As Koshin Reiki began to take form and the website came together, it became clear that something essential was missing. It wasn’t a logo or branding. What was needed was a seal, a hanko to represent Koshin no Michi, the path of Koshin Reiki.
At the same time, I knew I needed a personal seal as well. Not something inherited, but something that reflected where I actually stand now in my development. This wasn’t about appearance. It was about accuracy.
There was only one person in Reiki I would trust with that: Fokke Brink.
Fokke is one of the early Reiki Masters, initiated in 1987 by Phyllis Lei Furumoto. For decades, he has lived Reiki as a way of life, integrating it with Japanese calligraphy, seal carving, and traditional arts. His work is quiet, precise, and grounded in long practice.
https://www.fokkebrink.info/
The Process
We met over a series of video calls across three months. There was no design brief, no branding language, and no discussion of aesthetics. Instead, we focused on what was actually there: my development, the direction of Koshin Reiki, and what this work is becoming.
At a certain point, he contacted me and said he had found the right stone. It had originally been a single piece, which was cut in half to create two identical, bookended stones. One for my personal seal, and one for the Koshin Reiki seal.
Both seals came from the same stone.
Even before carving began, that mattered. Two forms emerging from one source.
He later explained that my personal seal was immediately clear to him and straightforward to begin. The stone for the Koshin Reiki seal was different. It did not respond in the same way. It required more time, more listening, and a different kind of approach.
He described it simply: the stone chooses its master, not the other way around. In this case, the stone was clearly responding to the process behind Koshin Reiki itself.
The Personal Seal
A few weeks later, he reached out again. He had begun carving my personal seal.
At the center was a figure of a person, representing me, with the characters for power, smile, and heaven descending around it.
This was not presented as design. It was something that had emerged through the process. The carving was not imposed onto the stone, but discovered within it.
The Koshin Reiki Seal
The organizational seal unfolded differently.
While my personal seal had come clearly to him from the beginning and had been relatively easy to carve, the seal for Koshin Reiki required more time. Though it was one half of the same stone, it did not respond in the same way. It resisted him and forced a different process.
When he finally completed the carving, he told me something I did not expect.
The stone for the Koshin Reiki seal had been difficult. It chipped as he worked, resisting refinement. Because of this, a clean, modern style was no longer possible. The material forced the carving into a much older form.
He did not treat this as a problem. To him, it indicated something about the direction of the work itself: that I would be teaching the old style of Reiki.
The final result was not chosen. It was revealed through the interaction between the stone, the carving, and the process itself.
The Arrival
A few days after returning from Japan, just after being on Mount Kurama, the package arrived from Greece.
Inside was a traditional case, carefully prepared.
When I opened it, the experience was immediate and unmistakable. Not symbolic, not imagined. There was a direct sense of the work in the seals, a strong presence that could be felt physically. The only way to describe it is that there was an explosion of energy as soon as the case was opened.
The Seals
Inside were both seals, carved from the same original stone.
They clearly belong together. The character of the material is still visible, including the irregularities created during carving. The resistance of the stone shaped the final form, and that history remains in the work.
These are not polished objects. They carry the process within them.
In Use
These seals are not meant to be displayed. They are meant to be used.
The first time I applied the Koshin Reiki seal was on a First Degree certificate. It sits beside my signature, not as decoration, but as confirmation. It marks responsibility and transmission in a direct way.
Why This Matters
At a time when most things in Reiki can be easily reproduced or designed, this process stands in contrast. It was slow, physical, and irreversible. Each seal was carved by hand, and each decision was shaped by the material itself.
That is what gives it weight.
About Fokke Brink
Fokke continues to create personal seals and hanko for Reiki Masters and practitioners. This is not a product in the usual sense, but a process that requires time, attention, and relationship.
Final Note
This work with Fokke is something I want to preserve, not as a story, but as a living part of the lineage of Koshin Reiki, shaped through the care, attention, and presence of his work.
Continue the Exploration
Go deeper into Reiki as it is practiced, trained, and lived over time in Living with Reiki.
This is where the system is understood through direct experience, not explanation, and where daily practice becomes the path.
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