What is the History of Reiki?
by William Lee Rand
Takata photo taken June 11, 1979, Penticton, British Columbia, Canada.
Used with permission from the estate of Gunter and Ursula Baylow
The following referenced history of Reiki is taken from Reiki, The Healing Touch and has been carefully researched to contain verified information from
dependable sources.
Mrs. Hawayo Takata brought Reiki from Japan to the West in
1937 and continued to practice and teach until her passing in 1980.
Because of her devotion, Reiki has been passed on to millions of people
all over the world, and the numbers continue to grow! And as you will
see, if it wasn’t for her, Reiki most likely would never have been
discovered by the West and even in Japan would have been practiced
secretly by only a small number of people.
Until the 1990s, the only information we had about Reiki
came from Mrs. Takata. Her story of Reiki was recorded on tape, and this
recording is still available along with a transcript of the contents.(
1)
In the past most people including many authors simply accepted Takata
Sensei’s interpretation of the history of Reiki as accurate without
attempting to do any additional research. Because of this, Mrs. Takata’s
version of the story was repeated in all the earlier books written on
Reiki. (Fortunately many current authors are using more recent
historical information.)
In the course of researching the origins of Reiki, I learned
that Mrs. Takata took liberties with the history of its development. In
1990, for example, I wrote to Doshisha University in Kyoto, Japan where
Mrs. Takata reported that the founder of Reiki, Usui Sensei, had held
the office of president. I had hoped to gain additional information that
would help us understand who Usui Sensei really was. I also contacted
the University of Chicago, from which Usui Sensei had obtained a degree
according to Mrs. Takata. Neither university had ever heard of him.
(Copies of the letters from both universities are available from the
International Center for Reiki Training.) This disappointing discovery
led me to wonder if other parts of the Takata Sensei version of Reiki
were also inaccurate. In talking with several early Reiki Masters about
this discovery, I was told that Mrs. Takata had westernized the story of
Reiki by changing certain details and adding others to make it more
appealing to Americans.
I continued to seek additional information about the history
of Reiki, but attempts to secure it went slowly at first. The main
reason for this is that after World War II, the U.S. government had
complete control over Japan for a time and banned all Eastern healing
methods in Japan and required that only Western medicine be practiced
there. The members of the organization Usui Sensei started, the Usui
Reiki Ryoho Gakkai, decided they wanted to find a way to continue to
practice Reiki. Some of the other healing groups such as the
Acupuncturists were able to get a license to practice, but the Gakkai
chose not to go through this process. In order to continue to practice
Reiki, they decided to become a secret society and practice only among
themselves and not talk about Reiki to anyone outside their
organization.(
2)
This made it difficult for anyone to learn about Reiki including the
Japanese. In fact, if someone in Japan wanted to learn Reiki after the
war, he or she had to travel to the U.S. to learn or had to learn from a
Western trained Reiki teacher who traveled to Japan. Because of this,
even now most Reiki practiced in Japan is a combination of Western and
Japanese Reiki.
| Footnotes |
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| 1 Mrs. Takata Speaks, The History of Reiki, CD and transcript (Southfield, MI: Vision Publications, 1979).
2 Tadao Yamaguchi, Light on the Origins of Reiki (Twin Lakes, WI: Lotus Press, 2007), 66. |
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This is why an accurate history of Reiki took so long to
unfold up to this point in time. Then in 1996, I received from Japan a
copy of the Original Reiki Ideals, which were different and more
expansive than what had been presented by Mrs. Takata. They include the
idea that chanting and offering prayers are important to Reiki
practice.(
3)
In 1997, Arjava Petter’s book, Reiki Fire was published, which was the
first of a series of books on Japanese Reiki. He along with his wife,
Chetna Koybayashi, had made contact with the Gakkai. They had discovered
the location of Usui Sensei’s grave and many other facts including
information on the Japanese Reiki Techniques, all of which were revealed
in his books and subsequent workshops.
Invited by Arjava Petter, Laura Gifford (now Laurelle Shanti
Gaia) and I went to Japan in 1997 and with Arjava as our guide, we were
taken to Usui Sensei’s grave and Mt. Kurama and much of the new
information was explained to us.(
4)
In 1999 and 2000 I invited Arjava and Chetna to come to
teach workshops on the Japanese Reiki Techniques across the United
States. In addition, in November, 2001, I took Reiki I&II from
Chiyoko Yamaguchi in Japan, a Shihan (Reiki Master) who received her
training from Hayashi Sensei. (She passed on in 2003). In October 2002 I
took Gendai Reiki training from Hiroshi Doi—who is a member of the Usui
Reiki Ryoho Gakkai—and also had two detailed interviews with him.(
5)
It is from these sources and my continued contact with these and other
Reiki researchers that my understanding of the history of Reiki along
with how Usui Sensei and Hayashi Sensei taught and practiced Reiki has
developed.
| Footnotes |
|
3 Toshitaka Mochitzuki, lyashi No Te [Healing Hands] (1995), 227, ISBN 4-88481-420-7 C0011 P1400E; “The Original Reiki Ideals,” Reiki News (Fall 1996); and page vi of this manual. To order the Original Reiki Ideals click here.
