Does Reiki Have a Buddhist Origin?

By Oliver Klatt
Reiki Master and editor of the German-language Reiki Magazin

We often read today that the Usui System of Reiki has a Buddhist origin or that the spiritual roots of the system are in Buddhism. In my book Reiki Systems of the World, I also suggest the possibility of such a correlation because some of the renowned, internationally active Reiki Masters represent this viewpoint. But what is the actual basis of this assumption?

One starting point for considering the Usui System of Reiki within a Buddhist context is that the founder of the system, Mikao Usui, apparently followed a Buddhist practice. With this in mind, it is possible to say that since this system’s founder had a Buddhist orientation defining the core of his spirituality, the origin of the system that he founded was based in Buddhism. Aside from the issue of how extensive the sources are upon which this information is based, the important question is: Is this line of thought actually conclusive? It can obviously be seen in this way. But it is also a fact that when someone creates something new, he must always begin with what is or was there before. Jesus of Nazareth was a Jew and became Jesus Christ, which was the beginning of Christianity. Prince Siddhartha was Hindu. He became the Buddha and created Buddhism.

Seen in this light, practitioners of a newly created spiritual path – and this is how I understand the Usui System of Reiki (and Usui apparently also viewed it in this way / see the footnote*) – may be interested in knowing about the historical starting point of this path. However, this is less significant in the spiritual sense. In spiritual terms, the only things that matter are its elements, as well as the inner orientation of this new path – and both prove to be what they are virtually from within. Following this line of thought, it makes sense to now further explore the initial question of this article by taking a closer look at the spiritually significant elements of the Usui System as the first step and examine them to determine if they have a special proximity to Buddhism. Then, in a second step, it appears reasonable to examine the spiritual orientation of the Usui System as a whole and to also scrutinize it for a special closeness to Buddhism. It appears to make sense for both steps to also examine a possible proximity of the Usui System with the other major spiritual traditions and religions of the world. If it turns out that the Usui System actually does have a close proximity to Buddhism but is also close to the other religions and spiritual traditions, then we cannot claim that the system has a “special close relationship” with Buddhism.

Elements of the Usui System

When considering the Usui System on a spiritual level, we notice that the three following elements are primarily significant in the system:

1. the initiations
2. the forms of practice, and
3. the symbols that are used for them.

1. The Initiations

The initiations enable the practitioners of the system to perform its fundamental practice: the laying on of hands. The fact that Tibetan Buddhism also works with initiations, as well as the claim by some that Usui traveled through places like Tibet on his journeys, has given rise to the assumption that there is a close relationship between the Usui System and Tibetan Buddhism. However, this does not take into account that the performance of energy-transmitting initiation rituals is not a unique characteristic of Tibetan Buddhism within the spiritual world. Other spiritual traditions such as Kriya Yoga, which originated in Hinduism, and Sufism, the mystic path of Islam, work with such initiation rituals.

Furthermore, there is no verifiable source for the claim that Usui was in Tibet and/or studied with Tibetan-Buddhist monks. As long as Usui did not have any contact with Tibetan Buddhism, the fact that the Usui System of Reiki includes initiation rituals actually seems to support the assumption that there is no particularly close relationship of the system with Buddhism. In general, all of the lines of Buddhism other than the Tibetan line do not work with initiation rituals and/or the focus is not on energy transmissions.

Another fact in support of Usui not having developed his Reiki System from Tibetan Buddhism is that the seed syllable of hrih, based upon which he probably created the "Mental-Healing Symbol," has less similarity to the "Mental-Healing Symbol" in its Tibetan-Buddhist form than in its Siddham form. (Siddham is a script of Sanskrit that was developed by Buddhist monks in India and later also reached China and Japan – more on this later).

2. The Forms of the Practice

The practice of the First Degree can be described as the core practice of the Usui System. Within the traditional form of the system, it essentially consists of the daily self-treatment with Reiki through the laying on of hands. However, this form of the practice has only developed over the course of decades, especially during the time in which Hawayo Takata, Chujiro Hayashi’s student, shaped what is now the most widespread form of the system, Usui Shiki Ryoho. In addition, the daily practice of this traditional form of the system includes the sincere effort of putting the contents of the five Reiki Principles into action in everyday life. At the time of Mikao Usui’s work in Japan, the core of the practice probably did not yet include self-treatment with Reiki on a regular basis; instead, the primary focus was to recite the five Reiki Principles in the morning and evening, to meditate on their content, and to implement them in everyday life. However, the practice of the system already included elements of the laying on of hands.

The practice of the Second Degree can be considered an advanced practice of the Usui System. The techniques of the Second Degree enable an intensification of the energy flow in working with Reiki, as well as for the practices of mental healing and distant healing. These techniques are made possible through the use of three symbols. In terms of practicing the Second Degree, there are very few differences between Usui Shiki Ryoho, the form of the Usui system shaped by Takata, and the original Japanese-oriented form, Reiki Ryoho.

The practice on the Master level consists of performing initiations. While the initiations at the time of Mikao Usui were apparently still carried out without the use of symbols, the symbols associated with the system have also been used in initiations since Hayashi, one of the masters initiated by Usui, through whom the system reached the West.

Universal Spirituality

If we look at the individual elements of the practice that are described here, the following can be determined with regard to the question raised by this article:

2.1 First Degree

It is apparent that the core practice of the system is the laying on of hands, as well as the spiritual orientation upon the Principles and their best-possible implementation in everyday life; in the original Japanese-influenced form of the system, this also includes the reciting of the Principles and meditation on their contents.

The laying on of hands for the purpose of transmitting spiritual energy or healing powers is not the sole domain of any particular religion or tradition. Instead, this practice can be found in all cultures and religions of the world in one way or another. We read in the Bible that Jesus and his apostles laid on their hands in order to heal. According to reports, kings and saints also healed in the Christian cultures through the laying on of hands. The Koran mentions the healing work of Jesus in many places. It has also been written that Mohammed, as well as many saints of Islam, healed through the laying on of hands. The same has been said of Buddha. There are Buddhist buildings containing reliefs in which the practice of the laying on of hands can be seen. The concept of ki – a vital life force – that can be transmitted through the laying on of hands, among other things, is a basic assumption in Taoism. The same applies to Hinduism, where this force is called prana, for example.

Like the laying on of hands, the contents of the Principles can be found in the writings of almost all cultures and religions. Overcoming anger and worry, a respectful attitude toward fellow human beings that extends to an empathetic attitude, an honest basic orientation in life, both the inner and the outer work in the service of spiritual development, as well as gratitude toward God or a higher power – all of these contents can be found in one form or another in actually every spiritual tradition.

In terms of the practice of reciting and meditating, we can determine that these two forms of spiritual practice can be found in almost every spiritual tradition in one form or another. For example, the Christian culture also has the practice of contemplation, a mental immersion in spiritual topics and relationships that is quite close to the Far Eastern practice of meditation in terms of both its contents and the Principles. In Taoism, Buddhism, and Hinduism, the meditation generally plays a decisive role for progressing in the spiritual sense. The same also applies to the various esoteric teaching systems. Spiritual texts and contents are recited in the rites and ceremonies of all religions.

