by William Lee Rand
Since Reiki has tremendous potential to help others including the ability to improve the healing of serious illnesses, even those that are life threatening, and can help us in so many other wonderful ways, making its results more effective is a worthy goal and one that experience has shown is entirely possible.
In order to understand how we can improve the quality of our Reiki energy, a clear understanding of the meaning of the word Reiki can be helpful. The word Reiki is made up of two Japanese kanji. The kanji for Rei can have a variety of meanings but the highest and most esoteric has to do with spiritual consciousness. The kanji for ki also can have a variety of meanings, but the meaning that works best for this article is that ki is the energy of life. However, it is important to realize that life energy can express in many ways. As an example, the Japanese call healthy life energy genki and unhealthy life energy is called byoki. And in fact, it is recognized that there is a different kind of ki for every psychological and physiological state that is possible for a person to be in. It is the type of consciousness that is guiding ki that causes it to express differently. In the case of Reiki, life energy is being guided by spiritual consciousness. This is why Reiki is able to heal.
Based on my experience and that of other highly sensitive Reiki practitioners, I have found that it is possible to attract ever higher qualities of Reiki energy for use in Reiki sessions. In this process it has been observed that Rei or spiritual consciousness can increase in frequency and become more refined, thus guiding ki in more skillful ways. Ki can also increase in strength or quantity. If we are to improve the effectiveness of our Reiki energy, we need to either increase the amount of ki or increase the quality of rei. The greatest improvement seems to come when both rei and ki are increased or improved. However, since rei guides ki, experience has shown that rei is the more important of the two.
Rei or spiritual consciousness comes from a place that is beyond ego and exists in a realm of unlimited potential. Because of the superior nature of rei, it has the potential ability to summon an unlimited quantity of ki.
This understanding means that no matter how effective ones Reiki has become, it’s always possible for it to be more effective. In other words, there is no limit to the healing potential Reiki offers us. If we believe that Reiki comes from an unlimited source, then it is only logical that this is true.
When Reiki has a higher quality of rei, it is more intelligent, aware and skillful. This means that more difficult issues can be healed by Reiki energy or that the same issue can be healed more quickly. An analogy to this is that of a surgeon. When a physician first becomes a surgeon, he or she is usually able to perform simple operations such as the appendectomy, dermatological surgery or a tonsillectomy, but as skill is developed, ever more sophisticated operations become possible with brain surgery and organ transplants being possible at the higher skill levels. In the same way, it is possible to refine one’s ability to channel Reiki energy so that ever more skillful levels of Reiki energy become available to us. When this begins to happen, the Reiki energy is perceived to be more refined and of a subtler quality, while at the same time, it has a more powerful effect in which the client is taken into higher states of relaxation that are more deeply healing and beautiful to experience. These higher states might be appropriately called transcendental relaxation.
Keeping Your Reiki Strong
There are a number of techniques I’ve found that will improve the refinement and strength of our Reiki energy, thus increasing its effectiveness. But first I’d like to address an issue some students have mentioned because if this issue is present, it will prevent improvements from taking place. This has to do with the situation in which our Reiki energy seems to lose the strength it originally had. This situation can arise when the practitioner is giving many Reiki sessions to others and not taking the time to receive Reiki. My first Reiki teacher, Bethal Phaigh, said that Takata Sensei told her one must maintain a balance in the use of Reiki if one is to maintain its flow. This means that one must not only give sessions to others and do self-sessions, but most importantly, one must also receive hands-on Reiki sessions from others. This is necessary because when giving Reiki, often our own issues will be dislodged and come to the surface, but the Reiki energy that flows through us when giving sessions to others and even when doing self-sessions will not always be strong enough to complete the healing process and release the negative energy. These unresolved negative energies can sometimes slow and even block the flow of one's Reiki energy. The remedy for this is to lie passively on the Reiki table and receive a session from another practitioner. In this way the full healing power of Reiki can work on us, clearing out the issues that have jammed up in our system and opening the Reiki pathway, thus restoring its flow.
Improving the effectiveness of Reiki
One school of thought is that as you practice Reiki, it will get stronger. While it’s important to practice by giving sessions to yourself and others, I have found that practice by itself isn’t enough to improve the strength and quality of Reiki energy or if it does, it doesn’t seem to improve very much. I’ve been around Reiki people a long time and have had the opportunity to receive sessions from many different practitioners from both traditional and non-traditional lineages including those who have been practicing for years. I have noticed that it is often the case that those with years of practice have Reiki that is not noticeably stronger than those who have been practicing a much shorter time. Therefore if we are to improve the quality of our Reiki energy, techniques other than simply practicing Reiki must be employed.
Take the Next Level of Reiki Training
One way to increase the effectiveness of your Reiki energy is to take the next level of Reiki training. As an example, if you have Reiki I, take Reiki II or if you have II take Advanced Reiki Training or the ART/Master training; as long as you choose an experienced, competent teacher who you trust and feel good about, your Reiki energy is going to improve. If you’ve already taken all the levels including Karuna Reiki® Master, then I suggest that you review one or more of the classes. The increased training and the review will improve your understanding of Reiki, you’ll learn new healing skills or brush up on those you already know and the attunement will further refine and strengthen your Reiki energy.
Additional Attunements
Another thing that works is to get additional attunements. While Takata Sensei didn’t recommend this, it is something that is practiced by the Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai, the Reiki organization started by Usui Sensei. Based on their experience and the instruction given to them by Usui Sensei it is important to get many attunements. The Gakkai have meetings two to three times a month at which attunements or reiju, as they call them, is given. Everyone is encouraged to attend these meetings and receive reiju as often as possible. It is their experience that as one receives more reijus, the strength and quality of one’s Reiki energy increases.(1)
To take advantage of this I suggest forming a group of Reiki Masters who meet regularly and share attunements among themselves. You can also give yourself attunements. Below is a method for doing this.
