What is the difference between Reiki and Pranic Healing?
This seems to be the most popular topic on our Karuna Wellness website. Before I answer this question in more detail, I would like to mention that I hold 3 levels of Reiki (the 2nd and 3rd levels were gifted to me by my Latvian friends – Reiki master teachers). However I never really practiced Reiki – because till few years ago I wholeheartedly preferred Pranic Healing.
Thus, being a Pranic Healer and trainer for many years, I was heavily biased towards Pranic Healing.
However, as time goes by, we all grow and broaden out outlook and I find that there is more advance knowledge and techniques available both internally and externally for those who want to grow as healers.
It’s good to closely follow a system or be in the organization when you are learning, but then it should not become a mind jail for you later.
Judging Reiki versus Pranic Healing would be similar discussing: “What is better: apples or grapes?” Both are good. Similarly, both Pranic Healing and Reiki are the good energy healing systems given to the world by great Teachers. Though the techniques they use are different, they came from One Source. Both are effective; it depends, what you prefer.
However, let us take a closer look at both the systems. This comparison is drawn on the basis of my interaction with Reiki practitioners in India, Russia and Latvia. I have taught Pranic Healing workshops in Reiki Gaismas School (Riga, Latvia), received friendly Reiki sessions and have many Reiki friends.
| Pranic Healing | Traditional Usui Reiki | |
|---|---|---|
| Founder | Master Choa Kok Sui, a Filipino of Chinese descent (1952-2007). Born on 15 August. | Dr. Mikao Usui, Japan. (1865-1926). Born on 15 August. |
| Spiritual lineage | Boddhisattva Padmasambhava(?) | Not revealed. Dr. Usui had a mystical experience on Mt. Kurama. |
| Primary source materials | Books written by Master Choa Kok Sui. | Originally not available. Reiki is an oral tradition. |
| Organizational structure | After the founder’s death in 2007, it is controlled by his children (the copyright and trademark owners) through a ‘council of Acharyas’ (a spiritual hierarchy). | Teachings are transmitted by a contemporary teacher to students. There are many Reiki lineages. |
| Opportunity for personal growth and spiritual development | Yes. | Yes. |
| Purification practices | Yes. | Yes. |
| Is it integrated with other spiritual teachings by the founder? | Yes. | Dr. Mikao Usui gave only Reiki to the world. |
| Energy healing vs. other systems of therapy | Complementary. | Complementary. |
| Use of any equipment or tools | No. | No. |
| Main techniques | 7 basic techniques of Pranic Healing, the main two being cleansing and energizing. | Channeling of Divine Energy. |
| Degree of physical contact | No-touch healing. | Hands-on healing. But many Reiki practitioners will give Reiki energy with their hands inches away, rather than use direct contact. |
| Energy diagnostics and control over the quality of healing | Through scanning (feeling the energy body and chakras with hand). Rescanning during healing allows the practitioner to monitor the quality of his work. | Intuition. A practitioner may use a pendulum for energy diagnostics. |
| Does it cause a healing crisis? | No, because a thorough cleansing of the affected area is done before energizing. | Possible. |
| General sweeping (general aura cleansing) | Yes. | No. |
| Localized cleansing | Yes. | No. Classical Reiki does not recognize the existence of ‘dirty’ or ‘diseased’ energy. |
| Energizing | Yes. | Yes. |
| Does the healer use his own energy to energize the patient? | No. He serves as a channel. | No. He serves as a channel. |
| Types of energy the healer works with | Air prana, earth prana, Divine energy. | Divine energy. |
| Energizing techniques | Several. | One. |
| Use of color pranas | Yes. | No. |
| Stabilizing the energy | Yes. | No. |
| Releasing the energy | Yes. | Yes. |
| Duration of a session | 30 min. to 1 hour. Some healers can heal very fast, with good results. | Up to 3 hrs. |
| What does a treatment feel like? | Very pleasant. At the end of the session, there is a feeling of deep relaxation and a state of peace and well-being. One feels refreshed, with a more positive, balanced outlook. | Same for Reiki. |
| Can it help with psychological ailments? | Yes. Pranic Psychotherapy techniques are used. | Yes. |
| Distant healing | Yes. | Yes. |
| Relationship healing | Yes. | Yes. |
| Self-healing | Yes. | Yes. |
| Animal healing, plant healing, space clearing | Yes. | Yes. |
| Disposal and disintegration of ‘diseased’ energy | Yes. | No. It is thought that Reiki automatically clears all negativity. |