4 For more
information, see Appendix A, “Discovering the Roots of Reiki,” and The
Inscription on the Usui Memorial section below.
5 William Lee Rand, “An Interview with Hiroshi Doi,” Reiki News Magazine, Pts. 1 and 2 (Summer 2003): 9–11; (Fall 2003): 12–14. |
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A More Accurate History of Reiki
The following is an updated history of Reiki based on
accurate, verifiable information. Where possible, sources have been
referenced so others can follow up on this research if desired. The
history begins with a look at the inscription on the memorial stone that
was erected in 1927 in memory of Mikao Usui Sensei, founder of the
Reiki healing system.
The Inscription on the Usui Memorial
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The Usui Memorial
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The inscription on the Usui Memorial, dating from 1927, was
written by Juzaburo Ushida, a Shihan who was trained by Usui Sensei and
able to teach and practice Reiki the same way he did. He also succeeded
Usui Sensei as president of the Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai. Masayuki Okata,
also a member of the Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai, was the editor. The
English translation was done by Tetsuyuki Ono and is reprinted here from
the book, lyashino Gendai Reiki- ho, with permission from the author
Hiroshi Doi.
The large kanji at the top of the memorial stone reads:
“Memorial of Usui Sensei’s Virtue.” The remainder of the inscription
reads as follows:
What you can naturally realize through cultivation and
training is called “VIRTUE” and it is called “MERIT” to spread a method
of leadership and relief and practice it. It is people of many merits
and a good deal of virtue that can be eventually called a great founder.
People who started a new learning and founded a fresh sect among sages,
philosophers, geniuses etc., named from the ancient times, were all
those as mentioned above. We can say that Usui-Sensei is also one of
those people.
He started newly a method to improve body and spirit
based on REIKI in the universe. Hearing of the rumor, people who would
like to learn the treatment and undergo the cure gathered from all
quarters all at once. Really, it was very busy indeed.
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Mikao Usui
(Usui Sensei), founder of
the Reiki System of Healing
|
Usui-Sensei, whose popular name is Mikao and whose pen
name is Gyohan, came from Taniai-village, Yamagata- district, Cifu
Prefecture, and had forefathers named Tsunetane Chiba who had played an
active part as a military commander between the end of Heian Period and
the beginning of Kamakura Period (1180-1230). His father’s real name is
Taneuji and his popular name is Uzaemon. His mother came and got married
from the family named Kawai.
Usui-Sensei was born on 15th August, 1865. Having
learned under difficulties in his childhood, he studied hard with
efforts and he was by far superior in ability to his friends.
After growing up, he went over to Europe and America,
and also studied in China. In spite of his real ability, however, he was
not always successful in life. Although he was compelled to lead an
unfortunate and poor life so often, he strove much more than before to
harden his body and mind without flinching from the difficulties.
One day, Usui-Sensei climbed Mt. Kurama, where he began
to do penance while fasting. Suddenly on the twenty first day from the
start, he felt a great REIKI over his head, and at the same time as he
was spiritually awakened he acquired the REIKI cure. When he tried it on
his own body and members’ of his family also, it brought an immediate
result on them.
Having said “It is much better to give this power widely
to a lot of people in the world and enjoy it among them than to keep it
exclusively by his family members.” Usui-Sensei moved his dwelling to
Aoyama Harajuku, Tokyo in April, 1922 and established an institute,
where the REIKI cure was instructed openly to the public and the
treatment was given, too. People came there from far and near to ask for
his guidance and cure, and they over-flowed outside, making a long
line.
Tokyo had a very big fire caused by a great earthquake
in Kanto district in September, 1923, when the injured and sick persons
suffered from pains everywhere. Usui-sensei felt a deep anxiety about
that, and he was engaged in a cure, going around inside the city every
day. We can hardly calculate how many persons were saved from death with
his devotion. His activities of relief, in which he extended his hands
of love over to those suffering people against this emergent situation,
can be outlined as noted above.
Thereafter, his training center became too small to
receive the visitors, so he built a new house in Nakano outside the city
in February 1925 and transferred there. As his reputation got higher
and higher, it was so often when he received an offer of engagement from
everywhere throughout the nation. In accordance with these requests he
traveled to Kure and Hiroshima, then entered Saga and reached Fukuyama.
