History of
Reiki
 Reiki was rediscovered in the mid 1800's
by a Japanese born Christian monk, Dr. Mikao Usui. While teaching in
a Christian college, Dr. Usui was asked by a student how Jesus facilitated
the healing miracles that he performed. Usui had no answer.
The question had planted a seed and before the year was out, Dr. Usui
resigned from the College and set out on his destined life path to answer
"that question".
Dr. Usui set out on a quest,
determined to learn the secret of healing so that he might help others.
His journey took him to many countries and for many years he attempted to
trace the same footsteps as Jesus and Buddha. He was told that he
should study Buddhist writings since Buddha was also a healer.
He toured many temples in Japan
and was asking around for knowledge of how the Buddha had healed. At
each one the priests said they were more concerned with the spiritual
rather than the physical well being. The Buddhists felt that the
healing of the spirit and the healing of the body were not always directly
connected. They left the healing of the body to the medical
doctors.
Dr. Usui finally went to a
small Zen Monastery in Kyoto where he asked the same question of the
Abbot, "Do Zen monks and priests know how to heal the body?" and the Abbot
answered "Not anymore". Dr. Usui was puzzled by this answer and
asked, "What do you mean not anymore?" The Zen Abbot explained that
they had been concentrating so heavily on healing the spirit that they had
forgotten how to heal the body.
The Abbot felt that if Dr.
Usui's destiny was to rediscover how Master Buddha had healed the body, it
would unfold before him. So Dr. Usui asked if he might stay and
study at the Zen monastery and was accepted.
Wanting to read the sacred
books in their original language, Dr. Usui learned Chinese and eventually
Sanskrit. It was in the Indian (or perhaps Tibetan) sutras, written
in Sanskrit, that he discovered a formula for contacting a higher power
that could bestow healing. Dr. Usui had now found the information he
had been looking for, yet it was only a formula; simply knowing the
formula did not give him the ability or understanding to heal. Dr.
Usui felt that he needed to go further inside of himself for the answers
he sought and he decided to go into a deep meditation. He decided to
fast and meditate for 21 days at a nearby mountain.
On his arrival at the sacred
mountain of Kuri Yama, he placed 21 little stones in front of him and
removed one at the passing of each day as a kind of calendar. During
this time he read the Sutras, sang, fasted, and meditated. Nothing
unusual happened until just before dawn on the last day. Dr. Usui
saw a shining light moving towards him with great speed. His first
instinct was to get out of the way, but he realized this might just be
what he was waiting for, so allowed it to hit him right in the
forehead.
As it struck him he was taken
on a journey and shown bubbles of all the colors of the rainbow in which
were the symbols of Reiki, the very same symbols in the (Indian or
Tibetan) writings he was studying but had been unable to understand.
Now as he looked at them again, there was total understanding. In
this way, he was initiated into the use of the Reiki healing power.
When he returned to normal
consciousness, the sun was standing high in the sky. He felt full of
strength and energy and began to climb down the mountain. In his
rush, he stubbed his toe. He held it with his hands for a few
minutes and the bleeding stopped and the pain disappeared.
Since he was hungry, he stopped
at an inn along the roadside and ordered a large Japanese breakfast.
The innkeeper warned him not to eat such a large meal after fasting.
Dr. Usui was able to eat it all without the least of
consequences.
The granddaughter of the
innkeeper had been suffering from a bad toothache for several days.
Dr. Usui laid his hands on her swollen face and after a while, the
swelling started to subside and the pain eased. She ran to her
grandfather and told him that their guest was no ordinary monk.
After returning to the
monastery from this experience he found the old Abbot in great pain from
arthritis. While Usui shared his experiences with the Abbot, he laid
his hands on the arthritic areas, and very quickly, the pain went
away. Amazed, the Abbot encouraged Usui to mediate, and finally
after some discussion, Dr. Usui decided to go and work in the Beggars
Quarter of Kyoto. He hoped to heal the beggars so that they could
reintegrate themselves into society.
