The Reiki Precepts

Frans StieneArticles, English Leave a Comment

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Within the system of Reiki, we have the precepts:

For today only
Do not anger
Do not worry
Be grateful
Practice diligently 
Show compassion to yourself and others

These precepts are not just for repeating a few times a day but to integrate into our daily life. Mikao Usui’s precepts are not unique as we can see them in in other Japanese teachings. For example one other famous Japanese spiritual teacher Nakamura Tempu (1876 – 1968) had a very similar set of precepts:

I vow that for this one day I will let go of anger, fear, and grief.
Honest, kind, and cheerful, with strength, courage, and enthusiasm, I will
take charge of my own life. I will live as a respectable person with a mind filled with peace and love.

– From Nakamura’s book Shokushu Shuren Kai published in 1957, translation by H.E.Davey in The Teachings of Tempu – Practical Meditation for Daily Life

Integration of these precepts is not that easy and this is why Mikao Usui also added specific meditation practices to his teachings. The mantras and symbols, hands on healing, reiju/initiation/attunement, breathing practices, and meditating on the precepts would help us to “become” the precepts, or in other words to “become” Reiki or remember our True Self.

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