It was at the inn at which he stayed on his way that he caught a disease
abruptly, and he passed away at the age of sixty-two.
His wife got married, coming from the Suzuki family, and
she is named Sadako and has a son and a daughter. The son’s name is
Fuji, and he succeeds to the Usui family.
Usui-Sensei’s natural character was gentle and prudent,
and he did not keep up appearances. His body was big and sturdy, and his
face was always beaming with a smile. But when he faced the
difficulties he went ahead with a definite will and yet persevered well,
keeping extremely careful. He was a man of versatile talents and also a
book lover, knowing well in the wide range from history, biography,
medical science, canons of Christianity and Buddhism and psychology up
to magic of fairyland, art of curse, science of divination and
physiognomy.
In my opinion, it is evident to everybody that
Usui-Sensei’s cultivation & training were based on his career of art
and science, and the cultivation & training became a clue to create
the REIKI cure.
Reviewing the fact, I understand what the REIKI cure is
aiming at is not only to heal the diseases but also to correct the mind
by virtue of a God-sent spiritual ability, keep the body healthy and
enjoy a welfare of life. In teaching the persons, therefore, we are
supposed to first let them realize the last instructions of the Emperor
Meiji, and chant the 5 admonitions morning and evening to keep them in
mind.
The 5 admonitions in question are:
1. Don’t get angry today.
2. Don’t be grievous.
3. Express your thanks.
4. Be diligent in your business.
5. Be kind to others.
These are really the important precepts for a
cultivation, just the same as those by which the ancient sages
admonished themselves. Usui-Sensei emphasized that ‘This is surely a
secret process to bring a good fortune and also a miraculous medicine to
remedy all kinds of diseases.’ by which he made his purpose of teaching
clear and accurate. Furthermore, he tried to aim at making his way of
guidance as easy and simple as possible, so nothing is difficult to
understand therein. Every time when you sit quietly and join your hands
to pray and chant morning and evening, you can develop a pure and sound
mind, and there is just an essence in making the most of that for your
daily life. This is the reason why the REIKI cure can very easily spread
over anybody.
The phase of life is very changeable in these days, and
people’s thoughts are apt to change, too. Could we fortunately succeed
in spreading the REIKI cure everywhere, we feel sure that it would have
to be very helpful in order to prevent people from disordering their
moral sense. It never extends people nothing but the benefits of healing
long term illness, chronic disease and bad habit.
The number of pupils who learned from Usui-sensei
amounts to more than 2000 persons. Some leading pupils living in Tokyo
among them gather at the training center and take over his work, while
other pupils in the country also do everything to popularize the REIKI
cure. Although our teacher already passed away, we have to do the very
best to hand the REIKI cure down to the public forever and spread it
much more. Ah! What a great thing he did; to have unsparingly given
people what he had felt and realized by himself!
As a result of our pupils’ recent meeting and
discussion, we decided to erect a stone monument at the graveyard in his
family temple so that we may bring his virtuous deed to light and
transmit it to posterity; so, I was requested to arrange an epitaph for
the monument. As I was much impressed by his great meritorious deed and
also struck by our pupils’ warm hearts of making much of the bond
between master and pupil, I dared not refuse the request, but described
the outline.
Therefore, I do expect heartily that people in the
future generations would not forget to look up at the monument in
open-eyed wonder.
— Usuida, in February, 1927. Edited by Masayuki Okada, The
Junior 3rd Rank, the 3rd Order of Merit, Doctor of Literature. Written
by Juzaburo Usuhida, The Junior 4th Class of Services, Rear Admiral.
Mikao Usui
Mikao Usui, or Usui Sensei as he is called by his students
in Japan, was born August 15, 1865 in the village of Taniai in the
Yamagata district of Gifu prefecture, which is located near present day
Nagoya, Japan.(
6)
It is thought that he entered a Tendai Buddhist school on or near Mt.
