# Reiki > Reiki is an attributed self-healing permission slip where symbols act as vibrational koans - Canonical: https://sassani.app/topic/reiki # Reiki Reiki is one of many energy-healing permission slips: a modality that works where the practitioner's and the recipient's beliefs align with it. Bashar frames what a healer of any modality actually does as creating an atmosphere of acceptance in which the one being healed can match the frequency and heal themselves — so the real agent of healing is the recipient's own belief (the meaning of "your faith has healed you"). The symbols used in Reiki and similar traditions function as vibrational invocations or koans that set up resonant equations; any language the practitioner has affinity for will key them into the same source, ancient or modern, because it is the affinity and belief, not the symbol itself, that opens the connection. ## What a healer actually does Across several sessions Bashar keeps returning to the same mechanism: no healer, Reiki or otherwise, does the healing to the recipient. All forms of energy healing are the focusing or manipulation of certain harmonics of high-frequency energy that impinge upon the person the frequency necessary for them to match, so that if they match it they heal themselves. Reiki in particular takes advantage of certain harmonics connected to energy centers in the body and operates off a certain grid. The teacher who gives attunements is, in this framing, playing the notes they intuitively sense so the student can choose to vibrate in harmony and form the appropriate chord — "they are playing you a song," not transferring a substance. Asked more plainly in another session, Bashar confirms that what any healer ultimately does is create the atmosphere and environment in which they can accept the other, allowing the other to accept that vibration, match the frequency, and heal themselves — and that this is what any kind of healing is about, even physiological healing. ## Symbols, attunement, and the role of affinity The Reiki symbols (drawn largely from Japanese writing about Chinese characters) are not mechanically powerful in themselves. Bashar describes them as vibrational koans: inscribing a symbol sets up certain vibrational formulas or equations that help amplify and sometimes generate an appropriate atmosphere, like an invocation — what ancient times might have called an abracadabra. An ancient language such as Sanskrit can serve this function, but only when the practitioner finds an affinity for it; if they have more affinity with a modern language, then it is the belief system of that affinity which allows the work to function. They are still drawing from the same source of all knowledge and simply using whatever symbols let them key into the vibrations, regardless of whether the symbols are "accurately representative" of them. The same principle covers attunement: the teacher opens channels by playing the notes, and the student chooses whether to form the chord. ## Reiki as a channeling state Bashar treats Reiki as one expression of a single underlying channeling state rather than a unique category. That state is a brain frequency generally somewhere between 40 and 100 Hertz (cycles per second); anyone in deep meditation, anyone doing what they love to do, anyone in the zone of creativity is in a channeling state, and Reiki sits in the same band. How the state is expressed (mediumship, healing, art) is up to the person; the state itself is shared. A curious corollary he offers is that not feeling anything during the work does not mean nothing is happening — it may mean you have become superconductive to it, so there is no resistance there to feel, and the energy is flowing unimpeded. ## Reiki as a permission slip Asked directly why Reiki has worked so well for a particular practitioner, Bashar answers without commenting on Reiki specifically: "it's a permission slip that obviously resonates with you." All tools, techniques, rituals, practices, and objects are permission slips you believe — with your belief system — will allow you to be more of who you are; they let you give yourself permission to be more of who you know yourself to be. You do not really need the permission slip, but you can use them in beneficial ways, and when one no longer works you find another, or reach the point of realizing you are the one giving yourself permission anyway. That framing also licenses the simple discernment offered elsewhere: if Reiki is indicative of your joy, it sounds like a good idea; if it is not indicative of your joy, it sounds like a terrible idea. ## Time-released transmission and trusting timing One questioner describes an ecstatic energy surge during the week and wonders whether to attend a Reiki class that seems to conflict with it. Bashar's reply carries a subtler point about transmission: the energy had been suggested to them in an earlier session but was given on a time-release program, to be experienced only when they were ready to open and match it. As for the class, the guidance is to trust your own timing and follow excitement while also trusting however it unfolds as the way it needs to unfold — relaxing the assumption that an apparent conflict is an interruption, rather than permission to place new definitions on what is going on. ## Practical implications Discern fit by joy, not by reputation. Reiki is worth pursuing when it is actually exciting to you, and worth dropping (or replacing) when it is not; the modality does not carry the healing — your alignment does. Take the recipient's belief as the active ingredient. A practitioner's work is to create an atmosphere of acceptance in which the recipient can match a frequency and rebalance themselves; insisting on a specific outcome fights that mechanic. Use the symbols and language you have affinity for. The forms work through your belief in them, so the right script (Sanskrit, Japanese, numerals, Hebrew) is the one that genuinely keys you in, not the one with the most ancient pedigree. Let "not feeling it" be ambiguous. During practice, the absence of felt energy may indicate unimpeded flow rather than nothing happening; do not assume the modality has failed. This chapter frames Reiki as a permission slip, not a medical treatment. None of the guidance here replaces qualified medical or psychological care. ## Representative passages All types of energy healing are the focusing or manipulation of certain harmonics of high-frequency energy that impinge upon the person the frequency necessary for them to match, so that if they match it they heal themselves. Reiki takes advantage of certain harmonics connected to energy centers in the body; it operates off a certain grid. What the teacher does in attunements is play the notes they intuitively sense, so that if you choose to vibrate in harmony and form the appropriate chord, you operate on the appropriate level to create healing. They are playing you a song.— Bashar, The Men In Black (the-men-in-black#qa-14) The symbols are like vibrational koans. Inscribing symbols really sets up certain vibrational formulas or equations that help amplify and sometimes generate an appropriate atmosphere… they are still drawing from the same source of all knowledge and simply utilizing whatever symbols allow them to key into the vibrations regardless of whether the symbols are accurately representative of them or not.— Bashar, Achieving Perfect Health (achieving-perfect-health#qa-9) It's a permission slip that obviously resonates with you. All tools, all techniques, all rituals, all practices, all objects — all of them are permission slips you believe, with your belief system, will allow you to be more of who you are… When it no longer works, find another one, or get to the point where you realize you're the one giving yourself permission anyway.— Bashar, The Formula (the-formula#qa-12) ## Related - [Healing](https://sassani.app/topic/healing) - [Permission Slips](https://sassani.app/topic/permission-slips) - [Self Healing](https://sassani.app/topic/self-healing) - [Definitions & Beliefs](https://sassani.app/topic/definitions-and-beliefs) Markdown twin of https://sassani.app/topic/reiki. The HTML page is the source of truth.