REIKI HISTORY

There are differences; Spiritual Healing is a form of mediumship in which a naturally gifted person channels or donates energy to effect a cure. Reiki Healing is energy channelled by an ATTUNED person to empower the healee to cure themselves. It is based on the principles of Traditional Chinese Medicine and energy transfer techniques like Chi Kung, but unlike Chi Kung, the healer does not donate their own energy, but acts as a channel for the energy, without being drained themselves.

In the west, Reiki’s primary purpose is seen as that of a healing system. While it’s certainly true that Reiki can be used to heal, that’s only part of the story. In fact, in terms of the system from which our western Reiki is derived, the healing of others was seen as a side-effect - an incidental, if useful, benefit. The original system was developed in the late 1800s by a Japanese Buddhist named Mikao Usui.

In its original form, ‘Reiki’ was a path to enlightenment and the original impetus for the development of the system was experiencing the personal benefits that would be obtained if one could come to know one’s true purpose in life and be content. There are further spiritual exercises within the original system that have yet to be passed to the West.

The original Japanese form of Reiki is very different from the way that it has ended up being practised in the West, and we are even now only scratching the surface when it comes to understanding the depth and enormity of Usui’s system. The original system, called Usui Teate (pronounced TEE-ahh-TAY) or Usui-Do (Usui’s Way), was a spiritual path: a path to enlightenment, based on committing yourself to carrying out meditations and self-healings, receiving regular spiritual empowerments, and receiving training in an open ended fashion. The payoff was experiencing the personal benefits that would be obtained if one could come to know one’s true purpose in life and be content. This is rather like the way that martial arts is taught in the West today: you keep turning up and slowly developing your skills, and when it is thought that you have progressed sufficiently, then you are allowed to move on to the next level of training.

To understand the circumstances that gave rise to the development of the system we know today as Reiki, it is helpful to understand a little of the history of Japan.

Before 300 BC, Japan was unimportant in the Far East. China was the great mover and shaker of the times, having a sophisticated society with a rich language and literature traditions. An innovative and practical race, they excelled in science and the arts, making invention after invention, but were weak on capitalising on them.

At that time, the inhabitants of the Japanese islands were gatherers, fishers and hunters with an Emperor, who was said to be descended from the Sun Goddess. There is no evidence that a written language existed in Japan at this time.

Around 100 BC, Japanese agriculture became widespread, social classes started to evolve, and parts of the country began to unite under powerful land owners who came to rule Japan. Political power struggles were constant, as were minor wars and skirmishes. The political power was now in the hands of the clans, with the emperors only acting as the symbol of the state. Despite the fact that the effective power of the emperors was limited or purely symbolic throughout most of Japan’s history, all actual rulers respected the emperor and were keen in having the imperial legitimisation for their position as rulers of Japan. It is interesting to note that emperors have reigned over Japan since this time, and that they have all descended from the same imperial family.

Shinto (which means "the way of the gods") the indigenous faith of the Japanese people, is a polytheistic religion which has neither a founder nor sacred scriptures such as the sutras or the bible. Reverence is given to the sacred spirits, called "Kami" which take the form of things and concepts important to life, such as wind, rain, mountains, trees, rivers and fertility. Humans become kami after they die and are revered by their families as ancestral kami. The kami of extraordinary people are even enshrined at some holy places. The Sun Goddess (Amaterasu) is considered to be Shinto’s most important kami.

Acupuncture came to Japan in 502 AD. The Chinese government of the day presented the Mikado (Emperor, or Tenno) of Japan with the "Canon of Acupuncture". Zhi Cong (pronounced Gee Tsong) brought charts of Acupuncture and Moxibustion and other medical texts.

Somewhere between 540 and 550, Buddhism was introduced from China, closely followed by Confucianism and Taoism. Kanji (Chinese writing) began penetrating Japanese culture in earnest and the Chinese system of medicine was also adopted. The introduction of Buddhism was followed by a few initial conflicts, however, the two religions were soon able to co-exist harmoniously and even complement each other. Many Buddhists viewed the Kami as manifestations of Buddhas.

