This is the story of the founding of Reiki as taught to me by my Reiki Master. Although there are new discoveries and a new historical information is developing that contradicts this story, this is the "traditional" story. You can accept it or not. The truth of this story has no bearing on the value of Reiki.
As the story goes, Dr. Usui, a minister and dean of a Christian school in Kyoto, Japan, was teaching a class when one of his students asked him if he believed Jesus healed. His response was, "Yes, of course." The student asked him for a demonstration of this healing.
Not having this knowledge, he could not comply. This one simple question changed Dr. Usui's life. It stirred inside of him the desire to know how to heal. With the knowledge that Jesus healed, he started his search in America, the land of Christianity. He enrolled in the University of Chicago. In his seven-year study of theology and comparative religions, he learned about the Buddha and his healing abilities but found no answers.
Dr. Usui returned to Japan to continue his search. He visited all the Buddhist temples and asked the monks if they knew how to heal. All answered that they only concentrated on spiritual matters. At one he met an old abbot who remembered that the monks knew how to heal at one time, but it was now a lost art. He offered Dr. Usui the opportunity to stay and study the Japanese Sutras, to see if he could find the information he sought.
For many years Dr. Usui studied Japanese, Chinese, and Tibetan Sutras. In the Healing Buddha Sutra he found a formula for healing. Dr Usui and the old abbot decided to discover the full meaning of the information, Dr. Usui must meditate.
Dr. Usui went to Mt. Kurayama to fast and meditate. Upon arriving, he gathered 21 stones, sat down, and placed the stones in front of him. Every morning he threw one stone away. In deep meditation before daylight of the 21st day, Dr. Usui noticed a bright light. Wondering if this light were real, he opened his eyes. The light was still there, moving quickly toward him. He was frightened but willing to risk death for the secrets of healing. The light struck him in the third eye, knocking him unconscious. All information, the symbols and their uses, floated by him in brightly colored bubbles, stopping long enough for him to memorize the information. Upon returning to full awareness, he remembered everything shown him.
Dr. Usui was strong and full of energy despite his 21 day fast. "This is the first miracle," he thought.
He started the long journey back to the temple. On his way down the hill, he severely stubbed his toe, tearing the toenail back. He grabbed his toe and within a short while, noticed it was completely healed. "This is the second miracle," he thought.
Soon he came to a house offering meals where he ordered a large meal. The innkeeper's daughter had a very bad toothache. Dr. Usui beckoned her to him and placed his hands upon her face. After a few moments she said, "Oh, kind monk, you make magic. My tooth no longer hurts. Thank you."
"This is the third miracle", he thought. There were no ill effects from eating a large meal after an extended fast. "This is the fourth miracle", he thought.
When he got to the temple, Dr. Usui found the old abbot bed ridden, in great pain. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he rested his hands on the abbot's body while he told all that he had learned. In a short while, the abbot looked at him in surprise and said, "All my pain is gone." "This is the fifth miracle," Dr. Usui proclaimed.
Both were ecstatic about this discovery and wanted to use it for the most needy cause. They decided those who needed Reiki most were in the beggar's village.
Dr. Usui, wearing old clothes and pushing a vegetable cart, went to the beggar's village. Dr. Usui told the leader of the village that he brought the gift of healing; he wanted to give it to everyone in the beggar village.
Every day from dawn to dusk, Dr. Usui working in the beggar village, healing people and sending them to the temple for a new name and a job.
After seven years, his work nearly complete, he had leisure time in the evenings. He began to notice some familiar faces. He walked up to one young man and asked him if he had healed him many years ago. The young man said, "Yes." Dr. Usui asked him if he had gone to the temple for a new name and job. The young man again said, "Yes." "Why then," asked Dr. Usui, "are you back in the beggar village?" The young man told him how he had worked long hours for little money and his family was still hungry. It was much easier to be a beggar.
Dr. Usui was so distraught he threw himself down in the dirt and wept. He vowed never again to give this gift away; giving Reiki away makes beggars of people.
He developed these five principles to live by, that if applied with Reiki, would heal body, mind, and spirit:
Just for today, do not worry
Just for today, do not anger
Honor your parents, teachers, and elders
Earn your living honestly
Show gratitude to every living thing
Dr. Usui traveled around the country teaching Reiki. He took on especially dedicated individuals as disciples. One of these individuals was Dr.Chujiro Hayashi, a retired naval officer. Dr. Hayashi became one of the eighteen people Dr. Usui initiated as Reiki masters.
Around 1930, just before his death, Dr. Usui charged Dr. Hayashi with the task of keeping Reiki alive. He made him the Grand Master of Reiki.
