Introduction

First, I'm not a doctor and strongly recommend that you get medical care from a doctor for anything major or questionable. We have the finest crisis medical care in the world. Take advantage of it if and when you need it!

Most get into Reiki because they want to help others and or they want help themselves. Many, start with getting treatments and feel so much better that they then complete the First-Degree Reiki training to get even more benefit from Reiki and also learn how to do Reiki self-healing. Many long-time Reiki practitioners believe that Reiki helps them have higher personal energy, be more focused, have fewer illnesses, and feel significantly better. Even in serious emergency situations they tend to me calmer and more able to deal with whatever is going on. There is considerable personal experience that shows Reiki can help with many issues and many who claim Reiki is a cure for most everything from the common cold on. Still, the real peer reviewed medical scientific studies done in hospitals find that patients who receive and do Reiki tend to heal a bit faster, tend not to have as many complications, have lower measurable stress levels including lower blood pressure, plus spend less time in the hospital.

Reiki as taught in Japan is similar to carpentry, it is a craft that one can learn the rudiments quickly, but can easily take a lifetime to master. As with many crafts worldwide, Reiki is often taught in an apprenticeship mode. The basic agreement is a contract where informally or formally an apprentice agrees to serve or pay a master and the master agrees in exchange that they will teach the craft. Almost all forms of Reiki are identical in that it only takes a few minutes to a few hours to do the initiations. The differences between the different forms of Reiki vary in how formal and long is the process to screen and train candidates before each level of initiation, and what criteria the Reiki Master uses before the student is permitted to advance.

Reiki Controversy

The way that Reiki spread from Japan where it started has caused a nightmare of issues and consistency problems. A Japanese American lady living in Hawaii introduced Reiki to the western world to become rich. She was very secretive, did not write things down or allow her students to write anything down, and she apparently freely modified what she taught and even varied what it took to move up through the Reiki Degrees. She also collapsed the Reiki Master and Reiki Teaching Master down into a single degree. Initially, westerners could only get their training from her at a mere $10,000 per degree and needed to wait up to two years before she would teach them the next degree, but she made many exceptions taking people from student to teaching Reiki Master level overnight. Those she taught who became Reiki teachers maintained that secrecy, but to get students they began discounting their training costs from $10,000 to some giving their Reiki training for free and most now charging about $200 per degree. Many of these new Reiki Masters freely added other things they had learned ranging from Celtic to Wiccan symbols. The different branches of Reiki taught by this one lady have a huge variation in the symbols, their names, and their meanings, plus a student may learn as few as four symbol techniques to dozens. Each different group ended up giving itself its own name and contended that they had the one, true Reiki.

As people went to different masters for their advanced training, it became clear that there were huge differences in what they were initially taught. All used similar if not identical names to describe what are very different levels of training and even symbols. For instance, almost a third of the people who use Reiki use mirror images of the same symbols. Apparently, that lady told all to exactly follow her when she taught her students, but initially taught facing her students and later taught facing the same way as them creating mirror images for the early learners. As these huge differences became more and more apparent, the controversy between the different forms of Reiki continued to grow. Needless to say, these wide differences made for some lively spirited discussions.

In spite of wide differences in training, costs, most Reiki initiations are very similar. Each degree takes about two days of class and varying amounts of homework and practice before being awarded each Reiki Degree. Most require six to eight days of class needed to reach full teaching Reiki Master status, but can vary from hours to many years before being allowed to advance to the next Reiki Degree. A person learns about the symbols and practices for each Reiki Degree, gets an initiation for that level, and attuned for each new symbol learned. They then practice under the skilled guidance of a Reiki Master. The initiation and attunement process only takes a few minutes to an hour, but each level often requires one to two days of learning. However, the work required before and after an initiation before moving on can vary from nothing to years of intense work as an apprentice.

Having grown up in Japan and studied under traditional masters, my perspective is different than what many Westerners think about Reiki and I long ago gave up trying to discuss or argue which Reiki is better. My Reiki Masters were what one might describe as "Reikiholics". They had high success and just kept getting more and more until they became certified in most of the major forms. Years ago, they tired of the wide differences in Reiki, so they then went to Japan and studied under a German who learned and taught traditional Japanese Reiki. Frank A. Petters who was their master also wrote "Reiki Fire" which addresses many of controversies with Reiki. My masters continued to enhance their healing efforts undergoing a lengthy a Tibetan apprenticeship. As a result, their Saku Reiki that I studied is the traditional Reiki taught in Japan, also includes initiations into all the other major forms of Reiki, and even some of their advanced Tibetan training. I find that each form of Reiki has benefit and that often some techniques are timelier and more appropriate than others.

