Ever wondered where Reiki comes from?
Reiki's origins trace back to Japan, where a lay Pureland Buddhist named Mikao Usui. Usui embarked on a spiritual journey in 1922 atop Mount Kurama, where he fasted and meditated for 21 days and on the 21st day, he experienced a profound awakening, attaining enlightenment as well as receiving the gift of Reiki, a profound healing ability.
Usui experimented with the profound healing ability firstly on himself and then on his family. The efficacy was immediate.
Although it was customary for such healing abilities to be kept within the family to ensure their prosperity, with his compassionate heart and desire to help humanity, Mikao Usui thought that it would be far better to offer it widely to the general public and share its benefits than just to improve the well-being of his own family members and so he opened an associations known as the Usui Reiki Gakkai where he practiced and taught Reiki to others.
His Reiki method, put special emphasis not just on healing diseases but also on enjoying wellbeing in life with correcting the mind and making the body healthy with the use of an innate healing ability. It was both a healing and spiritual practice. Usui named these teachings ‘Mystic Art to Invite Happiness’ and ‘Miraculous Medicine to ‘Heal All Diseases’.
After September 1923, there was a great earthquake and Mikao, feeling deep empathy for the suffering, went out every morning to go around the town, and he healed and saved many, many people. As a result of his healing endeavours, he and his miraculous healing ability became famous.
As time went on, his ‘dojo’ became too small for the numbers of people seeking healing and to learn this healing method, in February 1925 a new suburban house was built at Nakano. Due to his respected and far-reaching reputation many people from local districts wished to invite him so they may receive healing and learn this miraculous healing method. He accepted the invitations and went to Kure and then to Hiroshima and Saga, and reached Fukuyama.
Unexpectedly, whilst travelling, he became ill and passed away there. It was March 9 1936, only four years after receiving great Reiki.
A little more than 2,000 people became students of Usui, of which 21 were made Shihans (Teachers). Those of them living in Tokyo gathered at the dojo and carried on his work and those who lived in local districts also spread the teachings.
However, with the approach of World War II, the Usui Gakkai closed itself to the public and became (and today remains) a member's/invite-only group, closed not only to foreigners, but even to the Japanese general public.
For a long time during and after the war, Japanese people had no awareness of the Gakkai or even of Reiki.
However, Usui's last Shihan student, Chujiro Hayashi, had trained one and the only Westerner, a woman name Hawayo Takata who lived in Hawaii. She became one of his Shihan students. She eventually took Reiki back to the West and was thereafter responsible for proliferating Reiki not only during the war but well beyond. For various reasons (some practical due to the hostilities between the West and Japan), she made some changes and adjustments to the story of Reiki (making Usui Christian rather than a lay Pureland Buddhist), as well as making changes to some of the practices Hayashi taught where the hands-on healing practice became the focus, with the spiritual practices dropped with by either her on later on by her 'Master' students in the West over time.
Nevertheless, as a result of Takata's efforts, Reiki continued to spread throughout the West, capturing the interest of those seeking alternative healing methods. Eventually it also then made it's way back to Japan through a Japanese student of a Western Reiki teacher. At some point, one or two Japanese students of Hayashi's came out of the woodwork and began teaching students Japanese Reiki, which comprised of different symbols to those taught to Takata by Hayashi and which including the spiritual practices lost through the Takata lineage.
Phyllis Furomoto, Takata's Granddaughter reflected once:
"And now, some 100 years after this story of Mikao Usui, we can say that Mikao Usui has a unique place in the healing history of mankind even today, and right now. He took a question and through his search, found answers for himself, not a written ‘how to do it’ book or a formula of Reiki practice, but certainly guide-posts and impulses that guided him to each step of the way that he took and as he took these steps, it allows us to see that we are doing the same things.
For each of us, whether we know it or not, somewhere in our life, we have a burning question, we have something that sparks us, that drives us to do something and that question will burn in us for the rest of our lives.
That question probably brought us to Reiki and we will ‘experiment with it’, we will ‘use it’, we will makes mistakes, we will find that it gives others joy and we will get satisfaction from that, we will experience its healing on all different kinds of levels and still there is something that drives us for the next step, something that we know something is around the next corner.
And that’s what Mikao Usui gives us – he gives us this journey that he has done and it allows us to follow the same path that he did but in our own way.
Very inspiring story from a man who was simply a man, following his burning question.”
So, in answer to the question, where does Reiki come from?, the short answer is from Mikao Usui in Japan, but because of World War II and the Usui Gakkai closing after Usui's death, without Hawayo Takata in the West, we would not be practicing Reiki today.
Thanks to both Mikao Usui and Hawayo Takata, we can enjoy the incredible benefits of this practice called Reiki, which offers a holistic approach to healing and spiritual growth, harnessing the universal life force energy to promote balance and well-being on physical, mental, emotional and spiritual levels. Ultimately, Reiki offers us a path to healing, inner peace, personal growth, and a greater understanding of the interconnectedness of all things.
A comprehensive of the fascinating history of Reiki can be found here, otherwise, If you have any more questions about where Reiki comes from or are interested in receiving or learning Reiki and wish to discuss your situation further, please contact me and we can arrange a time to chat. Otherwise, if you are ready to start your Reiki journey, you can book an appointment here or join the waitlist for classes here. I look forward to connecting with you for Reiki!
Warmest,
Fiona x
Fiona Phillips
Certified Reiki Shihan (Teacher) and Practitioner
Within The Space | Melbourne
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