What is Reiki, Karuna Reiki and Sound Healing?

What is Reiki?

     Reiki is a Japanese technique for stress reduction and relaxation that also promotes healing. It is administered by "laying on hands" and is based on the idea that an unseen "life force energy" flows through us and is what causes us to be alive. If one's "life force energy" is low, then we are more likely to get sick or feel stress, and if it is high, we are more capable of being happy and healthy. 
     Reiki treats the whole person including body, emotions, mind and spirit creating many beneficial effects that include relaxation and feelings of peace, security and well being. Many have reported miraculous results. The word Reiki is made of two Japanese words - Rei which means "God's Wisdom or the Higher Power" and Ki which is "life force energy". So Reiki is actually "spiritually guided life force energy." A treatment feels like a wonderful glowing radiance that flows through and around you. 
     Reiki is a simple, natural and safe method of spiritual healing and self-improvement that everyone can use. It has been effective in helping virtually every known illness and malady and always creates a beneficial effect. It also works in conjunction with all other medical or therapeutic techniques to relieve side effects and promote recovery.         

                                                                                         (www.reiki.org, “What is Reiki?”)



   The scientific explanation of Reiki, as with all other hands on 

energetic healing modalities is that it works through the energy system of the
body. The scientific principle of resonance is at work here whereby we are
raising our energy level and thereby others around us with reverberated energy
from our increased vibrational quality thus encouraging and increasing the
capacity for healing. The person heals themselves; we just help make them
strong enough energetically to heal.

                                            -Rev. Brien Egan CHt, CRM, CKRM

Karuna Reiki®

Questions and Answers

by William Lee Rand

Q. How did you develop Karuna Reiki®?

A. I received my Usui Reiki training in 1981 and 1982 while living in Hawaii. I became an Usui Reiki master in 1989 after moving to Michigan. After becoming a master, I decided to study with other Reiki masters so as to deepen my understanding of Reiki. I went on to take the Usui master training from three other Usui masters as well. As I travel around the country and to other countries teaching and practicing Reiki, I have also made it a point to exchange treatments, information, attunements and techniques with other Reiki masters and practitioners. I feel that healing is a never ending study and that ever greater benefits can come from God if we seek them. Through the process of having studied with many Reiki masters I developed a deeper understanding of how the attunement processes, symbols and healing energies work.

I did not originally intend to create a new system of Reiki, but starting about 1989, I began being given non-Usui Reiki symbols and attunement techniques which were claimed to have benefit. I filed these symbols away along with the attunement processes that were included with some of them and also begin experimenting with some of them. After a number of years, I had quite a collection and many of my students began asking me about these "additional symbols" and wanting to know if they should use them. In the winter of 1993, I gathered together a number of my best students many of whom were spiritually sensitive, to experiment with the additional symbols, try them out and decide which were the most useful. We asked for guidance and through this process came up with a set of symbols that seemed to have the best energy. We also experimented with an attunement process to go with them. Later I was guided in the further development of the attunement process and this eventually evolved into a new system of Reiki. Throughout the process, I prayed for help from the Higher Power and asked that I be connected to a healing energy that would be of greater benefit. I did not channel any of these symbols myself. They came from other Reiki masters. In 1995, I was guided to more clearly define the system and to name it Karuna Reiki® which can be defined as the Reiki of Compassion. While some of the symbols in Karuna Reiki® are the same as those used by other schools and systems, because the attunements are different and the intention is different, the energies that are connected to Karuna Reiki® are unique to the system.

Q. Why do you say that Karuna Reiki® is more powerful than Usui Reiki?

A. We teach Karuna Reiki® only to people who are already Reiki masters and most of these students received their mastership from other lineages besides my own. In fact those who take the classes represent a wide range of teachers in the Reiki community. The general response of these students is that Karuna Reiki® is stronger or heals more deeply etc. than Usui Reiki. It is from the response of these students who are already Reiki masters and have a great deal of experience working with healing energies that this information is presented. It is asked that this idea not simply be accepted, but that anyone who is interested in Karuna Reiki® receive a Karuna treatment or take a class or talk to those who have and from this information form one's own opinion. However, it must be understood that Karuna Reiki® is not a substitute for Usui Reiki or any other kind of Reiki, but simply an additional technique one can use to promote healing.

Q. Doesn’t having different kinds of Reiki create barriers between Reiki practitioners, making it more difficult for them to work together?

A. It is our philosophy to honor and respect all Reiki students and teachers regardless of lineage, organizational affiliation or the kind of Reiki they practice. Having different kinds of Reiki creates a point of interest between healers and opens the door for us to learn and exchange with each other, thus creating a stronger bond of love and respect. As we learn from each other, we grow in our trust that God works through each of us. It is our feeling and experience that Reiki is capable of healing ourselves, others and the planet as a whole and that this will take place more quickly if all Reiki practitioners work together in harmony.

Q. Why do you use the term Reiki in the name Karuna Reiki®. Doesn't the term "Reiki" apply only to the system of healing rediscoverd by Dr. Usui?

A. The term Reiki was in use prior to Dr. Usui using it and therefore is not exclusive to the healing system he rediscovered. There are many kinds of Reiki including Seichem Reiki and Tibetan Reiki. Usui Reiki is just one form of Reiki. The reason I chose to use the term Reiki for Karuna Reiki® is that Karuna healing energy is a Reiki like energy in that it is life force energy that is guided by the higher power. The word Karuna means "compassionate action" which is a feeling people often get who experience the energy of this system.

Q. Why does Karuna Reiki® include chanting & toning?

A. Chanting and toning the names of the Karuna Reiki® symbols while giving a treatment deepens the healing process. The vibration of the voice becomes a physical carrier wave for the Karuna Reiki® energy to travel on. This causes the healing energies to penetrate more deeply into the cells and tissues of the clients body. The chakras and auras of both the practitioner and client are also opened more completely allowing a wonderful vibrancy to take place within and around them. Those who have experienced this process report a feeling of becoming more awake, more alive and more completely healed.

***William Lee Rand is founder and director of the International Center for Reiki Training.

What is Sound Healing and what are Crystal Chakra Tuned Singing Bowls?

The healing properties of sound and vibration have been used for thousands of years in the East. Quartz crystal music holds the vibration of white light which ultimately refracts into the rainbow and acts directly on our chakras and energetic system when played. Sound is the source of everything; everything is connected through Sound. The healing sounds of the Crystal Bowls influence physical and subtle bodies. This practice has the capacity to enhance wellness, wellbeing, meditation, relaxation, physical and spiritual practices. It has the power to bring about a positive shift in our consciousness and as our awareness expands, we grow close to our original selves and start to reflect the highest radiance in our physical form.