The History of Reiki

The origins of Reiki can be traced back to the Japanese Theologist Dr Mikao Usui, who rediscovered the long forgotten art of Tibetan healing back in the late 19th century. Dr Mikao Usui, a Christian Minister in Kyoto, Japan. He was searching for the skill of healing. He could not find any answers so travelled to the U.S.A where he studied Theology. During this time he found no real answers to his questions. Eventually he returned to Japan to study Buddhism which had many references to healing and learned Chinese and Sanskitt to be able to understand the scriptures in their native languages. He settled in a Zen Buddist Monastery in Kyoto and spent many years studying the Sutras. Eventually he found a formula for healing, but it was not complete, it was written 2,500 years ago and could not be fully interpreted. He decided to undergo three weeks of fasting and meditaion. Early on the morning of the 21st day, he saw a beam of light. He got up to run, but the light struck his eyebrow centre and knocked him down, unconscious. He saw bubbles,in every colour of the rainbow. Finally, came the Reiki symbols in white and gold. As each symbol came he was given instuctions on how to use them. Dr Usui then became a pilgrim spreading the word of Reiki. By his death in 1930 he had initiated 18 Reiki Masters, one of them being Chujiro Hayahi, whom he named his successor.

Dr Hayashi was a navel officer,and received the Reiki Master initiation from Dr Usui about 1925 at the age of 47. Dr Hayashi added the standard hand positions, the three degrees and their attunement process. He opened the first Reiki 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 in Spring of 1936 she became a Reiki Master.

Mrs Hawayo Takata first brought Reiki to her homeland of Hawaii and then on to the U.S, where she  added the fee structure . Upon her death in 1980 Mrs Takata had attuned 22 Reiki Masters.

Mrs. Takata's 22 Masters George Araki Dorothy Baba Ursula Baylow Rick Bockner Patricia Bowling Barbara Brown Fran Brown Phyllis Furumoto Beth Gray John Gray Iris Ishikuro Harry Kuboi Ethel  Lombardi Barbara McCullough Mary McFadyen Paul Mitchell Bethel Phaigh Shinobu Saito Virginia Samdahl Wanja Twan Barbara Weber Ray Kay Yamashita

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