Kurama (“horse saddle mountain”) at age four. He also studied kiko, the
Japanese version of qigong, which is a health and healing discipline
based on the development and use of life energy. The young Usui found
that these healing methods required the practitioner to build up and
then deplete his own life energy when giving treatments. He wondered if
it were possible to do healing work without depleting one’s own energy.(
7)
Usui Sensei had an avid interest in learning and worked hard
at his studies. He traveled to Europe and China to further his
education. His curriculum included medicine, psychology, and religion as
well as the art of divination, which Asians have long considered to be a
worthy skill.(
8)
Some think that he was from a wealthy family, as in Japan only the
wealthy could afford to send their children to school although others
think this was not the case. Eventually he became the secretary to
Shinpei Goto, head of the department of health and welfare who later
became the Mayor of Tokyo. The connections Usui Sensei made at this job
helped him to become a successful businessman.(
9) Usui Sensei was also a member of the Rei Jyutu Ka, a metaphysical group dedicated to developing psychic abilities.(
10)
In March 1922 Usui Sensei’s personal and business life was failing.(
11)
As a sensitive spiritualist, Usui Sensei had spent much time meditating
at power spots on Mt. Kurama where he had received his early Buddhist
training. So he decided to spend some time on this holy mountain to see
if he could discover a solution to his personal problems; he was not
seeking to discover a method of healing as some have said. He enrolled
in Isyu Guo, a twenty-one-day training course sponsored by the Tendai
Buddhist Temple located there.(
12)
We do not know for certain what he was required to do during this
training, but it is likely that fasting, meditation, chanting, and
prayers were part of the practice. In addition, we know there is a small
waterfall on Mt. Kurama where even today people go to meditate. This
meditation involves standing under the waterfall and allowing the water
to strike and flow over the top of the head, a practice that is said to
activate the crown chakra. Japanese Reiki Masters think that Usui Sensei
may have used this meditation as part of his practice. In any case, it
was during the Isyu Guo training that the great Reiki energy entered his
crown chakra. This filled him with tremendous spiritual light and he
received understanding about how to solve his personal problems.
| Footnotes |
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6 Inscription on Usui Memorial, Saihoji Temple, Suginami, Tokyo, Japan.
7 This information comes from Tatsumi-san, one of Hayashi Sensei’s last students.
8 Inscription on Usui Memorial.
9 Shiomi Takai, “Searching the Roots of Reiki,” The Twilight Zone
(April 1986): 140–143. This article can be viewed on the web at
http://www.pwpm.com/threshold/origins2.html. (Note that this Japanese
magazine is no longer in business.)
10 Mochizuki, lyashi No Te, see note 3.
11 Ibid.
12 Takai, “Searching the Roots of Reiki,” 140–143. |
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When this happened, he was filled with excitement and went
running down the mountain. On his way down he stubbed his toe on a rock
and fell down. And in the same way anyone would do, he placed his hands
over the toe, which was in pain. As he did this, healing energy began
flowing from his hands all by itself. The pain in his toe went away and
the toe was healed. Usui Sensei was amazed by this. He realized that in
addition to the illuminating experience he had received, he had also
received the gift of healing.(
13)
Usui Sensei practiced this new ability with his family and
developed his healing system through experimentation and by using skills
and information based on his previous study of religious practices,
philosophy, and spiritual disciplines. He called his system of healing
Shin-Shin Kai-Zen Usui Reiki Ryo-Ho (The Usui Reiki Treatment Method for
Improvement of Body and Mind) or in its simplified form Usui Reiki
Ryoho (Usui Reiki Healing Method).
In April 1922, he moved to Tokyo and started a healing
society that he named Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai (Usui Reiki Healing Method
Society). He also opened a Reiki clinic in Harajuku, Aoyama, Tokyo.
There he taught classes and gave treatments.(
14)
The lowest degree of his training was called Shoden (First
Degree) and was divided into four levels: Loku-Tou, Go-Tou, Yon-Tou, and
San-Tou. (Note that when Mrs. Takata taught this level, which in the
West we refer to as Reiki Level I, she combined all four levels into
one. This is most likely why she did four attunements for Level I.) The
next degree was called Okuden (Inner Teaching) and had two levels:
Okuden-Zen-ki (first part), and Okuden-Koe-ki (second part). The next
degree was called Shinpiden (Mystery Teaching), which is what we call
master level. The Shinpiden level includes, Shihan-Kaku (assistant
teacher) and Shihan (venerable teacher).(
15)
Contrary to previous understanding, Usui Sensei had only
three symbols, the same three we use in the West in Reiki II. He did not
use a master symbol. This fact has been verified by Hiroshi Doi and by
research done by Hyakuten Inamoto, Arjava Petter and Tadao Yamaguchi.
In 1923, the great Kanto earthquake devastated Tokyo. More
than 140,000 people died and over half of the houses and buildings were
shaken down or burned. An overwhelming number of people were left
homeless, injured, sick and grieving.(
16)
Usui Sensei felt great compassion for the people and began treating as
many as he could with Reiki. This was a tremendous amount of work, and
it was at this time that he began training other Shihan (teachers). It
was also at this time that he developed methods including a more formal
Reiju (attunement) process.
