The Second Attunement
The Level 2 attunement widens the channel that was opened in Shoden. If Level 1 opened a pipe, Level 2 expands it to a river. After the second Reiju, your Ki output approximately quadruples. More importantly, you receive the three sacred symbols — each of which unlocks a dimension of healing that was previously inaccessible.
These symbols are not decoration. They are functional keys — precise energetic command codes that, when drawn, spoken, or visualized, activate specific healing frequencies within the universal Ki field. They work because they were transmitted directly from the source during Dr. Usui's Satori on Mount Kurama. Each symbol carries a unique vibrational signature that interfaces with a specific layer of the energy body.
The Three Sacred Symbols — An Introduction
In the Usui lineage, the Level 2 practitioner receives three symbols. Traditionally, these symbols were kept strictly secret — taught only through direct transmission from Master to student and never written down. While the symbols themselves are now widely published, their true power comes only through proper attunement. Drawing a Reiki symbol without having received the corresponding attunement is like pressing keys on a piano that is not connected to any strings.
Each symbol has three components:
- The Visual Form — the specific shapes and strokes drawn in the air or over the body
- The Mantra (Jumon) — the Japanese name spoken three times to activate the symbol
- The Intent (Nentasu) — the focused intention that directs the symbol's function
Symbol I: Cho Ku Rei (丁口令) — The Power Symbol
Function: Energy amplification. CKR acts as a volume knob for Ki — it concentrates and magnifies the flow of energy through your hands. Place it at the beginning of every treatment to "turn on" full power, and at the end to seal the healing.
How it works: Cho Ku Rei translates roughly to "Place all the power of the universe here." When drawn, it creates a spiral vortex that funnels Ki from the universal field directly into the specific point where healing is directed. The spiral shape mirrors the structure of galaxies, DNA helices, and electromagnetic fields — all natural Ki conduits.
Practical applications:
- Draw over your hands before treatment to boost Ki output by 200-400%
- Draw over food and water to energetically cleanse and charge it
- Draw over doorways and windows to seal a room's energetic perimeter
- Draw on the soles of your feet before walking into energetically hostile environments
Symbol II: Sei He Ki (正平氣) — The Mental-Emotional Symbol
Function: Mental-emotional healing. SHK accesses the subconscious mind directly — the layer where trauma, addiction patterns, fear responses, and emotional programming are stored. Physical Reiki (Level 1) treats the body. SHK treats the mind.
How it works: Sei He Ki translates to "God and humanity become one" or "the key to the universe." Its asymmetric form represents the union of the left brain (logic) and right brain (intuition). When drawn, it creates a bridge between the conscious and subconscious minds, allowing Ki to penetrate directly into repressed emotional patterns.
Treats:
- Depression and anxiety — dissolves the energetic patterns sustaining them
- Addiction — reaches the emotional root beneath the addictive behavior
- Past trauma — allows Ki to access and release stored traumatic energy
- Relationship patterns — clears the subconscious programming (often inherited) that drives repeated toxic dynamics
- Negative belief systems — reprograms deep-seated "I am not enough" core wounds
Symbol III: Hon Sha Ze Sho Nen (本者是正念) — The Distance Symbol
Function: Distance healing. HSZSN dissolves the illusion that Ki is limited by physical space or linear time. With this symbol, you can send Reiki to a person on the other side of the planet, to your own past self (healing childhood trauma), or into a future event (preparing your energy body for a surgery, interview, or challenge).
How it works: The five kanji (本者是正念) translate to "The Buddha in me reaches the Buddha in you to promote enlightenment and peace." Physics calls it quantum non-locality — the demonstrated phenomenon that entangled particles affect each other instantaneously regardless of distance. Reiki practitioners have operated on this principle for a century.
Distance healing protocol (basic):
1
Enter Gassho meditation. Activate Ki through Joshin Kokyu Ho. Draw CKR over both palms to amplify.
2
Hold a clear mental image of the person you wish to heal — their face, their name, their location. If healing your past self, hold the memory of the specific event.
3
Draw HSZSN in the air in front of you. Say the mantra three times: "Hon Sha Ze Sho Nen, Hon Sha Ze Sho Nen, Hon Sha Ze Sho Nen." You will feel a connection — a subtle shift, as if a bridge has extended from your heart to theirs.
4
Place your hands as if the recipient were in front of you (or use a pillow/teddy bear as a proxy). Proceed through the hand positions as normal. The Ki will arrive.
5
Close with CKR to seal. Perform Kenyoku. Express gratitude to Ki for the bridge.
Level 2 Breathwork: Koki Ho — Healing Breath
In Shoden, you channeled Ki through your palms. In Okuden, you learn to channel Ki through your breath. Koki Ho (呼気法) transforms your exhale into a directed Ki beam — useful when you cannot physically touch the treatment area.
1
Draw CKR in front of you. Inhale through the nose, drawing Ki in through the Crown Chakra and compressing it in the Hara.
2
Draw the appropriate symbol in the air (CKR for physical, SHK for mental, HSZSN for distance). Focus on the treatment target.
3
Exhale slowly and deliberately through pursed lips, directing the breath toward the treatment area. Visualize the Ki as a beam of white-violet light flowing from your mouth into the target.