What is Reiki
Reiki translates as a spiritual energy, but we know it as Usui’s Reiki treatment for mind and body. Why? Because Reiki is a healing system which assists us to help our bodies heal quicker through its own natural system, and it was discovered and developed by a Japanese gentleman named Mikao Usui. It is a hands on (or off in special circumstances) treatment, making available a larger than normal amount of energy to our body at the point of injury, issue, infection or other ailment. This is combined with a mental/emotional treatment to cover other issues we face. It can be practiced in person of from a distance.
What is Jikiden Reiki
Jikiden translates as “directly passed on”. Combine this with the word Reiki, and it becomes the system of Reiki taught by Chiyoko Yamaguchi (who learnt Reiki in the 1930s from a student of the originator) in the Jikiden Reiki Kenkukai (research group).
Western or Japanese Reiki and why do these terms exist.
Reiki was brought to the ‘West’ by two ladies, primarily, one Mrs Hawayo Takata a Japanese-American who was born in Hawaii and Mrs Chiyoko Yamaguchi who lived in Japan all her life. The only other link to Mikao Usui’s Reiki treatment method is through the Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai and this is a closed group in Japan, even Mr Hiroshi Doi (well known Reiki Teacher) who became a member, was asked to leave before being taught how to teach their system of Reiki, because they do not allow anyone to join who teaches for monetary gain.
Mrs Takata taught in a traditional way, where a student showed interest in a particular section of the Reiki course, she would give them further lessons in that particular area. She taught 22 students to teach Reiki but all in slightly different ways, without a manual. This led to her student teachers having to come together after her passing in 1980, to agree a formal teaching method of the Reiki course. This resulted in different styles being created.
On the other hand, we have Mrs Chiyoko Yamaguichi a housewife who first learned Reiki over 65 years ago when she was just 17 years old in 1938. She practiced it until she passed away in August 2003.
They both learnt Reiki from one of Usui’s Teacher students Dr. Chujiro Hayashi. However Because of the sad events of the second world war, Mrs Takata had to stop teaching openly and it took 40 years before she passed her information on to her student teachers.
When Chiyoki Yamaguchi started to receive requests to meet from western Reiki teachers, she would be most interested in their treatments and stories of success and what they had learnt. Upon seeing how, what she had learnt, had changed, so much, she decided to teach.
Sadly, some people claimed to have mastered Jikiden Reiki without having received any teacher level training, so she decided, along with her son Tadao, to hold official seminars, replicating the style and content of the seminars held by Chujiro Hayashi in the 1930’s. This is how Jikiden Reiki was started and you can identify a Jikiden Reiki teacher by their scroll and listing on the official Jikiden Reiki site https://www.jikiden-reiki.com/en/member/shihan_meibo.php
Hence Jikiden Reiki is the only school who can provide you with the most authentic and close to Usui Sensei’s own teachings. Other schools claim they teach this, but are all following western Reiki seminars with a few techniques gleaned from the Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai.
Terms such as chakras, aura, Akashic records, psychic surgery, crystal healing, angels, hand positions, drumming etc used by some Western practitioners are non-Japanese Reiki concepts and were not part of the original teachings. Even some symbols were added without meaning or understanding.
NOTE: Reiki is Reiki, the methods for practicing it are different, take a cup of tea, drunk from green leaves in Japan or from black with milk added in the west, both are tea but have differences.
Jikiden Reiki teachers are the passing on the knowledge, as close as you can get, to the ones presented by Mikao usui in Japan over 85 years ago.