In 620, the Japanese government sent doctors to China to study and issued an imperial decree to copy the medical educational system of the Chinese Tang dynasty. It set up a speciality of Acupuncture and Moxibustion.

The Japanese embraced these practices, as they have embraced many things Chinese over the millenia and developed them along their own lines.

In 645, new governmental, administrative and tax systems were established after the Chinese model; these would to last until the rise of the military class (samurai) in the 11th century.

During this period, the imported Chinese influences were "Japanesed" and absorbed into the culture.

In 1633, the Shogun forbade travelling abroad and almost completely isolated Japan in 1640, by expelling all Foreigners except the Dutch and Chinese, who were confined to special trading centres in Nagasaki only. In addition, all foreign books were banned. No Japanese were allowed to leave the country. Christianity was declared illegal and all Japanese were forced to register at Buddhist temples. Those Japanese who refused to renounce Christianity were executed, so were a number of the European missionaries who refused to leave the country.

Towards the end of the 18th century, external pressure started to become an increasingly important issue, when the Russians first tried to establish trade contacts with Japan without success. They were followed by other European nations and the Americans in the 19th century. Eventually, the Shogun was forced to open a limited number of ports for international trade in 1853.

Anti-government feelings were growing and caused other movements such as the demand for the restoration of imperial power. In 1867, the Tokugawa government began to fall because of heavy political pressure and the power of the Emperor as ruler was restored.

In the midst of all this, Mikao Usui was born on 15th. August 1865 in the village of ‘Taniai-mura’ (now called Miyama-cho) in the Yamagata district of Gifu prefecture of the Japanese capital city of Kyoto. The Usui family were Tendai Buddhist followers. They came from a Samurai background and were ‘Hatamoto’, which means they were from the higher Samurai ranks.

In 1868, three years after Usui’s birth, Japan opened its doors to the outside world after many years of being a closed country.

The opening of Japan brought about an explosion of new ideas. Education was revolutionised according to European models and a decade or two of intense "Westernisation" occurred. Inevitably, the pendulum swung and produced a revival of conservative and nationalistic feelings. The principles of Confucianism and Shinto including the worship of the emperor were increasingly emphasised and taught.

Japan searched for itself and, in both arts and sciences, native Japanese movements became increasingly popular. Martial Arts such as Juijitsu and Aiki Jutsu were developed and new ones, such as Aikido, emerged from them at this time, many with spiritual values at their foundations, as were a number of Japanese Teaté or palm healing methods.

Usui grew up during this period: Japan was a melting pot of new ideas, with many new spiritual systems and healing techniques being developed.

At the age of four, Usui was sent to a Tendai Buddhist monastery which gave foundation to his interest in spiritual development and healing. He would have studied ‘kiko’ (the Japanese version of Chi Kung) to an advanced level - and maybe practised projection healings. He followed the Buddhist teachings all his life and became a very spiritual man.

Around the age of 12 he started practising the Martial Art of Aiki Jutsu, eventually reaching the highest level of Menkyo Kaiden by his mid twenties. He also reached high levels in several other of the most ancient Japanese methods.

His memorial states that he was a talented hard working student, he liked to read and his knowledge of medicine, psychology, fortune telling and theology of religions around the world, including the Kyoten (Buddhist Bible) was vast. At some point in his life he became a Buddhist Monk/Priest (but still having his own home, not living in the temple). This is called a ‘Zaike’ in Japanese - a priest possessing a home. He was a Tendai Buddhist and remained so all his life. As a young man, he worked as a businessman and as a diplomatic ‘aide’, a term which was often used as a euphemism for a bodyguard. It is during his time in diplomatic service that he may have had the opportunity to travel to other countries, including America, Europe and China.

He was interested in a great many things and seems to have carried out a great deal of research at the large University library in Kyoto, where sacred texts from all over the world would have been held.

Mikao Usui was wondering what the ultimate purpose of life was, and set out to try to understand this. After some time he finally experienced an enlightenment: the ultimate life purpose was ‘Anshin Rytsu Mei’ - the state of your mind being totally in peace, knowing what to do with your life, being bothered by nothing. With this revelation, Usui researched harder, for 3 years, trying to achieve this goal.

