The Reiki Precepts 

by Frans Stiene

The Reiki precepts are a fundamental element of Mikao Usui’s teachings. Even if we think we know them by heart and in practice, they are always worth revisiting and exploring more deeply:

The secret method for inviting blessings

The spiritual medicine for all illnesses

Today only

Do not anger

Do not worry

Be grateful

Practice diligently

Be compassionate to yourself and others

Perform gassho morning and evening

Bear deeply in your mind

Chant with your mouth

Improve mind body

What is the secret method of inviting blessings, the spiritual medicine for all illness? The answer is, of course, a state of mind free from anger and worry, being grateful for whatever comes our way and being compassionate to ourselves and others. We practice this diligently today.

In many traditional Japanese teachings, precepts are a description of our true nature, our essence.

“Precepts: (Jap. kai) Buddhist teachings regarding personal conduct that can be appreciated as ethical guidelines, and also as natural expression of one’s realization.” – Teaching of the Great Mountain – Zen Talks by Taizan Maezumi Roshi.

Thus the Reiki precepts express our true nature, our enlightened state of mind, our realisation that we are Reiki, a great bright light.

“The precepts are something everyone has as their own nature.” – Becoming Yourself by Shunryu Suzuki

When we rediscover our enlightened nature, our true Self, we start to embody the Reiki precepts in all we do. And this embodiment is the spiritual medicine of all disease. This doesn’t mean we won’t get sick, grow old or die, that is the natural way of life. But this means that when we get sick, grow old, or die, we can embrace it without anger and worry, with gratefulness, being true to our way and our being and with compassion. And these are the real spiritual blessings we all have deep inside of us.

“This is the method for addressing the suffering of birth, old age, death, and disease.”- Reiki and the Benevolent Art of Healing by Tomita Kaiji (Publishedin 1933)

A direct student of Mikao Usui also pointed this out, that the system of Reiki is a method for addressing the suffering of birth, old age, death, and disease.

Thus the inner layer of the Reiki precepts expresses our enlightened nature, our pure mind. This of course is also pointed out within joshin kokyu ho, one of the most essential meditation practices within Mikao Usui’s teachings. Joshin kokyu ho translates as, pure mind with each breath. This pure mind embodies the Reiki precepts. The second symbol, which links to Amida Buddha for example, also points to our pure mind, the embodiment of the Reiki precepts.

“Just as emptiness is not something external, Amida Buddha is not an external being but our deepest, truest self – our deepest truest reality.” – Professor Mark Unno.

In fact all the practices within the system of Reiki point toward embodying the Reiki precepts in everything we do today.

When we first learn the Reiki precepts within Shoden Reiki I, the teacher is already pointing us to our enlightened nature, to being Reiki in all we do today. But that embodiment is not so easy, so we have to practice diligently. And then maybe one day we rediscover that our essence is pure and has been pure since the very beginning.

“Saying that there is such-and such a disease is delusion of your heart-mind. In fact, the essence of humans is free of disease.” – In the foreword by Mochizuki Toshitaka – Reiki and the Benevolent Art of Healing byTomita Kaiji (Published in 1933)

As we can see in the quote above, Mochozuki Toshitaka, a wonderful Japanese Reiki teacher points out that our essence, our true self, is free of disease. So we can see any and all disease as a temporary condition of our human body and deluded heart-mind. Disease happens in life, of course, but it does not exist within our essence. Therefore, Mikao Usui taught us to rediscover and embody our essence.

This understanding and embodiment is the secret method for inviting blessings, the spiritual medicine for all illnesses. 

“We violate the precepts when we attach to some particular experience.” – Becoming Yourself by Shunryu Suzuki

So Zen Master Shunryu Suzuki points out that when we rediscover this state we must let go of all our attachments to it; otherwise, we still cannot be free. To be totally free and embody the Reiki precepts we need to Be Reiki, without attachment to any specific experience or any particular thought. This is not easy of course, and that is why we continue our practice and deepen our understanding of the precepts, today, right now, in this and every moment.