When the mind closes down and the senses are stilled, mystics describe the sudden effulgence of pure light illuminating consciousness, accompanied by a flood of joy. After this experience, called enlightenment, illumination, or oneness with the Divine, people feel a happiness so unlike and above any other that they try to reach out to those still in the darkness we call everyday life.

One of the basic teachings of healing with Reiki is that we are more than our physical bodies. We also have an energy body made up of our aura (energy fields), the chakras (energy centers) and the meridians (energy pathways.) Like our physical body that takes in food to nourish it and give it energy, our energy body does the same. The energy fields take energy in, the chakras break it down, and the meridians distribute it throughout the body.