In terms of the practice of First Degree, no particular proximity of the system to Buddhism can be established. In any case, it is not closer than to all of the other significant spiritual traditions and religions throughout the world.

2.2 Second Degree

On the level of the Second Degree, the practice of mental healing, as well as distance healing, have been determined to be the core elements. Both of these are specifically oriented forms of healing work. The Usui System of Reiki works with symbols in this respect.

The practice of distance healing, which means the transference of healing energy over a distance to a person who is not physically present, is an element of the various healing traditions. It can be found in the healing work by shamans of the indigenous peoples, as well as in the work of most spiritual healers, regardless of the spiritual background in which they work. Within the Christian, Islamic, and Jewish context, this primarily means the prayers that ask for healing through God. Hinduism, Taoism, and Buddhism, call upon the help of spiritual beings and/or energy forms for distant healing or a spiritual connection with the person to be treated is established by means of a technique or a previously internalized spiritual principle.

The same applies to the practice of mental healing, which means healing effects on the deep layers of human consciousness that are components of various healing traditions. Consequently, it can be observed that this special form of healing work, which is primarily used by spiritual healers who see their spiritual background as primarily based on the Far Eastern cultures. However, many spiritual healers who see their spiritual background as rooted in Western cultures work with this form of healing; this usually includes Western, esoteric teaching systems or methods of positive thinking.

And, finally, the use of symbols in the respective different contexts – whether in rituals, ceremonies, or in forms of spiritual practice – can be found throughout all religions in every spiritual tradition. In order to make a statement about the respective spiritual context, this obviously depends ultimately on a) the precise form of the symbols used, as well as b) on their precise contents – two points that will be examined more closely in the following section with regard to the symbols used in the Usui System.

Preliminary conclusion: For the practice on the level of the Second Degree, no special proximity of the Usui System to Buddhism can be determined so far. The same applies to the practice on the Master level: As already mentioned above, the performance of initiations is a component of various spiritual traditions.

The Form of the Symbols

3. The Symbols

The symbols of the Usui System are elements of the practice on two levels: On the level of the Second Degree and the Master level. There are three symbols in the Usui System of Reiki. These are the three symbols of the Second Degree. Their use enables an intensification of the energy flow, as well as the practice of mental healing and distant healing.

What is generally known as the "Reiki Symbol" is not a symbol in the narrower sense of the word but simply two Japanese characters. One of them represents the term rei and the other stands for the word ki. Both terms of rei and ki are part of the Japanese language, just like the words “universal“ and “life energy“ are part of the English language. The writing of the two terms rei and ki in Japanese as one word, Reiki, has no special symbolic power to the same extent that writing the two words “universal” and “life energy” in English as one term has no special symbolic power.

The same applies to the so-called “Master Symbol.“ It merely consists of three Japanese characters that connect three terms of the Japanese language with each other and/or make them into a sentence. Even if this combination of words may have a specific meaning within the spirituality and culture of Japan, this is no reason to assume that this meaning continues to exist beyond the Japanese context. For example, when an American says: “So help me God,“ then this sentence is usually understood within America – where Christianity is the dominating religion – as referring to the Christian god. But, for example, if this same English sentence is spoken within the scope of a Hindu ceremony in India by a Hindu, then it certainly does not refer to the Christian god.

This same fundamental consideration also applies to the terms or names of the three symbols of the Second Degree, whose contents can also be seen as independent of the specific context that they have within the Japanese culture. From a rational perspective and contrary to many opposing claims, the designations for the symbols are not mantras. Their sound does not contain any special mystic, spiritual energy or vibration; they are simply the names of the three symbols.

The following section is a reflection on the three symbols of the Usui System of Reiki and their names. However, in keeping with both the traditional and the original Japanese school of thought, neither the forms nor the names of the symbols will be revealed in the process since this only appears to be appropriate for initiates of the Second Degree. But anyone who has been initiated into the Second Degree of the Usui System will know what is meant in each case. For all others, the following text sections will probably have little meaning.

3.1 The “Power Symbol”

The essential part of the “Power Symbol” that basically determines its form can be found in the spirituality and culture of all the peoples of the world. It is also omnipresent in nature, in all life on the earth, and in the universe.

The name of the “Power Symbol” is a specific Japanese expression that has a cultural context within the history and culture life of Japan. However, what it defines in terms of the content, as well as the nature of its relationship, can be found in the same manner in other significant, larger cultures of the world.

3.2 The “Mental-Healing Symbol”

In order to explain the spiritual context of the “Mental-Healing Symbol,” we have to expand our perspective. We can assume that Mikao Usui created this symbol as a further development of one of the so-called seed syllables that is formed from several characters of the Siddham script. As a result, two questions arise initially: What is a seed syllable? What is the Siddham script?

Siddham is a script with which Sanskrit, the sacred language of the Indians, can be written down. Sanskrit, also called the “original language of the gods,“ has no individual script associated with it. Originally, Sanskrit was just a spoken language. In the beginnings of civilization in India, as well as in other places, everything was just expressed and handed down orally; nothing was written down. A script, which was used by the Indian spiritual teachers so they could write down Sanskrit, only developed at a later point in time. This script is called Brahmi. This developed into other, simpler scripts that also served to write down the Sanskrit, including the Gupta script from which the Siddham and the Devanagari scripts developed. Devanagari is now the most important script in India. In earlier times, it was Siddham.

During the time when Siddham was the most important script in India, it was also used by Buddhist monks to record Buddhist contents in writing. Due to the Sanskrit origin of the Siddham script, the individual characters – according to their pronunciation in Sanskrit – were considered sacred and therefore used as objects of meditation and contemplation. Furthermore, several of the total of 51 Siddham script characters were combined to form each of the so-called seed syllables.

Each of these seed syllables represents the essence of a specific Buddha or Bodhisattva. This is how each important Buddhist entity received its own seed syllable, also called bija, which consists of a combination of several letters of the Siddham script. The combinations were created according to the nature of the respective entity on the basis of the original meaning of the individual characters that composed the combination, derived from their original pronunciation in Sanskrit.

Mystic Identification

A seed syllable serves the mystic identification of a spiritual practitioner with a spiritual entity or a divine principle. In a certain sense, a seed syllable is concentrated energy, a “seed of the absolute“ and simultaneously the principle and origin of being. It enables the direct manifestation of the corresponding spiritual entity or energy form. In meditating on such seed syllables, as well as in the drawing of such syllables, the associated energy or entity manifests directly in the practitioner. Seed syllables exist in various forms within different spiritual traditions; for example, in the Jewish Kabbala, where Hebrew – the sacred language of the Jews – plays a role similar to that of Sanskrit for the forms of spirituality established in India.

