Symbol Uses

All traditions agree about the use of Reiki Symbols as a way for the practitioner to connect with the subtle variations of Reiki Energy.

Eastern traditions place a lot of emphasis on the importance of meditating on these energies, either as visualisations or as mantras, to the point where the practitioner feels himself or herself merging with the energy and becoming one with it. This enables the practitioner to make a much stronger connection with the energy when treating clients, but precludes the use of ‘symbol sandwiches’.

Western traditions teach a more formal approach, prescribing set hand positions and symbol combinations for different treatments.

In addition to their use in client treatments, symbols are also used by some practitioners for chakra balancing, space cleansing, protection, and positive affirmations.

Symbol Energies

Reiki Symbols are used as a way to connect to the different subtle types of Reiki Energy.

One of the biggest difference of opinion between Eastern Reiki Masters and Western Reiki Masters centres around the question of whether or not students need to be attuned to Reiki Symbols for them to work. Eastern Reiki Masters say it is unnecessary, Western Reiki Masters say it is essential.

Speaking from personal experience, I have not received attunements to any Reiki Symbols – my lineage follows the Eastern tradition of Empowerments – yet I am able to meditate on, experience the energies of and use in treatments all the Reiki Symbols with no problems whatsoever.

Another difference concerns whether Symbols should be used alone or together. Eastern Reiki teaches that they should always be used individually; Western Reiki teaches its students to use them together and make ‘Symbol Sandwiches’.

Traditional Japanese Reiki did not have any symbols. The subtle energies were connected to using Kotodamas or Sacred Mantras. This would make it virtually impossible to mix the energies.

Again speaking from personal experience, I have tried changing symbols for different parts of the body while treating a client and compared it to using a single symbol throughout the treatment. Both my clients and I have experienced far more powerful healings using just one symbol throughout.

Differences aside – both methods work. Reiki energy follows intent. Providing the practitioner intends for the treatment to be for the highest good of the client – it will be! It is up to the student to decide which tradition they wish to follow.

Energy Exercises

Many of the meditations taught in traditional Japanese Reiki took the form of energy exercises. They focused on channeling through the use of a mixture of visualisations and mantras.

Reiki courses following the Japanese tradition place great emphasis on these exercises and encourage students to create their own daily space to practice a regular routine.

The first of these exercises to be taught is generally Hatsurei Ho. This cleanses the student’s aura, connects them to the Reiki energy, and opens up and balances the channels for the energy to flow correctly. By practicing it on a daily basis the student gradually increases the strength of their connection to the energy.

Next in order of importance are daily self-healing meditations. These can take a number of different forms depending on the student’s individual stage of development.

Once the students reach 2nd degree they are encouraged to meditate on the Reiki Symbols either using visualisations or the kotadamas (mantras) associated with them.

There are many other energy exercises which students are encouraged to practice including alternative self-healing exercises such as Makoto No Kokyu.

Reiki Meditation

In the Japanese Reiki tradition, meditation was the central practice, considered essential if anyone wanted to progress on the path to spiritual enlightenment. This continual meditation, which comprised the daily practice of mindfulness and a wide range of energy exercises, by balancing and clearing the student’s energy system made it possible for them to carry out self-healing and treatments on others.

Mikao Usui’s students were taught to meditate daily on the five precepts and it was believed that this meditation alone had a greater effect on the students spiritual development than any of the other traditional practices.

When Reiki travelled to the west with Mrs Takata the emphasis changed from spiritual enlightenment and self-treatment to treating others. The use of Formal Hand Positions together with the Reiki Symbols more or less replaced the meditation practices of the original tradition as a means to connect with the Reiki energy.

Today in Western Reiki, although there is a move back towards teaching the original meditations, the main emphasis is on receiving attunements, practising self-healing and using formal hand positions together with the Reiki symbols to treat others.

Attunements

If you study Reiki with a Western trained Reiki Master you will go through a series of ‘attunements’ as part of your training programme. There are an enormous number of different variations within each tradition.

Attunements are the procedures which Western Reiki masters use to connect their students to Reiki Energy at Level 1, to three Reiki Symbols at Level 2, and to the Master Symbols and various other symbols at Level 3. Each level has a prescribed number of attunements attached to it depending on the tradition being taught.

Attunements are for life. Once you have received the attunements at a given level there is no need for them to ever be repeated. However some students like to have them repeated and there is no problem with this.

Think less…

Osho was responsible for this Sunday’s quotation.

Head knowledge is good – it can enable you to sort out all kinds of things, but without heart knowledge it’s a bit like a desert without an oasis.

Sometimes we spend so long thinking about things – we think about them before they happen, we think about them while they’re happening, we think about them after they’ve happened – that we don’t actually get to really experience them.

For example, when I meditate on the energy of the Reiki symbols I start off by following visualisation instructions with the goal to feel myself ‘become’ the energy. If I hold onto the visualisation too tightly, I never experience ‘becoming’ the energy, but if I let go of the visualisation I find that ‘I’ quickly disappear – and I ‘become’ the energy.

Try it for yourself – spend some time today letting go of your thoughts, just allowing yourself to be.

Empowerments

If you study Reiki with an Eastern or Japanese trained Reiki Master you will experience a series of ’empowerments’ as part of your training programme. You will also be encouraged to receive empowerments as a regular and ongoing part of your daily life subsequent to your connection to the Reiki energy.

Empowerments, or Reiju Empowerments as they are correctly named, consist of Tendai Buddhist Blessings given to the students with the intention that they will receive whatever they need. There are many different variations of the details of the ritual which depend on the lineage and traditions of the Reiki Master performing the Reiju Empowerment. This is the tradition of the course I am following:

First degree focuses on connecting you to the Reiki energy
Second degree focuses on connecting you to the three Reiki symbols – Cho Ku Rei, Sei He Ki and Hon Sha Ze Sho Nen
Third degree (Masters) focuses on connecting you to the two Master symbols

Following the First degree course, students are advised to ‘tune in’ to weekly empowerments. This works on the same principle as distant healing. In addition, teachers are encouraged to hold ‘shares’ where students can get together to share experiences, practice on each other and receive empowerments from their teacher.