The story of Reiki, as told by some
Reiki is said to be an ancient system of healing that was rediscovered
in the 1800s by a Japanese doctor of letters and learned in medicine
and Buddhism, by the name of Mikao Usu (see below).
There are several stories that illustrate the origins of this healing art. The western version, reformulated, it is said, by Hawayo Takata (a disciple down the line) to fit western culture, and so differs greatly in many respects from the one offered by the Reiki researchers and the story that I learned upon receiving my own master level. I offer information that to me sounds most probable, however, as Buddha himself said, “Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.”
There are several stories that illustrate the origins of this healing art. The western version, reformulated, it is said, by Hawayo Takata (a disciple down the line) to fit western culture, and so differs greatly in many respects from the one offered by the Reiki researchers and the story that I learned upon receiving my own master level. I offer information that to me sounds most probable, however, as Buddha himself said, “Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.”
Mikaomi Usui
 Mikaomi Usui - founded Reiki
Mikaomi Usui was born in the village of Yago in Gifu prefecture in Japan
on August 15, 1865; where his ancestors had lived for eleven
generations. His family belonged to the Tendai sect of Esoteric
Buddhism. When he was four, he was sent to a Tendai monastery to receive
his primary education. He was a very bright student.
Usui grew up during a period of time when Japanese society was going through dramatic changes reopening its doors to the West in the 1850s (after 200 years); the ban on Christianity was not lifted until 1873. The Meji Emperor (right) had begun a new regime and the "old ideas" were discarded in favor of modernization. The population was encouraged however to reinvigorate its traditional paths of Shinto and Buddhism by embracing new ideas that could be easily incorporated into them - yet at the same time, holding firm to the core of those traditions. During the time when Japan was opening its doors further to the West, the first arrivals were the missionaries, both Catholic and Protestant. They set up their operations in three main districts. One was in Yokohama, under the influence of the Here they started their medical work and brought with them knowledge of Western medical science. These missionaries became influential leaders and formed the first Japanese Protestant Yokohama Kaigan Kyokai (Church) in 1873 founded by Rev. John Ballagh. Usui pursued higher education and received a doctorate in literature. He spoke other languages fluently, and became well versed, from his travels, in western medicine, theology, and philosophy and was fascinated by the "new science" coming from the West. He also became friends with several Christian missionaries who had studied medicine at Harvard and Yale. The new generation was very open to the ideas of Darwinism and scientific views of life. Because of Usui's extensive education in theology and science, coupled with his friendship with western thinkers it is likely that Usui attended some of seminars of Rev. Ballagh and other influential christian leaders. |
The sacred Mt. Kurama-yama
 Engraving of temples Mt. Kurama-yama
Throughout Usui's early adulthood he lived in Kyoto with his wife Sadako
Suzuki and two children; a son - Fuji, and a daughter. He continued
his spiritual studies and became involved in a spiritual group named
"Rei Jyutsu Kai." This group had a center at the base of the holy
mountain Kurama-yama, north of Kyoto. On the mountain, is the Buddhist
temple, Kurama-dera.
The temple, at that time, belonged to the Tendai sect and was built in 770 AD. Kurama had been regarded as a power spot and many famous sages as well as Emperors came here to pray. The Temple and the surrounding areas are kept in their natural state and the mountain itself is the spiritual symbol of Kurama temple. Steps lead down to the base, where some sit to meditate and pray. Nearby is a waterfall where it is said that Usui had a vision after 21 days of fasting and meditation, which brought the knowledge of Reiki and its healing powers into his consciousness. On his way down that mountain and from there on a series of miracles began to unfold and he understood the significance of the powerful symbols that appeared to him as vision. It is upon this vision that he built his Usui Shiki Ryoho - Usui Natural Method of Healing and applied his five principles to live in harmony. He has said in an interview, which appears in one of his student’s manual’s translated from Japanese: “I've never been given this method by anybody nor studied to get psychic power to heal. I accidentally realized that I have received healing power when I felt the air in mysterious way during fasting. So I have a hard time explaining exactly even if I am the founder. Scholars and men of intelligence have been studying this phenomenon but modern science can't solve it. But I believe that day will come naturally.” 
Mt. Kurama yama in the Nippon
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Chujiro Hayashi
At the time of Usui’s death on March 9, 1926, it is said he had taught several teachers, the most significant of those that we are aware of in the west was Chujiro Hayashi (15 September 1801 - 11 May 1940) (photo left). Dr Hayashi has played two important parts in Western Reiki.
First is that he is probably the originator of the hand position system used here in the West, and secondly is that he initiated Ms Hawayo Hiromi Takata (December 24, 1900 - December 11, 1980) (photo right), a Japanese- American born in Hanamaulu, Territory of Hawaii who brought Reiki to the West. Hayashi was an ex-naval Officer in the Japanese Navy and a Naval Doctor who graduated Navy School in December 1902. He started his Reiki training with Usui Sensei in 1925, 47 years of age. It is believed he was one of the last Reiki Masters trained by Usui. Following his first training he left the Usui school and started a small clinic in Tokyo named "Hayashi Reiki Kenkyu-kai", which had 8 beds and 16 healers. Practitioners worked in pairs of two to a bed giving treatments to patients. Though Hayashi’s is the most well known lineage, it is said that it is not the only one, nor the only source of the original information that Usui utilized. |
Hawayo Hiromi Takata
It was finally a Japanese-American born in Hanamaulu, Territory of Hawaii, which helped introduce the spiritual practice of Reiki to the Western World. Hawayo Takata was fluent in the language and culture of both Japan and the United States, and was well-suited to serve as ambassador contributing vastly to the knowledge of Reiki and its spread as a healing modality in the west. However, Takata herself remains a source of controversy for her efforts to maintain the practice as a sort of pay-for-access franchise under her leadership.
When Takata started teaching the Third Degree in the West she added the title “Master”. This was a western way to denote that someone had come into the practice of Reiki, studied with the initiating master for a defined period of time and developed him or herself spiritually and was now able to act as a mentor or teacher to a student. In my view I think of this much as the word Sensei, or "he who came before" and welcome this definition into my own approach to teaching and facilitating the way for those I initiate in this path. Much like clearing the path on which I am traveling for those who join me. Reiki has been passed down from master to student mostly as an oral tradition and the lineage is part of that tradition. |