Dr. Hayashi opened the first Reiki clinic shortly after Dr. Usui's death. He developed a specific series of hand placements, three levels or degrees of Reiki and the initiation procedures.
Hawayo was born Christmas Eve 1900.. Her parents, the Kawamuru's, were immigrant Japanese sugar cane workers.
She went to work in the house of a large plantation where she met a young man named Saichi Takata, an accountant for the plantation. They married and had two little girls. Saichi became very ill and went to a clinic in Tokyo for treatment. In 1930, at the age of 34, Saichi died.
The next several years were very hard for Mrs. Takata. She covered her grief and worked long hours to make ends meet for her family. Eventually this took its toll on her health. She had severe abdominal pain and could not stand upright. Something must change.
While Mrs. Takata's parents were in Japan, her sister died. She had to break the news to her parents in person. She also needed an operation and the only doctor she trusted was in Japan.
She went to Japan and checked into a clinic. She was told she needed rest, relaxation, and lots of good food. For three weeks she felt like she was in a resort hotel. She gained weight and her strength returned.
As she was prepared for surgery and lying on the table, she suddenly heard a voice say, "The operation is not necessary." She looked around and didn't see anyone, but clearly heard the voice say again, "The operation is not necessary." When she heard the voice the third time, she asked "But what other way is there?" The voice said "Ask the doctor." So she pulled out the IV needles and proceeded to search for the doctor. When she found him, she asked if there was any alternative to surgery. He told her about Dr. Hayashi's Reiki clinic.
The doctor's sister knew first hand that Reiki was effective, so she was appointed to take Mrs. Takata to Dr. Hayashi's clinic. Mrs. Takata received a treatment that day. She wondered how the hands of the practitioners got so hot. The next day, during her treatment, she looked all around the room for wires. Then she grabbed the sleeve of the practitioner working on her stomach. Startled, he asked what she wanted. She stated she wanted to see the battery that made his hands so hot. He laughed and said, "There is no battery. It is Reiki. Reiki is very powerful. " When Dr. Hayashi came over to hear what was so funny, he joined the laughter.
Three weeks of daily treatments made her much better. In four months, she was completely cured. Mrs. Takata wanted Reiki to preserve her health. When she approached Dr. Hayashi about learning, he refused her, telling her was a closely guarded Japanese treasure. This was not good enough for her; she must have Reiki.
Mrs. Takata went to her doctor and asked if he could do anything. She told him why she needed Reiki and that she could not remain in Japan forever. He agreed to help her by writing a letter to Dr. Hayashi.
Dr. Hayashi was very impressed that an important surgeon would write such a nice letter for this little lady. He agreed to let Mrs. Takata take Reiki. After her classes and initiation into first degree, Mrs. Takata worked for a year. She spent mornings doing treatments at the clinic and afternoons at the homes of many different people.
In 1937 Mrs. Takata returned to Hawaii. A few weeks later Dr. Hayashi and his daughter came to visit and help her start a Reiki clinic. For almost a year, Mrs. Takata and Dr. Hayashi offered classes, free lectures and demonstrations of Reiki.
In February 1938, just before he returned to Japan, Dr. Hayashi announced that Mrs. Takata was now a Reiki Master. Mrs. Takata worked for many years on Kauai, and in a clinic on the big island (Hawaii) and finally moved to Honolulu on Oahu.
In 1941, Mrs. Takata received a telegraph from Dr. Hayashi requesting her to come immediately to his estate in Japan. When she arrived, Dr. and Mrs. Hayashi gave her a warm greeting and then Dr. Hayashi asked her if she would call everyone together and prepare for his death. She did this gladly. On a morning in May 1941, in front of a small gathering of his friends and associates, Dr. Hayashi announced that Mrs. Takata was now the Grand Master of Reiki. War was about to break out and he knew he would be called to serve. He was a man of peace and could not destroy life, so he made his transition by bursting his aorta.
Mrs. Takata made the long trip back to Hawaii. In the years following, she traveled extensively, teaching classes in first and second degree Reiki. It was not until the 1970's that she began to initiate masters. She initiated a total of twenty-two as Reiki masters and, in December of 1980, made her transition.
Before Mrs. Takata died, she prepared her granddaughter to assume her position as the Grand Master of Reiki, but never formally made the announcement.
Today there are three Reiki organizations, two Grand Masters, and many independent Reiki Masters. The Reiki Alliance is headed by Mrs. Takata's granddaughter, Phyllis Lei Furumoto - Grand Master. The Radiance Technique Association International is headed by Dr. Barbara Ray - Grand Master, and the American Reiki Master Association is headed by Dr. Arthur L. Robertson.