Amy Z. Rowland - The Complete Book of Traditional Reiki: Practical Methods for Personal and Planetary Healing

For the highest good of all concerned

THE
COMPLETE
BOOK
OF TRADITIONAL
REIKI

Amy Rowlands book is an engaging story of discovery, which has been a pleasure to read. Contains well-researched knowledge of Reikis origins and reveals practical and metaphysical insights into its use and effectiveness today.

CHRIS PARKES AND PENNY PARKES, REIKI MASTERS AND COAUTHORS OF 15-MINUTE REIKI

Praise for Amy Rowlands previous book, Reiki for the Heart and Soul

Reiki for the Heart and Soul is a gift to us from a remarkable woman who lives and breathes her work. The book literally loves us into each and every precious principle, weaving its magic as we read, bringing us into a deeper understanding. I feel it should be required reading for all dedicated practitioners and teachers.

MARI HALL, FOUNDER AND DIRECTOR OF INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR REIKI AND AUTHOR OF REIKI FOR THE SOUL: THE ELEVENTH DOOR

This is a well-written Reiki book that weaves together many important details with a wonderful spiritual sentiment. It grounds one in the here and now and inspires practitioners to look deeply into their own healing and to help others.

WILLIAM LEE RAND, AUTHOR OF REIKI: THE HEALING TOUCH AND DIRECTOR OF THE INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR REIKI TRAINING

Amy Rowlands compassionate journey into Usuis world offers the reader a catalyst for a deeper connection with Usui the man and his Way of Being. She has created a work that has captured the very essence of his spiritual teachings, creating a bridge between Eastern and Western Reiki teachings.

DAVE KING, REIKI INSTRUCTOR AND AUTHOR OF O-SENSEI: A VIEW OF MIKAO USUI

Amy Rowland elegantly and eloquently shares how we may each walk our talk by offering riveting, real-life examples of how present-day Reiki Masters and esteemed Reiki Masters of the past have utilized, and continue to utilize, the Reiki principles in a dynamic and living way, every day. This is a must read for humanity!

SENSEI JOHN KING, R.M., D.D., AUTHOR OF BREATHOLOGY:HOW TO BREATHE YOURSELF TO BETTER HEALTH

A joyful read! Amy Rowland provides a heartfelt guide for living Reiki in our daily lives. This book will help you open to Reiki as a spiritual path.

CAROLYN MUSIAL, TEACHER/PRACTITIONER WITH THE INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR REIKI TRAINING AND AUTHOR OFCOMMUNICATING WITH ANIMALS: A PRESENTATION & MEDITATION

An in-depth book on the principles of Reiki and mindfulness of their valuesrecommended both to newcomers and established practitioners.

TANMAYA HONERVOGT, AUTHOR OF THE POWER OF REIKI: AN ANCIENT HANDS-ON HEALING TECHNIQUE

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

T he opportunity to review and to revise a book so that it remains meaningful to readers is rare and precious. I am grateful to Jon Graham at Healing Arts Press, an imprint of Inner Traditions Bear & Company, for saying yes to my e-mailed query, and to everyone on staff who worked to put this new edition of Traditional Reiki for Our Times into your hands.

Since my primary purpose in revising the book has been to update the history presented, I want to thank all those who have been involved in research on Reikis origins in Japan, Hawaii, and elsewhere, in particular Frank Arjava Petter and William Rand; I commend those who sponsored Mr. Hiroshi Doi and Reverend Hyakuten Inamoto on their first and subsequent trips from Japan to the West to share information about Reiki techniques practiced within the Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai, the learning society established by Mikao Usui in the 1920s; and I feel a debt of gratitude to Mr. Kondor, Chairperson of the Gakkai, who has kindly given permission for this cultural exchange.

I regard Mr. Doi and Rev. Inamoto as among my most important spiritual teachers. I appreciate Mr. Dois groundbreaking book, Iyashino Gendai Reiki-ho (Modern Reiki Method for Healing) as an effort to present Reiki in a way that will bridge cultures; I am thankful to the American, British, and Canadian Reiki masters who ensured the books translation into English, and all of those involved in the translation process. I am grateful to Tom Rigler for teaching me the historical Usui Reiki Ryoho techniques and modern Gendai Reiki, as he learned both from Mr. Doi, and to Rev. Inamoto for teaching me Komyo Reiki, his synthesis of the Western and Japanese styles of Reiki.

The Complete Book of Traditional Reiki features some new photos and images to support the explanation of Reiki history. The beautiful photos of the Usui gravesite and memorial by Canadian Reiki Master Elyssa Matthews and one of her students, Daniela Tudor, make me want to join them on their next trip to Japan, at cherry blossom time. Rev. Inamoto has kindly granted permission for use of his translation of the inscription on the Usui Memorial into English, making the story of the life of Mikao Usui, as remembered and recorded by his students a year after his death, accessible to us today. Dave King has provided a computer-generated image of the Gainen, the original Reiki principles, from double titles to closing, allowing readers to get a sense of the orderly progression of the precepts as pathwork. My deepest thanks to all of you!

David Gleekel and John Graybill, thank you for all of your support and friendship through the years, and for connecting me to potential translators. Dave King, thank you for the gift of your friendship. Your dedication, patience, and wisdom awe me. Mark Clutton, thank you for checking in on me so often via transatlantic phone calls. You have encouraged me in my writing and in my spiritual pathwork. Ellen Phillips, thank you for talking writing and Reiki with me over so many cups of coffee through the years. You have reminded me to pace myself and stay in balance.

Reiki remains the greatest blessing of my life. I will always be grateful to Angela Rapalyea and Bruce and Estelle Rausch, who introduced me to this experience and helped me to connect to my first teacher, Rev. Beth Gray. The gratitude I feel to Beth and to Frank DuGan, and through their instruction and inspiration, to Hawayo Takata, Chujiro Hayashi, and Mikao Usui, is beyond expression in words: I honor them for their courage, dedication, and commitment, and I thank them for their endless patience and compassion for this student, still learning so many lessons each day.

My sense of Reiki would not be so complete or clear without the joyful sharing of stories by fellow students and practitioners, and by my own students and clients, who will hear the echoes of their voices and laughter in the pages of this book. Their stories, and those of my fellow Reiki masters, continue to be a catalyst for the evolution of my understanding and the deepening of my love for this energy, which is the true teacher and healer of us all.

The support of family and friends has been essential to the creation and completion of this book, and a source of comfort to me as well. I particularly want to thank Amy Levin, Yvonne DeVastey, and Donna Fasano, the models for the photographs demonstrating hand positions; Donna Glas, the photographer; and Rita Zaffarano, the artist (and my mother!), for contributing their loving energy, their patience, and their smiles to this undertaking. Donna Fasano and Janet Kuchler reviewed sections of the manuscript, as did Nicholas Chin and Tont Lam, offering insightful suggestions for improvement and encouragement to me on those days when I felt overwhelmed. Online friends, too many to name, sent me distant healing as I needed it, offered essential words of support, and reminded me, again and again, to be guided only by God within me.