war - an ancient Chinese healing technique.
Reiki is a healing technique that originated at the southern part of Tibet. It first became famous in the Inca temples in South America 12,000 years ago, and from there it came to Egypt 9,000 years ago. The reiki techniques came to us from God. In each era in history, we got different symbols that are correct for that era, and that era's diseases.
Sun Li Chung Reiki is a system that was common in the Shaulin temples of South Tibet. Sun Li Chung was a holistic Buddhist doctor that developed the system. The basic knowledge he got from is father, and most of it came through channelings with God. Sun Li Chung was born in 1917 B.C. The system was lost when he was killed by Mongolian rioters that came to south Tibet when he was 103. Few of his family survived, but none of them knew all the parts of the reiki system. All classical writings that were found, and Sanskrit writings had only a tiny portion of the knowledge that was knows then, as most of it was burned and lost on that day. The methods that were known in Ancient China were Saichem, Karuna, Yod, Manchurian, Tibetan, Mongolian, Malawian, Tatarian, Alawian, Kokonian, Indian and more. The basis of all systems is the same, as the first symbols are in fact the same. Including the symbols of the Kabala, the pharoes, flower of life, Lemuria, Atlantis and the Islam. In all systems the symbols appear in 16 or more dimensions (levels): earthly, etheric, astral, universal, cosmic, the upper brotherhood of light, the lower brotherhood of light, upper worlds, lower worlds, the upper spiral of angels, the lower spiral of angels, the council of nine, the Paledians, the Pranlians, the upper crystal council, the lower crystal council. There are more dimensions and all systems within them have 62 to 72 symbols. Todays Sun Li Chung Reiki has all the systems and all the symbols in all the dimensions.
See Reiki Branches Sun Li Chung for more information.
We invite questions, comments, and suggestions about Reiki Ryoho, classes, manuals, or our website.
Southwestern Usui Reiki Ryoho Association
P.O. Box 5162
Lake Montezuma, AZ 86342
Phone (520) 567-0559
Email: postmaster@reiho.org
Light and Adonea, Usui Reiki Ryoho Teachers
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10-12-00