When there is a global scale disaster like a tsunami or earthquake, the Reiki community becomes very active. This is reflected in many popular online forums and websites offering distance Reiki. This reflects the compassion of all the lovely Reiki practitioners in the world. Many people will be talking about using the distance Reiki method to help. There is a technique to provide Reiki treatment over any distance (enkaku reiki in Japanese). I use it regularly and it is amazing and easy to do once you get used to it.
Quite often I get requests to send Reiki to an event or disaster area to cover lots of people at one time. This is something I am not familiar with. To use distance Reiki for disasters with the method created by the founder Mikao Usui you need basic knowledge of the ‘target person’. I believe that the original Reiki form has great power having been created by an enlightened person. I thought I would write this article to help people understand a traditional Japanese perspective on use of enkaku.
Distance Reiki for Events Like Global Disasters
When I am teaching Reiki and also online I am often asked about sending Reiki to disaster areas and events or regions in turmoil. I explain as follows. In traditional Reiki practice there is no idea of sending Reiki to events or regions. It is between people. When you practice distance Reiki you can feel the same glow of energy and also ‘byosen’ that you can treating someone in person. This is a very important point. The Enkaku Reiki technique is not like prayer or intention. Like the physical treatment method if you follow, it will work if you believe it or not. Then you can prove it to yourself through practice.
Why is Traditional Reiki so Limited?
I don’t see the lack of a method for treating many people at once as a limitation. By following the original method we can be certain of the impact we are having giving treatment. Even helping only one person at a time is something great. If we have lots of time we can help more people. It is important to know our boundaries, we are not a god. Do your best with your best skill (Gyo o hageme) – this is a part of five principles in Reiki! Faithfully following the teachings of Mikao Usui may feel limited compared to other ideas. But little by little you can help make a difference and that is enough. Get others to help give Reiki too if you feel you need to do more.
Knowing When Distance Reiki for Disasters is Helping
In distance Reiki practice an experienced and / or sensitive practitioner can sense the receivers condition. This helps in monitoring the treatment and recovery process. When the idea shifts from treating one person to a group it is impossible to get any clear sense of what is going on. Also – if you know who you are treating it may be possible for you to get verbal or written feedback too, and that can be very helpful.
What You Can do to Help
A famous story of Reiki for disasters is Mikao Usui helping people affected by the Great Kanto earthquake of 1923. He was there helping those in need by giving Reiki treatments. This is the best thing you could do if you have the opportunity, to visit the area and give hands on treatment.
If you cannot provide hands on treatment then you can learn to give distance Reiki (enkaku). We teach it at Okuden level. If you know people working on the frontline of aid, maybe you can get them to help. They could collect the information needed for you to provide Usui style treatment and share it with others that can do enkaku. Maybe you are working on the frontline giving aid and you can collect this information to share with people via the internet to get as many people as possible involved.
Remember, Reiki is amazing but it cannot create food, blankets or tents. Giving aid where you can is just as important as giving Reiki treatment!
