THE REIKI PRINCIPLES

 

The Reiki Principles or Gokai are the cornerstone of Usui Reiki and
are guidelines to aid the practitioner in their spiritual and healing journey.

Dr. Usui taught his students to recite the Principles once in the morning and again in the evening.  The Principles are also to be recited silently by both the Reiki Master and the student prior to attunements.  During your recitations, place your two palms together in prayer or Gasshô position.  The daily practice of thinking, speaking, or chanting the Reiki Principles can be healing in itself for both practitioners and their clients.  

Receiving

Reiki Attunements

The process of attunement or initiation is what sets Reiki apart from other forms of hands-on healing.  It is extremely important to realize that the attunement does not give you anything new.  It is an initiation that facilitates what you really are already capable of.  The attunement is a process that happens between the Reiki Master/Teacher and the student.  As the auras of the two people meld together, the student’s energy channels open and obstructions or blockages start to release.  In other words, the density that the student has acquired over their lifetime begins to lift from their subtle and physical body grid.  Each time a person receives an attunement, a larger percentage of this density releases.  With less obstruction, the light of the Universe flows brighter and more in phase, like a coherent laser beam.  It is the attunements themselves that are Reiki, and without this process, the healing system is not Reiki but something else). . . . MORE!

Learn more about HAI’s in-depth Usui Reiki courses by visiting the following pages:

Reiki Master Teacher and Practitioner (RMT) Program

Usui Reiki I Course

Usui Reiki II Course

Usui Reiki III Course

The Reiki Principles

By Theda Renee Floyd, PhD, RN, HHP

Although Reiki is now a popular method of spiritual healing, few people realize that it was essentially a path of spiritual enlightenment when it was first transmitted to students by Dr. Mikao Usui.  Usui noticed that those who benefited most from Reiki were those who actively embraced a spiritual set of precepts or principles in their daily lives.  The Reiki Principles or Gokai are the cornerstone of Usui Reiki and are guidelines to aid the practitioner in their spiritual and healing journey.  These words are affirming intentions used to connect Reiki Practitioners to specific thoughts to help move energy.  Here are the Reiki Principles, as I teach them:

REIKI PRINCIPLES

Just for today, I am without anger.

Just for today, I am without worry.

Just for today, I am grateful for my

many blessings.

Just for today, I am diligent in my

work (meditative practice).

Just for today, I am compassionate to

myself and every living thing.

Just for today:  The beginning statement, “Just for today”, is the most important part of the Reiki Principles.  These words refer to mindfulness which brings our awareness into the present moment enabling full experience.  Mindfulness does not forget the past or the future, but draws them together to enhance the experience and meaning of today. 

I am without anger:  We all feel anger at times, and when we do the most sensible way to deal with it is to see the anger, take a time out, determine what the anger means, and take appropriate action.  Anger can be a great teacher if we allow it to lead us to our truth.  When we meditate on our anger, we discover that it reveals a greater understanding.  We can then use our anger to move us further along on our spiritual journey.

I am without worry:  We worry that things might turn out differently from what we are the most comfortable with.  This worry is fear based, and the source of the fear is our attachment to outcomes.  The way that we can eliminate worry is to practice nonattachment.  Nonattachment does not mean not caring, it means releasing things to their natural fulfillment.  When we practice nonattachment, we can then experience the miracle of natural transformation within and around us.    

I am grateful for my many blessings:  When we live in gratitude, we recognize the many gifts given to us by other people and Spirit.  As we acknowledge how dependent we really are on those who favor us, living with humility becomes integral to living with gratitude.  We come to see that there are positive and negative aspects to all things and thus are able to live in gratitude even for what we do not have. 

I am diligent in my work (meditative practice):  The term work refers to work on ourselves, practicing meditation, and devoting our time to spiritual growth.  The purpose of meditation is to prepare the mind to transcend the petty concerns that most often occupy it and enter subtler states of consciousness enabling us to access a much deeper and grander state of awareness. 

I am kind to myself and every living thing:  Being loving and kind acknowledges that spirit is present in all of creation and is a miracle sustained by love.  Even if we should have disagreements with others, responding with kindness demonstrates our awareness that love is the underlying foundation of all people even if they are not aware of it.  Being kind to every living thing begins with being kind and loving first to ourselves.  By loving ourselves, we also demonstrate to others how we expect to be treated. 

Dr. Usui taught his students to recite the Principles once in the morning and again in the evening.  The Principles are also to be recited silently by both the Reiki Master and the student prior to attunements.  During your recitations, place your two palms together in prayer or Gasshô position.  The daily practice of thinking, speaking, or chanting the Reiki Principles can be healing in itself for both practitioners and their clients.