Reiju: What is its Significance?

There are several ways of explaining Reiju depending on the experience and context.  In simple terms Reiju is an opportunity to communicate deeply with another, sharing my true self for the purpose of being a guiding light for the other as they allow and take from it what they need. The energy I share in this communicating is the deepest energy of my True Self that I am capable of sharing at that moment in time. Essentially it is based in trust and love.  It is truly unconditional and not attached to any expectations, any ego strength or any intention to change. 

What is shared is my deepest inner being which is my own connection with Source or the Divine or my own True Self or Reiki.  That energy, that sense of being that is the deepest and purest sense of who/what I am is not the conscious me but the spirit me.  If there was life before me in this physical form it is that energy. If there will be life after I die it is that sense of me that I share.  Some call it one’s great bright light.  

Learning traditional Reiki with Frans Stiene and grasping the concept of what the Reiju is really all about has sparked my sense of being able to share something spiritually important with others. It was another step forward for me. I use the term Reiju broadly now. It is not only the attunement but also used as a Reiki blessing anytime, anywhere.  To me, Reiju means a sacred connection with the inner spirit of another.  

A Reiki colleague told me that she initially resisted Reiki because the teacher told her that the Reiki was passed on to her through the attunement.  A neighbouring presenter at the local Health Fair said “What is all this about the attunement?” with a sceptical look on his face. In fact, my first Reiki 1 experience left me very sceptical about what Reiki was all about.  The idea that there was some special energy that would be passed on to me through an attunement left me uncomfortable.  I was concerned that there might be some weird entity or sense of white magic associated with Reiki and that scared me away.

My reconnection with Reiki took place only after I learned more about energy work through Therapeutic Touch^TM and Healing Touch. Studying with William Lee Rand as well as Laurelle Shanti Gaia and Michael Baird, and later Carolyn Musial led me to be more comfortable with Reiki.  This Westernized version helped me relax with the concepts. Their knowledge and experience was increasingly reassuring me that the Reiki system was founded on the strength of a group of knowledgeable people.   

My personal experience of Reiki is sharing that inner light with another asking only that they allow within them whatever it is that they need most at that time. And at the time of an attunement it includes whatever they need to best embody the symbol involved. Perhaps is liken to a buffet where a person takes only what they need. And in an attunement, the symbol comprises a large part of the buffet.

My intellectual understanding of Reiju dances with my experience of Reiju. Sometimes one leads and sometimes the other. The music is calm and uplifting played by the life that surrounds me.  I find that the experience is not only found in Reiki treatments or classes but also in hiking in the trees or movement to music in Nia.  I find the understanding of Reiju comes in reading blog posts from Frans Stiene or Richard Rohr, or TED talks by Brene Brown. Nature talks to me in metaphors. Music speaks to me through singing.  

My personal process in grasping the notion of Reiju has required some unlearning. Surprising to me was the hold my past connection with Catholicism had on my sense of what is allowable.  There have been moments of feeling torn, perhaps with guilt based on leaving behind something that I learned so young from so many people that I loved and who loved me.  Initially I was struck with the idea that only one view must be correct.  Is truth really what was within the teachings of the Catholic church, and in fact Christianity or was it this new learning based on teachings that were significant spiritually in Japan forming the foundation of Usui’s teachings and techniques.  The questions came from a dualistic perception.  

As the Reiju dance continues and I become more tuned into its deeper meaning, I am exploring the strong similarity in differences.  Recently Richard Rohr wrote:

“The love in you—which is the Spirit in you—always somehow says yes. (See 2 Corinthians 1:20.) Love is not something you do; love is something you are. It is your True Self. Love is where you came from and love is where you’re going. It’s not something you can buy. It’s not something you can attain. It’s the presence of God within you, called the Holy Spirit or what some theologians name uncreated grace.”

And I would humbly add that others name it Reiki energy.  I recognize that the experience of Reiju is like what might be called a sacrament in Catholicism.  

Slowly I am aware that the ritual piece of the Reijus as taught in the Shinpiden class is also comprised of signposts and reminders for me to share my True Self, or inner great bright light with another.  This is leading me to know that actually sharing that same light using the fourth Symbol as a guide whenever giving a reiki session to another is actually a form of Reiju.  Each time I do that that sense deepens.  

Reflecting back on the questions and comments from others who express some scepticism about the attunements in Reiki, perhaps, I need to use their language.  The attunement is a shared meditative experience during which the other is made more aware of the energy they already have within and the guideposts that are available for them to move closer to knowing their true self and their own already existing Reiki energy within. In this sense Reiju is the synthesis of all that is present in the system of Reiki

Bronwen Logan

Based in Australia, Bronwen Logan (Stiene) teaches the system of Reiki is co-founder of the International House of Reiki and Shibumi International Reiki Association as well as co-author of the critically acclaimed books The Reiki Sourcebook, The Japanese Art of Reiki, A-Z of Reiki Pocketbook, Reiki Techniques Card Deck and Your Reiki Treatment. Bronwen is also the voice of their audiobooks and of the Reiki meditations available in the shop.

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