catsquotl wrote:Hi,

When i first learned Reiki I was thought Reiki does not flow in the meridians.
I am learning chinese medicine since last year...

I do get the feeling Reiki uses the meridian system to connect with and flow through the body of both practitioner and reciever..

Any thoughts?
With Love
Eelco

catsquotl wrote:Hi,

When i first learned Reiki I was thought Reiki does not flow in the meridians.
I am learning chinese medicine since last year...

I do get the feeling Reiki uses the meridian system to connect with and flow through the body of both practitioner and reciever..

Any thoughts?
With Love
Eelco

KI-WORDS
A different perspective on the word 'Reiki'
Copyright © 2009 James Deacon

Many people still incorrectly state that 'Reiki' translates as 'universal energy' - and it must be said that the other common translation: 'Spiritual energy', while perhaps moving far more in the right direction is, it seems, still not quite correct...

In writing the single word 'Reiki' we use the two kanji which in isolation represent two separate words: Rei, and Ki respectively - though Reiki is not 'Rei Ki'...

There are many words in Japanese that may be described as ‘ki-words’ - compound-words formed by adding the kanji for ‘ki’ [1] to the kanji for another word.

Unfortunately, if we attempt to understand such compound-words by simply translating and combining the meanings of the two individual original words, this will not necessarily give us an accurate translation of the compound-word itself.

“The meaning of the whole is greater than (& often quite different to) the meaning of the parts”

As a loose, general guide, the meaning of a word written with a specific kanji-pair is ultimately (if often indirectly) based on / derived from, a synthesis of the meanings of the individual kanji making up that pair.

For example, if we take the single word tenki :

As a stand-alone, the individual word ten signifies heaven, or sky. The word ki is of course most commonly translated as spirit, energy (or feeling).

So, if in an attempt to arrive at the meaning of the single word tenki, we simply combine the meanings of the two other words ten and ki, we would end up with something like :
“Heavenly Spirit”?
or maybe
“Heaven Energy” (as opposed to Earth Energy)?

In fact, tenki simply means: Weather.


Let us now look at several other “ki-words”

As is the case with 'tenki' (and also 'Reiki'), it is important to remember that each of the following, although written using two kanji, are in fact single, complete words in their own right.


Kekki ['blood ki' ] actually means: vigour, ardour

Denki ['dragon ki'] means: electricity

Konki ['root ki'] means: perseverance, patience

Heiki ['flat (or even) ki' ] means: calmness (also indifference)

Gen ki ['foundation ki'] means: ones health - being in good spirits

Ninki ['person ki'] means: popularity

Yoki ['positive ki', ('Yang' ki)] means: liveliness - cheerful, jolly

Inki ['negative ki', ('Yin' ki) ] means: gloomy, melancholy

Kuki ['sky ki'] means: air

Reiki [2] '[cold ki'] means: cold air

And in some ki words, the ki kanji does not actually add anything to the meaning of the other kanji - it simply speaks to the dynamic aspect of the whole word

Jōki ['steam ki'] means: steam or vapour

Yuki ['brave ki'] means: courage, bravery

Byōki ['illness ki'] means: illness, disease, sickness

Jiki ['magnet (also porcelain) ki' ] means: magnetism

And so it is that, just as in the examples given above, simply combining the literal meanings of the two individual words whose kanji are paired to form the separate individual word 'Reiki’, will not really give us a truly accurate understanding of the single word 'Reiki' itself.

Ongoing research would suggest that Reiki - as the term is used in the name Usui Reiki Ryoho - more immediately translates simply as ‘spirit’ or 'spiritual'; thus Usui Reiki Ryoho translates most clearly as: Usui's spiritual healing-method

Now while it would be perhaps somewhat incorrect to deny that, at least on a very simplistic level, the single word Reiki still carries with it a sense of 'spiritual energy', it can, amongst other things, also be understood to mean:

'spiritual essence'
'spiritual feeling'
'spiritual intent'
'spiritual influence'
'spiritual emanation'

also:
'soul power'
'soul force'

and, quite importantly, I feel:

'Aura' (i.e. the emanation of spirit around the body) [3]

As the term Reiki is used in the name Usui Reiki Ryoho, there is not necessarily any direct reference to ‘energy’
- in this context, the ki part of the compound would simply seem to speak to the dynamic - the effect of spirit in action.

____________
[1] I am of course here referring to the 'ki' kanji as used in writing the word Reiki.
Perhaps somewhat confusingly, there are actually somewhere in the region of 35-40 Japanese words pronounced as ki.
However these are all written using different kanji, and have different meanings.