As Buddhism spread beyond the borders of India, the Siddham script became the bearer of Buddhist contents in a certain sense – especially in relation to the emigration of Indian-Buddhist monks to China. In this process, the pronunciation of the individual characters, words, and seed syllables – which were based on the Sanskrit – increasingly lost their meaning due to the foreign cultural context and the fact that the Chinese had a language of their own, which they considered highly developed. From their perspective, they saw no necessity for adopting another language. So the pictorial design of the Siddham characters and seed syllables became increasingly important outside of India, especially in China, from that time on.

Centuries later, on one of his trips to China (as mentioned on the Usui memorial stone and by Frank Arjava Petter in the book Reiki Fire), Mikao Usui may have met with Buddhist monks who taught him the Siddham script. Perhaps he also encountered this script in Japan because the Siddham script had also been spread as far as Japan with Buddhism in the course of the centuries. (Japan is now even considered the country in which the Siddham script has been preserved. Even today, it is still used by the Shingon Buddhists to write down mantras and copy sutras, for example.) In any case, it is relatively certain that Usui was familiar with the Siddham script and therefore also the seed syllables associated with it. And one of these seed syllables apparently served him as the basis for creating the “Mental-Healing Symbol”: the seed syllable hrih.

The seed syllable hrih, which is kiriku in Japanese, represents a specific Buddha within the Siddham script: the Buddha Amida Nyorai (Amithaba Tathagata). This is the Buddha of infinite light and eternal life. We can read the following about what defines his nature at its core: “He promised to bring anyone who invokes his name with a sincere heart to his pure land. His merits are so great that he can transfer it freely to weak and foolish people who have no other hope for salvation. He is our great friend who will never abandon us. Those who follow him will be freed of all evils.” This seed syllable is considered one of the most propitious signs. It ensures good luck.

The seed syllable hrih is formed from four individual characters of the Siddham script. (In the original notation, the “i” has a horizontal line instead of dot; the last “h“ is a different “h“ than the first because it has a dot beneath it.) In a nutshell, these four letters can be translated as follows: h - karma/cause, r - passions, i - calamity, h - remove, take away. This describes what the Buddha Amida Nyorai does.

In earlier times, this seed syllable was found on the helmets of some Japanese samurai as a lucky charm in the battle. This seed syllable is still present everywhere in Japan as a kind of spiritual lucky charm. For example, t-shirts and bracelets that have this seed syllable depicted on them are sold in tourist destinations.

For the categorization of these relationships with respect to the question asked by this article, it is important to see that although Usui apparently used this seed syllable as the basis for the “Mental Healing Symbol,” the “Mental Healing Symbol” itself is something completely different and new; it is not identical with the described seed syllable. So even if there are parallels in terms of content between the above-described Buddhist meaning of the seed syllable and the statements by Hawayo Takata and Chujiro Hayashi on the concrete application of the “Mental-Healing Symbol,” for example, we can still ascertain that the corresponding statements on the part of Takata and Hayashi have been made from a completely different perspective than it has in the Buddhist interpretation. (For example, it has been reported that Takata sometimes spoke to the course participants of the Second Degree with the following emphatic words on the use of the “Mental-Healing Symbol”: “Think very carefully about the bad habit, and then think: No more of this! No more of this!”)

The fact that the “Mental-Healing Symbol” is independent of the seed syllable hrih that inspired Usui to create it is also demonstrated in the fact that the name of the symbol is not hrih or kiriku, but something completely different. The name or designation of this symbol is quite simply two Japanese words that, taken together, actually express a behaviour pattern that must be overcome in order to progress on the spiritual path in any form of authentic spiritual development.

A Japanese Reiki teacher with whom I am friends once told me that, in her experience, Siddham scholars in Japan did not recognize the Siddham seed syllable as the origin of the Reiki “Mental-Healing Symbol.” Seen from this perspective, we probably cannot speak of a direct, contemporary influence of the seed syllable hrih on the Reiki “Mental-Healing Symbol.” This means that the form of the Reiki “Mental-Healing Symbol” stands on its own. It draws its power from within itself and not from another form that has inspired its creation.

In addition: Even if we wanted to create a spiritual relationship between the Reiki “Mental-Healing Symbol” and the Siddham seed syllable hrih through the above-described historic context, this would obviously not only exist with the Siddham script; consequently, this would also apply to its foundation, which is namely Sanskrit – the ancient Indian sacred language from which all forms of religiousness and spirituality that were established in India, especially Hinduism, have developed.

3.3 The “Distant-Healing Symbol”

The form of the "Distant-Healing Symbol" was developed from the Japanese script. However, unlike the form of the so-called Reiki Symbol and Master Symbol, it doesn’t consist of complete, individual Japanese characters, but is made of parts (!) of them. In the composition of the symbol, Usui supposedly made use of a Taoist combination technique. Is this an indication that Usui also came into closer contact with Taoism during his journeys through China? This can be presumed because the central meaning of chi – which is ki in Japanese – is an energy form within Taoism.

The name of the Reiki “Distant-Healing Symbol” consists of several Japanese words and includes various (spiritual) meanings that ultimately remain a mystery in their totality. As a result, the translation of these words into Western languages has probably been simplified a bit or reduced to a simple “formula.” When written together, two of the five Japanese words that stand for the “Distant-Healing Symbol” can form a specialized Buddhist term. However, this does not have to be seen as a Buddhist context; not least because the two respective words are not written together in the name of the symbol.

The following can be asserted in general with regard to the nature of Japanese culture in the past and present, and therefore also in relation to the nature of the Japanese language: In addition to a multitude of other influences, it was or still is also obviously subject to Buddhist influences. However, so many other influences of a secular and spiritual nature have had an effect on Japanese culture that it is very difficult to identify a main influence. According to the scholars, a considerable portion of Japan’s mythological writings are based on Indian influences. Within this context, Shintoism – the nature religion of Japan – is also called the Japanese version of Hinduism.

The only possible conclusion here is that even a closer analysis of the precise forms and names of the three symbols of the Usui system does not reveal any particular proximity to Buddhism, except that these forms and names primarily have various correlations with Japanese culture. In turn, this was also influenced by Buddhism. However, it was possible to determine a historical relationship with a Buddhist meditation object in terms of the “Mental-Healing Symbol.” But upon closer inspection, this historical proximity extends beyond the Buddhist context to the origins of all Indian spiritual traditions and religions.

Healing and Spiritual Development

Now that we have examined the spiritually significant components of the Usui System in relation to their proximity to Buddhism, as well as to other spiritual traditions, this last section will consider the spiritual orientation of the Usui System as a whole and with the same question.

When considering the practice of the Usui System of Reiki with regard to its inner orientation, we can also determine that its core consists of two aspects:

1. The attainment of both physical and mental healing and
2. The spiritual development of the practitioner.

In addition, the system can also be considered a path of personal development for the practitioner (although this is certainly not independent of the two first aspects). On the one hand, this means that the system is a method of energetic healing; on the other hand, it is a spiritual discipline. Both of these elements are inseparably linked with each other.

