When I first began to study Reiki in 1992 I came across the concept that Reiki was some unique all encompassing energy - a Universal Life Force.  This seemed to satisfy most Reiki people at the time, but I soon discovered there were other powerful energies that others had connected to, like Mikao Usui had.  These energies had different names like Seichim, Magnified Healing, etc.  I have listed some of the at my Alternative Healing Energies page.  Over time as I worked with a selection of these, I discovered  they each had a different feel, different properties than Reiki. I wondered what these could be if Reiki was the Universal Life Force Energy.

One teacher of mine felt that Reiki (and other energies) was simply a stronger version of what we call Ki, Qi (chee) or prana. I didn't agree at the time but I now feel he was much closer to the mark.  But I still wondered at the different feelings and experiences that other energies had, and where they might have come from. In other words, what were they compared to Reiki?

Have you ever thought about what people mean by the "Universal Life Force"?  I think that for most it is simply a phrase they use to sum up all the energy that maintains our physical presence and beyond, only they tend to use it only for energy that is not normally thought of as present on the physical plane.  But there are many such energies out there, and for those  who are sensitive to energy,  this description may feel incomplete, or too vague. For them, it's like using the term "vehicles" or "cars"  for mini-vans, sedans, cargo vans, trucks, station wagons, convertibles, etc. 

For example, you might look in your cupboard and see pepper, salt, oregano, thyme, rosemary, etc. while another person only sees a bunch of spices.  In the example of the previous paragraph, looking out my window some students who are not very interested in cars may just see a large number of vehicles.  Others may see a breakdown of cars, min-vans, cargo vans, SUVs, pick-up trucks, and larger trucks.  Still, an automobile mechanic or car salesperson may see even greater detail as in the vehicle make, model, year, colour, engine size and other details.
 

When I continued my Awakening Light Body studies into the graduate material in 1996, I began working with energies that are in vibrational ranges higher than the normal prana or auric bodies (physical, etheric, emotional, mental, spiritual, etc.)  I learned there are many sources of energy - and everything around us is made of a very basic form of energy.  This may be what people call the "Universal life force" energy.  But I understand that all molecules, all atoms, all electrons, protons, neutron, quarks and smaller particles are made of this as well.  And those elements compose everything in our physical reality.  So the computer you are looking at is also made of this "Universal life force' energy, just as you are. 

What is the source of this?   Ultimately, I suppose you could say it is a very high level of our being that we really cannot comprehend yet.  To some it is God, to others Goddess or All-That-Is, to others still it is Jehovah, Allah, Buddha, and on and on and on.   How far removed that Source is from what we experience, is an individual explanation.  But these higher energies around us do seem to come in many families of vibrations.  What we call Reiki is just one family.  Seichim is another, Magnified Healing another, etc.

It is my experience that over the past 3 decades the term Reiki has become a very generic term for any energy of a lineage related to Mikao Usui.  It is as if he had discovered the "Coca Cola" of energies. Yet, as I received attunements from a variety of Western and Japanese teachers, I began to notice there was a variation in how each of their Reiki energies felt, and how they were received by others. It was as if each Reiki was a slightly different "Cola", some feeling more interesting or profound, depending on the recipient of the attunement.  When Mr. Hiroshi Doi came to Canada in 1999, almost all of the Reiki Masters present at our workshop found his energy (that which he receives in the URR Gakkai)  to be stronger than their normal Reiki, especially when they began to make use of this Reiki variation on their own.  This was not my experience and I wondered what the others were sensing in this particular Reiki.
 

However, a year later I experienced another flavour of Mr. Doi's Reiki, a version given through an attunement he had received in the early 1980's.  I found that this particular Reiki "flavour"  actually rocked me; it literally almost knocked me over during the attunement ceremony.  This was the Reiki Mr. Doi had received from his friend Mr. Ohta, whose teacher was Mrs. Sasaki, the former Gakkai Shihan (teacher) of the Hiroshima area..  Yet when I used this particular version of Reiki, it did not feel as strong as my own personal Threshold Reiki I was teaching.   I was beginning to understand that the variety of Reiki energies were indeed like different versions of "Coca Cola".  All were "Cola" at their base, but each had a slightly different "taste" and make up.  That is, one version of Reiki might appeal more to some people than other versions of Reiki.

In my Reiki 3 classes I used to play a meditation called "Meet Your Reiki Guide" by William Rand.  In 2001, I decided to channel my own meditation which involved meeting your highest healing guide.  Part of the meditation involved being introduced by the guide to your highest healing energy.  I was surprised to discover how the first students to hear this found the energy they received in the meditation to be very strong.  So I presented something like this at the 2001 URRI Reiki Master conference in Madrid, with quite amazing results. 

I have found that with help of the 4th symbol energy, Reiki Masters have a powerful tool to assist them to easily connect to large amounts of energy or Ki, and not just Reiki.  I believe this also automatically comes on-line whenever an attunement, reiju or higher connection is desired. 

In the URRI 2001 workshop, I first had all the masters work with a partner and I taught them my own simple reiju method that I shared at URRI 1999.  They used this on their partner with their own Reiki and compared their energies.  As in 1999, most were surprised such a simple technique could transfer Reiki.  Then I attuned each participant to my own Threshold Reiki, and allowed them time to work with this version on a partner.  Finally I led them on a meditation during which they met their Highest Healing Guide, who gave them an attunement to their own Highest Energy (what I call their Highest Ki).  They then worked with this energy.  Afterwards I asked which energy they had worked with seemed the strongest or best for each of them.   All but 3 of the participants found that their Highest Healing Energy was strongest or best, even beyond all the Reiki they had worked with.