Demand for Reiki became so great that he outgrew his clinic,
so in 1925 he built a bigger one in Nakano, Tokyo. Because of this, his
reputation as a healer spread all over Japan. He began to travel so he
could teach and treat more people. During his travels across Japan he
directly taught more than 2,000 students and initiated twenty Shihan,(
17) each approved to teach in the same way he did.(
18)
The Japanese government issued him a Kun San To award for doing honorable work to help others.(
19) While traveling to Fukuyama to teach, he suffered a stroke and died March 9, 1926.(
20) His grave is at Saihoji Temple, in Suginami, Tokyo, although some claim that his ashes are located elsewhere.
There were many hands-on healing schools in Japan at the
time Usui Sensei started his school. These other schools were not part
of Usui Reiki.(
21)
There may have been some connection between Reiki and MahiKari and
Johrei as these two Japanese religions have a Reiju like (attunement)
process and offer people healing through the hands.(
22)
After Usui Sensei died, his students erected a memorial stone
next to his gravestone. (This is the memorial stone pictured on page
14.) Mr. J. Ushida, a Shihan trained by Usui took over as president of
the Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai, and was responsible for creating and
erecting the Usui Memorial stone and ensuring that the grave site would
be maintained. Mr. Ushida was followed by Mr. lichi Taketomi, Mr.
Yoshiharu Watanabe, Mr. Toyoichi Wanami, and Ms. Kimiko Koyama. The
current successor to Usui Sensei is Mr. Kondo, who became president in
1998.
Contrary to what we have been told in the West, there is no
“lineage bearer” or “Grand Master” of the organization started by Usui
Sensei—only the succession of presidents listed above.(
23)
The twenty teachers initiated by Usui Sensei include Toshihiro Eguchi,
Jusaburo Guida, Ilichi Taketomi, Toyoichi Wanami, Yoshiharu Watanabe,
Keizo Ogawa, J. Ushida, and Chujiro Hayashi.(
24)
Contrary to one version of the Reiki story, Chujiro Hayashi was not the
successor to Usui Sensei, but rather Mr. J. Ushida as previously
mentioned.
| | Footnotes |
|
13 Inscription on Usui Memorial.
14 Yamaguchi, Light on the Origins of Reiki, 63–64.
15 Walter Lubeck, Frank Arjava Petter, William Lee Rand, The Spirit of Reiki (Twin Lakes, WI: Lotus Press, 2003), 15
16 “Earthquakes Tokyo-Yokohama,” Encyclopedia Britannica (1997), CD-ROM.
17 Reiki News Magazine (Spring 2011): 18 for a photo of Usui Sensei and the twenty Shihan.
18 Yamaguchi, Light on the Origins of Reiki, 63–64.
19 Takai, The Twilight Zone, 140–143.
20 Inscription on Usui Memorial.
21 According to Toshitaka Mochizuki, lyashi No Te,
Taireido was started by Tanaka Monihei. Tenohira-Ryouchi-Kenkyuka,
which means “The Association for The Study of Palm Treatments,” was
started by Toshihiro Eguchi, who learned healing from Usui Sensei before
founding his own group. Eguchi also wrote books on healing, which are
now hard to find. Jintai-Ragium-Gakkai, which means “The Human Body
Radium Society,” was founded by Matumoto Chiwake, and Shinnoukyou-Honin
was a religious group founded by Nishimura Taikan, whose method was
called ShinnouKyouSyokusyu-Shikou Ryoho, meaning “Violet Light Healing
Method.”
22 Winston Davis, Dojo, Magic and Exorcism in Modern Japan (Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press, 1980).
23 Frank Arjava Petter, Reiki Fire, (Twin Lakes, WI: Lotus Light, 1997), 26. ISBN 0-914955-50-0.
24 This list comes from the research of Frank Arjava Petter. |
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Chujiro Hayashi
Before his passing, Usui Sensei had asked Hayashi Sensei to
open his own Reiki clinic and to expand and develop Reiki Ryoho based on
his previous experience as a medical doctor in the Navy. Motivated by
this request, Hayashi Sensei started a school and clinic called Hayashi
Reiki Kenkyukai (Institute). After Usui Sensei’s passing he also left
the Gakkai.
At his clinic he kept careful records of all the illnesses
and conditions patients who came to see him had. He also kept records of
which Reiki hand positions worked best to treat each patient. Based on
these records he created the Reiki Ryoho Shinshin (Guidelines for Reiki
Healing Method).(
25)
This healing guide was part of a class manual he gave to his students.
Many of his students received their Reiki training in return for working
in his clinic.(
26)
Hayashi Sensei also changed the way Reiki sessions are given.