It is probably unnecessary to demonstrate the individual details of why – as is common knowledge – the two aspects of mental and physical healing and spiritual development are components of every authentic spiritual path.

Conclusion

In summary, no special relationship between the Usui System of Reiki and Buddhism is discernible; in any case, no closer proximity than it also has to other religions or spiritual traditions. So the conclusion drawn by this article is perhaps that the Usui System of Reiki has a closer proximity to the Eastern religions and spiritual traditions as a whole than to the Western religions and spiritual traditions as a whole. This applies especially to the practice on the level of the Second Degree, as well as to the Master level.

Copyright © 2009-2010 Oliver Klatt
Translation: Christine Grimm

Click here for more articles in English by Oliver Klatt

* In a formal declaration by Mikao Usui as to why he publicly teaches the Reiki method of healing, which is right at the beginning of the Reiki Method of Healing Handbook (Reiki Ryoho Hikkei), Usui writes: “Our Reiki Ryoho is something absolutely original and cannot be compared with any other (spiritual) path in the world.“ (Quote from: Reiki - The Legacy of Dr. Usui, F. A. Petter, Lotus Light 1999)

Sources:

Books: Sacred Calligraphy of the East, John Stevens, Boulder & London, 1981 / Siddham. An Essay on the History of Sanskrit Studies in China and Japan, R. H. van Gulik, International Academy of Indian Culture and Aditya Prakashan, New Delhi, 1956 (reprint 2001) / Das Buch der Schrift (The Book of Script), Carl Faulmann, Druck und Verlag der Kaiserlich-Königlichen Hof- und Staatsdruckerei, Vienna, 1880 (reprint Eichborn Verlag) / Sanskrit, Jutta Marie Zimmermann, Stuttgart, 2003 / Erlebnis: Sanskrit-Sprache (Experience: Sanskrit Language), Wilfried Huchzermeyer (editor), Karlsruhe, 2005 / Die heiligen Schriften Indiens (The Sacred Writings of India), Wilfried Huchzermeyer, Karslruhe, 2005 / The Yoga-Sutra of Patanjali, Inner Traditions, 1998 / Glaubensheilungen in Geschichte und Gegenwart (Faith Healings in History and the Present), Klaus-Dietrich Stumpfe, Self-published by Stumpfe, Cologne, 2007 / The Bible, Herder, Freiburg, Basel, Vienna, 1991 / The Koran, Acacia Publishing, 2008 / The Power of the Kabbalah, Yehuda Berg, Kabbalah Publishing, 2004 / Bhagavad Gita, Nilgiri Press, 2007 / Tao Te Ching, Lao Tse, Wilder Publications, 2009 / Das Tao-Handbuch (The Tao Handbook) Gérard Edde, Windpferd, 2006 / The Healing Buddha, Raoul Birnbaum, Shambhala, 2003 / The Tibetan Book of the Dead, Graham Coleman, Penguin Classics, 2007 / Reiki. Tao Tö Qi. Les Secrets du Reiki, Idris Lahore, Paris, 2008 / The Big Book of Reiki Symbols, Mark Hosak & Walter Lübeck, Lotus Press, 2007 / Reiki - The Legacy of Dr. Usui, Frank Arjava Petter, Lotus Light, 1999 / Das Reiki-Meister Buch (The Reiki Master Book) Frank Doerr (editor), Windpferd, 2007 / Reiki Systems of the World, Oliver Klatt, Lotus Press, 2006

Articles: “Siddham in China and Japan,” Saroj Kumar Chaudhuri, Sino-Platonic Papers, 88, Dec. 1998, www.sino-platonic.org / “Bija, Seed Syllables,” www.visiblemantra.org / “Japan,” Kshatriya Dharam, www.esamskriti.com / “Understanding Byosen Scanning,” Frank Arjava Petter, Reiki News Magazine, Spring 2007, www.reiki.org / “Bildwerdung durch Wandlung,” Dr. Helmut Brinker, unimagazin, Zeitschrift der Universität Zürich, 2/97 edition, www.unicom.unizh.ch

Audio: Hawayo Takata Teaching the Second Degree, audio cassette, produced by www.reikivisions.com

Oliver Klatt is the author of the book Reiki Systems of the World. This is his first article for The Reiki Digest.

Gimme Reiki!

By Beth Lowell

On Saturday, January 30, I participated in the Wellness Gala held at the Unitarian Fellowship, in Morristown, New Jersey. I heard about it through the Holistic Mentorship Network, an organization located in New Jersey but whose members come from around the world. Debbie Peterson started the Wellness Gala a few years ago. Her son had healed from a debilitating disease after she sought help from a practitioner whom Debbie describes as an energy healer. Debbie was so grateful that her son had found relief that she started the gala to bring public awareness to the wide variety of integrative healing modalities that exist. I’d heard she got a good crowd, so I thought I’d try it.

Attending practitioners are required to don gala-caliber garb. There’s live music and healthy gourmet refreshments for the public. It sounded like a low key and relaxing day. As I got settled into my space, I imagined people strolling around to the sound of violin music, sampling the hors d’oeuvres and chatting to the practitioners whose expertise ranged from massage and the Bowen technique to Feng Shui and aromatherapy, to homeopaths and intuitive readers and sellers of salt lamps and crystal jewelry. I sat next to another Reiki practitioner and a shaman. I envisioned talking to people about Reiki for animals, perhaps doing a demo on one of the stuffed animals I brought, and of course, offering Reiki treatments so that people could see first hand how good it would feel to their pets.

I was not at all prepared for what happened next when the doors opened at one o’clock. A flood of people stampeded into the room. I watched as they grabbed my clipboard and started signing themselves up for Reiki treatments. Before two o’clock, my dance card was full.

There were the few who had never heard of Reiki but wanted to try it, and there were those who’d had Reiki treatments in the past. There were practitioners of all levels. There was the woman who had grown used to her hour-long Reiki session at the spa only to be left feeling high and dry when her practitioner left. The spa had hired replacements, but they just weren’t the same. (Having gone through the same thing with many a hairdresser, I could relate to this poor woman’s dilemma.) I handed her my card and noted on the back the address for the editor of The Reiki Digest – surely there was a Reiki practitioner in Manalapan, NJ, who might be able to help! There was the Reiki Master who had been attuned via the Internet and longed for human contact, and then there was the Reiki 1 practitioner who noticed how in tune her cats became when she meditated and practiced Reiki. I didn’t quite understand what she was saying about the massage part, though, and there wasn’t time to get into it as people were lined up so I moved on.

Some of the questions I got were:

Did you channel the energy from my knee into the ground?
Whose energy am I feeling?
Will you tell me stuff about what you’re sensing?
Do you work on birds?
Can you make my dog nice?
Can you get rid of my headache?

By four o’clock, some of the people who had signed up earlier had to leave for the day and would not be keeping their appointments. But it didn’t matter; other people showed up and filled their slots. Finally, I was winding down with the last two appointments of the day. Practitioners had strict orders to finish up by 5:50. It was 5:45.

