The History of Reiki….

Reiki is older than any written account, but the modern story of Reiki begins in the mid 1800’s with Dr Mikao Usui, a Christian Minister in Kyoto Japan.

He was searching for the skill of healing. He could not find any answers where he was, so he decided to travel to the United States of America, where he studied Theology at the University of Chicago. During this time, he found no real answers to his questions, the bishops he approached stated that the religion heals the spirit not the body.

Eventually he returned to Japan to study Buddhism which had many references to healing and learned Chinese and Sanskrit to be able to understand the scriptures in their native languages. He settled in a Zen Buddhist Monastery in Kyoto and spent many years studying the Sutras. Eventually he found a formula for healing, but it was incomplete and so ancient it could not be fully interpreted.

Dr Mikao Usui decided to undergo three weeks of fasting and meditation on the nearby Holy site of Mount Kori-Yama to ask for guidance. He chose an area and laid out twenty-one stones to act as a calendar, throwing one away every morning. Early in the morning of the twenty first day, just before dawn, he saw a beam of light which moved towards him and appeared to be growing larger. His instinct was to get up and run but he decided to face this light and was stuck by the light in his ‘third eye’ and was knocked unconscious. In this altered state he saw millions and millions of bubbles in all colours of the rainbow. Finally came the Reiki symbols in white and gold. As each symbol appeared, he was given instructions on how to use it. When he opened his eyes, it was broad daylight in the middle of the morning.

Walking down the mountain, he experienced what he called, his four miracles. He stubbed his toe and instinctively put his hands around it. He felt heat through his palms and the toe healed. Secondly when he reached the base, he was able to eat a full breakfast at a serving house (not a good idea after twenty-one days of fasting). Thirdly, the young girl serving him had chronic toothache. He placed his hands on her face and the pain was relieved. Finally, upon returning to the monastery, a leading monk was in bed with severe arthritis. He sat on the bed with his hands on him, whilst relating his experience, and the arthritic pain was relieved.

Dr Usui decided to go and heal the beggars of Kyoto; he did so and lived in the beggars’ quarters for years. After a while he saw the same faces, he had healed returning angry that they would have to work instead of begging for a living. Dr Usui was very disheartened by this and left the beggars’ quarters. This resulted in him developing the five principles of Reiki and the belief that Reiki should not be given freely but should be paid for or exchanged in order to appreciate and respect its value and power.

Dr Mikao Usui then became a pilgrim, spreading the word of Reiki throughout Japan. By the time of his death in 1930 he had initiated 18 Reiki Masters, one of them being Chujiro Hayashi who he had named as his successor. Mr Hayashi opened the first clinic in Tokyo where a very sick lady came for treatment. Her name was Hawayo Takata. After a series of sessions, she was healed of her various ailments. She desperately wanted to be attuned to Reiki and eventually Chujiro Hayashi did so in the spring of 1936. By the winter of 1938 she was initiated as a Reiki Master and was the thirteenth and last Master initiated by Dr Hayashi before his death in 1941.

Mrs Takata first brought Reiki to her homeland of Hawaii and then on to the United States, where she found it difficult to instil the Japanese concept of respect and decided to charge a sum of money for Reiki Mastership- $10,000 in order that it should be valued in the West. Whilst one can understand this reasoning, many have felt that this sort of financial undertaking makes Reiki too exclusive and out of reach for most people. Many Reiki Practitioners also feel it cannot be right to charge large sums of money for healing in a world which so desperately needs it.

Upon her death in 1980 Mrs Takata had attuned 22 Reiki Masters, her successor and current Grand Master being her Grand-daughter, Phyllis Furumoto.