I've been asked by many friends to clarify the connection between Reiki and Meditation. First of all, let's agree on what is meditation and what are the stages of meditation . It is widely known among true yogis that there are five stages of meditation: A basic prerequisite for meditating is to sit still. Without sitting still one can never control the mind.Some people struggle with sitting still for many reasons as living a very agitated busy live. However, sitting still for a period of time enables the body to be perfectly relaxed which in turn enables the mind to enter the 1s stage of meditation. stage 1. Relaxation . It is time to relax the body and remind yourself that you are going to focus on your meditation and nothing else. You want to let go of any tension and stress. Do a few breathing exercises to let go of any stress you may have as 3deep breaths in/out from the mouth. stage 2. Observation of Thoughts. The next stage is to observe your thoughts as they come and go. You don't expect to stop them straight away, but, you want to gradually detach yourself from them. By observing your thoughts you realise that thoughts are external to you, so it is easier to let go of them. You realise many thoughts come into the mind, but, you have the power to accept or reject them. stage 3. Dharana. This is concentration or intent. When you concentrate you focus on only one object at a time. It may be a candle, flower or mandala. But, in pure dharana all your awareness and energy is focused on this object. Stray thoughts cannot enter our mind, but, they get blocked out by the power of your concentration. stage 4. Dhyana. This is contemplation. It is the state of meditation where your mind is still. Thoughts do not come to bother you. You have entered into a pure meditative consciousness and you are able to hold yourself in this fixed state of mind thus separating maya from reality to help attain the ultimate goal of moksha.In this state you well feel a sense of peace, oneness and expansion. stage 5. Samadhi . In samadhi you are completely absorbed in your meditation. You have become so absorbed to an extent that you will lose sense of self and the external world. Your consciousness will be flooded with infinite peace, light and delight. Upon development of samadhi, one's mind becomes purified of poison, calm, tranquil, and luminous.(There is also 4stages within samadhi) Moreover, the difference between Dharana, Dhyana, and Samadhi (the three together constituting Samyama) is that in the former, the object of meditation, the meditator, and the act of meditation itself remain separate. That is, the meditator or the meditator's meta-awareness is conscious of meditating (that is, is conscious of the act of meditation) on an object, and of his or her own self, which is concentrating on the object. In the subsequent stage of Dharana, as the meditator becomes more advanced, consciousness of the act of meditation disappears, and only the consciousness of being/existing and the object of concentration exist (in the mind). How do we connect Meditation to Reiki? Well a prerequisite for a Reiki practitioner or a Master is Centering and Grounding*. A true requirement for centering and grounding is to stay still, be calm in mind, focus and visualize etc. So meditation is a basic initial step in activating Reiki and having it effective. Then Reiki does the job all by itself and for a centered/grounded master, it reflects upon him/her advanced stages of meditation. According to my experience in meditation and Reiki, I can simply say that Reiki puts meditation into action... you play while meditating for a purpose that you intent... within the ocean of pure silence and consciousness you bubble life force energy to any direction (as in distant Reiki)... This is truly what happened when I took advanced courses in meditation like "Siddha program"... In that program you actually invoke sutras and in Reiki you invoke the life force energy.... (to be continued) * Centering / Grounding are also a requirement for a true successful distant healing aside from Reiki Meditation techniques