Dr. Usui spent seven years in
the slums, treating many illnesses. One day, he noticed that the same old
faces kept returning. When he asked why they had not begun a new
life, he was told that there was too much responsibility and that it was
better to go on begging. They had thrown away the gift of health, as
if it had no value, to return to the supposed comfort of the life they
knew.
This threw Usui into a quandary
and he returned to the monastery. From this he realized he hadn't
taught gratitude along with the healing. That he'd focused on the
physical ailments without dealing with the spiritual matters. The
people did not understand the value of the gift he gave them nor the
responsibility of the healee in the healing process.
Legend has it that Dr. Usui
developed five additional principles to teach. In this new plan he
traveled around the countryside from village to village. In each one
he stood in a public place during the day holding aloft a lit torch.
When people told him he didn't need a torch in daylight, he answered that
he was looking for the few who are interested in improving
themselves. In this way he traveled around teaching and healing,
working both with the spiritual healing as well as physical healing.
One of the main foundations of
Usui's teachings are these five Principles. Loosely translated they
are...
Just for today I will give
thanks for my many blessings.
Just for today I will not
worry.
Just for today I will not be
angry.
Just for today I will do my
work honestly.
Just for today I will be kind
to my neighbor and every living thing.
Dr. Usui practiced and taught
Reiki throughout Japan for the remainder of his life. Before his
death in 1926, he gave the Master attunement to sixteen teachers, one of
whom was Dr. Chujiro Hayashi.
Up to this point, the Usui
system of healing consisted of the energy itself, the symbols, the
attunement process and the Reiki ideals. Dr. Hayashi went on to
develop the Usui system of healing. He opened a Reiki clinic in
Tokyo and kept detailed records of the treatments given. He used
this information to create the standard hand positions, the system of
three degrees and their initiation procedures.
Dr. Hayashi sensed a great war
coming, and knew that most of the men would be called. In order to
make sure Reiki would be preserved, he decided to pass the complete
teachings on to two women: his wife and Hawayo Takata. He chose Mrs.
Takata because she was a Japanese Hawaiian and she had American
citizenship. Dr. Hayashi had word from Spirit that the Japanese
would have heavy losses in the approaching war.
Hawayo Takata was born in 1900
on the island of Hawaii (the child of Japanese parents but a citizen of
the United States). She was a widow with two small children and at
the end of her physical and spiritual strength when her path led her to
Reiki in 1935. She was suffering from a number of severe illnesses
at the time when an inner voice told her to go to Japan and seek healing
there.
Having arrived in Japan, she
was lying on the operating table, about to undergo an operation, when the
voice spoke to her again, telling her that the operation was
unnecessary. She asked her doctor about the other methods of
treatment and he said "Yes, but they may take months or years to heal
you." He told her about Dr. Hayashi's Reiki clinic. Once
there, she was applied Reiki daily by two practitioners and, after four
months, she had won back her health completely.
Hawayo Takata became a pupil of
Dr. Hayashi's for a year and was attuned to Reiki Levels 1 and 2.
She then returned to Hawaii with her daughters and established a very
prosperous Reiki clinic. In 1938, Dr. Hayashi went to Hawaii to help
her with the clinic and initiated Mrs. Takata as a Reiki Master. She
was the 13th and last Reiki Master Dr. Hayashi initiated. On Dr.
Hayashi's death in 1941, Hawayo Takata succeeded him as Grand
Master. She lived and healed in Hawaii for many years, but it wasn't
until her seventies, that Mrs. Takata first began to train Reiki
Masters. Before her death in December of 1980, Mrs. Takata had
initiated 22 known Reiki Masters. Since then, the lineage of Reiki
has been passed down to Reiki Masters who now teach Reiki and its
principles throughout the world. The lineage of Reiki is still
growing today.
Back to Home
|