Interestingly, many years after my Reiki Masters studied with Frank A. Petters, he has become to many a touch stone to help resolve the wide variation in differences between the different forms of Reiki. He works closely with William Rand to assist with the Karuna Reiki, plus has shared much of the formal Japanese ways and ritual that so many choose. http://www.reiki.org is a beautiful site that can show much of that sharing. Personally, I think this consistency is great, but am not all that happy about the new breed of Reiki experts who make themselves authority figures because they know many Japanese names and techniques. Long ago when I first started teaching university engineering, I learned that what is important is the ability to teach, not the ability to shroud yourself in formal jargon to make yourself appear as an authority figure. The simple and best test is doing the Reiki work consistently and well.

What does Reiki do?

Reiki is not a substitute for appropriate medical or emotional treatment. Reiki is a complementary treatment, and should be used only as an adjunct when other forms of treatment are necessary. Reiki is a very gentle and safe method of bringing in healing energy from the Universal Supply. Reiki uses ancient healing energy techniques to help build more personal energy, more vitality, more resilience, and better health. Its most profound effect is an almost immediate feeling of deep relaxation, resulting in a reduction in stress. Reiki can help you change your mind and body for the better learning more of your inner self and giving more to yourself. You can learn to share Reiki healing energy with others as well as anything else that you can imagine including pets and plants! There are many cases on record of miraculous cures where Reiki has helped with all kinds of physical and mental ailments. Reiki practitioners can even send Reiki over a distance, sometimes thousands of miles, and still achieve beneficial effects. Reiki is being used more and more as an adjunct to help with traditional medical practices.

Does Reiki work for everyone?

Reiki works to the degree that a person is willing and able to use the energy. If a person chooses for whatever reason to not receive a treatment, no energy will be transferred. The effect of a Reiki treatment can vary from so subtle it may not even be felt to fairly profound. The healthier you are in all respects, the more subtle the effects. Most of us feel some discomfort in our lives and can benefit from Reiki.

Reiki is known as intelligent energy and helps with the highest form of healing possible in a situation. Sometimes, the healing that occurs may not match our own expectations. This is often where the spiritual aspect of Reiki is most obvious. Sometimes, if a person's time has come, being able to feel at peace with death is the highest form of healing possible, even though we personally think a complete cure is preferable. Reiki can only enhance whatever natural healing is taking place; it cannot be used to guarantee outcomes or change fate.

What is a Reiki treatment?

A Reiki treatment is a "laying on of hands" which is an ancient technique common to many spiritual traditions. To ensure the safety of the client as well as the practitioner, Reiki treatments should be administered only by a person fully trained and certified in Reiki techniques. In a typical Reiki treatment, the client lies down (fully clothed) on a padded treatment table. Energy is transferred to the client through the hands of the practitioner. The practitioner moves through a sequence of standard hand positions. Treatment starts with the practitioner's hands lightly resting on or above the client's head for 3-5 minutes, then slowly repeats this process systematically moving down to the feet. A full treatment usually takes about an hour. A Reiki treatment is a spiritual practice because it works directly with energy, or "spirit." A Reiki treatment does not involve any pressure or manipulation of tissues such as with a massage.

What is a "distance" treatment?

Only a Reiki Level 2 or a Reiki Master can give a distance treatment. Reiki distance treatments are learned advanced techniques for transferring Reiki energy to a distant time or location. Although we do not understand either the energy or how it works, there is considerable evidence that Reiki is able to travel independent of time or distance to deliver healing. Most Reiki practitioners use this technique similar to a telephone. They know it works and do not necessarily have a clue as to the underlying mechanisms.

What is Reiki energy?

Reiki is simply the "life force." It is called by various names in different parts of the world. It is called "prana" in India, "qi" or "chi" in China, "spirit" in Western traditions, etc. It is the subtle energy we unconsciously feel when we sense that someone is "intense", "laid back", or that someone is watching us. Each person's pattern of energy is as unique to them as their fingerprints. These patterns are often described as personal vibrations. People have a general energy pattern that is different from the patterns of other species. This energy can be concentrated as taught in the martial arts of T'ai Chi or Qi Gong. When used properly this energy can produce many beneficial effects.

What does Reiki energy feel like?