I heard a woman who had been waiting patiently for the last ten minutes ask the practitioner next to me for a treatment, but the practitioner had blocked out the last appointment of the day so she could get ready to leave. The woman turned to me.

I told the woman that I was sorry and that we were out of time. But the woman persisted. She was one of the hired musicians and had been playing the cello all day. She had a sinus headache and her arms were sore. I couldn’t turn her down. I had little to pack up and so we started. At six o’clock, I put my hand on the woman’s shoulder and apologized that we didn’t have more time, and I told her I hoped I had helped at least in some small way. She gave me a big smile and asked for my card.

It was rewarding to hear from so many people how much they appreciated what I did – but equally or more gratifying was to learn how many people not only know about Reiki, but recognize its importance in their lives. It was really nothing short of amazing.

You can learn more about the Wellness Gala by visiting wellnessgala.com

Reiki Master Teacher Beth Lowell is an animal Reiki specialist based in Morristown, New Jersey, and a frequent contributor to The Reiki Digest.

Music we love to practice Reiki by: Tingstad & Rumbel

He plays fingerstyle acoustic guitar, she plays the flute, and they're celebrating their 25th year as a musical combo this year. We love listening to the music of Eric Tingstad and Nancy Rumbel while working with a client, practicing Reiki self-care, or doing most anything else, for that matter. Click on the button to listen for yourself. And many thanks to iTunes -- a share of each purchase you make via our links goes to help cover some of the cost of bringing you this publication.

Celeb-Reiki Dexter-Jones turns her energy to jewelrymaking

She's been a Celeb-Reiki more times than we can recall, but this week socialite, celebrity mom, freelance writer and Reiki Master Ann Dexter-Jones gets the distinction once again, this time for her Reiki-infused bracelets, now available at a few select boutiques. Turns out she's been a jewelry designer for several years now in addition to her many other activities.

The weekly waka

Like gentle sunshine
emanating from the hands
bathed in love and light
Reiki energy healing
Connecting heaven and earth

By Julie Romanko

(Waka wanted: If you'd like to contribute a waka to our regular series, check out these guidelines, write your waka, and email it to editor @ thereikidigest.com.)

This week's specials

Healing music for Haiti

So many Reiki practitioners around the world are including Haiti in their meditations in the wake of the devastating earthquake there, many of them organizing synchronized group sessions to send healing energy to the victims and relief workers there. To aid that process, we asked Reiki practitioner and harpist Cymber Lily Conn to record a special healing harp session for Haiti.

Cymber explains:

"Janet Dagley Dagley, editor of The Reiki Digest, asked me if I would create a special musical Reiki healing for the people and environment of Haiti. What a beautiful idea!

As I played this piece, I imagined how life might once again be for Haiti: easy island living, swinging in a hammock, catching fish, eating with family and friends. I felt palm trees, gentle breezes, and rich sunsets pass through my hands on their way to comfort my fellow humans.

I invite you to send your prayers and healing energies to Haiti along these harp strings, so that we may speed recovery and find hope."

Cymber Lily Conn is a Level II Reiki practitioner and harpist and frequent contributor to The Reiki Digest. She creates custom music for Reiki practitioners and clients. www.ReikiHealingHarp.com.

Click on the mp3 player below to listen, and our thanks to FileFactory.com for helping us with the audio.

Go To FileFactory.com

Thanks, Cymber!

We hope Reiki practitioners everywhere will continue to send healing energy to Haiti as well as sending monetary donations to help with the continuing crisis and overwhelming need there.

Reiki Roundup

We begin our roundup of Reiki news at the web site of Massage Magazine, where we find Reiki included among suggestions for continuing education for massage therapists.

Next stop, The Huffington Post, where Elena Brower's post "Art of Attention: Breathing for Healing Sleep" includes a little touch of Reiki.

The January issue of Healthcare Traveler magazine has a feature on animal Reiki.

Advance for Nurses magazine has an interview with Meredith Kendall, the Reiki coordinator at a hospital in Maine and author of the book Reiki Nurse: My Life As a Nurse, and How Reiki Changed It.



On to Jakarta, Indonesia, where the Jakarta Post asks, "Are Reiki and Yoga Compatible?" (In a word, yes!)

From there we move on to Kashmir, divided among India, Pakistan, and China and scene of much strife, where millions suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, and a project called "Healing Kashmir" is providing Reiki and other alternative therapies to help some of them.

Next stop: Half Moon Bay, California, where a Reiki aficionado was among a group of 25 nonagenarians honored at a local event.

Our final stop this week is Chicago, where we find a newspaper feature -- with video -- headlined "Reiki: Miracle-Gro for Humans" along with a profile of a former advertising executive who's now very busy with her Reiki practice and spa.

Celeb-Reiki Prince William follows in his mother's footsteps

This week's Celeb-Reiki is His Royal Highness Prince William of Wales, whose busy January schedule included a stop at a hospice visited 18 years ago by his mother, Princess Diana. The Prince made a three-hour journey over icy roads to visit St. Barnabas hospice in Lincoln, and was rewarded not only with a warm welcome but a teddy bear from the children of a patient there. Reiki is one of the many services available at St. Barnabas.

The weekly waka

January thaw
fools everything into bloom
embrace each morning -
counting the days until spring
won't hasten its arrival

By Beth Lowell

(Waka wanted: If you'd like to contribute a waka to our regular series, check out these guidelines, write your waka, and email it to editor @ thereikidigest.com.)

This week's specials

Once each we take a moment to thank the advertisers who help make it possible for us to bring you The Reiki Digest at no charge, and to thank our readers for keeping that supportive energy flowing by shopping via our links. We get a small share of each purchase you make by shopping here, although for charities we do not, so 100% of the money you donate to such great causes as the Red Cross, Save the Children, and the Shelter Animal Reiki Association goes to that organization.

This week, we're putting the spotlight on our newest advertisers.

Coffees of Hawaii is offering some warmth with a winter sale:



Learn.com is a worldwide knowledge exchange with more than 30,000 courses:



Equal Exchange has a sweet reminder of an approaching holiday:



MagicKitchen.com delivers nutritious, ready-to-prepare meals right to your door:



And for pet lovers, we have two new advertisers to take care of your (and your pets') needs:





To keep things in balance, we feature only a few of our advertisers in our email edition. To see them all, visit our web site, ReikiDigest.com.

A piece of Reiki history: Hawayo Takata's Hilo clinic

Article and photos by Cymber Lily Conn

Visiting Reiki's Beginnings in Hawaii: Mrs. Takata in Hilo, 1939-1950

Dr. Robert Klein in front of Mrs. Takata's sign. The smaller sign below shows the text in a more readable format.



The classified ad Mrs. Takata ran on March 3, 1941.



Mrs. Takata's home and office, now Klein Chiropractic Center.

The house is tucked away from the road, so look for this sign on the street.

