Reiki, Shingon, and the Secret Power of Emptiness in Healing

Introduction

Reiki and Shingon healing may appear worlds apart, one widely practised as a form of energy therapy, the other an ancient esoteric Buddhist tradition. But when we look beneath the surface, we find a profound overlap. Both traditions point toward the same core truth: true healing arises not from what we do, but from where we rest in emptiness, in stillness, in spacious awareness.

This is not about doing. It’s about being. And more specifically, about being empty.

In this piece, I want to explore the link between the healing philosophies of Reiki and Buddho, and the Japanese Vajrayana tradition of Shingon Buddhism, particularly through its concept of Kaji, a spiritual empowerment rooted in emptiness, stillness, and non-duality.

Buddho and the Echoes of Vajrayana

The Buddho EnerSense system, with its roots in Tibetan and Indian esoteric traditions, integrates meditation, symbol, mantra, breath, and body-based awareness. It’s a system of spiritual and energetic cultivation, one that was passed on to the West through Seiji Takamori after decades of study in Nepal and Tibet. Buddho is the origins of the Reiki system and contains within it every facet of secular Reiki in an esoteric Buddhist form.

But as we begin to unpack this, an interesting question arises:

Is there a Japanese equivalent to Buddho within the context of Shingon?

The answer is: very likely, yes.

Shingon is Japan’s form of Vajrayana Buddhism, and it mirrors the Tibetan tradition in many key ways: ritual, mantra, visualisation, energetic transmission, and the cultivation of non-dual awareness. Where Buddho offers a lay-accessible path of energetic awakening, Shingon houses the same technologies, albeit cloaked in more monastic and ritualized forms.

Practices like Ajikan meditation, Goma fire rituals, and the visualisation of Dainichi Nyorai all serve the same purpose: dissolving the ego, opening the subtle channels, and aligning the practitioner with a deeper, universal flow. This is not theoretical. It is embodied, just as in Reiki and Shingon healing practices, and in the Buddho system as well.

The Six Point Meditation: Cultivating Energetic Stillness

Within Reiki Jin Kei Do, the Six Point Meditation serves as a profound bridge to this stillness. It’s not merely a grounding practice. It is a training in how to step the mind back, to become an observer, a vessel, a silent presence within which healing can occur.

This mirrors the Shingon approach perfectly. In Kaji, the practitioner enters into a meditative union with the divine, often through the Dainichi Buddha: using mantra, mudra, and visualisation to become a conduit, not a controller. Spiritual energy flows, not from personal will, but through spacious awareness.

When we engage the Six Point Meditation properly, or when we work with Buddho meditations and symbols, we are doing exactly this. We are not intervening. We are becoming space. And within that space, healing, real, spiritual, transformative healing, can emerge.

The Need for Emptiness in Healing

Both Shingon and Reiki share an essential understanding:

Healing does not come from the practitioner. It arises from the field of empty awareness that the practitioner enters. Though to be honest, it's difficult to find Reiki practitioners who understand this obvious truth.

To try and “do” healing is to contract the field. To dwell in emptiness is to open it.

In traditional energy healing circles, there’s often too much emphasis on “sending energy,” “clearing blocks,” or “fixing problems.” But in the deeper layers of Reiki and Buddho, as well as in Shingon, the instruction is far more subtle:

Let go. Rest in awareness. Let the energy, which is inherently intelligent, do what is needed.

Whether it’s Ajikan, Kaji, Six Point, or Buddho cyclic meditation, the call is the same: Dissolve the doer. Abide in stillness. Trust the process.

Conclusion: The Path Forward for Reiki Practitioners

The modern Reiki world is only beginning to scratch the surface of its esoteric potential. When we trace its roots through the Buddho lineage and begin comparing its structure with that of Shingon, we see a much richer, more spiritually rigorous tradition emerge.

If we can begin to view Reiki not as a method of healing others, but as a practice of abiding in emptiness, the entire system shifts. It becomes more mature, more powerful, and more honest.

As practitioners, we do not need to manipulate energy. We simply need to be the space in which transformation can unfold.

So the next time you sit with a client, or practice alone, ask yourself:

Can I step back? Can I rest in emptiness? Can I allow healing to arise, without needing to understand or control it?

In that still point lies the true power of the practice.

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All the best,

Steve