People feel Reiki in different ways. Most often during a treatment the energy is experienced as warmth. Others feel a mild tingle, as when an arm or leg has "fallen asleep." Still others feel a throbbing or pulsing sensation. Some people don't feel any physical sensation but describe mental or emotional changes, such as a sense of calmness or peacefulness. Nearly everyone experiences a Reiki treatment as deeply relaxing.

How does a Reiki treatment work?

This question is best answered by drawing an analogy. As mentioned before, our natural energy level is affected by our state of health or disease. We can all relate to the feelings of low energy or depletion that occur when we are trying to heal, whether from physical distress (illness or injury) or from mental difficulties (such as grief or anxiety). A Reiki treatment under these circumstances can be compared to jump starting a car. When the car's battery can't quite provide enough energy to start the car, we attach jumper cables from another battery to add more energy. Reiki is a means of adding more energy to our "life force" battery to help "jump start" the healing process. This process does not exhaust the practitioner, because the practitioner is trained to channel energy from the outside environment, not from his or her own personal "battery." Practiced in this manner, the energy available is virtually limitless. The amount of energy transferred depends on the client's ability to use it and willingness to receive it. When no more energy can be used, the transfer ceases to occur. A skillful practitioner can usually sense when this happens.

Why Reiki?

As with the battery analogy, Eastern and Oriental philosophies say there are two major "life force" energies. One kind of energy is that personal individual life energy. When it is used up, that living thing dies. There are ways to tap into this individual energy, but in doing so even the most vital healers rapidly tire and become depleted. Tapping this type of energy is unhealthy. Reiki energy provides a far better alternative. Reiki energy is "Universal Life Force Energy". It is inexhaustible plus is intelligent. It always goes to where it will do the most good and never comes in stronger than can be handled. Reiki provides a simple, easy to learn way to tap into this universal energy to help others and us.

What is the definition of Reiki?

Reiki is a compound Japanese word that has the general case meaning of "healing". Rei means "Universal" or "Spiritual", and Ki is "Life Force Energy". Most westerners take Reiki to mean "Universal Life Force Energy". This universal energy, and not personal energy, is what is used during Reiki Healing. The Usui Natural Healing System (sometimes written as Usui Shiki Ryoho), named for its founder, Mikao Usui, is the basic system used to invoke and use this energy known as Reiki energy.

How is Reiki done?

In a Reiki Healing session, the practitioner places his or her hands onto or just above the patient's body at a number of strategic points. The patient almost always feels the energy begin to flow into them, either as a heat, a coldness, or a strange lightly tingling "flow" through their body, often in places remote from the point at which the practitioner has their hands.

When is a Reiki treatment appropriate?

Reiki is particularly effective if applied as soon as possible after a trauma happens, whether due to physical injury or mental shock. At these times the body is mobilizing all available energy to stabilize the immediate problem so that long-term healing can occur. Any extra energy available will only enhance the process. Later, when the healing process slows and energy is shared between healing and other bodily functions and activities, Reiki can still be a useful adjunct.

It is important to remember that because Reiki works on an energy level, it can aid physical, emotional, mental, and even spiritual healing. Many people also use Reiki as a preventive practice. Practitioners learn to do self-treatment before they learn how to treat others.

Many of us are increasingly aware of the unique energy patterns that develop between individuals and among people in groups. Psychology includes this in the term "group dynamics." Advanced Reiki practitioners are trained to treat group situations as well, using special distance techniques.

What is a Reiki Attunement?

Reiki practitioners are said to be "attuned" to the Reiki energy. The "attunement" is similar to helping someone tune in a radio station, but in the case of Reiki it allows the student to "tune in" more efficiently to using Reiki energy. Everyone is to some degree attuned to the same energies used within Reiki. Teaching Reiki Masters give initiations to better connect each student with the energy channels and to ensure that energy passed through will not be from the student's own reserves. Teaching Reiki Masters go through considerable training to learn how to make efficient "attunements" as well as how to impart the Reiki teachings. After each attunement students are given a series of exercises for twenty-one days or longer to ensure those students are from then on permanently attached to the Reiki Energy they learn.

How do you learn Reiki?

Unlike many other disciplines, learning how to be an effective Reiki practitioner is easy and quick (as little as one day). Reiki is easily used from then on simply through intent and a little focus of attention. There are no complicated movements or rituals to learn. Although easily learned and applied, Reiki is so rich mastery can take a lifetime.

