The Reiki Cafe 

Hi Nelys

Jikiden ('Directly Taught' or 'Original Teaching' Reiki)is the Reiki method as taught by the late Chiyoko Yamaguchi who died Aug. 19th 2003, and her son Tadao Yamaguchi, who is Director of the Jikiden Reiki Kenkyu Kai (Jikiden Reiki Association).

Born in 1921, Mrs. Yamaguchi, a student of Chujiro Hayashi, had received her first attunement in 1938, in Daishoji, Northern Japan. [Mrs Yamaguchi's elder sister Katsue, and her uncle, Mr Wasaburo Sugano, had also been attuned to Reiki by Hayashi Sensei - Wasaburo in 1928 & Katsue in 1935 - but Mr Sugano had insisted that Chiyoko finished high school before receiving her first attunement]

Jikiden Reiki is presented as comprising the exact system that Chiyoko Yamaguchi was taught by Hayashi-Sensei, along with additional information apparently gleaned by Tadao Yamaguchi in interviews with some of Hayashi-Sensei's other surviving students.

While some Japanese Reiki lineages focus primarily on spiritual development, in Jikiden-Reiki the focus is strongly on healing, however, unlike western-style Reiki, apparently Jikiden does not teach formal hand positions.

In Jikiden, the symbols and their mantra-names are referred to respectively as shirushi and jumon. The way in which the symbols/mantras are used and understood is quite different to that of 'western' style Reiki.

Jikiden teaches the first two levels - Shoden and Okuden - together over a single 5-day workshop (the first three days - three hours per day - being devoted to the Shoden level and the last two, the Okuden level).

A 3-day version of the workshop involves three hours training on the first day, and six hours on each of the two other days.

The third level, referred to as 'Teacher' level or Shihan (Jikiden doesn't use the term 'Shinpiden' for the third level ) is apparently offered to students assessed to be of a suitable level of development.

The Teacher level itself is actually split into two parts - Shihan-Kaku (Assistant Teacher) and Shihan proper. Shihan training is generally only offered to suitable candidates some 6 -12 months after completion of the Shihan-Kaku grade.

Mrs Yamaguchi apparently achieved the Shihan-Kaku in Spring 1939 and full Shihan status in the Autumn of the same year - however, while it had previously been claimed that she had completed her training with Hayashi-Sensei, it is now said that she actually completed her training with her uncle, Wasaburo Sugano, who had also been trained by Hayashi-sensei.

Mrs. Yamaguchi maintained that she was not taught any formal hand positions; she said she used have a number of notes (apparently copied from Hayashi-Sensei's - it was customary for students to copy their Teachers notes), which (along with her certificates?) were later lost in a fire in Manchuria.

Jikiden Reiki, it is claimed: "is the first attempt to re-introduce "original" Reiki to Japan and the rest of the world".
Jikiden Reiki

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>....... She claims it is like 50 times more powerful than traditional 'western' reiki and it can cure cancer etc.

50 times ? - not 47.5 times? - not 53.187 times?

I just love the way people do that whole "My Reiki is stronger/better/purer/got more bells and whistles than yours" stuff!

>...She teaches that putting the hands a couple of inches off the body and placing the energy in the aura is wrong, and that you should place the hands directly on the body as this is more powerful......what do you think of the placing hands directly on the body argument?

well, Takata-sensei actually taught one should always use direct touch-contact in giving treatment (no matter whether you were level 1, 2 or Master) - only using 'hands-off' treatment where it would be inappropriate or too painful to touch the client's body.

reiki ni rei

James