Rather than have the client seated in a chair and treated by one
practitioner as Usui Sensei had done, Hayashi Sensei had the client lie
on a treatment table and receive treatment from several practitioners at
a time. He also created a new more effective system for giving Reiju
(attunements).(
27)
In addition, he developed a new method of teaching Reiki that he used
when he traveled. In this method, he taught both Shoden and Okuden
(Reiki I&II) together in one five-day seminar. Each day included two
to three hours of instruction and one Reiju.(
28)
Because of his trip to Hawaii in 1937–38 prior to the
Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, he was asked by the Japanese military
to provide information about the location of warehouses and other
military targets in Honolulu. He refused to do so and was declared a
traitor. This caused him to lose face, which meant he and his family
would be disgraced and would be ostracized from Japanese society. The
only solution was seppuku (ritual suicide), which he carried out. He
died honorably on May 11, 1940.(
29)
Hawayo Takata
The following is a summary of Mrs. Hawayo Takata’s version of
her early years leading up to her contact with Reiki at the Hayashi
clinic:
She stated that she was born on December 24th, 1900, on
the island of Kauai, Hawaii. Her parents were Japanese immigrants and
her father worked in the sugar cane fields. She eventually married the
bookkeeper of the plantation where she was employed. His name was Saichi
Takata and they had two daughters. In October 1930 Saichi died at the
age of 34, leaving Mrs. Takata to raise their two children.
In order to provide for her family, she had to work very
hard with little rest. After five years she developed severe abdominal
pain and a lung condition, and she had a nervous breakdown. Soon after
this one of her sisters died and it was Mrs. Takata’s responsibility to
travel to Japan, where her parents had resettled to deliver the news.
She also felt she could receive help for her health in Japan.
After informing her parents, she entered a hospital and
stated that she was diagnosed with a tumor, gallstones, appendicitis and
asthma.(
30)
She was told to prepare for an operation but opted to visit Hayashi Sensei’s clinic instead.
Mrs. Takata was unfamiliar with Reiki but was impressed
that the diagnosis of Reiki practitioners at the clinic closely matched
the doctor’s at the hospital. She began receiving treatments. Two Reiki
practitioners would treat her each day. The heat from their hands was so
strong, she said, that she thought they were secretly using some kind
of equipment. Seeing the large sleeves of the Japanese kimono worn by
one, she thought she had found the secret place of concealment. Grabbing
his sleeves one day she startled the practitioner, but, of course,
found nothing. When she explained what she was doing, he began to laugh
and then told her about Reiki and how it worked.
Mrs. Takata got progressively better and in four months
was completely healed. She wanted to learn Reiki for herself. In the
spring of 1936 she received First Degree Reiki from Dr. Hayashi. She
then worked with him for a year and received Second Degree Reiki. Mrs.
Takata returned to Hawaii in 1937, followed shortly thereafter by
Hayashi Sensei and his daughter who came to help establish Reiki there.
In February of 1938 Hayashi Sensei initiated Hawayo Takata as a Reiki
Master.
To summarize Takata Sensei’s Reiki background, she traveled
from Hawaii to Japan to tell her parents about the death of her sister.
Having been diagnosed with several ailments, the main one being asthma,
she was guided to Hayashi Sensei’s clinic in Tokyo and after receiving
four months of Reiki treatments was completely cured.(
31)
She wanted to learn Reiki in order to continue treating herself and
also to take it back to Hawaii to share with others. Hayashi Sensei
allowed her to work at his clinic and also began giving her Reiki
training. She worked one year at the clinic and eventually received the
Shinpiden level (Reiki Master). Hayashi Sensei officially acknowledged
this in Hawaii on February 21, 1938, and also stated that she was one of
thirteen Reiki Masters trained by him.(
32)
| Footnotes |
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25 A translation of this healing guide can be found on page 63.
26 Frank Arjava Petter interviewing Tsutomo Oishi, a member of Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai.
27 Rand, “An Interview with Hiroshi Doi, Part 1.” 13.
28 Yamaguchi, Light on the Origins of Reiki, 28.
29 Ibid., 69.
30 Vera Graham, “Mrs. Takata Opens Minds to Reiki,” The (San Mateo) Times, May 17, 1975.
31 Patsy Matsura, “Mrs. Takata and Reiki Power,” Honolulu Advertiser, Feb. 25, 1974.
32 This
information was recorded on Mrs. Takata’s Reiki certificate and in Mrs.
Takata’s handwritten notes dated May 1936. A copy of her Reiki
certificate is included in the article How Hayayo Takata Practiced and Taught Reiki. |
|
Takata Sensei practiced Reiki in Hawaii, establishing several
clinics, one of which was located in Hilo on the Big Island. She gave
treatments and initiated students up to Reiki II. She became a
well-known healer and traveled to the U.S. mainland and other parts of
the world teaching and giving treatments. She was a powerful healer who
attributed her success to the fact that she did a lot of Reiki on each
client. She would often do multiple treatments, each sometimes lasting
hours, and she often initiated members of a client’s family so they
could give Reiki to the client as well.