When you are visiting Hawai'i Island to experience the transformative power of Madame Pele's volcano, or taking in the relaxing waves of the Kohala Coast, you might also devote some time for driving to Hilo to visit one of the first homes of Reiki in the West.

Mrs. Hawayo Takata established one of her first practices in Hilo, in a home on Kilauea Avenue (named for the most active volcano on Earth, just 25 miles away). Today the house has been converted to the healing offices of Klein Chiropratic Center, and Dr. Robert Klein invites Reiki practitioners and clients to visit.

Dr. Klein has a small Reiki Shrine on the second floor, where he displays Mrs. Takata's sign and a microfiche ad. He found the sign in his basement when he was renovating the building to become office space. It is a small miracle that the sign still exists since there were at least two and probably three owners of the house between Mrs. Takata and Dr. Klein.

Reiki Comes to East Hawaii

After Mrs. Takata returned from Japan, healed and full of knowledge about Reiki, she moved to Hilo (though it is not clear if she stopped at any of the other islands first). She moved into the house at 2070 Kilauea in 1939 and operated from her home.

From the sign Dr. Klein found, it seems that Mrs. Takata faced some of the same problems we have today in explaining Reiki to a newcomer. Her first sign says "Reiki Massage," but later she changed marketing tactics, and painted over her first sign.

The later sign shows expanded services, while the word "reiki" disappeared altogether. She called her updated business "Hawaii Health Studio" and offered "steam baths, swedish massage, nerve: gland: shortwave treatments." There are Japanese characters, which Dr. Klein believes spells her name.

On March 3, 1941, Mrs. Takata also took out a classified ad in the local newspaper, the Hawaii Tribune Herald (which is still our newspaper). The ad reads: "Massage. Reiki treatments, massage, cabinet baths, Mrs. H. Takata, 2070 Kilauea Ave. Waiakea Homesteads." Waiakea Homsteads is now a neighborhood in Hilo.

Mrs. Takata moved to Honolulu on the Island of O'ahu in 1950, where she practiced Reiki for 30 years, until she passed away in 1980. She started training Reiki students in 1976, so none of her students worked with her at the Hilo location, nor did she teach that we know of.

Reiki in Hilo Today

Dr. Klein is a Reiki practitioner and teacher, and has taught Reiki in his offices. Though he does not give Reiki treatments specifically, he said, "I am always giving Reiki when I am working with a patient." Dr. Klein is also a black bet Aikido instructor. "The Ki in Aikido is the same Ki as in Reiki. It is the energy, the Life Force," he said.

According to the Fall 2009 Reiki News Magazine, it was Duff Cady who recently verified the location of Mrs. Takata's clinic. Sadly, Mr. Cady passed away last summer, and we will remember him as part of the history of Mrs. Takata's clinic in Hilo. Dr. Klein says that Reiki News publisher William Lee Rand has also visited and publicized the location, and since then, a large handful of Reiki masters and practitioners have make the micro-pilgrimage to Hilo. Perhaps you will be among them.

Cymber Lily Conn is a Level II Reiki practitioner and harpist, and lives near Hilo. She creates custom musical Reiki sessions in person or by recording. More information is available at her web site, reikihealingharp.com.

Celeb-Reiki writer segues from fact to fiction

There's no mystery in our naming Stacy Juba this week's Celeb-Reiki: this Reiki practitioner and former reporter is now writing fiction, according to a report in her local newspaper in Massachusetts. Her latest novel is Twenty-Five Years Ago Today, and she has another due out later this year.

Juba may have given up reporting, but she's still practicing Reiki for herself, her friends, and her family.

Referrals, anyone?

We're still doing our best to help students and clients find qualified Reiki teachers and practitioners near them. If you're a practitioner or teacher, have you registered with our Global Reiki Census? And if you'd like to study or experience Reiki, click here to get a free referral to a practitioner near you.

Music we love to practice Reiki by: Ben Tavera King and the Native Flute Ensemble

Native American flute meets 12-string guitar in Visions and Healing, a collection of music often used in healing rituals and ceremonies from Ben Tavera King and the Native Flute Ensemble. Click the button to listen and find out more. Many thanks to iTunes for being one of our sponsors!

Rest in Peace

Reiki practitioner Stephanie Carlene Weigand Muir, 51, Needham, Massachusetts, Nov. 28, 2009.

Reiki practitioner Beverly White, Honolulu, Hawaii, November 30, 2009.

Reiki Master Janet Mills "Jan" McPherson, 42, Graham, North Carolina, December 11, 2009.

Reiki practitioner Phillip Konrad Craft, 56, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, December 15, 2009.

Reiki Master Anna R. Smith, 60, Hillsboro, Ohio, December 27, 2009.

Reiki practitioner Mary (Kahontineh) Swamp, 64, Ganienkeh Territory, Altona, N.Y., Dec. 27, 2009.

Reiki Master Carol R. Asha, Quincy, Massachusetts, January 3, 2010.

Reiki Master Teacher John William Weatherby, 83, Windsor, Ontario, Canada, January 4, 2010.

Reiki Master Nicole Phillips-Ashley, Marston Mills, Massachusetts, January 15, 2010.

Reiki Master H. Allen "Bud" Bergh, 73, Palm Harbor, Florida, January 18, 2010.

Reiki practitioner William L. Deyoe, Sr., 79, Freedom, New Hampshire, January 22, 2010.


Click here to see all obituaries published in The Reiki Digest since 2006.

The weekly waka

Training

Calm and assertive,
My head held high with respect,
My energy good,
I begin training my dog
But end up training myself.

By budo adana

(Waka wanted! While we are grateful to budo adana for his contributions, we'd love to add some more voices to the mix. If you'd like to contribute a waka to our regular series, check out these guidelines, write your waka, and email it to editor @ thereikidigest.com.)

This week's specials

Many thanks to our advertisers for these great offers, and thanks to our readers for shopping via our links. A share of every purchase you make goes to help us cover some of the costs of bringing this publication to you free each week.

You can get two Tempur-Pedic pillows for the price of one at Relax the Back, but hurry -- this offer expires February 1:




Gaiam Yoga Club is offering a free trial to help you start -- or revive -- your home yoga practice:



And to help you get (or stay) fit and healthy, Gaiam is also offering these specials (good through January 31 only!):





Beautorium is offering 15% off on organic and natural beauty products if you sign up for their newsletter:



And DHC Cosmetics is offering $5 off all orders of $30 or more through January 31, 2010:



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And if you're looking beyond the end of January, you might want to take advantage of the Valentine's Day specials at Vermont Teddy Bear:

Usui in Context: The Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923

By Janet Dagley Dagley, Editor

As we all send healing energy as well as financial help to the suffering people of Haiti in the wake of this week's devastating 7.0 earthquake, we are reminded of the story of another earthquake, in another time and another place, in which the founder of Reiki and his students did their best to help the desperate victims.