The Traditional Reiki Degrees

All Reiki derives from the Usui Natural Healing System (sometimes written as Usui Shiki Ryoho) but most commonly known as traditional Usui Reiki. In traditional Usui Reiki a student goes through a comprehensive many yearlong learning program to earn Reiki I, Reiki II, Reiki Master and Reiki teaching master degrees. Some forms of Reiki combine the Reiki Master and Reiki Teaching Masters degree. Each degree is taught by a teaching master, often with the help of their students who are working toward their own degrees. Most of the more thorough forms of Reiki teach the theory and practical, followed by homework required during class and then require some minimum period where the student must refine and demonstrate that they have memorized the material and mastered the tools and techniques taught for each level.

Traditional Reiki 1 - The First Degree

This is the first of the Reiki degrees where students learn how to do self-treatment and to give hands-on treatment to others. In class the student learns a little of the Reiki history and the simple basic skills to use Reiki. They have an opportunity to work with a Teaching Reiki Master to learn basic hands on healing, grounding, and protection. The students are also taught how to deal with the many potentially serious things that can come up when practicing Reiki. It is not that unusual for a person receiving Reiki and going through initiations to have suppressed often painful memories resurface along with some intense psychological symptoms, some will even have significant physical symptoms. In the First Degree a Reiki training a Teaching Master gives several initiations. These initiations "attune" each student to open the Reiki energy channels and ensure that energy passed through will not be from the person's own reserves. Many current traditional Teaching Reiki Masters provide this training in two six-hour classes with each day followed by about four hours more homework making an initial First-Degree Reiki initiation about a two-and-a-half-day commitment. Students are then given a series of exercises that they must do after the class for at least three weeks to make attunements permanent and enable them to use Reiki as needed. The student will then continue to work with their Teaching Reiki Master for a few months both giving Reiki treatments and helping with initiations to refine their skills and technique.

Traditional Reiki 2 - The Second Degree

The Second-Degree Reiki student learns at least three special symbols and how to use these symbols to better focus and increase the amounts of Reiki energy transferred. The three symbols loosely represent the trinity present in many belief systems, in this case representing mind, body, and spirit, with one symbol for each concept. Second degree Reiki also teaches students how to give "distance" treatments for individuals, groups, and circumstances. The Second Degree provides tools to help with emotional and mental problems, physical complaints, past-life and karmic issues, and how to direct healing energy both forward and backward in time and space including over great distances. Second level training is usually only given after a student has been practicing First Degree skills for at least a year, though this can vary somewhat depending on the teaching master. This second level generally requires two days of training that many current Teaching Reiki Masters teach as two six-hour training days or a single eight-hour class plus significant homework. Most students can learn second degree skills in a weekend when the student is ready.

Traditional Reiki Master - The Third Degree

Traditional Reiki Master training also known as Third Degree Reiki Master is primarily intended for people who have made Reiki their life's work and has committed to go on to eventually become a full teaching Reiki Master. A Traditional Reiki Master is initiated in and learns an extended set of symbols to help with more specialized Reiki. They must memorize these symbols, learn proper usage and technique, and These can range from dramatic emotional releases to some powerful psychosomatic pains and resurfacing of suppressed memories. Then after extensive training and practice they are then tested and can earn their Reiki Master certificate. The requirements for a traditional Second Reiki degree are stringent. They are even more stringent and difficult for a Reiki Master degree. Depending upon the individual, Reiki Master level training is usually only given after a student has been practicing Second Degree skills for at least two years. After being accepted by a Teaching Reiki Master as an apprentice the traditional Reiki Master Degree requires one day of training, significant homework and memorization, and from one to three additional years of hands on training and experience then demonstration of mastery of each of the three levels of training.

Reiki Master - The Full Reiki Master Degree

During and after the initial Reiki Master training period as a courtesy the student is called a Reiki Master, but traditional Reiki does not recognize an individual as a Reiki Master or allow them to do grant degrees until they have also mastered the teaching, initiations, and attunements that a full Reiki Master is authorized to perform. In many of the more abbreviated forms of Reiki that have spread widely, the Reiki Master training also includes another day of training in Reiki theory, how to teach, how to do initiations, how to do attunements. Traditional Teaching Reiki Master training requires is primarily intended for people who have made Reiki their life's work. The requirements for a traditional Second Reiki degree are stringent. They are even more stringent and difficult for a Reiki Master degree. Depending upon the individual, Reiki Master level training is usually only given after a student has been practicing Second Degree skills for at least two years. After being accepted by a Teaching Reiki Master as an apprentice it takes from one to three additional years of hands on training and experience to master teaching each of the three levels of training. During this training period as a courtesy the student is called a Reiki Master. Soon after starting their Reiki Master program they learn the intellectual knowledge to be a Reiki teacher. Still, they have a long way to go to add the considerable hands-on experience under the careful guidance of a good teacher to become an effective teacher and skilled at doing initiations and attunements. During this apprenticeship phase, each new Reiki Master is strongly encouraged to heal others and themselves helping each to improve their own physical, spiritual, and mental health.