| Possibility of energic and psychological contamination | Rules of energetic hygiene are prescribed to avoid such occurrences. A Pranic Healer is aware of the signs and symptoms of such contamination as well as of countermeasures to be taken. | Since Reiki does not recognize the existence of ‘dirty’ or ‘diseased’ energy, energy contamination is a fact among Reiki practitioners. |
| Approach in healing | More active participation of the healer. | Passive participation: a healer lays his hands and allows Reiki energy to do the healing. |
| Initiation | “Inner” initiation by the Teacher. | Yes. Attunements or initiations by a Reiki master-teacher. |
| Do they teach meditation as a part of the course? | Yes. Twin Heart Meditation is in-built into Pranic Healing. It is designed to dramatically increase one’s healing abilities. | Possibly yes. Differs from master to master. |
| Do they teach breathing exercises? | Yes. Pranic breathing. It enables the practitioner to draw and project tremendous amounts of energy. | Not in traditional Reiki. |
| Use of symbols | No. | Yes. |
| System of chakras | 11 major chakras, minor, and mini-chakras. | 7 major chakras and minor chakras. |
| Ease of understanding the subject | Clear and easy to understand. | Clear and easy to understand. |
| Ease of learning | Not easy to learn. The practitioner may be required to put in years of dedicated practice to achieve levels of proficiency. | Very easy to learn. |
| Difficulties that may be faced by a student | Learning how to scan (sense the energies). Though, one can heal without scanning. | (?) |
| Levels | Basic Pranic Healing (I), Advance Pranic Healing (II), Pranic Psychotherapy (III), Crystal Healing (IV). | Level I, Level II (2 symbols), Level III A (one more symbol). Level III B (master teacher). |
| Titles | Pranic Healing had one grandmaster (Master Choa Kok Sui), 4 masters, and few assistant masters worldwide. ‘Rank’ promotions within the organization are not encouraged. | Many masters and grandmasters. |
| Getting results | Very good. | A Reiki session is very pleasant, however, its ability to produce tangible and lasting healing results may be somewhat low. |
To sum it up, in my personal experience, Pranic Healing offers more than Reiki. It is faster and gives predictable results.
The only minus is that it takes a long time to master, but this may vary from person to person. We are presently living in an age when healing and energy-sensing abilities spring up naturally in people, as witnessed by us during our seminars.
I tried to be as accurate as possible. If some facts are not accurate, please write to me, I am open to suggestions.
(Yulia Pal. August 2009)
Hi
I am practicing Reiki and i have completed the level 3A.
The contents which is given in the table (ie Reiki column) are seemse to be correct in my openion and i dont know much about the Pranic healing.
U can add a one column in reiki that, after the 3A level in reiki one can perform “Psychic Surgery” and spurital healing.
Thanks
reiki is a cosmic energy and no energy is equal to cosmic energy(reiki energy)
‘My cosmic energy is better than your cosmic energy’? :-))
I’m going to participate in Pranic Healing level 1 very soon and your comparison helped me get ready for my upcoming training. Thanks.
I see all healing modalities as ONE and of the same just with a different name. Humans like to use labels to classify things and maybe understand it better? All healers all use the same Divine Energy to heal.
May all walk in Light and Love 🙂
Can you pl explain the base of your tall claim? It’s the judgement & experience that cures more than a branch of Healing, so to say, and I believe.
Regards,
Mahesh
Could you specify which ‘tall claim’ you are talking about?
All forms of healing depend on Divine Energy . All healers have the same aim, to serve humanity and relieve pain. Intention is what matters. I am a Pranic healer/ clairvoyant, and I have received Reiki healing in the past. There should be no frontier when it comes to healing. My reward is when a patient says I am much better after a session. Oh, by the way I am in the process of healing myself from three ailments, namely, Tinnitus, neck ache, and cataract. Wish me luck.
Marwan N. Sammakia, may you be Divinely blessed with healing powers to help yourself and other people.
Hello friend. i read your article about reiki and pranic healing.
i am an Energy healing teacher,a Kundalini power master, pranic healer as well as a Reiki Grandmaster also.
i have been practising both the therapies for the last more than 8 years and have been very successful in healing.
I am not satisfied with all the points you have given in your comparision….i would like to bring it to your notice!
First thing that Reiki has recognised the presence of dirty / negative energy and there are very powerful methods/symbols in Reiki to remove these negative energies!
