Reiki | |||||||||||||
Chinese name | |||||||||||||
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Traditional Chinese | |||||||||||||
Simplified Chinese | |||||||||||||
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Vietnamese name | |||||||||||||
Vietnamese alphabet | linh khí | ||||||||||||
Korean name | |||||||||||||
Hangul | 영기 | ||||||||||||
Hanja | 靈氣 | ||||||||||||
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Japanese name | |||||||||||||
Hiragana | れいき | ||||||||||||
Kyūjitai | 靈氣 | ||||||||||||
Shinjitai | |||||||||||||
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Transcriptions | |
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Standard Mandarin | |
Hanyu Pinyin | língqì |
Wade–Giles | ling2-ch'i4 |
Yue: Cantonese | |
Jyutping | ling4-hei3 |
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Revised Romanization | yeonggi |
McCune–Reischauer | yŏngki |
Transcriptions | |
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Revised Hepburn | Reiki |
Reiki (/ˈreɪkiː/?) is a form of alternative medicine developed in 1922 by Japanese Buddhist Mikao Usui. Since originating in Japan, Reiki has been adapted into varying cultural traditions across the world. Reiki practitioners use a technique called palm healing or hands-on healing through which a "universal energy" is allegedly transferred through the palms of the practitioner to the patient in order to encourage emotional or physical healing.
Reiki is pseudoscience. It is based on qi ("chi"), which practitioners say is a universal life force, although there is no empirical evidence that such a life force exists. Clinical research has not shown Reiki to be effective as a medical treatment for any medical condition. The American Cancer Society,Cancer Research UK, and the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health state that Reiki should not be a replacement for conventional treatment.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the English alternative medicine word reiki or Reiki is etymologically from Japanese reiki () "mysterious atmosphere, miraculous sign" (first recorded in 1001), combining rei "soul, spirit" and ki "vital energy"—the Sino-Japanese reading of Chinese língqì () "numinous atmosphere". The earliest recorded English usage dates to 1975.