According to his memorial, he was prompted him to go to Mount Kurama and to carry out a 21-day Tendai Buddhist meditation and fast called the ‘Lotus Repentance Meditation’ and, at the end of it, he experienced an enlightenment or ‘satori’ that led to the development of his system. There is, however, evidence that Usui had actually been teaching his spiritual system for several years before carrying out the meditation mentioned on his memorial. It is however entirely possible that a satori may have crystallised certain aspects of the system, but this is speculation.

Usui’s healing technique is based firmly on the esoteric principles that were represented in Japan in the early part of last century. It is based on the principles of Traditional Chinese Medicine and energy transfer techniques like Chi Kung. Even martial arts, at which Usui excelled, develop into healing systems at the highest levels. Reiki draws upon ‘mystical’ Tendai Buddhism and Shintoism in terms of the use of symbols within Reiki, and Tendai Buddhism in terms of the energy exercises and traditional empowerments that are only now emerging from Japan. Usui brought together all these various strands in a unique way. His technique allows anyone to be connected permanently to a source of healing energy. Once attuned, you can channel this energy without having to dedicate yourself to many years of practice, and it is possible for anyone to learn how to bestow this ability on others through a simple connection ritual.

The original impetus for the development of Usui’s system was the personal benefits that would be experienced if one could come to know one’s true purpose in life and be content. It seems that there are further spiritual exercises within the original system of Reiki that have yet to be passed to the West. The healing benefits were a useful extra. In its original form, Reiki was a path to enlightenment.

Originally, Usui referred to the healing part of his system as Teaté which means ‘hand healing’ or ‘hand application’. The name ‘Reiki’ came later. In fact, there is a long tradition of ‘palm healing’ in Japan, and this is one of the traditions that Usui drew upon in creating what is now called Reiki.

There is evidence of him having taught as early as 1915, but in 1922 Usui moved his school, or ‘spiritual seat of learning’ from Kyoto to Tokyo.

His Place of Learning was formed not just for the spiritual teachings but also for people to obtain the healing, which was very cheap or even free.

According to Japanese history articles, healing and other similar practices at that time would be given for very minimal cost.

The Usui teachings were mainly about teaching people how to heal themselves, both physically and spiritually. These were very popular among the older people who saw them as a return to the older ‘Spiritual Ways’, at a time in Japan when many changes were being made by the Meiji government, in particular in religion and westernisation.

Although he did not have a name for his teachings he did refer to them as a ‘Method to Achieve Personal Perfection’.

He taught that it is by mastering the mysteries of self that we learn to discover and come to know the mysteries of life.

His spiritual teachings included the ‘Oneness’ of all things, that we are all one and come from and return to the same place and thus he taught the value of all life.

His method was a truly Spiritual one based on following a set of Precepts, leading a proper life, and healing yourself, emphasising health and happiness, based on meditation exercises.

The precepts were

These are the foundation of Usui’s teachings and are very, very important.

The precepts that are familiar to us are Mikao Usui’s own wording of a much older set of precepts which originated in the early 9th century and were the basic daily practice and rule in Shugendo, or certainly in the Tendai sect of Shugendo that Usui Sensei had contact with.

The words of the ancient precepts are the property of a Tendai Shugendo order sometimes known as the Marathon Monks of Togakure Mountain (Mount Hiei-zan), Japan. These words are sacred sounds, so although the abbot of the order has authorised that they be shared with students, he has decreed that they should not be published, which is why they do not appear here.

It is here that Usui Sensei probably also came to practice the Lotus Sūtra - the Lotus-meditation Hall is very important to the Tendai, used in much the same way as in classical Chinese T'ien-t'ai.

Although the spiritual teachings are Buddhist in origin and include some very ancient Shinto energy practices, they are structured to suit any student regardless of religion, or belief.

Usui was a well-known healer in his time, one of perhaps 30 famous healers in Japan, but what he was doing in terms of treatments was not very different from what the other healers were doing; what made Usui stand out was the spiritual teachings. He treated others to cultivate interest in his spiritual system.

