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Welcome to Mountain Sky ReikiMy name is Jennifer Thibodeau, and I teach Reiki healing in Surrey, British Columbia. I studied to be a Reiki Teacher and Practitioner in Osaka, Japan under Hyakuten Inamoto sensei, a Japanese Buddhist monk. If you are looking for a Reiki class, or would like to try a Reiki session, please contact me to set up an appointment.
I'm currently the journalism and public relations intern for the Canadian Reiki Association as part of my Post-Baccalaureate Diploma of Journalism. I've created this website to share what I know about Reiki with you. I hope you enjoy it, and please contact me if you have any questions! I'm looking forward to hearing from you!
Take care, Jennifer
What does Reiki mean?
The top part of the character (on the left) is Rei, meaning something mysterious, miraculous and sacred. The bottom part of the character is Ki, meaning the atmosphere, or something unseen, or the energy of the universe.
When combined to form the word Reiki, these characters represent the sacred energy of the universe. This sacred energy, called Reiki (Ray-kee), can be used to heal and balance the body and mind.
This Kanji image was
created by Giles Cartmel.
Reiki Ryoho (Reiki healing art)
Reiki Ryoho is a Japanese method to improve your mind and body. It reduces stress, increases relaxation, and is an alternative method of healing. It originated in Kyoto, Japan in the 1920s.
Reiki Ryoho is easy to learn and use, and anyone can practice Reiki healing art after taking a class from a trained Reiki teacher. In addition, while Reiki is spiritual, it is not a religion and can be practiced by anyone.
Reiki Ryoho is easy to learn and use, and anyone can practice Reiki healing art after taking a class from a trained Reiki teacher. In addition, while Reiki is spiritual, it is not a religion and can be practiced by anyone.
A Brief History of Reiki
Reiki Ryoho was founded by Mikao
Usui-sensei (1865-1926). According to his memorial stone in Tokyo (click here to see photos), Usui-sensei was spiritually awakened while fasting and meditating on Mt. Kurama (click here to see photos) in
Kyoto, Japan. As a result, he received healing ability. He was able to use Reiki energy to heal, and after he received this gift, he began to practice and teach
this form of healing at his Tokyo dojo, Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai. Usui-sensei was a lay Jodo (Pure Land) Buddhist, and he was laid to rest at Saihoji Temple in Tokyo.
One of Usui-sensei's many students was Chujiro
Hayashi-sensei (1879-1940), who continued to share Reiki after Usui-sensei's death. Like Usui-sensei, Hayashi-sensei also had a dojo in Tokyo where he practiced and taught Reiki classes.Hayashi-sensei taught Hawayo Takata (1900-1980), a Japanese-American woman. She practiced Reiki in Hawaii, and in the 1970s, she taught 22 people to be Reiki teachers.
It is largely thanks to her and her
students that Reiki has become so popular in the West (although many traditional Japanese Reiki techniques were lost for many years, and have only recently been taught in Western Reiki schools).Hayashi-sensei taught another young woman in 1938, Chiyoko Yamaguchi-sensei (1921-2003) She studied with him for a total of five days, and she learned three shirushi (symbols) from him, but did not learn about Usui-sensei or the history of Reiki Ryoho. She
did not become a Shinpiden, but was taught how to give reiju (attunements) by her uncle, another of Hayashi-sensei's students. Unlike her teacher, she did not teach publically; instead, she privately practiced Reiki healing with her family and friends for most of her life.It was only in 1996, by the request of Rev. Hyakuten Inamoto, that she began to teach publicly. Her informal classes were held every Monday afternoon for five students. Having no set curriculum, her classes consisted of chanting the Five Precepts (click here) three times, a reiju, and a Reiki exchange each week. She did not provide any written materials or certificates, but did tell Reiki stories during her lessons. Also, there was no clear line between levels, and no specific class was taught to designate her students as Shoden, Chuden, Okuden or Shinpiden (see definitions here). She simply taught as she went along.
One of these five students was
Rev. Hyakuten Inamoto-sensei, who founded Komyo Reiki Kai (see below). Yamaguchi-sensei taught him how to pass Reiki to others via reiju (attunements), but told him not to teach her style of Reiki because her son, Tadao Yamaguchi, wished to be the only person in the world to bear her lineage. Hyakuten-sensei complied, and added the fourth shirushi, which he learned from another Japanese Reiki teacher, but had not been taught to Yamaguchi-sensei. He also developed teaching manuals and formalized the four class levels. He is the only student of Yamaguchi-sensei's class of five who went on to teach Reiki - three students did not continue with the classes and the fourth, Miyoshi-san, does not teach. Eventually Yamaguchi-sensei stopped teaching to allow her son to take over, and she passed away in 2003.In comparison to the West, Reiki is not as prevalent in Japan, and for a long time relatively few people became Reiki teachers. However, that is now changing and more and more people, both Japanese and non-Japanese, are now studying, practicing and teaching Reiki in Japan.
Komyo Reiki Kai
Komyo Reiki Kai is a school of Reiki that was founded by Rev. Hyakuten Inamoto-sensei (1940 - ) when he started teaching Reiki in 1998. Hyakuten-sensei is a non-sectarian Buddhist monk, and he lives in Kyoto, Japan. He studied primarily with Yamaguchi-sensei in 1996/1997, but has also received Reiki teaching certificates from Hiroshi Doi and William Lee Rand.Komyo Reiki Kai follows the teachings of Usui-sensei, with some of the modifications made by Hayashi-sensei. Traditional Japanese Reiki techniques are taught and used, and the focus of teaching is on healing not only the body, but also the soul. Usui-sensei believed that with spiritual improvement and development that the body would be better able to heal itself, and Hyakuten-sensei and the Komyo Reiki Kai school follow this belief.
Rev. Hyakuten Inamoto has taught Reiki classes in Japan, Australia, Canada, the United States, Spain, Denmark, Italy, Greece and Argentina, and he hosts weekly Reiki shares at the Daizen-In Buddhist Temple in Kyoto.