02/25/2026
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What is Reiju?
(Thank you, Frans Stiene!)
Within the system of Reiki we have the reiju, sometimes called attunement or initiation. But what is this reiju/attunement/initiation?
First of all, in Japan there is just one word: reiju. When the system of Reiki moved to the west, Mrs Takata translated the reiju as initiation and it was only after Mrs Takata passed away that some people started to use the word attunement. But these are English words while in Japan there is just the word reiju. And reiju translates as spiritual blessing.
Traditionally in Japan there were slightly different forms of reiju depending on the teacher and also on the student. It is even said that Mikao Usui would just sit opposite the student without any physical ritual, visualisation, etc... he would "just" remember his own inner great bright light, his True Self.
"Some pure and gifted meditators create a field of bliss around themselves through their spontaneous luminous power, and use their pure elements to help others attain the same level and join with them in the same mandala and same mind."
- Thinley Norbu Rinpoche
This "just" sitting reiju is called 入我我入 nyūga ganyū in Japanese, which is in reality mind to mind. We could translate it as, “I am in you and you are in me”. In essence, it is realising that we are interconnected already. This "just" sitting, is non-doing. Remember that Mikao Usui taught some of his students the Dai Komyo which points to this state of mind of interconnectedness - nonduality.
“Usui Sensei taught Shinpiden students one on one and he showed them the kanji dai kômyô, which indicated the consciousness of a Shinpiden practitioner.” – Hiroshi Doi Spain 2015 seminar
Of course doing this is not as easy as it sounds, "just" sitting. We need to have had the direct experience of our own inner True Self, our great bright light, the experience of “I am the universe and the universe is me”. Not just intellectually but a deep embodiment. Plus, we have to be able to stay with this awareness during the whole reiju. But as it takes two to tango, the student needs to be ready for this "just" sitting ritual as well. How do we truly receive? To truly receive the student needs to be empty, just like if we want to pour tea in a cup, the cup needs to be empty. What does the student need to be empty of? Empty of the concept of and reaching for "I."
I need to receive something, I need to be purified, I need to be opened up to be able to channel Reiki. All of these "I's" need to be dropped. Then we can realise that there is nothing to receive, no giver, and no receiver. Only then are we in the right state of mind for the "just" sitting ritual.
"Even though a hundred people might participate in an initiation, they do not all have the same experience. Each person experiences the initiation according to their own level of skill and personal development. Actually receiving the initiation depends on the person's mind, not on their bodily participation. As I mentioned, it depends on their ability to let go of their limited self-image." - Lama Thubten Yeshe
And so, as not every student was in that right state of mind which Mikao Usui was teaching within the system of Reiki, he started to borrow a more physical ritual from esoteric Japanese spiritual practices. However, even if the ritual is super simple we have to realise that it is not just the physical ritual that does the trick. What is most important is the state of mind of the teacher and the state of mind of the student. We can see this state of mind very clearly pointed out within the meditation practices taught within Mikao Usui's teachings, within the symbols and mantras, and within the Reiki precepts. For example, the meditation practice joshin kokyu ho, which translates as: pure mind with each breath, points to this pure mind of emptiness, nonduality. No giver - receiver and something to give. The symbol/mantra hon sha ze sho nen, which translates as my original nature is right mind, also points to this same state of mind. And if we look deeply into the Reiki precepts, we also see this state of mind of emptiness, nonduality, no giver - receiver and something to give.
“The authentic mind seal is transmitted in every moment. If the disciple deeply observes the way the master walks, eats, speaks, and performs each act of daily life transmission can take place continuously. The ceremony of transmission is just a formality. True transmission is available to each disciple in every moment. This is real Zen, not just in books but in the living reality of relationship and daily life. The master does not transmit his own awakening to the disciple as such. He only helps her realize the awakening already present within her. The expression to “transmit the mind seal” is essential symbolic.” - Thich Nhat Hanh
So what does a reiju do? The real essence of a reiju is not to give the student something, or open up something, or purify them. No, the real essence of a reiju is that the student becomes aware of their own inner great bright light, their True Self, that they are Reiki, right now, right today.
Within the booklet Reiki Ryoho no Shiori, which is handed out in the Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai in Japan, we see a section called “Strict Teachings of Mikao Usui.” Within this section we find a wonderful poem, which encapsulates the essence of reiju in a nutshell: “Kumo wa harete nochino hikari to omounayo Motoyori sorani ariake no tsuki”“ Do not think that the light appears only after the clouds [confusion, thoughts, ego] have cleared. The light of the moon [Great Bright Light – that we are Reiki] has been shining in the sky from the very beginning.”
We are already the light we have just forgotten due to the clouds of anger, worry, fear, attachments etc... The reiju does not remove the clouds, no need, the light still shines behind the clouds no matter how dark it is.
In a way we could say that the reiju is like a finger pointing to the light of the moon. But most of the time we get distracted by the physical elements of the reiju - the finger - that we forget to see where the finger is pointing at, our own inner great bright light.
The kanji of ju in reiju is the same as the kanji of ju in julkai (to receive the precepts) within the Zen tradition.
“Ju in jukai means to receive, to transmit, to awaken to one's own nature.” - Teaching of theGreat Mountain – Zen Talks by Taizan Maezumi Roshi
Here we can see the same concept as in reiju: to awaken to one's own nature. That we are the great bright light already.
“To receive jukai is to transmit. And to transmit, means to realize your true nature.” - Teaching of the Great Mountain – Zen Talks by Taizan Maezumi Roshi
When we look at these words like reiju or rituals, often we see very dualistically, that we receive something or open something or purify something. But when we practice a spiritual teaching, we need to see these words and rituals always from their ultimate truth: a non dualistic perspective. Like to transmit, we think now we “give it” - dualistic. But in Zen you see that it means to realize our true nature - non dualistic.
So how many reiju do we need? To be truthful, we need them again and again. Not just a few times. Why? Because even if we remember our inner great bright light for a second or a day, due to our confused habits we start to focus on the clouds again after this initial experience of our essence.
We can clearly see this if we look at the Reiki precepts. If after a few reiju, we have for the rest of our life no more anger and worry, and we are forever grateful and true to our way and our being, and we have a compassion which does not change according to circumstance, then no need for more reiju. But if we are honest, that doesn't happen. So we need them again and again and again, until we can maintain the Reiki precepts in all we do today. In many modern practices the reiju has become about doing something to the student. But when we look at the teachings within the system of Reiki we see that this is not in line with the Reiki precepts, or the symbols and mantras, the meditation practices etc. When the student finally learns reiju, they must mirror it to these pointers; else why put these practices within the system of Reiki in the first place?
And the more we practice and embody Mikao Usui's teachings, then one day we might realise that we are reiju. Then everything we do in life becomes a reiju - spiritual blessing.
“During an initiation we are introduced to an aspect of ourselves that already exists within us but that we have yet to recognize, and it is the activation of this recognition that we call “empowerment” or “initiation.” This is the real meaning of abhisheka.” - Not for Happiness A Guide to the So-Called Preliminary Practices Plagiarized by Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse
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In Light,
-A. Kimimila of Medicine Dreams
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