Deeper Insights Into Choku Rei 直霊 (Nao Hi)

Deeper Insights Into Choku Rei 直霊 (Nao Hi)

When we want to know what Mikao Usui had in mind with his teachings, we need to look not only at traditional Japanese teachings as a whole, but also at what other serious Japanese teachers were teaching at the time.

In this blog, I compare one aspect of Mikao Usui’s teachings to the teachings of Masahisa Goi (1916-1980.)

“The term chokurei 直霊. Choku (直) means ‘direct and rei (霊) means ‘spirit’. Chokurei is the light emanating directly from God to from the origin of humanity. Chokurei could be translated as ‘God in the human world,’ ‘Direct Spirit,” or ‘Divine Self.'” – From Masahisa Goi’s book, “God and Man, Guideposts for Spiritual Peace and Awakening”

“People who need not to be reborn into the physical world have experienced the awareness that human beings are one with God, and that awareness is manifested through their actions. Since they are unified with their original, divine Self. [the expression used for divine Self is Choku Rei 直霊]” – From Masahisa Goi’s book, “God and Man, Guideposts for Spiritual Peace and Awakening”

“There I encountered my own divine spirit [Choku Rei 直霊] ” – From Masahisa Goi’s book, “Living Like the Blue Sky – 5 talks by Masahisa Goi

Thus, we can see that Choku Rei (or Nao Hi) really points to our True Self, our Essence, our Reiki, our Divine Self. This is why it was taught in Okuden Reiki Level II. Okuden means inner teaching; we have to look inside of ourselves to find our True Self, our Divine Self. In Mikao Usui’s time, Choku Rei was used as an internal practice; the mantra was an aid to remember one’s own True Self. If we were practicing the teachings of that time, we would chant the mantra over and over again until one day we laid bare our Choku Rei, our True Self, our Divine Self. For people who had a difficult time staying focused while chanting the mantra, Mikao Usui added the symbol. Having to focus on both a mantra and a symbol helped the practitioner to become more mindful, to lessen distraction and stay within the internal practice.

However, over time the mantra and symbol because more and more externalised until the internal practice was almost forgotten.

But if we use the mantra and symbol externally, we will have a hard time rediscovering our Choku Rei, our True Self, our Divine Self. 

Using the mantra and symbol on someone else doesn’t really make them rediscover their Choku Rei, their True Self. If this was the case, we could stand on the corner of our street, say the mantra and wave the symbol over each person and presto; they have rediscovered their Choku Rei, True Self, Divine Self, and they will be in a permanent state of no more anger and worry, while being grateful and compassionate all the time. But we all know that this doesn’t really work! Else we would live in a peaceful world already. We can only rediscover our own Choku Rei, True Self, Divine Self; no one else can do this for us.

Thus, if you really want to remember your Choku Rei, your True Self, your Divine Self, turn inwards and start chanting the mantra Choku Rei for prolonged periods at a time. In doing this, as our outer layers of anger and worry start to fall away over time, our Choku Rei, True Self, Divine Self can shine through.

Also read: Exploring the Mantra Choku Rei

Frans Stiene

Based in Holland, Frans Stiene teaches in North America, Europe, UK, Australia and Asia.
Frans is also the author of Reiki Insights, it is the continuation of his previous book The Inner Heart of Reiki, taking your personal practice and understanding of the system of Reiki yet another step deeper.

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