Most Reiki practitioners spend years studying techniques, hand positions, and symbols. What many never encounter is the one document in which Mikao Usui explained Reiki in his own words.
That document is called Kokai Denju Setsumei.
It is the only written teaching left by Usui. While Reiki training was transmitted directly through practice, initiation, and instruction, this short text offers a rare glimpse into how the founder understood the practice he developed.
A Document of Orientation
Kokai Denju Setsumei is not a training manual. It contains no symbols, no hand positions, and no treatment procedures. Those elements were transmitted directly through instruction.
Instead, the text explains the orientation of Reiki practice. Usui presents Reiki as a method for improving life through the cultivation of the heart‑mind, or kokoro. Healing and personal development are not separate goals. They arise from the same process of bringing the mind, body, and spirit into balance.
Reiki as a Path of Cultivation
One of the most striking features of the document is its emphasis on the practitioner rather than the technique.
Usui describes Reiki as a way of restoring harmony in life. When the practitioner’s inner condition becomes steady and sincere, both personal well‑being and the ability to help others naturally follow. The text reads less like a set of instructions and more like an orientation to the kind of person Reiki practice asks us to become.
Why This Text Matters
Because Reiki has spread across cultures and generations, the practice is now described in many different ways.
Returning to Usui’s own words can be grounding. Kokai Denju Setsumei reminds us that Reiki was originally framed as a disciplined path of personal cultivation in which helping others and refining oneself were inseparable.
Reading Usui’s Words Today
To make this foundational document accessible, I published Mikao Usui’s Instructions to Reiki Students, which presents a complete English translation of Usui’s original 1926 Kokai Denju Setsumei (not a later version) along with brief historical context.
For practitioners who want to understand Reiki at its roots, this small text offers something rare: the opportunity to read the founder’s own explanation of the practice.
Continue the Exploration
If you are interested in the deeper foundations of Reiki practice, its history, and how it becomes embodied through daily training, you can explore these themes in the Substack publication “Living with Reiki.”
There the focus is on what it means to live with Reiki over the long path, not only as a healing practice but as a way of cultivating the heart-mind in ordinary life.
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