I then began to add a similar exercise in the healing session of my channeling classes.  In that class, the student connects to and blends with their Highest Guide from the Light in tune with their life work.  In the healing exercises, the student works with a partner and first gives Reiki healing.  Then the student uses their Guide to channel in other types of healing energies.  Finally the student asks to be connected to their own Highest Healing Energy (Highest Ki or Qi - chee).  Afterwards, when comparing the energies they worked with, I have found that most students find their Highest Ki to be the best or strongest or highest vibration they have ever worked with. Having used their Highest Guide to attain this and be connected to it, the energy is very grounded, much like Usui may have experienced with his own highest energy.
 

I realised then that the energies other healers had connected to like Seichim, Magnified Healing, Urevia, etc. were most likely the Highest Ki of the person who discovered them.  It also made sense that Usui's Ki (Reiki) was simply his own highest energy, but it was not the best that each of us could attain in our lifetime.

In the summer of 2002 I felt guided to include in each Threshold Reiki class, a connection to the student's Highest Ki.  I would channel in their guides and ask to additionally attune the student to their own highest energy.  I have found that due to the lack of spiritual growth or experience with energies, the student usually does not make a strong grounded connection, but their Highest Ki is of a very high vibration.  So I suggest they simply allow it to flow with their Reiki, so that it too may grow stronger with each use, and have the grounding support that Reiki provides.  Some who are already well connected to earth energy do develop a strong grounded Highest Ki.

Recently I experimented  with other Reiki Masters at a Reiki share, two of whom can see or strongly sense energies.  I suggested a volunteer Reiki Master attempt to reach their own Highest Ki as the others observed and measured this.  Then I channeled the volunteer's Guides and assisted him/her to connect a bit higher.  Each time the observers noticed an increase, so it seems 2 working together are stronger than one (as in most energy work). Next, while I  assisted the volunteer, I used a few grounding techniques to help make a stronger "earth" connection, and again, surprisingly, the person's Highest Ki became stronger. 

Since I have done energy work on the summit of Kuramayama, north of Kyoto, and at the base of Niagara Falls, and recently inside the inner circle at Stonehenge (all of which are known power spots) I find I can call on the enormous grounding energy of each, one at a time. I used these to assist the volunteer's connection to their Highest Ki.  Afterwards the observers said they noticed a far greater connection for the volunteer to their Highest Ki When talking to the volunteer they seemed to favour this new energy over Reiki. 

We tried this experiment with each of the Reiki Masters in our little group, with pretty much the same results.

Japanese Reiki Master Hiroshi Doi once explained that Usui Sensei had at least 2 known satori (powerful spiritual experiences).  One occurred in a dream or a vision where he realised what his true purpose in life was - this was to acquire Anshin Ritsumei - the state of your mind being totally in peace, knowing what to do with your life, being bothered by nothing. 

Usui Sensei set out to discover this but after 3 years of intensive searching he had not felt he achieved this.  It is believed he underwent an intensive spiritual process to try to attain this.  So in 1914, in desperation he undertook a typical meditation and fast process on the holy mountain of Kuramayama - a well known power spot, and sacred mountain north of his then home in Kyoto.  An earth power spot has the ability to hold and store large amounts of energies, usually very strong grounding ones, due to their locations at the intersection of many ley lines. (earth energy lines). 

A few other known power spots are Mt. Shasta in California, at least 3 places in Sedona Arizona, Stonehenge and nearby Glastonbury, the great pyramid in Egypt, etc.  When you do energy work in or near these, you have a far greater potential to work with stronger energies and receive them, you have more grounded energy, and yet since you are immersed in the field of the power spot you may not be very aware of how strong your energy is - at least not until after you leave.  That was my experience as well at the 3 spots I mentioned above (the top of Kuramayama, the base of Niagara Falls, inside the Stonehenge main circle).

Usui Sensei meditated on Kuramayama for many days, possibly in a variety of locations including beside waterfalls and at the top of the mountain.  One evening he suddenly experienced another great satori - a great in-rush of energy - enough to knock him unconscious for several hours. 
 

Afterwards, his natural energy or Ki was very strong.  Over the years people have come to associate his energy with the term "Reiki" and have attempted to try to connect to as much of it as he did.  According to Usui-Do teachings, this was not the focus of his training (passing out this Ki) but rather it was the means to attain spiritual growth as he did.  It was his student Eguchi who began to teach a palm healing system in the Usui dojo (from 1923-26) using personal Ki.  Usui's personal Ki was so strong that many students seemed to focus on his energy as a goal, rather then the attainment of Anshin Ritsumei and possibly their own Highest Ki.

I remember meeting a few people who emitted powerful energy.  Or rather, I should say that they emitted a Ki that was very perceptible to me, most likely of a type that I needed to grow in.  One was Mrs. Yamaguchi, the Reiki student of Dr. Hayashi who had practiced Reiki for over 60 years.  In November 2000, when I was led to her in a hotel lobby to be introduced, I could sense her energy from about 8 feet away.  It was quite strong and wonderful.  She is the only Reiki person I have ever met who felt this way to me. 

Stronger still was the energy I felt from Sanaya Roman at a 2003 Light Body workshop.  She passed about 15 feet away from me and I felt a sudden powerful surge in my chest coming from her, yet she had not noticed me as she passed by.   In both cases, I believe these energies felt so strong because of their source and the fact that I had not yet integrated this particular energy, at least not in that amount of strength.  When I met Sanaya's friend Duane Packer, his powerful energy was far easier to handle as it was more a grounding energy and I simply felt more at peace in his presence. 

I hope I have given you some food for thought on exploring your own highest energy.   I am sure there are many ways to go about this and some of you might already have had this experience but under a different name.  I think that just as Reiki has provided us with more fuel to discover and live our life path, so too can the expression of our own Highest Ki.