Usui or Karuna Reiki: The Difference and Where to Start

If you have looked through the Reiki courses, you have probably seen two names: Usui and Karuna. The natural question is what the difference is and which one you should start with.

The short answer: you start with Usui. Always. Here is why.

Usui Reiki: the base system

Usui is the original system, developed in Japan in the early twentieth century by Mikao Usui. It is the foundation of the whole practice and it is learned in four levels.

Level 1 is open to anyone, with no prior experience. You receive the first initiation and learn to work with yourself and with those close to you. For most people, this is the only level they need.

Level 2 brings the symbols and the possibility of working at a distance.

Level 3 deepens the practice, for those who want to work with other people.

Master is the level of the person who passes the system on, through initiations.

Karuna Reiki: what comes after

Karuna is a system developed later, which starts from Usui and goes further. It works with different symbols and a different intensity.

The word karuna means, in Sanskrit, compassion - the action that springs from understanding another person's suffering. That says quite well where this system sits in relation to Usui.

Karuna is taken in two levels and is only begun after you have completed the Usui path, including the Master level.

Why you cannot start straight away with Karuna

Each level rests on the one before, and each initiation needs its own time to settle. This is not an administrative rule invented to sell more courses: it is how the transmission works.

A course that promises you Karuna without the Usui path, or Master in a weekend, is selling you a piece of paper, not a practice.

What you actually learn at each Usui level

So that these do not stay just names, here is what you gain in practice at each level.

At Level 1 you learn what Reiki is and where it comes from, what happens in a session, the basic hand positions, how to work with yourself at home and how to work with someone else. You receive the first initiation. By the end you should be able to give a complete session, not just know what it is about.

At Level 2 you receive the symbols. The most important thing they open up is working at a distance: from here on you can work with someone who is not in the same room, or in the same city.

At Level 3 the practice deepens. This is the level for the person who wants to work with other people, not only with themselves and those close to them.

At Master you gain the ability to pass the system on, through initiations. This is the level that makes you a teacher, not just a practitioner.

How long the full path takes

I cannot give you a fixed number and I am wary of those who do.

Between levels a period of practice is needed: the initiation has to settle, and you have to actually work with what you received. Someone who practises daily progresses differently from someone who comes back to Reiki once a month - and both are fine.

What I can say is that the full path up to Master is not done in a few weeks, and that anyone who promises you that is not doing you a favour.

How to choose, concretely

If you are at the beginning, the Usui-or-Karuna question does not arise. You start with Level 1 and see how it goes for you. You are not committing to anything beyond that.

If you already have Level 1 or 2 and feel you want to go all the way, it makes sense to look at the full path as a package: the Usui levels plus Karuna, designed as a whole and on better terms than taken one at a time.

If you have completed Usui up to Master, Karuna is the natural next step.

What does not change between them

Whichever system you take, a few things stay the same.

If you learn Reiki, you receive a certificate from the master who initiates you. What that certificate attests and the context in which it can be used are things I go through in private, with each person, before they enrol.

And, just as importantly: neither Usui nor Karuna is a medical treatment. They do not replace a consultation, a diagnosis or the treatment prescribed by your doctor.

If you are still not sure

Write to me and tell me where you are: whether you have done anything so far, what brought you towards Reiki and what you would like to be able to do. I will tell you honestly where I think you should start - including when the answer is "a session first, not a course".

If you would like the full context first, I have written a guide to what Reiki is, where it comes from and how a session works.