Strengthen Your Reiki Energy through Self-Attunements
If you are a Reiki Master, it’s possible to give yourself attunements. This will strengthen and refine your Reiki energy at the same time it raises your vibration and improves your health. I suggest using this technique to give yourself the Master attunement. Those who have chosen to do this once a day for a month or longer have had amazing results.
- Sit in a chair in the middle of the room.
- Prepare yourself using the usual method you use when giving attunements to others.
- Include a prayer indicating this will be a self-attunement and ask that it further refine and strengthen your Reiki energy.
- Then stand up, but as you do so, imagine you are leaving your astral body or an image of yourself seated in the chair.
- Proceed to move behind the chair and imagine you can see yourself sitting in the chair while giving yourself the first part of the attunement.
- Continue around to the front and give yourself this part of the attunement using the same method of visualizing and intending that you are still seated in the chair.
- Continue using this process with all the attunement steps including the final blessing and completion.
- After you are done, sit back into the chair imagining you are sitting back into your astral body.
- Meditate with your hands on your heart, focused on experiencing the new energy that is flowing through you.
Working with an Illumined Being
Another method of improving the strength and effectiveness of your Reiki energy is to develop a strong working relationship with a fully Illumined being. While it is true that there are Reiki guides who help us with our Reiki sessions and can guide us in other ways, they are not necessarily able to provide the highest quality of help and guidance that is available. This is why I always recommend that Reiki practitioners develop a strong working relationship with a fully Illuminated being.
A fully Illuminated being is one who is beyond ego and is a pure source of guidance and energy that comes directly from the source—from God, or the Supreme Being, or the Universe or whatever name you have chosen to give it. When this is the case, these guides will have a tremendous love for you and also be extremely powerful and posses extraordinary skill. Their energy will be highly refined and they’ll be able to interact with you in ways that are exactly right for you, adjusting the energies they use as well as the skills and techniques so as to heal or help the issues and situations in need of healing in an efficient and effective way.
An Illumined being will always respect your free will and will always get permission from you before providing you with help. This could include healing or helping you upgrade the quality of your Reiki energy or teaching you new skills and providing other benefits. They will also support your current guides helping them to upgrade their skills and improve the quality of healing energy they provide as well. These Illumined guides are usually well known such as Jesus, Mother Mary, the Holy Spirit, and there is also Buddha, Krishna, Babaji, St. Germain, the bodhisattvas, the Archangels and so on. You may also choose to work with God directly.
You may already be in touch with one or more of these Illumined Beings, but if not, the following is a method of making contact and gaining their help.
Gaining the Help of an Illumined Being
- Say a prayer or affirmation asking to be guided to the Illumined Being that is right for you. Then do some reading about the Ascended Masters or the Illumined Beings including any of those mentioned above. Be aware of which you feel most attracted to. After doing this a while, choose one you’d like to work with. If you have strong religious beliefs, then the Illumined Being best for you most likely will be one associated with your religion, but not necessarily.
- Set a time to meditate at least once each day.
- At the beginning of your meditation, pray to the Illumined Being you have chosen to work with asking he or she to help you make contact and to strengthen your connection. Include your intention of gaining his or her help to improve the quality of your healing energy so that you will be able to provide greater help to others.
- Then using the Reiki distant symbol, begin sending Reiki to the Illumined Being. As you do so continue with your prayer or affirmation, asking that the Illumined Being work with you to strengthen your connection. Also again pray that the Illumined Being will strengthen your Reiki energy making it more effective so that you can provide greater help to others.
- Ask that this Illumined Being become your main guide. Give this Illumined Being permission to heal you and to make any changes in your energy field it deems appropriate for your healing.
- Ask the Illumined Being to support your current guides and to work with them to upgrade their skills and healing energies.
- Also, ask the Illumined Being to remove any unhealthy spirits or other forces or energies that are not part of God’s plan for your life.
- Note that one of the features of Illumined Beings is that they will always respect your free will and will never force anything on you but will always ask permission before making any changes in your energy field or providing healing.
- During the session you may be guided to place your hands on various parts of your body or be shown lessons or be provided with other healing experiences that will be beneficial to you.
- End the session with an expression of gratitude and with the request that the Illumined Being continue to provide help, guidance, protection and blessings.
Do this meditation once a day. Then throughout the day, from time to time, contemplate your life and your desire to be of greater service to others. You can also say additional prayers to your Illumined Being throughout the day.
This is a very powerful exercise that can be done on an ongoing basis for years or even the rest of your life. An Illumined Being has unlimited potential and can heal you and guide you to extraordinary levels of health and well-being and provide great benefit for your Reiki clients and students. It may also happen that the time will come when the Illumined Being becomes your only guide (along with God) and quickens your movement along your spiritual path, helping your life work much better than ever before. This process is more than worth the amount of time it will take to carry it out.
Life holds the possibility of extraordinary healing, growth and well-being for each of us. In order to realize this potential, it’s necessary to accept this possibility and make use of methods to facilitate the development of these qualities. My hope is that this article will provide you with the inspiration, motivation and methods to get started and that in time you will be guided to the achievement of your greatest potential.
1 Rand, William, Hiroshi Doi is Interviewed by William Lee Rand, Part I, summer, 2003, Reiki News Magazine.
