Module Twenty-One

Reiki Level II (Part One)

Introduction to Reiki Level II

Reiki Level II will help you to deepen your understanding of how to implement the beautiful modality of Reiki on a deeper level. If you are feeling called to complete this level, you are ready.

Like most things involving energy, learning is experiential. You can effort to try to understand how Reiki energy works and science is providing much more information to help us intellectually navigate through it but the best way to understand Reiki energy is by FEELING it.

Reiki energy is everywhere and in all things. It connects every- thing and has a consciousness that allows everything to be in a constant state of communication.

In Reiki Level II we will explore the Reiki symbols and how to use them. These symbols can help you to magnify and focus Reiki energy.

The use of Reiki symbols can help to accelerate a session, enable you to perform a session from a distance, or on imbalances from the past or future as well as focus on mental and emotional clearing. As you practice using Reiki symbols you will find more applications for them in your sessions and also in your life. With the Level II attunement your body’s frequency and psychic perception will be heightened.

The Reiki Symbols

(Excerpt from The Reiki Master Manual by Lisa Powers)

“Symbols have been used for centuries to convey messages and when used by large groups can hold
a specific vibration. Sacred geometry is one example of such symbols.

The symbols are another as- pect of Reiki that sets it apart from other healing modalities. Although practitioners can effectively utilize

Reiki energy without the use of the symbols, the symbols help to am- plify and refine the energy during a session.

There are four sacred symbols Dr. Mikao Usui taught his stu- dents and attuned them to. Three symbols are taught in Level II with the fourth symbol being taught to students in the Master Level.

Like being attuned to Reiki, once a student has been attuned to the Reiki symbols; they will be connected to those symbols for life. As your understanding of the Reiki symbols deepen through use, you will be able to determine for yourself how you will use the symbols in your practice and life.

The Reiki symbols can only be used for a positive outcome. During the attunement ceremony, the Reiki Master connects the Reiki student, Reiki energy and the symbols. From that point on, the stu- dent will draw on the intentions of the symbols to channel Reiki energy at an amplified rate. The student needs to be attuned to the symbols in order to connect with their power. Being attuned to the symbols means that once the student begins using the symbols, they will have that connection in place.

Dr. Usui found the four symbols in Sanskrit sutras he was studying and although he did not initially use them in his sessions, Usui realized that the symbols would help align students to Reiki energy in a more specific way. The symbols can be used when working with others or self.

The intention that is held when using the symbols is very important. You may find it helpful to visualize the symbols as live energy. You may see colors when using the symbols such as white. You can draw the symbols in your mind and see them placed above various parts of the body of the recipient.”

The first symbol is the Cho Ku Rei pronounced cho-koo-ray and means “Placing the power of the universe here”. It is called the power symbol and considered an amplifier. The counter-clockwise spiral in this symbol is thought to create balance by helping to release dissonant energy so the true resonance of the recipient can shine through. The intention of this symbol is immediately cutting through the illusion of imbalance and releasing it using the power of the universe.

The Cho Ku Rei symbol can be used alone or as an activator for some of the other symbols.

Cho Ku Rei is either written as 勅令 (imperial edict) or 直靈 (direct spirit) in Chinese.

How to draw Cho Ku Rei

You will want to draw the symbol on your hand (or in the air in front of you) using your index finger before you begin your session.

Ways you can use the Cho Ku Rei Symbol

The second symbol is the Sei He Ki pronounced say-hay-key. Sei He Ki is thought to work on an emotional level and balance the two hemispheres of the brain. One translation of this means: The earth and sky meet or God and Man become one. In essence the Sei He Ki holds the resonance of creating through balance.

How to draw SEI HE KI

When using the SEI HE KI (SHK) symbol you will want to draw the CHO KU REI (CKR) symbol while saying silently “CHO KU REI” three times. Then you will draw the SHK symbol on top of, or next to, the CKR symbol while silently saying “SEI HE KI” three times. Finally you will draw another CKR while saying again “CHO KU REI” three more times.
This creates what is called ‘the REIKI sandwich’

While drawing the symbols you can visualize these symbols beaming out from your third eye chakra and entering the third eye chakra of the recipient. The third eye is used to align the recipient with their intuition and insight so that they may be able to release what is untrue and embrace the healing from the REIKI energy.

Ways you can use the SEI HE KI Symbol

When using the CHO KU REI and SEI HE KI symbols, or using the ‘REIKI sandwich’ you will always draw the symbols, either in your mind’s eye, or on your palm, or the air in front of you using your index finger.
Then you will continue with your REIKI session, using all of the regular hand positions, as usual.

