Reiki

History of Reiki

Dr. Mikao Usui

Dr. Mikao Usui, the founder of the Usui system of natural healing, was born on August 15, 1865 in Japan. He was a minister and teacher at a Christian school for boys. One day,one of his students asked him, if he believed in the healing miracles Jesus performed. When he replied that he did, the boy asked him,if he knew how Jesus had done this.

Dr. Usui, unable to answer this question, resolved to find the way in which Jesus had healed. Thus many years of study began. He studied Theology and Sanskrit in the USA. Back in Japan he studied Buddhist writings, as Buddha had also healed. He found some ancient Sanskrit writing from India or Tibet and began to understand. He set off on a 21 day fast and meditation retreat on the top of the mountain Kuri Yama, near Kyoto.

Up on the mountain he laid 21 stones out before him. Each day he threw away a stone to keep track of the days. On the 20th day he still had not got the answer he was seeking. He threw away the last stone, ready to give up. In the early hours of the 21st day he saw a light moving towards him. He felt that this might be the answer he had been waiting for, and opened himself up to accept it despite his fears. He was taken into an altered state of color, light, and energy. He was shown how to activate healing energy, and the symbols of Reiki in the Tibetan writings he had been studying became clear to him. After he awoke from his vision he was able to heal. When descending the mountain he cut his toe and was amazed to find that the bleeding stopped, and that his toe was healing fast through the touch of his own hands. He healed his own starvation, someone's toothache and the Abbot's arthritic pain that same day.

He wanted to use his abilities to help others, and spent seven years in the Beggars' Quarter in Kyoto, treating people by laying his hands on them, assisting them to find employment and elevating them out of poverty. After the seven years he noticed more and more familiar faces. Despite the support and encouragement he had given them, people returned to begging on the streets. Asking them why, they complained that life outside beggar town was too hard, and that it was much simpler to beg for a living. They had thrown away the gift of health, as if it had no value. From this experience he realized he had not taught gratitude along with the healing, he had focused on the physical ailments without dealing with the spiritual matters. He had to teach people to take responsibility for their own lives.

He put in place five principles of Reiki. Although 100 years old these guidelines are still relevant today.

1. Do Not Worry
2. Do Not Anger
3. Honor Your Parents And Be Friendly to All People
4. Work Hard And Earn Your Living Honestly
5. Show Gratitude to Everything

Dr. Usui is said to have initiated 16 masters in Reiki, and he entrusted one of these, Dr. Chujiro Hayashi, to continue the teachings after his death.

Dr. Chujiro Hayashi

Dr. Chujiro Hayashi was a retired Naval Commander. After becoming a Reiki master at the age of 47 he opened a clinic in Tokyo, and devoted his life to training others in Reiki. The practitioners worked in groups on patients at the clinic, and also made house calls.

Dr. Hayashi established the Reiki positions and the three levels of Reiki, devising an initiation for each level. With the approaching Second World War, he felt it important to preserve the knowledge, and he passed over the leadership to Mrs. Hawayo Takata, a Japanese woman living in Hawaii, who had been a patient many years earlier at his clinic. Knowing that he would have to serve in the war and kill many people he ended his life in 1940.

Hawayo Takata

Born on the island of Kauai in 1900, Hawayo Takata's parents were Japanese immigrants. After he husband died in 1930 and left her behind with two daughters, she had to work hard to provide for her family. She developed nervous exhaustion and severe abdominal pain. Soon after she travelled to Japan and had to go to hospital as her condition deteriorated. It was found that she had a tumour, gallstones, and appendicitis. Although wide awake she heard a voice tell her that an operation was not necessary. She left the hospital and went to Dr. Hayashi's Reiki clinic instead. She was impressed by his ability to detect problem areas simply by scanning the body with his hands. The heat from his hands was so strong that she believed he must be using some sort of equipment.

She received daily treatments and her condition improved. In four months she was completely healed. She wanted to learn Reiki herself. In 1937 she returned to Hawaii. She did not teach until 1975. By the time of her death in 1980, she had initiated 22 Reiki masters.