Kuan Yin & Karuna Reiki

[Guest guest]

Kuan Yin and Karuna Reiki®

by Lee Rand

Karuna Reiki® evolved out of Usui and Tibetan Reiki from a desire and a knowingness that there is always something greater waiting to be uncovered.  The love of the Creator is unbounded and because of this, there is no limit to the good that can come to those who seek.  No matter how wonderful something is there can always be more. And so it was out of this understanding that Karuna Reiki® began to manifest here on Earth.  I say it in this way because everything that could exist, exists now. It is just a matter of wanting something better and being willing to actively follow your inner guidance in order to ground it into your life.

I did not channel any of the symbols used in Karuna Reiki®, but simply began to experiment with symbols others had recently channeled.  Working with some of my most sensitive students, we allowed ourselves to be guided as to which symbols would be best for us and prayed that the Creator would direct our process.  We did not know we were creating a new system of Reiki until later in the experience when the healing energies began to increase in frequency and strength.  At first I wondered if this was possible, but after other sensitive healers confirmed it, I slowly came to accept that a new system of Reiki was developing.  I thanked the Creator and asked what to do next.  I was directed to give it a name and the name that came was Karuna.  I had not heard of this name before, but found it in a spiritual book and knew it was the right name.

It was found that in order for one to gain the full benefit of Karuna Reiki® one must be ready. This can happen only if one's energy system has first been conditioned through the use of the Reiki master energies.  Once this conditioning has taken place, one's energy system can more easily adjust to the higher potentials available. In addition, the experience one gains as a Reiki master allows one to make better use of the new healing tools Karuna Reiki® provides. This is why it is taught only to those who are already Reiki masters.

When taking the Karuna Reiki® master training, one becomes both a practitioner, able to use the energies for healing as well as a master, able to teach others. Karuna Reiki® has two levels and eight symbols. Each of the eight symbols brings with it a different frequency and a different way of helping the healing process.  There is a symbol to reduce pain and prepare for deep healing, one to heal deeply, one to fill the client with love, one to ground, one to bring peace and so on.  Having more symbols can be likened to a repair person who at first has only three or four tools to work with but then with increasing skill learns to work with a much larger number of tools and therefore is able to repair a wider range of problems and do it more quickly. 

Karuna Reiki® brings in healing energies that are noticeably stronger and able to more quickly heal a wider range of difficulties.  Many experience the energy flowing not just through the body and arms, but all around the outside as well so that it completely surrounds the practitioner on its way to the client.  This can be a very moving experience and many who have been Reiki masters for years begin channeling healing results that are more powerful than previously experienced.  This often inspires one to consider why it is so strong and where the energies come from.  The name of this healing practice can help us understand its source.

Karuna is a Sanskrit word that means compassionate action and this is not an ordinary kind of compassion, but one that comes from an unbounded sea of love. This is the kind of compassion that when combined with wisdom can take one to enlightenment. And once enlightened, all those who have followed this path are compelled by the great love that has grown in their hearts to turn their attention toward reducing suffering and helping others to become enlightened also. The beings who have followed this path and reside in this unbounded sea of love have unlimited power and at the same time unlimited kindness.  They have mastered Karuna and because of this are its emissaries. They act like beacons sending unlimited healing potential into every part of the Universe. 

Kuan Yin is one such being. She is one of four great Bodhisattvas or enlightened beings that watch over the earth. She is also called Avalokiteshvara and in Japan she is called Kannon. The embodiment of Mahakaruna, or great compassion, she is highly venerated in Buddhism and is ready to help all those who pray to her or attune to her healing energies, which continually emanate from her.  While she has been depicted as male, in more recent times and especially by Taoist and Tantric sources she has been seen as female.  In this form she represents the Goddess or female aspect of the deity.  Portrayed as standing on a lotus blossom and floating in the sky, her purity remains unstained by the ignorance and confusion of the world, even as she reaches out to help. Filled with the greatest beauty and grace, her reality is that all beings are one and deserve to be free. Because of this she is ready without reservation to extend peace, joy, love and every divinely good thing to anyone who contacts to her.

Many who have taken Karuna Reiki® have had visions of Kuan Yin and other enlightened beings. This has occurred during the attunements, or while giving or receiving treatments or while meditating. These experiences can be inspirational as well as healing.  Because this happens frequently and the healing energies are so strong, many feel that Karuna Reiki® comes from Kuan Yin and the other Bodhisattvas. 

We live in a wonderful time when ancient wisdom is combining with modern methods to spread spiritual practices all over the world.  Millions of people practice Reiki now and the numbers continue to grow.  This is having a powerful effect on our spiritual lives and helping to heal the planet.  As the pace quickens, world peace becomes possible.  Let us use the healing power that comes to us now to heal ourselves and help others.  May you always walk in peace.

Lee Rand is the founder and president of The International Center for Reiki Training, author of Reiki, The Healing Touch, Reiki for a New Millennium, and with Arjava Petter and Walter Lübeck, The Spirit of Reiki, editor in chief of The Reiki News Magazine, and developer of Karuna Reiki®. He has taught Reiki classes internationally for the past 12 years.

* Karuna Reiki® is the registered trademark of The International Center for Reiki Training