The hara is central to Reiki practice. Unlike the chakras, it’s more difficult to find information about it, although authentic Reiki Training will provide the necessary knowledge. The hara is best understood in the experience of one’s regular practice. And while the chakras are mentioned below, Far Eastern understanding of subtle anatomy is based on the hara, not the Hindu chakras.
The following is taken from The Three Pillars of Zen, compiled and edited by Philip Kapleau, a seminal work on Zen Buddhism. While there are certain references specific to Zen, the appeal of the hara and its cultivation is obvious.
Hara literally denotes the stomach and abdomen and the functions of digestion, absorption, and elimination connected with them. But it has parallel psychic1 and spiritual significance. According to Hindu and Buddhist yogic systems, there are a number of psychic centers in the body through which vital cosmic force or energy flows. Of the two such centers embraced within the hara, one is associated with the solar plexus, whose system of nerves governs the digestive processes and organs of elimination. Hara is thus a wellspring of vital psychic energies. Harada-roshi, one of the most celebrated Zen masters of his day, in urging his disciples to concentrate their mind’s eye (i.e., the attention, the summation point of the total being) in their hara, would declare: “You must realize”—i.e., make real—”that the center of the universe is the pit of your belly!
To facilitate his experience of this fundamental truth, the Zen novice is instructed to focus his mind constantly at the bottom of his hara (specifically, between the navel and the pelvis) and to radiate all mental and bodily activities from that region. With the body-mind’s equilibrium centered in the hara, gradually a seat of consciousness, a focus of vital energy, is established there which influences the entire organism.
That consciousness is by no means confined to the brain is shown by Lama Govinda, who writes as follows: “While, according to Western conceptions, the brain is the exclusive seat of consciousness, yogic experience shows that our brain-consciousness is only one among a number of possible forms of consciousness, and that these, according to their function and nature, can be localized or centered in various organs of the body. These ‘organs,’ which collect, transform, and distribute the forces flowing through them, are called cakras, or centers of force. From them radiate secondary streams of psychic force, comparable to the spokes of a wheel, the ribs of an umbrella, or the petals of a lotus. In other words, these cakras are the points in which psychic forces and bodily functions merge into each other or penetrate each other. They are the focal points in which cosmic and psychic energies crystallize into bodily qualities, and in which bodily qualities are dissolved or transmuted again into psychic forces.
Settling the body’s center of gravity below the navel, that is, establishing a center of consciousness in the hara, automatically relaxes tensions arising from the habitual hunching of the shoulders, straining of the neck, and squeezing in of the stomach. As this rigidity disappears, an enhanced vitality and new sense of freedom are experienced throughout the body and mind, which are felt more and more to be a unity.
Zazen (meditation) has clearly demonstrated that with the mind’s eye centered in the hara the proliferation of random ideas is diminished and the attainment of one-pointedness accelerated, since a plethora of blood from the head is drawn down to the abdomen, “cooling” the brain and soothing the autonomic nervous system. This in turn leads to a greater degree of mental and emotional stability. One who functions from his hara, therefore, is not easily disturbed. He is, moreover, able to act quickly and decisively in an emergency owing to the fact that his mind, anchored in his hara, does not waver.
With the mind in the hara, narrow and egocentric thinking is superseded by a broadness of outlook and a magnanimity of spirit. This is because thinking from the vital hara center, being free of mediation by the limited discursive intellect, is spontaneous and all embracing. Perception from the hara tends toward integration and unity rather than division and fragmentation. In short, it is thinking which sees things steadily and whole.
The figure of the Buddha seated on his lotus throne—serene, stable, all-knowing and all-encompassing, radiating boundless light and compassion—is the foremost example of hara expressed through perfect enlightenment. Rodin’s “Thinker,” on the other hand, a solitary figure “lost” in thought and contorted in body, remote and isolated from his Self, typifies the opposite state.
1 “Psychic” here does not relate to extrasensory phenomena or powers but to energies and body-mind states which cannot be classified either as physiological or psychological.
Serene Buddha and The Thinker
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Reiki helps the human being. Throughout life, you may have different symptoms. Symptoms are simply signs that natural order needs to be found again. Curing symptoms can be merely temporary. Making the human whole again is often a dynamic and 
ongoing state of balance.
What are some of the common symptoms people want Reiki to address?
Physical conditions
Back pain. Migraines. Fibromyalgia. Chronic Fatigue. TMJ. Skin disorders. Cancer. Autoimmune disorders. Thyroid imbalances.
Emotional conditions
Low self-esteem. Emotional distance & unavailability. Hot emotions like anger or jealousy. Panic. Fears. Inability to cope. Feeling uncomfortable in your skin. Feeling out of place. Grief.
Mental conditions
Stress. Depression. Anxiety. Lack of concentration. ADD and ADHD. Insomnia. Confusion. Negative thinking. Mental burdens.
Spiritual conditions
Disconnection from self and life. Loss of meaning. Dark night of the soul. Spiritual seeking. Loss of personal power. Soul loss. Not knowing life direction or purpose. Inability to forgive. Fear of death.
Reiki helps the person. What kind of person? A person with chronic pain. A person living with cancer. A depressed person.
All of the above is a sample list. The point is that symptoms are endless. The list could be 100 times this.
Because Reiki is concerned with the person and not the symptom, it can be effective for you no matter what your life looks like, how your body is doing, or how you feel and think.
Reiki’s most significant remedy is that it helps you embrace your innate or natural spirituality.
Why would you care? Because over and over, research shows that people with a personal sense of spirituality report:
Personal spirituality brings with it a greater sense of participation and empowerment, purpose and meaning, and a broader perspective, with a strong sense of well-being and not just an absence of disease.
In other words, spiritual health has a direct positive impact on mental, emotional and physical health. What spiritual health means to you is completely up to you.
Reiki simply promotes mindbody states that support your wholeness and wellbeing, gently balancing and harmonizing you in a holistic and individualistic way.
Have you tried Reiki?
Resources: Watch my video The Role Of Spirituality in Wellness.
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Having provided free content for over two years, the Reiki Help Blog is now asking for your support. Actually, the content remains free, but your support is needed. The button or link below will take you to a secure PayPal page where you can give any amount of your choosing.
“Pamir, I really enjoy reading your blog. I would like to make a wee contribution to support your work. Thanks for doing what you do! Many, many Reiki blessings!” — J.A.P
Please donate what feels right. Each post is a considerable investment of thought, heart, energy and time.
Donate to this blog. Thank you!
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