Students eyes closed or open during attunements/reiju?

Hi everyone,

Hope you are all enjoying 2008! A question we received on our website this week asked:

Q: Why do teachers tell their students to keep their eyes closed during the attunement/reiju?

A: It seems that some teachers are afraid that their students might see the actual attunement/reiju ritual that they are performing. In fact, some teachers go so far as to remove other students from the room where they are performing the attunement/reiju.

An action undertaken from this standpoint can foster a sense of secrecy resulting in unhealthy power issues concerning the teacher/student roles. 

It is also a misunderstanding of what the actual attunement/reiju is and how it works. 

It is not the physical ritual which creates the attunement/reiju; it is the energetic connection and space that a teacher develops which allows the attunement/reiju to take place.

For most of us this energetic practice cannot be seen in the physical sense. Therefore it doesn’t matter if students have their eyes opened or closed. Anyone can learn the physical attunement/reiju in half an hour but copying physical moves does not mean that an attunement/reiju is performed!

To be able to perform a correct attunement/reiju the teacher has to work for many years on her/himself with the five elements of the system of Reiki (precepts, meditation, symbols-mantras, hands on healing, attunement-reiju). Only after this will the teacher be able to enter a specific energetic space to perform these rituals. There is more about this in The Japanese Art of Reiki. 

Through this energetic practice a teacher also gains intellectual insight as to what an attunement/reiju is and how it works. The coupling of intellectual and energetic understanding creates the perfect attunement/reiju. 

We should also not forget that Usui Mikao did not use a physical ritual to perform the reiju, so there was never anything to see or hide.

PS: Some teachers claim that in meditation you need to have your eyes closed but in most spiritual practices it is advised to have you eyes slightly open to counter one from falling asleep.

Bronwen and Frans Stiene

Bronwen and Frans Stiene are the co-founders of the International House of Reiki and co-authors of The Reiki Sourcebook, The Japanese Art of Reiki, Your Reiki Treatment, The A-Z of Reiki Pocketbook and the Reiki Techniques Card Deck. Bronwen and Frans teach in the USA, Europe and Australia. Visit the Courses page to find a course near you.