Introduction —
Let me give some introduction, because you won't be able to comprehend the story unless you know enough about Reiki and Jourei. You can read about them elsewhere on this website, so I will try to mention only what you need to know here.

Don and I are teachers of Reiki and Jourei. We've always questioned everything in Reiki, we walked on the tightrope of the final frontiers. We didn't work on techniques too much, we both like to keep Reiki as simple as it can be, because that is the real Reiki. We were anything except conventional, we went deeper.

And we shared a common dream: If the core of Reiki was intention, we wanted to reduce the other parts as much as we could, and to use the power of intention only. When you reach simplicity, you can talk about mastery in any area. To be simple is the hardest thing in the world.

Reiki has a very soft quality, we perceive it from outside and inside of us, we can call it all-pervasive and the universal energy. It can produce many powerful effects, but in its core it is a pretty gentle energy, if we talk about the perception of it.

Jourei, on the other hand, is more forceful by its nature, and is felt as more intense or powerful or "raw" — and the giver perceives that it comes from outside. It is so different than Reiki. Both of these paths help us to be more spiritually aware, and they remove our impurities, but Jourei does it with more force. One of the major features of Jourei is to burn away our "clouds" — that is, impurities in our spiritual body, which will be reflected in our physical body, sooner or later.

For our story it's important to mention one thing that is taught in Jourei. Though many traditions have exaggerated in their explanation of the world with elements (fire, water, air, ether...), Jourei didn't do it. It uses only three elements: water, fire, and earth. In physical manifestation, all toxins are liquid (water) at first, and we can get rid of them easily. But, in time, they can become solid (earth). Our body produces heat, fever (fire) — which "melts" the solid toxins, changing them back to liquid, so they can be removed. This process can be applied to everything, even to the whole planet. The dance of these three elements can easily be seen.

The days of struggle —
Everything was "all right" when Reiki was a dominant part of Don's and my life. When he taught me Jourei, we shared even this: We had two methods in our hands — how to use the best of both? How to get the most from them?

Reiki is so soft and thorough in changing our lives, but we both liked the strong and forceful quality of Jourei. How to use them both? We didn't want to lose the characteristic attributes of each: the softness of Reiki and the penetrating strength of Jourei.

Though we could distinguish these energies, we felt how they merged in us, day by day, but we couldn't make a perfect mix. One component would always be stronger. Of course, one solution was obvious: merely to use both energies, one after the other.

Yes. Almost from the time of my initiation into Jourei energy (through the Johrei Fellowship), I had felt that Reiki and Jourei were combining inside me. I didn't try to control it, I just let it happen — except when I was giving Jourei. My Johrei teacher had told me never to combine Reiki with Johrei (the Johrei folks were a bit unsure about letting a Reiki person into Johrei Fellowship in the first place!) — and I wanted to keep my Jourei "pure" anyway, just because it was a new energy for me. I wanted to experience it cleanly, to learn what it had to teach me. But, when doing Reiki, I felt that it was really some natural combination of Reiki and Jourei — and I made no effort to keep the Jourei out of it.*

I did Reiki in that way for several years. Many times I attempted to contact the spirits of Mikao Usui and Mokichi Okada, to discern how they felt about this. It always felt to me that they were friendly with each other and happy about the situation. And, from time to time, people commented that my Reiki felt different than other people's Reiki — there was something more to it.

Then, at some point, I decided to make the combination of Reiki and Jourei a conscious, deliberate act. I didn't try to control (or to know) the mixture, but I started inviting Usui and Okada to be with me every day ... and I started thinking of what I was doing as JouReiKi (though still officially calling it Reiki).

It was much later that I started the experiments with Dragan — and, in those, I was actively mixing the energies....

* There's a great question of whether my Reiki was actually a combination of Reiki and Jourei even before my initiation into Johrei Fellowship. I had become curious about Jourei, and wanted to know more about it … but the thing that propelled me into contacting Johrei Fellowship was a remarkable experience I had when giving Reiki one day. I had barely begun the Reiki, when the person said to me: "You're doing something more than just Reiki, aren't you?" I said, "Like what?" And she said, "Like Jourei." Totally puzzled, I asked why she thought I was doing Jourei … and she said, "I don't know. I don't even know what Jourei is. That's just the word that came to me."

I must say I was skeptical about it, because it wasn't a balanced mix. Don suggested that we do an experiment: He would give me Jourei, Reiki, and JouReiKi (his concentrated mix of the two), but he wouldn't tell me the order in which he was going to give them to me. The date and time for the experiment were set....

"D-Day" (23.00 hours, October 25, 2010): the experiment —
Don was in Arizona, I was in Serbia. I felt his Jourei, its strong quality on the front side of my body: a strong pressure in my heart, third eye, in my chest. Then I felt how my back was literally "burning." I could tell that he used a three-point technique: front, top, back. Generally I move when I receive Reiki or Jourei treatments (swaying, jumping, moving my shoulders — which amuses Don when we are together) … but then I just stopped. In a second, I was in a total, meditative peace.

In that state, I felt my central channel, and the energy was rushing into my body (the front side).... Then, at that moment, I felt that Don used Reiki. What was odd was, I could feel Jourei too, because its effects were still present inside me.

» » Shinki Experiences « «

Then I felt a total surprise. In the middle of the process, I wasn't just a recipient, I was an active participant in the whole process! I emitted some energy! It was the moment when Don sent me a mix of JouReiKi and my system was totally confused. Now you'll find out why I was talking about the three Jourei elements.

I don't pay too much attention to any "visions" I have. But, I was in the middle of some sphere, the center of which exploded behind me. I could see ... a brown light??!!! How odd.... Then I looked closely and saw the dust and particles of "soil," and how they went away from me, hurled by the force of the explosion.... Then some heat made me sweat.... I realized that I had a literal display of the THREE elements! Fire, earth, water! I couldn't believe it!

And all these elements turned into a bright light. It was wonderful. I had in my mind: "It can be a treatment, just to emit the energy, by doing nothing ... no techniques, just to sit still...." It is interesting that I could have thoughts which didn't affect my state, as if I had two threads — thinking and being.

After that, I felt Reiki again, the soft energy, but ... the burning sensations on my back, the pressure on my third eye, were still present ... and I felt those for hours. What is odd? It wasn't Reiki, it wasn't Jourei! The quality of that was totally DIFFERENT. But, those sensations were not dominant: the LIGHT was, the feeling of a gentle, but infinite power, energy ... which was totally NEW.

I must cite myself, I was so thrilled when I was writing the email to Don right after the treatment: "It is such a pity that I don't have anyone in front of me now. I could demonstrate it. Just to have a person in front of me.... I can feel the pure light which goes from my whole body. Just a clue of effort or even INTENT to "DO" something stops this energy.... No effort, a total unity without any wish to have it, and a self-confidence big as the universe. Hmmm ... I guess, I've just told something odd. To go beyond intent. : ) Just to be present and without effort, Shinki does the whole thing."

SHINKI? When I read my mail again, it seems that this name just occurred to me naturally, though I didn't invent it, I've heard about it from Don, he talks about the hierarchy of energies in his book (Reiki, The True Story). I'll explain that later.

If you can't believe it ... I couldn't believe it, either. In a second, the outline of working with the "new" energy was born. In 30 minutes, the whole picture was very clear to me! A non-contact presence, without any techniques, using Shinki, to emanate "light" (energy) from the whole body! And the basic principle is wu wei, doing by non-doing. Zen. Yes, every "intention" stops this energy!

» » » Continue . . . .