The Non-Traditional Reiki Degrees

There are more versions and variations of Reiki appearing daily. We unfortunately have a situation where lots of people now teach Reiki for money or ego, so constantly come up with their own spins, variations, and labels to make what they teach appear to be "better", "more powerful", "faster", etc.

Which Reiki practitioner is right?

When looking for a Reiki practitioner, take time to discuss their training with them before you commit to receive treatments. As in many other unregulated professions, there are people who prefer to take shortcuts in their training rather than invest the time and money to become fully skilled. Genuine Reiki training changes a person's life. Whenever a Reiki practitioner gives a treatment, they are receiving Reiki energy themselves and their own healing processes are stimulated. That means any personal issues that require healing will be brought to the surface more quickly than they were before. I have seen some pretty incredible explosive releases on the part of both Reiki students and Reiki Masters during Reiki treatments. I know that during such a release I want to be in the company of someone I trust, who was very nurturing, and would be able to do the right things if there was an emergency. If training and the accompanying initiations are taken too quickly, the challenges for growth can be unsettling to say the least. You will be much happier if you carefully chose qualified experienced Reiki practitioners and teachers.

Which Reiki Master is right?

This question leads me to a dilemma. In my heart I know that there is value to almost every form of Reiki. Still, my blood pressure rises when thinking about the many who for a few dollars have become "expert teaching" Reiki Masters. Looking at how much someone charges for their Reiki training, how many people they have initiated, how long they have been doing initiations, or even getting referrals from others just does not tell you if that Master is right for you. Some of the finest Reiki Masters I know have minimal education and could not afford an expensive formal program, but they have always gone that extra mile to learn their skills. At the same time there are some very well liked Reiki Masters that because of my temperament, training as an engineer, and fussiness consistently make me crazy with pure fluff based on little more than nonsense. I can not stand a teacher who is not solidly backed and that will not tell me they just do not know instead of making up some mumbo-jumbo. About the only way I know to make a decision is to get treated a few times and then decide if you want to pick that Reiki Master as you trainer. Any student who does not do this homework may well be in for some disappointment.

What is Saku Reiki?

LINEAGE: Usui - Hayashi - Takata - Ishikuro - Robertson - Rick & Emma Ferguson - Margarette L. Shelton - Kathleen Ann Milner- Derrick - Rand - Frank A. Petters - Hunan & Lino Alelyunas - Eric Bott - Bill Pentz

ORIGIN: Saku Reiki is a comprehensive wellness program built around Reiki, vibrational healing, nutrition, exercise, herbs, crystal healing, and other natural remedies to help heal the body, mind, emotions, and spirit. Saku Reiki is based on the accumulated knowledge and experience gained from running a specialty clinic that focused on physician referral patients that did not respond amply to traditional medicine.

HISTORY: I personally went from frustrated to desperate. I got gangrene from a minor ankle surgery that made a mess of my foot that would not heal. I hurt all over so much I was exhausted from pain keeping me from being able to sleep. Suddenly, my left shoulder joint locked immobile. My doctors found there was a huge calcium mass in that shoulder that had locked it up tight. Testing showed I had contracted a hospital bred MRSA infection. That MRSA infection was eating away the cartilage from all over my body. X-rays showed problems all over which almost every major joint going to require corrective surgery. I went on a ton of antibiotics. The best my doctors could do was slow the progress of that MRSA infection. My kidneys went into intermittent shut down from too many harsh antibiotics landing me in the hospital. I was really ill with so many problems in addition to the kidney issues, my doctors gave me a choice of dying at the hospital or at home.

I chose neither. In addition to being an equipment engineer for the local hospitals, I ran medical studies on alternative and new healing efforts. I also was the information technology director for the American Medical Preventics Society and worked in the Sacramento Medical Preventics Clinic which was one of California's earliest and best-known preventive medicine clinics. I went to my doctor friend who ran that clinic. He referred me to a small medical alternative healing facility located above Grass Valley, California high in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. He said he and a group of physicians has set up that facility to help terminal mostly AIDS and cancer patients. He shared that in addition to that clinic having a full staff of traditional medical practitioners, the director of that clinic was also the physician for a well-known commune that practices many different forms of alternative healing. That director brought in healers from that commune as he felt were appropriate.

