Foundations of Reiki Ryoho: A Manual of Shoden and Okuden

A comprehensive guide to the first and second degrees of Usui Reiki Ryoho as well as Reiki’s history and Western evolution • Details hand positions, self-healing exercises, spiritual development meditations, and the Japanese Reiki techniques introduced in the first degree, shoden, and the second degree, okuden • Provides a thorough introduction to the five levels of byosen, the energetic mechanism used to scan an individual’s energy field and locate areas of disharmony • Examines the core teachings of Reiki founder Usui Mikao and offers a new comprehensive exploration of Reiki’s history and evolution • Explores tools and techniques adapted by Western lineages, such as working with crystals and the chakras Bridging Eastern and Western lineages to reclaim Reiki’s roots as both a healing art and a spiritual practice, Nicholas Pearson offers a new comprehensive exploration of Reiki’s history and evolution, the foundations of Usui Reiki Ryoho theory and practice, and the original techniques and modern tools of both the first degree, shoden, and second degree, okuden. He explores the etymology of key Reiki terminology and presents a complete discussion of the origins of the symbols used in the second degree, providing new historical, cultural, and spiritual context. He examines the core teachings of Reiki founder Usui Mikao, who taught that Reiki Ryoho enacted healing at the soul level, as well as insights from other important Reiki masters such as Hawayo Takata. Explaining what Reiki is and how it heals, the author outlines the six core characteristics that all varieties of Reiki share, including initiations and the Five Precepts. He details effective hand positions, self-healing exercises, spiritual development meditations, and the Japanese Reiki techniques introduced in first degree and second degree practice. He also explores a number of other techniques that have been adapted by Western lineages, such as aura sweeping, chakra tune-ups, and charging and programming crystals with Reiki. He provides a thorough introduction to the five levels of byosen, the energetic mechanism used to scan an individual’s energy field and locate areas of disharmony, allowing you to increase your ability to sense centers of toxic imbalance as well as begin dislodging them, thereby increasing the effectiveness of Reiki treatment. Offering Reiki tools to transform your life from the inside out, Pearson shows how Reiki Ryoho is a healing system that focuses on the inner and spiritual aspects of your being first, allowing you to polish the heart so it reflects the shining light of the soul.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments Notes about Orthography and Terminology PART 1 Shoden: The First Degree 1 Defining Reiki Reiki Reflections: Your Own Definition 2 Learning Reiki 3 Reiki History 4 The Reiki Precepts Personalized Precepts Meditations on the Precepts Gokai Sansho 5 How Reiki Heals 6 Connecting to Reiki Energy Exercise 1: Expanding the Energy Energy Exercise 2: Directing the Flow of Reiki Energy Energy Exercise 3: The Energy Ball Reiki Chalice Meditation 7 Understanding Byōsen Byōsen Graphing 8 Japanese Reiki Techniques Gasshō Meiso Kenyoku Hō Reiki Shower Reiji Hō Byōsen Reikan Hō Chiryō Koki Hō Gyōshi Hō Heso Chiryō Tanden Chiryō or Gedoku Hō 9 Practicing Reiki 10 Hand Positions for Self-Treatment 11 Hand Positions for Treating Others 12 Additional Reiki Techniques Aura Sweeping Chakra Tune-Up with Reiki Treating the Three Tanden Meridian Tune-Ups with the Fingers Reiki Manifestation Charging Crystals with Reiki Opening and Closing Spiral Expanding Your Light PART 2 Okuden: The Second Degree 13 Introducing the Second Degree 14 The Reiki Symbols 15 The First Symbol: Choku Rei Strengthening Your Lightbody Creating Sacred Space Sealing the Treatment 16 The Second Symbol: Sei Heki Empowering Affirmations Treating Psychogenic Conditions Deprogramming Technique 17 The Third Symbol: Hon Sha Ze Shō Nen Distance Healing Healing with a Surrogate Sending Reiki to the Past or Future 18 More Japanese Reiki Techniques Gyōshi Hō and Koki Hō Revisited Jaki Kiri Jōka Hō Hatsurei Hō Nentatsu Hō Sei Heki Chiryō Hō Enkaku Chiryō Hō Enkaku Byōsen Reikan Hō Shashin Chiryō Hō 19 Additional Okuden Tools and Techniques Programming Crystals and Gemstones with the Symbols The Reiki Box Your Reiki Bank Account Better Sleep with the Reiki Symbols Symbol Meditation Conclusion APPENDIX A Subtle Anatomy APPENDIX B Pronunciation Guide APPENDIX C Glossary of Japanese Terms APPENDIX D Glossary of Names Notes Bibliography Index

About the Author :
Nicholas Pearson has been a practitioner of Usui Reiki Ryoho since 2006, has received initiations into several lineages, and is also a practitioner of Jikiden Reiki. A certified teacher of Usui Reiki Ryoho, he offers Reiki and crystal healing classes throughout the United States. The author of The Seven Archetypal Stones and Crystals for Karmic Healing, he lives in Orlando, Florida.

Review :
“In my unrelenting quest to bring Reiki into operating rooms, this book is a jewel in my heart and a tool I can use in my work. Reiki is described so fully, clearly, and with such spiritual truth that I am happy to present it to surgeons and doctors everywhere I go. Pearson’s book is a timely blessing.” --Raven Keyes, author of The Healing Power of Reiki and founder of Raven Keyes Medical Reiki International, LLC “Quite possibly the most comprehensive guide to the tradition of Reiki, Nicholas Pearson’s Foundations of Reiki Ryoho provides readers with everything they need to know in order to understand the first two levels of the Japanese healing art. Included is a detailed history of Reiki’s origins as well as an impressive examination of the evolution of Reiki’s sacred symbols. Pearson at once gives the reader a traditional understanding of the healing practice but also encourages the reader to explore, documenting some of the permutations of the tradition since its inception. I will be recommending this book to my own Reiki students.” "Foundations of Reiki Ryoho is a serious, academic look at reiki as a spiritual and cultural practice but is not a scientific study. Despite a lot of description of what this energy is, much of it is analogous and someone looking for a scientific explanation of reiki energy will not be satisfied. This book is for those who are beyond that doubt and are interested in how this practice emerged, its cultural and historic context, and the evolution of the practice as different branches separated over international borders and then later met and merged. Recommended."