The official name of Usui Reiki method is 心身改善臼井霊気療法 Shinshin Kaizen Usui Reiki Ryoho.
One Kanji sometimes reads two ways. 心 reads Kokoro or Shin. 身 also reads Shin or Mi, meaning body. When these two Kanji characters put together, we read it Shin-shin.
改善, Kaizen means improvement. Usui Reiki method is not just a hands-on treatment; it is to improve both Kokoro and body.
"What then is Kokoro?" people who do not understand Japanese always ask me.
When I revised the translation of 癒しの現代霊気法 Iyashi no Gendai Reiki Ho, I did not put it into English, as I wanted them to wonder what it is.
Kokoro means a lot; it can be translated in many English words. For Japanese, Kokoro is Kokoro; we do not even think of what it means. So you must guess it in context.
Most of the time it means mind, heart, emotion, feeling. It can mean intuition, soul, spirit, whole. It is love, passion, affection. Sometimes policy, ideology, discipline, philosophy.
- Follow your Kokoro.
- Don't change your Kokoro easily.
- He has kind Kokoro.
- My Kokoro is dark.
- She doesn't show her Kokoro.
- I devoted my Kokoro to God.
- I made this for you with all of my Kokoro.
- When someone offers expensive gift, we humbly say no with this phrase; "Let me accept only your Kokoro."
- As a young child, you can not know your parents' Kokoro.
- The story moved my Kokoro.
- This shows Kokoro of the Japanese tradition.
- He understands Kokoro of tea ceremony.
In Madrid, Robert from Germany asked me the same thing; what is Kokoro? I told him, "It means a lot," as usual. Then meditating for a while, I came up with an idea.
"Kokoro represents everything invisible inside us."
What invisible thing do you have inside you? Love? Passion? Spirit?
Let's Reiki to keep healthy Kokoro and body, and be happy. That's what Usui Sensei wanted from the bottom of his Kokoro.