“The Hon Sha Ze Sho Nen (HSZSN) symbol is known as the distance healing symbol, and is used to transcend time and space with one translation being ‘having no past, present or future’. The Cho Ku Rei symbol is used first to activate the Hon Sha Ze Sho Nen. (Note: although it is spoken Hon Sha Ze Sho Nen, the kanji Sho is written before Ze).

The HSZSN gives the Reiki practitioner the ability to channel Reiki across short or long distances

The HSZSN also allows the practitioner to travel time from the present to the past or future. Reiki can be used to balance issues from years past and even work with karmic or past life issues. Future situations such as medical interventions, interviews or important events can be balanced by performing Reiki before they occur. In some cases, an individual’s body is not ready to balance in the present moment but may have a time in the future when it will feel safe to heal and when the balanced state will hold. The HSZSN symbol can be used to allow the body to draw in Reiki at that point in time with the outcome being that the recipient will experience the effects of the balancing in the present.” (Excperted from The Master Manual by Lisa Powers)

How to draw HON SHA ZE SHO NEN

You will want to draw the Cho Ku Rei while intoning the words Cho Ku Rei three times to activate the Hon Sha Ze Sho Nen symbol. You then draw the Hon Sha Ze Sho Nen on top of the Cho Ku Rei (or beside it) and intone the words Hon Sha Ze Sho Nen three times. If you choose, you can then draw the Cho Ku Rei on top of the Hon Sha Ze Sho Nen while intoning the words Cho Ku Rei three addi- tional times.

When the Hon-Sha-Ze-Sho-Nen symbol is drawn, all strokes are drawn from left to right and from top to bottom.

1. The first horizontal stroke means the number one, beginning, eternity beginning in this moment.

2. The second vertical stroke which crosses over the first, means the number ten, completion.

3. The third and fourth strokes are angled out and down and com- bined with strokes one and two symbolize a tree in Japanese. This can be translated into the tree of life, transformation, knowledge.

4. The fifth horizontal stroke means the root of the tree, cause, the origin.

5. These strokes form the first kanji HON. (Kanji means Japanese writing using Chinese characters. Kan – Chinese, Ji – character).

6. The sixth horizontal stroke symbolizes earth.

7. Stroke seven is a downward curving line meaning to become.

8. Stroke eight is a vertical line drawn downwards from the curved line.

9. Stroke nine is a horizontal line drawn from left to right

10. Stroke ten is a horizontal line drawn from the end of stroke eight.

11. Stroke eleven is drawn from left to right underneath stroke 10.

12. Strokes six through eleven form the Kanji SHA which means a person that creates. This symbol means what was hidden is brought into being. This relates to the miracle of Reiki. When you place your hands on someone, Reiki is revealing little by little what is already there.

13. Stroke number twelve is a horizontal line drawn from left to right. In some variations, this stroke is omitted.

14. Stroke number thirteen is a vertical line drawn from the center of stroke twelve.

15. Stroke number fourteen is a vertical line that is drawn to the left of stroke thirteen.

16. Stroke number fourteen is a small horizontal line that runs from the middle of line thirteen.

17. Strokes numbered twelve to fifteen forms the kanji SHO mean- ing just and right.

18. Stroke number sixteen is a curved vertical line that angles down and outward to the left.

19. Stroke number seventeen is a curved vertical line that angles down and outward to the right.

20. Strokes sixteen and seventeen combined form the kanji – ZE which means harmony and acting justly just as Reiki goes where it is needed.

21. Stroke number eighteen is a short vertical line that angles to the right.

22. Stroke number nineteen is a longer horizontal line under lines sixteen and seventeen that curves under to the left.

23. Stroke twenty is a vertical curve similar to the letter c..

24. Strokes twenty-one and twenty-two are short vertical lines similar to eyes in a happy face. In some variations, these lines curve with 21 curving like a c and 22 curving in the opposite manner.

25. Strokes seventeen to twenty-two form the final kanji – NEN which translated can mean the heart, and in the now.

Please remember that the kanji are like forms of art. No two versions will be the same. Just as a calligrapher has a certain style and adds that to the lettering he/she does, the kanji are also very unique as each person draws them. Variations are acceptable. Try not to be consumed by the minute details and differences and instead focus on the resonance of the symbol.

Ways you can use the HON SHA ZE SHO NEN Symbol