It was not until after 1970 that Takata Sensei began
initiating Reiki Masters. She charged a fee of $10,000 for Mastership
even though the training took only a weekend.(
33)
This high fee was not part of the Usui system, and she may have charged
this fee as her way of creating a feeling of respect for Reiki. She
said that one should never do treatments or provide training for free,
but should always charge a fee or get something in return. She also said
that one must study with just one Reiki teacher and stay with that
teacher the rest of one’s life.(
34)
In addition, she did not provide written instruction or allow her
students to take notes or to tape record the classes and students were
not allowed to make any written copies of the Reiki symbols. She said
that Reiki is an oral tradition and that everything had to be
memorized.(
35)
While this is generally true, she didn’t always teach the same way and
in at least one class she allowed her students to take notes and gave
them handouts.(
36)
It is not certain why she said Reiki is an oral tradition or
why she taught Reiki this way. What we do know from our research in
Japan and the research of others is that these rules are not part of the
way Usui Sensei or Hayashi Sensei practiced Reiki. In fact, Takata
Sensei received a Reiki manual from Hayashi Sensei indicating that the
oral tradition was not how Hayashi Sensei taught.(
37)
In addition, Takata Sensei taught Reiki differently than howshe had
been taught. She simplified and standardized the hand positions so that
every treatment would be the same. She called this the “foundation
treatment,” containing just eight hand positions.(
38) She also eliminated the Japanese Reiki Techniques.
Before Mrs. Takata made her transition on December 11, 1980, she had initiated twenty-two Reiki Masters.(
39)
These twenty-two Masters began teaching others. However, Mrs. Takata
had made each one take a sacred oath to teach Reiki exactly as she had
taught. This made it difficult for most of them to change, even though
some of her rules made it more difficult to learn, which seemed to go
against the nature of Reiki.
This version of the history of Reiki from Usui Sensei to Mrs.
Takata relies on verifiable information that has taken a long time to
reach the West. In addition to the reasons for this mentioned earlier,
there are a number of others. After Hayashi Sensei died and World War II
ended, Takata Sensei stated that all the other Reiki Masters in Japan
had died during the war and that she was the only Reiki Master in the
world.(
40)
Therefore, most people refrained from researching the history of Reiki,
thinking she was the only authority. Many of the Masters she initiated
also discouraged people from doing such research, stating that it was
not needed, as their knowledge of Reiki was complete. Add to all this
the fact that the Gakkai had become a secret society along with the
linguistic, cultural, and geographic barriers that separated the United
States from Japan, and it is easy to see why most authors simply
accepted her story as true without seeking verification. Most did not
realize that the organization started by Usui Sensei still existed in
Japan and that contact with them, while difficult, was still possible.
| Footnotes |
|
33 Bethel
Phaigh, “Journey into Consciousness,” 130. Other Masters initiated by
Mrs. Takata have confirmed that she gave Reiki Master training in a
weekend.
34 We
know that Keizo Ogawa took Reiki Master training from Usui Sensei and
lichi Taketomi, so it is not likely this rule came from Usui Sensei.
35 “Mrs. Takata Speaks,” audiotape. This was also explained to me by Bethal Phaigh in 1981 when I took Reiki I from her.
36 William Lee Rand, “Takata’s Handouts,” Reiki News Magazine (Summer 2009): 58. This article contains the handouts and notes taken during one of her classes.
37 A translation of this manual is in Reiki, The Healing Touch on page 63.
38 John Harvey Gray and Lourdes Gray with Steven McFadden and Elisabeth Clark, Hand to Hand, The Longest-Practicing Reiki Master Tells His Story (Gray, 2002), 93.
39 Before
she died, Takata Sensei created a list of the twenty-two Masters she
had initiated. They are: George Araki, Dorothy Baba (deceased), Ursula
Baylow (deceased), Rick Bockner, Barbara Brown, Fran Brown (deceased),
Patricia Ewing, Phyllis Lei Furumoto, Beth Gray (deceased), John Gray
(deceased), Iris Ishikura (deceased), Harry Kuboi, Ethel Lombardi,
Barbara McCullough, Mary McFadyen, Paul Mitchell, Bethel Phaigh
(deceased), Barbara Weber Ray, Shinobu Saito, Kay Yamashita (Mrs.
Takata’s sister), Virginia Samdahl (deceased), and Wanja Twan.
