Is Reiki Love?

Amy McGee traces the path of this healing-touch modality from the top of a mountain to our hearts

Reiki is a gateway shining pure love into the universe. It is this love which allows us to transcend our wounds and help us remember our true nature.

-David Herron, "The Reiki Page"

Reiki is a holistic practice of channeling energy through the body of the practitioner into the patient. Practitioner Debra Weisenburger-Lipetz said she believes that "all healing is done through a divine source. All we [practitioners] are is plugs." Practitioner Suzanne Vickers defined Reiki as "spiritually guided life-force energy." Practitioner Sandra Street defined it as "an ancient hands-on healing" in the form of a light touch which radiates heat. Although there has been much speculation about its origins, there is vast interest in learning about this procedure as a practitioner and as a patient. The Reiki Page web site has received over one million hits.

Energy is drawn from a Universal Source or Chi, its underlying force, and brought through a guide who places his or her hands over the client and guides the energy to specific areas of the body. Some physicists now believe that everything in the universe is made up of pure energy. This is the basis of String Theory. Reiki is an attempt to guide that fundamental energy to heal someone or oneself. As in any faith-based treatment, one key to success is the belief that it will work and being open to receive the energy. Just as in conventional medicine, even if the patient is ready to recover, it may take several sessions to see results, or it may not be effective for some individuals.

Many believe the founder of Reiki as it is practiced today is Dr. Mikao Usui. It is sometimes referred to as the Usui System of Natural Healing. Some claim that Reiki is Buddhist in origin. The problem with this speculation is the lack of known historical records makes it extremely difficult to prove how or where it started.

According to Herron, Dr. Usui was a monk in 19th-century Japan who sought to understand how Christ healed his followers. He studied Christian texts and Buddhist documents without finding the answers. As the story goes, Dr. Usui meditated alone in the mountains and after 21 days was bestowed with the gift of natural healing. Dr. Usui then used this gift to heal the sick and poor in Tokyo. Upon discovering that some of those he had healed eventually returned to their previous conditions of poverty, he realized that they didn't understand or appreciate the value of the gift they had been given. He believed that maintaining emotional and physical well-being lies in the gratitude of those who have been healed.

Herron goes on to explain that Reiki came to the United States in the 1930s. Dr. Usui's student, Dr. Chujiro Hayashi, a Naval Commander who practiced Reiki in Tokyo, in turn taught Mrs. Hawayo Takata, who took the practice back to her native Hawaii. Mrs. Takata met Dr. Hayashi while visiting her family in Japan and learned some of the principles of Reiki. Dr. Hayashi traveled to Hawaii to speak on Reiki and gave Mrs. Takata further training during his stay. After moving to California, she trained students of Reiki.

One of the other issues with Reiki is that in this country there is no unified certification or code of ethics for practitioners. There are, however, ethical principles set forth by Dr. Usui: "Just for today do not worry. Just for today do not anger. Honor your parents, teachers and elders. Earn your living honestly. Show gratitude to everything." There is great variation in the training modern practitioners receive.

There are three generally accepted levels of Reiki practice. In Level One, the student is taught hand positions and how to channel energy. In Level Two, the student is taught traditional symbols used in Reiki healing and how to give distance treatments. Level Three, sometimes combined with the Master Level, allows the practitioner to teach others Reiki techniques. These levels are accompanied by an attunement process or ceremony. Lipetz described going through the attunements as opening one up to "understanding the physical body" in Level One, "your emotional body" in Level Two, and "the Divine Source" in Level Three. She often combines intuitive feelings in determining the area of the body in need of treatment. Street said she felt that perhaps it is a good idea to practice one level for a while before progressing to the next.

Practitioners often prepare for a session by meditating, praying, or employing some type of ritual to focus the mind. Vickers said this helps her "to be present with the client." An Intuitive as well as a Reiki practitioner, Vickers said she also "checks in on a client on a spiritual level" prior to a session.

Those who have practiced Reiki describe it as a warm sensation over the affected area of their body. One recipient who had been stung by a jellyfish found that Reiki helped speed her recovery.

Lipetz works with cancer patients and has used Qigong, a form of self-healing, in the treatment of her own cancer combined with Western techniques. "Reiki practitioners are not dealing with curing; we are dealing with healing," she said. This is an important distinction. Healing is "balancing mental, spiritual, and physical well-being." Street added, "What is emotionally crippling eventually becomes physically crippling."

Vickers stressed the point that Reiki is not so much a therapy but "a modality," because the patient does the healing. She first experienced Reiki when going through a "tough time" and felt it benefited her personally.

Although all three practitioners felt that nearly all patients had benefited by Reiki in some way, they had not charted records of success rates with clients.

When asked the question "Is Reiki love?," all practitioners answered with a resounding "Yes!" Lipetz said, "Oh yes! All healing is. It's not typical love, it's Divine love—something beyond what we understand. It's something inside of us we learn to open up." Vickers said that when she practices Reiki she feels "unconditional love." It is her "perception of the energy."

In seeking a practitioner, ask for references at places such as New Age bookstores, or peruse listings in magazines such as The Wellpoint. Sessions typically run from 45 minutes to one-and-half hours. Cost per session runs from $55.00 to $65.00.

Amy McGee is a writer and student living in Columbus. She has a degree in Liberal Arts and is currently pursuing a degree in English from Ohio Dominican University.