From the Mikao Usui memorial stone (translated by Hyakuten Inamoto):

"In September of (1923), there was a great earthquake and a conflagration broke out. Everywhere there were groans of pain from the wounded. Sensei (teacher), feeling pity for them, went out every morning to go around the town, and he cured and saved an innumerable number of people. This is just a broad outline of his relief activities during such an emergency."

Right there, written in stone, we have evidence that two of the most widespread myths about Reiki -- never do it in an emergency, never do it for free -- are just that: myths.

The earthquake was the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, which destroyed Tokyo, the port city of Yokohama, and the surrounding prefectures of Chiba, Kanagawa, and Shizuoka. At 8.3 on the Richter scale, it was more than 10 times as powerful as the Haiti quake, and it was almost immediately followed by firestorms and a typhoon. It left more than 100,000 dead, and it changed the course not only of Japanese history, but of many people's lives, including Usui's.

The 1923 quake was also one of the first natural disasters to be documented by photography in a rapidly globalizing world, as numerous photographs available online illustrate. The devastation and desperation then were much the same as today, only in black and white instead of high-definition color. For example, here is the Tokyo metropolitan police station after the earthquake:



Here is a collection of photos of the earthquake aftermath. (Warning: the bodies of victims are visible in many images because they were everywhere.)

There's another connection between Reiki and the Kanto earthquake, aside from the energetic first aid Usui provided: the man who led the rescue and reconstruction effort was Usui's former boss, Goto Shinpei (or Shimpei in some transliterations):


Goto Shinpei (source: Wikimedia Commons)

Goto Shinpei was, among other things, "the seventh mayor of Tokyo, the first Chief Scout of Japan, the first director of NHK (the Japanese Broadcasting Company), the third principal of Takushoku University, and the Home Minister and Foreign Minister of Japan." Before that, he had a couple of foreign appointments, including director of the South Manchurian Railway and director of civilian affairs in Japanese-occupied Taiwan. In addition to all that, he was a doctor and head of a medical school (finally -- someone in Reiki history who actually was a doctor!)

And for a time, according to some Reiki historians, Mikao Usui was Goto Shinpei's personal secretary. We don't know exactly when that was, but it must have been before the earthquake, since by then Usui was in business for himself, teaching the practice we now know as Reiki.

Two years after the earthquake, Usui's dojo had so many students that he had to move to a larger location. And just over a year after that, in March, 1926, Usui died on a teaching trip.

As he dealt with the earthquake's immediate aftermath, Goto Shinpei realized that Japan needed not only a way to deal with the short-term crisis, but plan for long term to make the reconstructed Tokyo and other cities better able to withstand future temblors. His reconstruction plan called for many parks and wider roads. Although only part of his plan was implemented, today Goto Shinpei is credited with designing modern Tokyo and preparing Japan for many earthquakes to come.

Usui in Context is an ongoing series. Prior articles in the series include:

August 15, 1865
Christianity in Mid-19th-Century Japan

Referral requests pour in following Dr. Oz's endorsement of Reiki

Has the wave of interest following Dr. Mehmet Oz's enthusiastic television endorsement of Reiki reached its peak? Or is it just building?

Since Dr. Oz featured Reiki author Pamela Miles on a program about alternative remedies in the first week of January, our web traffic here at The Reiki Digest has skyrocketed. Because we've been covering Dr. Oz's Reiki connection here since 2007, many who searched online for information about the show found their way here. We mobilized immediately to offer resources for those potential new clients, students, and practitioners by setting up a free referral service, drawing upon our database of what was then more than 400 teachers and practitioners who have responded to our Global Reiki Census. Now we have more than 800 practitioners in that database, with dozens more practitioners registering each day. (Practitioners who have completed our online Reiki Update Training and passed the final exam get top priority for referrals.) All the referral requests gave us a reason to start tweeting frequently, so you might want to start following us on Twitter as well.

If you're among the many looking to experience or learn more about Reiki, click here to request a free referral to a Reiki teacher or practitioner near you.

We know that Pamela has been very busy as well since her TV appearance, but we're glad that she's taken the time to add some valuable resources, including videos, to her web site for anyone curious about Reiki.

Here's one on how to find a credible Reiki practitioner. Pamela has generously given permission for us -- and for you -- to use the YouTube video on your own site. If you can't see the video below, click here to watch, or here to see more videos, including the actual Dr. Oz endorsement.



We plan for the new referral service to continue as a free service with the support of advertising, and we hope to help as many people as possible make their own Reiki connections.

As we develop this service, here are a few tips on how to help us do so efficiently:

If you're a practitioner and you'd like to be included in our database, please add your information to our Global Reiki Census, rather than calling or emailing us. We're doing our best to keep up, but it will be a while before we'll be able to add your information manually.

If you've registered with the Global Reiki Census before but you want to change your information, just fill out the form again and note that you're updating your information.

If you registered before and you chose not to make your information public, you will not get referrals because we're still keeping that promise. If you'd like to change that, just update your information here. And if you left out information on your location, or if you simply put "information available on request," we won't be able to refer clients to you, either.

Finally, if I owe you a reply to an email or phone call, my apologies and I'll get back to you very soon. And to current Reiki Update Training students: Another repercussion of the Dr. Oz Reiki endorsement is that I'm reworking the final class, and the final exam, so thanks for your patience and look for more information soon.

Billions and billions

This news was released more than six months ago, but we only just discovered it, thanks to an alert reader in Ohio. Apparently these 2007 figures are the most recent available: Did you know that Americans spent more than $33.9 billion out-of-pocket for complementary and alternative medicine in 2007? According to the U.S. National Institutes of Health Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, $22 billion of that was for products, classes, and materials, while $11.9 billion was for treatments by practitioners.

This week's edition...

...has been delayed due to a computer crash. Thanks for your patience, and look for our next issue on Monday.

The precepts, recited and explained by a Celeb-Reiki

Singaporean television host Jojo Struys was the first person ever to earn the Celeb-Reiki designation twice back in 2006, but we haven't mentioned her in awhile. This week we happened across a YouTube video of Jojo reciting and explaining the Reiki Precepts, so she's a Celeb-Reiki all over again in 2010:



If the YouTube window doesn't show in your browser, click here to watch.

In this week's edition...

In this week's Reiki Digest: Earthquakes, now and in Reiki history, plus referrals and the Oz-inspired wave of interest. Coming Saturday.

And if I owe you an email, please be patient: I've been swamped with the inquiries about Reiki coming in after the Dr. Oz endorsement. I'll get back to you as soon as possible, but I've been giving priority to helping clients and students find practitioners ASAP. Thanks for your understanding.

Music we love to practice Reiki by: Thunderstorms and Rain

This week our favorite music isn't music at all: it's natural sound. In this instance, it's the sound of rain, with some thunder and bird songs as well. And this may be the longest album name ever: "Natural White Noise - Music for Meditation, Relaxation, Sleep - Thunderstorms and Rain: Healing Nature Sounds for Sleep, Relaxation, Meditation."

