If Mount Kurama represents the awakening of the method, the Five Principles — known as Gokai — represent the heart of Mikao Usui’s philosophy.

He did not see Reiki merely as a technique of hand placement, but as a “secret art of inviting happiness” and a “spiritual remedy for all illness.”

For Usui, the healing of the physical body was inseparable from the health of the mind and emotions.

The Invitation to Happiness

Unlike rigid doctrines, the Reiki principles begin with a fundamental expression:

“Kyo dake wa” — Just for today.

This phrase is an invitation to a state of full presence. Mikao Usui understood that anxiety about the future and regret about the past were among the greatest sources of energetic imbalance in human beings.

The Five Pillars of Mental Balance

By reciting and meditating on these principles, the Reiki practitioner establishes an ethical foundation for life:

• Just for today, do not anger
  An invitation to emotional awareness and understanding the roots of anger.
• Just for today, do not worry
  A focus on trust and the release of unnecessary anxiety.
• Just for today, be grateful
  Gratitude as a state that harmonizes the heart and supports inner balance.
• Just for today, work honestly
  Not only professional work, but also dedication to personal and spiritual growth.
• Just for today, be kind to all beings
  The practice of compassion as a foundation for social harmony and inner peace.

Usui’s Pedagogical Method

Usui instructed his students to sit with their hands in prayer (Gassho) and recite these principles morning and evening.

The objective was simple, yet profound: to reprogram the mind.

For Mundo Reiki, understanding the Gokai means understanding that Reiki begins from the inside out.

The ethics of the system is what sustains the technique.

Without the principles, Reiki would be merely a physical practice; with them, it becomes a path of life transformation.

About the Author

Ruy Fernando Morelli is a Reiki Master and founder of Mundo Reiki, a platform dedicated to the structured study of the Usui System. His work integrates history, method, ethics, and practice, promoting a deep and technical understanding of Reiki in the modern world.