40 Graham, “Mrs. Takata Opens Minds to Reiki.” This is also stated on her Reiki flyers dated July 1975 and June 1976. |
|
Reiki Since Mrs. Takata
Reiki energy is very flexible and creative, treating each
unique situation with a unique response and working freely with all
other forms of healing. The Reiki energy itself provides a wonderful
model for the practice of Reiki. This began to be acknowledged gradually
after Takata Sensei passed on. In the mid-1980s, Iris Ishikura, one of
Takata’s Masters, trained two Reiki Masters at a more reasonable fee and
made them promise they would also charge a reasonable fee. The Masters
trained by Ishikura at this lower fee began training many other Masters
in turn. Out of this group, many were open to change and began allowing
the wisdom of the Reiki energy to guide them in the way they should
practice and teach Reiki. Because of this, restrictive rules began to
fall away. Reiki classes became more open and more supportive of the
learning process. Workbooks were created, notes and tape recordings were
allowed, reasonable fees were charged, and many began studying with
more than one teacher. All this generated greater respect for Reiki. It
also increased people’s understanding of Reiki and improved their
healing skills. With lower fees, the practice of Reiki began to grow
quickly and spread all over the world. It is estimated that there are at
least 1,000,000 Reiki Masters in the world today with well over
4,000,000 practitioners, and the numbers continue to grow!
I learned Reiki I on the Big Island of Hawaii in 1981 from
Bethel Phaigh, who had learned from Mrs. Takata. In 1982, I received
Reiki II from Bethel. I loved Reiki and started a Reiki practice.
Because of the high fee for Reiki Master training and other restrictive
rules, I did not think that becoming a Reiki Master was part of my
spiritual path. However, Reiki has a way of guiding us in the way we
should go, and through a number of coincidences and fortunate
circumstances I met Diane McCumber in 1989. She was a Reiki Master of
the Ishikura lineage and was charging a very reasonable fee to train
Reiki Masters. I took her training and began to teach.
I chose to allow the Reiki energy to guide how I would
teach. Rather than adhere strictly to the rules set by Takata Sensei, I
wanted to do everything I could to help my students learn Reiki and use
it in a way that was right for them. If they wanted to start a Reiki
practice or to teach, then I wanted them to be as successful as
possible.
To further this purpose, I took everything I had learned
about Reiki to that point, organized the information and placed it in a
class workbook that included drawings of the Reiki hand positions, which
I then gave to my Reiki students. I have continued to expand and update
the workbook until it evolved into the workbook you are reading now.
From the beginning, I encouraged students to take notes and
to tape record my classes; I openly answered all questions and actively
encouraged my students to do well. I taught the value of developing
one’s intuition and having confidence in one’s experience and personal
decision-making abilities. Knowing that one can always learn more, I
continued to study Reiki from others and eventually took the Master
Training from four additional Masters including two from Japan. This
added to my understanding of Reiki, as each teacher had gained many
unique insights about how Reiki works and how to practice it. I make it a
point to acknowledge the value of other teachers and practitioners. In
my travels, I continue to exchange Reiki information with them, looking
for new information to use and pass on to others.
Because I based my Reiki practice on the process of working
in harmony with the qualities and values apparent in Reiki energy and
following Reiki’s guidance in carrying out my plans, my classes were
filled with students right from the beginning.
A newsletter was started in 1990 that continued to grow in size and readership and in 2002 became the
Reiki News Magazine.
Wanting to maintain high standards for Reiki, I started a
teacher certification program (now called our Center Licensed Teachers
program) that required additional training and takes about three years
to complete.
In 1995 a website was started (
www.reiki.org)
that offers over 300 free articles on Reiki and lots of resources for
those wanting to practice or teach Reiki. We also have a web store,
which offers class workbooks, Reiki tables, and other products helpful
to Reiki practitioners and teachers. (
www.reikiwebstore.com)
We began the Center for Reiki Research in 2009 (
www.centerforreikiresearch.org).
Staffed by seven Ph.D qualifed researchers, it contains references and
summaries of all Reiki research studies published in peer-reviewed
journals, a list of 70 hospital Reiki programs, and many useful articles
and other features to help those interested in promoting an
evidence-based understanding of Reiki. We’ve also started our own
research study on pain in orthopedic patients due to be completed in
2012.
In 2010, we created a professional Reiki Membership Association (
www.reikimembership.com).
The current membership of over 1300 Reiki practitioners and teachers
offers Reiki sessions and classes across the U.S. and in some foreign
countries.
The text above is reprinted from Reiki the Healing Touch by William Lee Rand.
Permission is granted to reprint the text onto your web site as long as
you use the entire text and do not make changes and indicate that the
source is from www.reiki.org.
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