Reiki Initiation and Lineage: What Actually Transmits in a Master Training

A Reiki initiation — called reiju (霊授) in the traditional Japanese practice — is a transmission ceremony in which a Reiki teacher opens a student's energy channels and connects them to the Usui Reiki lineage that began with Mikao Usui on Mt. Kurama in March 1922. It is the central event of any Reiki training. Everything else is preparation, integration, or refinement.

This post explains what initiation actually is, why it is given many times rather than once, and why the lineage your teacher belongs to is the most important thing about your training.

Reiju vs. attunement

Most students raised in Western Reiki know the word “attunement.” Reiju and attunement point at the same act — a teacher transmitting Reiki to a student — but the cultural framings are different in ways that matter.

In the Western tradition that descended through Hawayo Takata, an attunement is generally a more formalized, fixed sequence: a specific set of hand positions, breath patterns, and symbols passed in a specific order, often given once per level. The implicit message is: this is a doorway you walk through once, and now you have access.

In the original Japanese practice, reiju is given again and again throughout a student's life. Members of Mikao Usui's Gakkai received reiju at every regular meeting — sometimes weekly. The implicit message is: this is not a doorway you walk through once. It is a current you stand in repeatedly, and each time you stand in it, more of you opens.

Both are real. The Mystery School uses the reiju framing — ongoing transmission, given monthly at minimum — because that is closer to what Usui Sensei built.

What actually transmits

This is the question students rarely ask out loud. The honest answer involves three layers.

1. The energetic connection to Reiki itself

Reiki is the name Mikao Usui gave to a specific quality of universal life energy that he experienced during his 21-day fast and meditation on Mt. Kurama in 1922. The first thing that transmits in reiju is your conscious access to that current. It does not “give” you Reiki — Reiki is already present in everything — but it opens your awareness of it and your ability to channel it consciously.

2. The lineage current

Reiki transmits person to person. Your teacher received reiju from their teacher, who received it from theirs, and so on back to Mikao Usui. When you receive reiju, you are not just connecting to abstract Reiki — you are joining a specific stream that has flowed through specific bodies. This is why teachers ask about lineage. It is not credentialism; it is the actual structure of the practice.

3. Refinement, every time

Each subsequent reiju does not “re-open” what was already opened. It refines, deepens, and adjusts your channel. Students who receive reiju monthly for years describe the practice the way long-term meditators describe meditation: not a single breakthrough, but a steady reshaping.

What lineage actually means

Lineage in Reiki is not a brand. It is a chain of initiations — a transmission graph. The classical Western Usui lineage runs Mikao Usui (1865–1926) → Chujiro Hayashi (1880–1940) → Hawayo Takata (1900–1980) → Takata's twenty-two trained Master Teachers → the modern Western field.

Traditional Japanese lineages run differently. The Usui Reiki Ryōhō Gakkai, the society Usui himself founded, continues to operate in Japan and trains students in a more meditative form. Other lineages — such as Komyo Reiki, founded by Hyakuten Inamoto — emphasize specific aspects of Usui's original teaching.

When a teacher tells you their lineage, they are telling you whose initiations are flowing through their hands. Ask. A serious teacher will be happy to answer.

Why a single attunement is not the whole story

This is the most common misunderstanding in Western Reiki. Many students complete a single weekend, receive a single attunement, and assume that the “transmission” is now complete and they simply need to practice. This framing is technically correct — Reiki is now flowing through them — but it is shallow, like saying that learning to play piano is complete once you've been shown where Middle C is.

Reiju, in the original sense, is a relationship with the lineage that deepens by repetition. It is the difference between meeting someone once and being in ongoing conversation with them for years.

How initiation happens in the Reiki Mystery School

Students at every level receive reiju at least monthly during their live class with Bronwyn. New students receive their first reiju in their first month. Students who have been in the school for years continue to receive reiju as part of their ongoing practice. The structure follows what Usui's original Gakkai practiced.

Reiju is given at distance for online students. This is not a compromise — it has been part of the practice since Hawayo Takata's distance attunements in the 1940s, and reiju has always been understood as a transmission of consciousness rather than a transmission of touch.

Frequently asked questions

What is a Reiki initiation, and how is it different from an attunement?

A Reiki initiation (reiju in Japanese) and an attunement are the same act — a Reiki teacher transmitting Reiki to a student — described from different traditions. Reiju in original Japanese practice is given repeatedly throughout a student's life; attunement in Western practice is often given once per level. Both are real.

What is the lineage of Usui Reiki Ryōhō?

Usui Reiki Ryōhō was founded by Mikao Usui in Japan in 1922. The most common Western lineage runs Mikao Usui → Chujiro Hayashi → Hawayo Takata, who brought Reiki to the West in 1937. Traditional Japanese lineages including the Usui Reiki Ryōhō Gakkai continue to operate in Japan.

Why does Reiki lineage matter?

Reiki transmits person to person through reiju. Your lineage is the chain of teachers whose initiations flow through your training. Lineage tells you which stream of practice you are receiving and gives you a way to verify that your teacher was themselves trained in a real, transmittable form of Reiki.

Can a Reiki initiation be given remotely?

Yes. Distance reiju and distance attunements have been a recognized part of Reiki practice since at least the 1940s. Reiki is an energy-based practice that does not require physical proximity to transmit.

Step into ongoing initiation

If you've received a single attunement and want to step into ongoing initiation in a real lineage, the Reiki Mystery School gives reiju monthly at minimum, in the original Gakkai pattern. $1,000/month, rolling start. Apply at the Reiki Mystery School