[2] Not the same 'Rei' kanji as in our 'Reiki'

[3] Thus, 'Usui Reiki Ryoho' can also have the connotation: 'Usui Aura-healing Method'

Milarepa wrote:

Reiki is primarily an auric experience, that of course is experienced physically also. This is why others can experience it without being touched. If we began to see 'Reiki' as meaning an experience of a spiritual nature, how neccessary would it be for the experience to have the need to 'move'. Could something that is mysterious (spiritual) to us, not be bound by linear physics? We have to try to explain things by our own understanding, and we form our understanding by the reality we experience. However, just like the world wasn't really flat 500 years ago...

warmest wishes
Wayne

Colin wrote:

Or, are we making too much of Reiki? Is it really just one the many frequencies of Universal Life Force Energy that are advertised all over the internet - and a rather low (i.e. less potent) frequency, according to many websites?

Milarepa wrote:

Colin wrote:

Or, are we making too much of Reiki? Is it really just one the many frequencies of Universal Life Force Energy that are advertised all over the internet - and a rather low (i.e. less potent) frequency, according to many websites?

Colin, do you feel if we 'simplify' Reiki, or try to describe (and by that experience) it completely, that it helps, or possibly, hinders, the expereince of Reiki?

Colin wrote:

Milarepa wrote:

Colin wrote:

Or, are we making too much of Reiki? Is it really just one the many frequencies of Universal Life Force Energy that are advertised all over the internet - and a rather low (i.e. less potent) frequency, according to many websites?

Colin, do you feel if we 'simplify' Reiki, or try to describe (and by that experience) it completely, that it helps, or possibly, hinders, the expereince of Reiki?

Interesting point, Wayne!

I think that it can both help and hinder, depending on where you are coming from!

If we simplify our Reiki practice then we only have Reiki to focus on - no need for noting ki flows in meridians or chakra spin or what our guides are telling us. This de-cluttering allows us to experience Reiki more fully - as an experience rather than as an energy.

On the other hand if we make it so simple then some people will say "OK this is simple or basic - there must be more to it than that, let's find ways to enhance this experience". Before you know it, it's complicated and cluttered again and people get worried as to whether they are fluffing the aura in the right direction or having sleepless nights because they can't remember if they shut down their chakras properly at the end of their last session!

The only real way to experience Reiki is to try and experience Reiki - just Reiki!

All the other stuff (or much of it) has its place and can be helpful in trying to fix people but it is Reiki plus other stuff - not Reiki. In Reiki we don't really need any tools other than the Reiki symbols (contentious point in some circles maybe!) and the ability to place our hands on areas we sense are in need of balance (in-person or remotely). Having said that maybe we don't really even need those things as Reiki will arise when it is needed and balance what needs to be balanced, maybe all we need is the presence of a Reiki-aware person to begin the process and our hand placements and/or symbols are just ways of localising the Reiki effect?

Just waffling out loud now - I'm off to bed!

1) The Meridians: In the way an artery carries blood, a meridian carries energy. As the body's energy bloodstream, the meridian system brings vitality and balance, removes blockages, adjusts metabolism, and even determines the speed and form of cellular change. The flow of the meridian energy pathways is as critical as the flow of blood. No energy, no life. Meridians affect every organ and every physiological system, including the immune, nervous, endocrine, circulatory, respiratory, digestive, skeletal, muscular, and lymphatic systems. Each system is fed by at least one meridian. If a meridian's energy is obstructed or unregulated, the system it feeds is jeopardized. The meridians include fourteen tangible channels that carry energy into, through, and out of your body. Your meridian pathways also connect hundreds of tiny, distinct reservoirs of heat and electromagnetic energy along the surface of the skin. These are your acupuncture points, and they can be stimulated with needles or physical pressure to release or redistribute energy along the meridian pathway.

2) The Chakras: The word chakra translates from the Sanskrit as disk, vortex, or wheel. The chakras are concentrated centers of energy. Each major chakra in the human body is a center of swirling energy positioned at one of seven points, from the base of your spine to the top of your head. Where the meridians deliver their energy to the organs, the chakras bathe the organs in their energies. Each chakra supplies energy to specific organs, corresponds to a distinct aspect of your personality, and resonates (respectively, from the bottom to the top chakra) with one of seven universal principles having to do with survival, creativity, identity, love, expression, comprehension, or transcendence. Your chakras also code your experiences in their energies, just as memories are chemically coded in your neurons. An imprint of every emotionally significant event you have experienced is believed to be recorded in your chakra energies. A sensitive practitioner's hand held over a chakra may resonate with pain in a related organ, congestion in a lymph node, subtle abnormalities in heat or pulsing, areas of emotional turmoil, or even tune into a stored memory that might be addressed as part of the healing process.

catsquotl wrote:Hi,

Interesting points of view.
Thanks for the James Deacon article. Until now i never considered Reiki without the word Ki.
In Aikido we used the word rei with a meaning of respect. So I have translated Reiki as respectful KI. I realize now that the kanji used is probably different. What a funny conversation this is.. I would have expected the discussion to move into an exploratory direction with views of where and how Reiki flowed..

Instead the overall feel seems to be. We can't know So don't bother asking. For various reasons perhaps. Still no matter how beautiful, amazing, gentle, loving this reiki energy it is..I feel it does follow some basic rules in how it reacts, flows and does its healing work..
Now not to change the system, but i'd like to find out.

With Love
Eelco