principles
Reiki Principles

scroll written by Mikao Usui
scroll written by Mikao Usui

The Concepts that form an integral part of Usui’s “method to achieve personal perfection” are known as the Reiki Principles. These seemingly simple affirmations are often referred to as Reiki principles and are known to bring great benefit when we follow them as a way of life. As a Reiki Master, it is part of my daily work to incorporate these profound words more deeply into my way of being by sitting quietly with hands in a prayer position and repeating these words; a practice known as gassho. I like the following translation of this scroll by David King, author of O-Sensei: A View of Mikao Usui (China: David King, 2006) as quoted in Reiki, the true story by Don Beckett, 2009:

The Secret Method of Inviting Blessings

The Spiritual Medicine of Many Illnesses

Today only

Anger not

Worry not

Do your work with appreciation

Be kind to people

In your life perform gassho as your mind recalls

The Usui system for connecting with your ancestral self through the body-mind