I showed up and everyone there except for me was dying from either AIDS or cancer. This was long before AIDS was understood and I was terrified my going there would kill me. The medical director had me work from a doctor from Napa who immediately put me on an intense juice and diet detoxification program. Soon my kidneys returned to working normally. The nurse to oversaw my care was Eric Bott. Eric began giving life style and nutritional counseling. The infectious disease specialist put me on a new combination of antibiotics that soon addressed my MRSA infection. I was able to be discharged from that clinic after only a couple of weeks.

Eric said he was in private practice with a doctor just minutes from my home and he recommended I continue working with him. He said many physicians referred patients to him to work on healing both the body and spirit. Eric accepted each new patient as a challenge to find the right healing approach. He kept working on improving his healing abilities adding crystal, light, and energy healing (Barbara Brennan School of Healing). He was drawn back to Reiki because it worked.

I working with Mr. Eric Bott I learned he was a licensed practicing German Electrical Engineer and he began an extensive personal quest earning alternative medicine practitioner degrees in Old World European healing techniques including nutrition, exercise, vitamins, herbs, and minerals, homeopathy, Bach Flowers, and muscle testing. His healing interests moved him to the United States to start a new life living in a commune dedicated to mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual healing. He earned his registered nurse license and worked as a hospital surgery nurse. He continued his alternative healing work and learned more of how to help others through use of diet, exercise, herbs, minerals, spices, Shiatsu restorative circulatory massage, acupressure, and reflexology.

At the commune he initially apprenticed under Hunan and Lino Alelyunas. He said they were a young couple that came into an inheritance which they invested in traveling extensively in India, Nepal. Indonesia, Thailand, Europe, Japan, and Australia gathering knowledge of various Spiritual Traditions including Buddhism, Sufism, Hinduism, Advaita Vedanta, Taoism, Shamanism and Reiki. They paid large amounts of money to become Takata trained Reiki Masters studying under the early Tera Mai and Karuna Reiki. They found themselves embroiled in the confusion of so many things being taught differently with different symbols for the same things. They were independently wealthy, so went to study in Japan under Frank Arjava Petter, author of "Reiki Fire" becoming true Reiki Teaching Masters in the Usui Healing Method (Usui Shiki Ryoho). From there they went on to Nepal and apprenticed under a monk whose life's work was the study and teaching of energy healing. He shared with them many Reiki roots plus some very powerful non-Reiki energy healing techniques. They became, two very powerful energy workers who had studied with some of the most profound Spiritual Teachers of our age. They joined that commune to be with people who had similar ideas. They found they were being exploited and moved on to independently practice energy and vibrational healing.

Eric seriously studied with them to become a traditional teaching Reiki Master, and learn all he could about their other energy work. He added his wealth of knowledge around these Reiki principles creating a formal training program and with the help of the doctor who took care of that commune, he opened his own healing facility in Sacramento. His program added nutrition, herbs, exercise, crystal and mineral healing, vibrational healing and other energy work to Reiki. This intensive program was named the Saku Reiki Healing Method in honor of Reiki and the Saku master energy symbol brought back by Eric's Reiki Masters.

DEGREES: Saku Reiki first and second degrees are traditional Reiki I and II degrees as taught in the Usui Healing Method (Usui Shiki Ryoho). The Saku program adds healing the body through nutrition and other physical means to the Reiki I program and key energy symbols from Tera Mai and Karuna Reiki to the Saku Reiki II degree. The Saku Reiki III degree is an intense multi-day course that includes a full traditional Usui Shiki Ryoho Reiki Master degree, plus a series of initiations where the rest of the Tera Mai and Karuna teachings and symbols are shared. Those wishing to go on from there take the Saku Reiki IV and V degrees that focus on additional energy and vibrational healing techniques and symbols to get individually well so as to be able to most efficiently help others. The Saku Reiki VI degree imparts the powerful Tibetan Saku master symbols and energizing techniques and starts the student on the Saku Ascension Program and the Saku Teaching Master Apprenticeship Program. Both are a multiyear program requiring considerable hands-on guidance working with a master to refine healing, teaching, and attunement skills.

Usui Affirmations

Usui created a set of affirmations that were used by his group. These translate as: