What is the difference between Jikiden Reiki & Komyo ReIkiDo?
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PERSPECTIVE FROM A GRADUATE OF BOTH REIKI SYSTEMS
Jikiden Reiki and Komyo ReikiDo are often misunderstood as being the same system of Reiki. Whilst they share a common lineage through Chiyoko Yamaguchi, a direct student of Chujiro Hayashi, they are different systems that use different symbols, Reiju and practices.
Some of the confusion stems from this shared lineage, which can lead people to assume that both systems teach the same practices and approaches. Some of it also stems from inaccurate information published about what each system teaches and practises, which is unfortunate, particularly given the values of honesty, integrity and transparency that Reiki seeks to cultivate.
As someone who has trained in both systems, I have the unique vantage point of knowing firsthand what each teaches. Given the confusion that exists online, I felt it important to clarify some of the misconceptions and misrepresentations surrounding both systems. Having studied many different systems of Reiki, I do not consider myself bound to any one system. My only objective is transparency and accuracy, and this has been the guiding principle behind my own exploration and study.
In preparing this comparison, I have relied not only upon my own training in both systems, but also on written clarification received directly from the founders and representatives of those organisations regarding the teachings, symbols, Reiju and practices discussed.
This is not about which system is better than the other. There is a place and need for all systems of spiritual and energy healing, perhaps now more than ever. Rather, this is simply about providing an accurate reflection of what each system teaches so that people can make informed choices and better understand the differences between them.
JIKIDEN REIKI AND KOMYO REIKIDO
Shared Lineage, Different Approaches
Jikiden Reiki is a Japanese system of Reiki founded by Chiyoko Yamaguchi and her son Tadao. Chiyoko and her extended family were direct students of Chujiro Hayashi. Together, with the collective input and memories of what Hayashi taught them, they created Jikiden Reiki.
The term “Jikiden” means “directly taught” or “direct teachings,” reflecting the intention to preserve the practices, techniques and teachings as they were taught by Chujiro Hayashi, the last Shihan trained by Reiki founder Mikao Usui.
Komyo ReikiDo is also a Japanese system of Reiki founded by Hyakuten Inamoto, a Buddhist monk from Kyoto, Japan, who trained briefly with Chiyoko Yamaguchi.
Although Jikiden Reiki and Komyo ReikiDo share the same lineage, Komyo ReikiDo reflects Hyakuten Inamoto’s own interpretation and adaptation of Reiki, with changes made to some traditional symbols, techniques and practices.
KEY DIFFERENCES BETWEEN JIKIDEN REIKI & KOMYO REIKIDO
1. DIFFERENCES IN REIKI SYMBOLS
It is commonly misunderstood that Jikiden Reiki and Komyo ReikiDo use the same symbols taught by Chujiro Hayashi to Chiyoko Yamaguchi. As someone who has trained in both systems and has firsthand seen the symbols used and taught within each, this is not the case.
Both systems teach 4 symbols. However, only 1 of 4 four symbols is shared between them.
THE FIRST THREE REIKI SYMBOLS
In Jikiden Reiki, the first 3 symbols taught, preserve the teachings passed down from Hayashi Sensei to Chiyoko Yamaguchi and her family without modification.
In Komyo ReikiDo, Hyakuten Inamoto acknowledges making changes to symbols. 2 of the 3 traditional symbols taught by Hayashi Sensei were changed and replaced with symbols of his own. The 3rd traditional symbol remains unchanged and is taught in both systems.
THE FOURTH SYMBOL: REIJU SYMBOL vs DKM
REIJU SYMBOL
The 4th symbol taught within Jikiden Reiki is the traditional symbol used specifically within the Reiju process and passed down from Hayashi to Chiyoko and her family. This symbol is not taught or used within Komyo ReikiDo.
DKM
Instead, Komyo ReikiDo teaches DKM as its 4th symbol, a concept commonly referred to within Western Reiki as the "Master Symbol". This is not a replacement for the traditional Reiju symbol passed down by Hayashi Sensei. Rather, it is a separate concept taught and used within Komyo ReikiDo. DKM is not taught or used within Jikiden Reiki.
Suggestions have been made that Hayashi Sensei may have taught DKM to his Western student, Hawayo Takata. However, this is not reflected within traditional Japanese Reiki systems such as Jikiden Reiki, where DKM is neither taught nor regarded as part of the traditional teachings passed down from Hayashi Sensei to Chiyoko Yamaguchi and her extended family.
Following Takata's death, her granddaughter, Phyllis Furumoto, became the lineage holder within the Western Reiki system. Phyllis later publicly acknowledged that it was she, not Takata through Hayashi Sensei, who introduced DKM to "Master" students after some expressed that they did not feel fully empowered to initiate others without receiving something additional or distinct at that level. Having encountered DKM as a concept, she chose to introduce it as a way of marking attainment of the highest level within that system.
According to Phyllis, DKM was never originally intended to carry the sacred or energetic significance of a symbol that it later came to hold within some Western Reiki systems. Over time, however, it evolved into something that was misunderstood by students and given greater significance than originally intended.
In Japan, DKM is not unique to Reiki, nor is it considered a symbol. It is simply kanji, Chinese characters used in Japanese writing, representing the words "Great Bright Light", a broader spiritual and philosophical concept associated with Great Illumination and familiar within many spiritual traditions.
In this context, DKM is understood as words expressed through kanji that describe a spiritual concept or principle, much like the word "enlightenment". It is not regarded as a sacred symbol. For example, the kanji used to write the word "enlightenment" are simply the written characters representing that word.
As DKM is not part of the traditional teachings preserved within Jikiden Reiki, it is not taught within that system. It is, however, taught and used symbolically within Komyo ReikiDo and many Western Reiki systems.
2. DIFFERENCES IN REIJU FORM & PROCESS
One of the most unique aspects of the traditional Reiki system is a sacred process known as Reiju, created by Mikao Usui to open the energetic channels of a student. Traditionally, this process was performed in person between Teacher and student and involves specific symbols and techniques considered foundational to Reiki practice.
In Jikiden Reiki, this process, form and symbols for Reiju passed down by Hayashi to Chiyoko are used and taught without modification.
There has been considerable discussion within the Reiki community regarding whether Hyakuten Inamoto was taught the traditional Reiju process by Chiyoko Yamaguchi. Regardless of differing views on this history, Inamoto acknowledges that the Reiju taught within Komyo ReikiDo was changed. His version does not use the traditional Reiju symbol and involves a different form and process. The Reiju used and taught in Komyo ReikiDo is unique to that system, rather than as passed down by Hayashi to Chiyoko.
3. DIFFERENCES IN TRADITIONAL TECHNIQUES & PRACTICES
While Komyo ReikiDo considers itself as a Hayashi-style form of Reiki, it does so in respect of its lineage rather than a strict adherence to the traditional practices, techniques and teachings passed down by Hayashi to Chiyoko. These have been changed and modified in Komyo ReikiDo with some traditional methods not taught at all.
By contrast, all the practices, techniques and teachings passed down by Hayashi to Chiyoko and her extended family learnt them from Hayashi Sensei, retaining them in their traditional form.
4. HEALING & SPIRITUAL FOCUS WITHIN EACH SYSTEM
Erroneous comparisons have been made suggesting that Jikiden Reiki focuses primarily on the healing aspect of Reiki, whilst Komyo ReikiDo is more focused on the spiritual path. In my experience of both, this is not an accurate reflection of either system.
Komyo ReikiDo presents itself as a simplified iteration of Reiki, with a heavy focus on the spiritual path that Reiki offers to students. Accordingly, Komyo ReikiDo does place more emphasis on the spiritual path offered through Reiki when compared to its teaching around the healing aspects.
For example, the depth of teaching around how toxins accumulate, are stored and cleared within the body, extensive Byosen teachings, traditional Byosen techniques, how to approach a treatment based on these matters, fresh injury methods and lymphatic drainage approaches are either not taught in the same depth in Komyo ReikiDo or, to a larger degree, are not taught at all.
Whilst these teachings are present within Jikiden Reiki, and healing is a comprehensive aspect of the Jikiden teachings, there is also significant focus on Reiki as a spiritual pathway to Enlightenment, with in-depth teachings around spiritual development, the inner spiritual teachings, and the deeper philosophical, cultural and spiritual aspects of Reiki practice as a major part of the teachings.
Where Komyo ReikiDo, by intention, is a simplified version of Reiki, placing a particularly strong emphasis on Reiki as a spiritual path, Jikiden Reiki places equally significant emphasis on both the spiritual and healing aspects of Reiki.
5. NENTATSU HO
Nentatsu Hō is a traditional Reiki technique used to communicate an intention or positive suggestion to the subconscious mind. In the traditional system, two versions were taught: one conducted briefly at the beginning of a Reiki treatment, and the other a formal technique to be used on its own.
Komyo ReikiDo uses its own version that sits somewhere between the formal and informal approaches, and is distinct from the traditional versions passed down by Hayashi.
Jikiden Reiki uses both a formal and informal version as taught by Hayashi, unchanged. The formal version, Sei Heiki Chiryo, also contains a script to be spoken aloud (known as kotodama, or "spirit of the word"), along with a symbol and prescribed process. This, including the kotodama, was the traditional version taught by Hayashi.
There are erroneous claims that the kotodama was not passed down by Hayashi to Chiyoko and her family, but rather was introduced into Jikiden Reiki by Chiyoko's son, Tadao, from Johrei, a Japanese spiritual healing practice. This has been debunked by direct students of Chiyoko to whom she taught the kotodama and members of her extended family, confirming that the kotodama came from Hayashi's teachings. Moreover, such a technique and kotodama do not exist within Johrei.
Further calling this claim into question is the fact that Tomita Kaiji, a presumed student of Mikao Usui, published a strikingly similar version of Nentatsu Ho in his book 'Reiki and the Benevolent Art of Healing' in 1933, two years before Johrei was formally established in Japan in 1935.
Whilst Tomita likely modified or created his own variation after leaving the Usui Reiki Gakkai (the Reiki Association established by Mikao Usui) to develop his own system of Reiki, the existence of such a similar kotodama lends further support to the position of Tadao Yamaguchi and representatives of the Jikiden Reiki Institute that this practice was passed down by Hayashi to Chiyoko Yamaguchi and her extended family, and likely has its roots in the teachings of Mikao Usui himself.