Pranic healing sometimes produces miraculous results in reducing pains/aches. But there are cases where pranic healing is unable to reduce pains ………and in those cases the Psychic Surgery of 3rd degree reiki in which Divine energies take part, produces Amazing results!
The person who practices Reiki regularly , develops his aura in such a way that so many small diseases disappear, just with his presence near patients!
In pranic healing we scan aura with our hands…..In reiki if we regularly practice,we start seeing problmatic parts/aura with our eyes itself!
In conclusion , i would say that all therapies are Great in their place…..none can be said to be more powerful or less powerful!
We must respect each and every modality of healing.
Thank you.
Love and Light!
I would like to say that now, 27 years later since the first Pranic Healing book was published, healing technologies and energy healing knowledge have advanced tremendously. There are much more things beyond Panic Healing that are imperative to know, to learn and to master for a healer.
The official Pranic Healing organisation, i.e. the intellectual property right owners, have become dogmatic, they demand that their members stick to the original, 3 decade old teachings and do not look anywhere else. Such strategy at some point of time becomes a roadblock on the path of soul evolution (remember, the Truth is a pathless land) and eventually leads to demise of the organisation (no fresh blood).
There is no best system, each of them has limitations.
The best way is to study various good healing systems, put the acquired knowledge into practice, temper it with your experience and take the best from this to make your own system.
At the outset let me say ” i belong to you” so there is only love and understanding- nothing else. I am a Traditional Reiki Grand Master practising Reiki for the last 16 years. I have also been fortunate to receive Ist level Pranic Healing training in the year 2002. Also had insight into other healing methods like crystal healing, Karuna Reiki. Since i was in uniform, could not carry out healing on a large scale and was limited to family members and a few friends. I am in constant touch with Reiki and practice self healing daily.
I feel that you know what is good ( type of healing) for you by your experience post the healing session.
Reiki Grand masters have developed advanced healing techniques that are beyond the traditional Master Usui’s teachings. Before any comparison( if at all) is made, i suggest we go into the advanced Reiki healing techniques to be fair.
Sending you and the readers Light, Love and Reiki,
Col.
Thank you for this VALUABLE information!
I have been blessed and have just entered the world of Pranic Healing and needed to read this comparison!
Thank you, thank you!
I have taken Reiki I and wanted to compare the difference of these two before moving forward.
I am a little unsure about what the attunements in Reiki do for the practitioner. Is it necessary or can we still heal without them? I just had a bad experience with my 1st attunement. The spirit world was trying to communicate with me and this is something I do not want wish to encounter. Has this happened to anyone else? Is this something that can happen with the attunements and or by using energy healing?
I feel my purpose is to be a light worker but I’m a little scared due to that experience. Any advise would be appreciated.
Just wanted to note that some lineage branches of Reiki do as teach breathing exercises and use of colors. The Hirai Shiki Ryoho branch of Reiki is a small branch that teaches these aspects.
I have done both Reiki level 3A and basic pranic healing… I see one thing in common and is notable that the founders of both the practices are born on 15th August (really a coincidence?). I respect both and perceive that both are on the same path, Reiki also notices dirty energies, aura scanning, chakra scanning, in the end, it’s an individual’s call that what is calling you more, every practice aims towards healing and helping the society to be a better place to live in…
Love, Light and Diving Blessings to one and all
There is a problem in trying to pin down Reiki because there little consensus on what the reiki technique actually is nowadays. Many people put the “reiki” label on a series of techniques that contain very little of “core” Reiki with endless mixtures taken from other sources (including from MCKS Pranic Healing).
According to what I could research, the essence of reiki consist of the use of few symbols, the giving of “attunement” or empowerment rituals by the teachers, and certain hand imposition postures. Not even the use of a chakra system is a part of the more traditional reikis according to what I could find.
I wanted to respond to the question that Elizabeth Guerra left, that no one bothered to answer. After my first reiki treatment i experienced an opening and the spirit world knocked right on my front door. I have been struggling with attachments, my clairs opening up, physical channelling (which i knew nothing about) for 5 years! I have went to reiki masters to get cleared and those who were not afraid, still could not clear me. So i would like to know how your fairing? And also why the love and light community ignores those of us who have experienced spiritual encounters that are uncomfortable to say the least!
And as a side note, spiritual openings without guidance can lead to mental instability. Once you find yourself in dark waters, you may be swimming alone.
This seems to be a page of healers, i need help. My email is Metudelotus@gmail.com if anyone is interested in putting their light where the mouth is.