Very relaxing, even sleep-inducing, so if you're practicing on a client while using this as background, keep your eyes open and stay alert. The thunder sounds are very subtle so they won't wake the client. Still, make sure your client isn't afraid of thunder or water before you begin the session. Click the button to listen and find out more. And many thanks to iTunes for being one of our regular sponsors. A small portion of each purchase you make via our links goes to help us cover some of our costs.

The weekly waka

Earthquake

Amidst the rubble
Common folks become heroes,
Working together
After the worst has happened,
Building hope out of ashes.

By budo adana

(Waka wanted: If you'd like to contribute a waka to our regular series, check out these guidelines, write your waka, and email it to editor @ thereikidigest.com.)

Help for Haiti

Messages with the suggestion to "send Reiki to Haiti" are pouring into my inbox.

But just as Reiki isn't a substitute for medical care, it also isn't a substitute for clean drinking water, emergency food supplies, medicine and trained disaster relief workers. So as you send healing energy to that devastated and desperate nation, please consider sending more tangible support via this link to the Red Cross International Response Fund:




Thank you!

Reiki practitioners and teachers needed immediately!

Dear readers,

In the wake of Dr. Oz's enthusiastic endorsement of Reiki last week, our new free referral service is inundated with requests from potential clients and students looking for Reiki practitioners, teachers, and events.

If you are looking for have not already submitted your information to our Global Reiki Census, please do so as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, at the moment need for practitioners and teachers in these areas:

Ajax, Ontario, Canada

Austin, Texas

Carmel, New York

Ft. Myers, Florida

Cary, North Carolina

If you are a Reiki practitioner in or near those areas, please contact editor@thereikidigest.com ASAP.

We have requests in other locations as well but we have already found practitioners for those.

Unfortunately we're having some difficulties with our Reiki Events Calendar, but we're trying to work them out as soon as we can. If you are Google-savvy and willing to volunteer to help us debug our calendar, please contact us.

This is a free service for clients as well as practitioners/teachers.

We will give priority to practitioners/teachers who have done our online Reiki Update Training and passed the final exam.

Thanks for your help, and your patience while we get this system up and running.

'Try Reiki,' Dr. Oz tells millions on TV

Dr. Mehmet Oz, a renowned cardiovascular surgeon and host of the third (or possibly second) most popular syndicated television program in America, this week introduced millions of viewers to the natural healing practice of Reiki as part of a program on alternative and natural remedies. The Dr. Oz Show included not only a segment featuring a demonstration by Reiki author Pamela Miles, but an emphatic recommendation to "try Reiki" as the #1 "Oz's Order" at the show's conclusion.

In a related (and unsurprising) development, the audience member who received a brief Reiki chair session from Miles told Oz and his viewers (an estimated 3.5 million people) after only a few minutes of Reiki that her headache was going away.

By week's end, the Reiki segment of the show had made its way to YouTube, where it found even more viewers. Click here to see it for yourself.

Oz, whose wife, Lisa, is a Reiki Master, called Reiki "my favorite treatment that could change the future of medicine forever." Reiki was the last of an assortment of featured alternative remedies, including mud baths, herbal remedies, aromatherapy, yoga, saunas, and cupping.

"If we put cupping in the hybrid category between biomanipulation and energy," Oz said as the Reiki segment began, "It provides me with a good segue to what I think may be ultimately the most important alternative medicine treatment of all. And we are embarking on this whole new vista of opportunities, it broadens dramatically the spectrum of where we might be able to go in our bodies, and this is the area of energy medicine." At that point, the camera pulled back to reveal Pamela Miles and the audience member.

"And joining me today is Pamela Miles," Oz continued. "Pamela has actually been to the operating room with me where we have done Reiki. He pointed out that, like Pamela, "my wife Lisa is a Reiki master, so when the kids get sick, or when I'm out of sorts, she actually comes by, I can't even tell when she's treating me, sometimes she secretly treats me, if she thinks I'm in a bad mood" -- everyone laughed -- "and I see hands moving around, but I actually feel the heat."

As the session began, Oz asked Pamela to explain a little about Reiki.

"Reiki is a balancing practice," she said. "And so rather than addressing the headache or whatever else is the problem, what it does is it influences the person's overall system toward balance, and then as her system becomes more balanced, symptoms tend to fall away. Then over time, for example, if you get headaches, you may find that you get them less frequently."

"Do you feel anything?" Oz asked the Reiki recipient.

"Yes, my headache's going away," she said.

"Let me show you why I think energy has been overlooked," Oz continued, turning to reveal a large microscopic image. "This is an image of a cell. And it's beautiful, isn't it? You see that cell there, and it looks colorful, and look at the blue pattern on the outside. That's the membrane of the cell. That blue area on the outside differentiates life. Because it separates no energy on the outside from energy that's present on the inside. So if you think about it in that way, if the membrane of a cell keeps an energy balance between inside and outside, which is what defines life, if we put those cells together, into an organ, shouldn't the organ have energy? And if you put those organs into a body, shouldn't our bodies have energy? And so many of the ailments that we suffer from can be treated through energy therapies, which will become become much more prevalent over the next few years."

At the show's conclusion, Oz did his usual "Oz's Orders" segment: "Here are the three things I want you to remember from today's show. First off, try Reiki. This alternative medicine treatment can manipulate your energy and cure what ails you." And he recommended that viewers boost their metabolisms and check their blood pressure. "Those are my doctor's orders."

As word spread via the Internet across the global Reiki community, web traffic here at The Reiki Digest increased tenfold, and hundreds of new readers subscribed to our email edition. To accommodate the many inquiries coming in from people seeking Reiki treatments, training, or more information, we set up a free referral service to help clients and students find qualified practitioners. We urged Reiki practitioners who have not already done so to add their information to our Global Reiki Census, which has developed into a database of more than 500 practitioners. And during our local broadcast of the show, we offered live Twitter coverage as we watched.

In Columbia, South Carolina, Reiki Master Margaret Self contacted her local Dr. Oz Show affiliate to offer a "local angle" feature for the evening news, and in Seattle, Reiki Master Rose De Dan issued a press release headlined, "Dr. Mehmet Oz Declares Reiki as His #1 Alternative Medicine Secret."

Meanwhile, Pamela Miles herself responded to the wave of interest with several new informative YouTube videos on Reiki. Pamela is also creating online training materials for Reiki practitioners -- to find out more, you can sign up for her monthly Reiki Update here. Practitioners in the New York City area may be also be interested in her Jan. 24 Spiritual Self-Protection class.

This wonderful exposure for Reiki gave us a chance to take another look at some of our previous coverage of Dr. and Mrs. Oz and their Reiki connection, and offer some quick hints to Reiki teachers and practitioners on getting the message out to even more potential students and clients.

Of course, there had to be at least one person who didn't approve of Dr. Oz's mention of Reiki -- though it took some doing to find that dissenter, a lone tweeter who so far has gotten not a single response to his claim that "Oz lost any cred he had."