It is clear that what Usui Sensei was teaching was a spiritual path and self-healing system, and the treatment of others was not focused on or emphasised at all. It’s not that the students didn’t treat others, but it was definitely a side-issue, not at all the main thrust of the system.

There were many ‘palm-healing’ schools in Japan at that time and, even though Usui didn’t particularly stress that part of his system, something was about to happen that was to make people realise that his school had more to offer than many.

On 1 September 1923, one of the worst earthquakes in world history hit the Kanto plain and destroyed Tokyo, Yokohama and the surrounding area. Over 100,000 people fell victim to this earthquake and the fires caused by it.

Mikao Usui with his helpers took his healing to the area and as a result of his work became even more famous.

Following the earthquake he was awarded an honorary ‘Doctorate of Literature’, in recognition of his services to the public during the emergency.

He became very well known for his healing skills and people would go to visit him, as his fame spread throughout Japan, both to be healed and to learn his system.

There were 3 broad "levels" at which people studied, with all but the first level having subdivisions. These were Sho-den, Oku-den and Shinpi-den.

The first teachings ‘Shoden’ were made available to anyone who desired them. The vast majority of his students - probably more than 2000 - would have been Shoden and not taken it any further. No specific Religion was attached to the teachings. It was available for all regardless of religion, beliefs, etc. ‘‘Shoden’’ teachings were made available to anyone who desired them. The exercises included chanting the precepts and also opening yourself by practising energy exercises and meditations.

Those students showing a willingness to learn and who made sufficient progress were taught Okuden. In all levels above Shoden it included spiritual teachings/meditations. These were based on Buddhist and Shinto teachings.

If students were interested and were diligent in their practice, they would study the spiritual path at Okuden level.

The main teachings are contained in Okuden (two inner levels - Zenki & Kouki) These teachings took years to learn and were of a very spiritual nature, containing many different meditations and energy exercises. Out of the about 2000 he taught only a few - maybe as little as 30-50 - would have completed this level.

The first meditation was a Hara defining mediation. This is the most powerful meditation and has been practised in Japan since the 8th century, but it is much older - probably about 2000 years old.

Having completed this exercise, the student received other meditations to help him/her feel and understand the Earth-energies and the Heavenly-energies. Shinto students would have used sacred sounds, called Jumon, or Kotodama, to help them connect with the energies.

The Earth-energy works on physical level and the Heaven-energy works on mental/emotional level. Each of the exercises had to be practised for several months. Once completed, the meditations are no longer needed and the student has become one with the energy. Following these meditations you do NOT need to use any symbols or Jumon/Kotodama - you are the energy.

Shinpiden; Shihan -these levels included the Mystery teachings, further meditations and kotodama, plus training to empower. There were also a number of different additional empowerments.

The number of students reaching Shinpiden level was small, maybe only 17, and not all of them reached the higher levels within Shinpiden. The term Shinpiden (or Okuden or Shoden, for that matter) is used to show what level a student is learning, it does not mean completion.

Eventually, the First, Second and Third Degrees of Reiki were derived from these levels.

The Japanese Navy was equipped with very modern ships and weapons, but they were short on medical staff (only 1 doctor per ship). Usui used to give healing at a marine base and his method had caught the interest of the Navy, which was looking for a healing method to be used by the officers as a first aid treatment. For this purpose Usui created a system which, without years of spiritual training, could be taught to the officers to ‘tide patients over’ while waiting for medical attention - a sort of energy paramedic system.

To do this, he adjusted his teachings for this particular purpose and accepted a group of Navy Officers for this "fast track" paramedic training. It is very clear that the focus of the Imperial Officers was the treatment of others rather than the spiritual aspects of Usui’s system. The officers simply did not have the time to get to grips with the energies in the way that all the other students had been using (either meditations over many months or chanting Shinto mantras). Nonetheless, understanding the energies was extremely important, so to address this, Usui and Eguchi, another famous "palm healer" who shared Usui’s dojo, prepared some symbols to help the officers visualise the energies. The symbols have no power in themselves, they are only used as a focus to connect to the energy. They could be compared to stabiliser wheels on a bicycle - once you are able to ride confidently, you can let them go.

One of the Imperial Officers, Dr Hayashi, was already medically trained and fascinated by the treatment possibilities of Usui’s spiritual system. He developed a list of ‘good hand positions for different ailments’ that was used in the Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai (Usui memorial society) and which has been published by Arjava Petter as "Dr Usui’s handbook". It is, however, the work of Dr Hayashi.

There are military records that describe the use, on board ship, of the energy healing system that was passed on by Usui to the Imperial officers. For these people, he introduced the term ‘Ryuku’ which means, someone who is a good practitioner but not familiar with the full teachings.

Through a strange series of events, this "fast track" system was the basis for what was to become Reiki.

On March 9th 1926, at the age of 62, Usui died from a stroke while visiting Fukoyama.

‘Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai’, Usui’s memorial society, was formed after Usui’s death by a number of the naval officers and other senior students of Usui Sensei, in his memory.

In February 1927 the officers also erected a Memorial for Usui in the grounds of Saihoji Temple, which gives a history of his life and work.

Hawayo Takata was born in 1900 on the island of Kauai, Hawaii, of Japanese parents. During a trip to Japan in 1935, she came to Dr Hayashi’s clinic suffering from a number of serious medical conditions that were resolved through Reiki, for which she had originally intended to receive conventional Western medical treatments for. Mrs Takata was quite sceptical about Reiki, but her scepticism turned into belief as her health problems resolved and she decided that she wanted to learn Reiki for herself. To pay for her training, she worked in the clinic for 2 years until, in 1937, she returned to Hawaii. The following year, Dr Hayashi went to Hawaii on a lecture tour and initiated Mrs Takata to the final level of Reiki.

War broke out and it appears that the Gakkai HQ was destroyed by the air bombardments during WWII.

Hayashi committed ritual suicide on May 11, 1940, after deciding that he did not want to go back to war. He was 62. After this, Mrs Takata lost touch with all her Reiki contacts in Japan and feared that Reiki had died out there.

After the war, she brought Reiki to mainland United States, Canada and then to Europe.

This cannot have been easy for Mrs Takata - teaching a Japanese healing technique in the United States, after the Second World War, with memories of Pearl Harbour still in everyone’s minds. The American population was not particularly well disposed towards anything connected with Japan.

For this reason, she was forced to modify, simplify and change the Reiki that she had been taught, in order for it to be acceptable to the West.

She also felt obliged to fabricate a story about the history of Reiki to make it more acceptable to a hostile American public. Out went Mikao Usui, Tendai Buddhist, and in came Dr Mikao Usui, Christian theologian, who travelled the world on a great quest to discover a healing system that explained the healing miracles that Jesus performed. So stories about Usui being a Christian Doctor, going on a world-wide quest, and studying theology at various Universities along they way, are just fabrication. Usui was a Tendai Buddhist and remained so all of his life.

In the last ten years of her life, Takata initiated 22 Reiki Masters and she died in December, 1980.

People believed that Reiki had died out in Japan and that the only Reiki that remained in the world was the Western version. But Reiki Masters who moved to Japan in the 1980s found that there were Reiki practitioners there, and that there was a small, close-knit community of Reiki Masters who were quietly continuing Mikao Usui’s techniques. The Gakkai had neither disappeared nor gone to ground.

In 2000, we discovered that there were still 12 of Usui’s Shinpiden students (now all over 100 years old) still alive and practising.

It is from these people that the original history and forms have come to be rediscovered and are now being taught by a few people in the west.

A number of people have created their own version of Reiki - like the original, but with additional facets, such as new symbols, and even new "histories". There’s Tibetan Reiki, Egyptian Reiki, Celtic Reiki - in fact, you name it and it’s probably got a Reiki! That doesn’t mean they don’t work - many of them are valid healing modalities - but, for me, the elegance, simplicity and sheer power of the original needs no "improvement’.

With a martial art, your training never actually finishes. It is a journey which never ends. Reiki is the same. Around the time of the attunement (sometimes before it, even) you may experience a system cleansing or emotional outbursts as blockages are released in your energy system and long standing emotional issues are dealt with. Afterwards, expect reading; expect learning, expect practice, system cleansing, and more practice. Reiki is for life.