Reiki For Dummies. Nina L. Paul

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Reiki before Mikao Usui

      Some Reiki teachers have suggested that Mikao Usui not so much founded Reiki but refound this ancient form of healing. Here are two versions of these theories:

       Reiki is an ancient healing energy, but it had become lost. Usui channeled this lost ancient energy while meditating on Mount Kurama.

       Reiki came from Buddhist texts, and Mikao Usui found these texts in his research.Certainly, Buddhism influenced Mikao Usui’s system. Usui himself was a lay Buddhist priest (which meant he could live with his family) and lived in a country that practiced Buddhism and Shintoism. Development of the symbols was certainly influenced by Buddhism. (See Chapter 8 for more information about the symbols.)

Mikao Usui called his system unique, and thus far no researcher has been able to prove that Usui’s system of natural healing comes from any particular Buddhist text or ancient civilization. Mikao Usui found a way to a universal truth: that healing and enlightenment are possible, and everyone is capable of this healing and enlightenment. Usui developed his system of Reiki precisely because he wanted to share with others what he had found.

Exploring the Medical Approach: Chujiro Hayashi

      Chujiro Hayashi was one of Mikao Usui’s students who had a huge influence on the further development of Reiki. When Hayashi studied with Usui, he was a retired naval medical officer. Hayashi was able to spend ten months learning Reiki from Usui before Usui died in 1926.

      Dr. Hayashi, a surgeon, brought a medical approach to the practice of Reiki with his knowledge of anatomy and medicine. He prepared a manual of hand positions that treated different illnesses.

      He also set up the first Reiki clinic, which brought Reiki healing into a medical model of treatments. His clinic was able to treat at least eight people simultaneously on separate mats or futons, with two practitioners working on each recipient.

      Dr. Hayashi passed on Reiki to students by using symbols and mantras during the attunement process (see Chapter 7). Branches of Western Reiki use this modern process.

      

Chujiro Hayashi, though a retired naval officer, was a man of peace. As World War II approached, he knew that Japan would go to war and that he would be called back to duty. So at the age of 40, he decided to end his life rather than be forced to kill people in military action.

The branch of Reiki that Dr. Hayashi developed was called Hayashi Reiki Kenkyu Kai; his wife Chie Hayashi continued this branch after he died. This branch doesn’t seem to have survived, but Dr. Hayashi’s teachings have continued through his two most well-known Reiki Master students:

       Hawayo Takata: Dr. Hayashi took the important step to train a Hawaiian woman, Hawayo Takata (see the next section). Because of his actions, Reiki spread to another continent.

       Chiyoko Yamaguchi: Chiyoko Yamaguchi and her son taught Jikiden Reiki, and one of her former students teaches Komyo Reiki Do. (See Appendix A for contact information about these two Reiki branches.)

Bringing Reiki from East to West: Hawayo Takata

      Hawayo Takata plays a critical role in Reiki history because she brought the practice of Reiki from Japan to the West. Prior to this, Reiki was practiced only in Japan.

      Though Hawayo Takata was an American citizen born in the then-territory of Hawaii, she was of Japanese heritage, so she was able to walk in both Eastern and Western worlds.

      Hawayo Takata was born on Christmas Eve 1900 and named for her birthplace of Hawaii. Her parents had emigrated from Japan. To take care of personal business and health matters, Hawayo Takata traveled to Japan in 1935.

      Learning Reiki for herself

      While Hawayo Takata was on the operating table to take care of some gastrointestinal issues, she heard a voice tell her not to have surgery. She then asked whether a nonsurgical solution for her health was possible. She was directed to Chujiro Hayashi’s Reiki clinic.

After a few weeks, she was so impressed with the Reiki method that she was able to persuade Chujiro Hayashi to teach it to her. Her daily Reiki treatments continued for several months, after which she was cured of her illness.

      PASSING REIKI ON

      For decades, Hawayo Takata practiced Reiki in Hawaii and the mainland United States. In 1976 she trained her first Reiki Master and ended up training 22 Reiki Masters before she died in 1980. In the West, a Reiki Master has the ability to teach other Reiki students.

      Here are the names of Takata’s Reiki Masters:

       George Araki

       Dorothy Baba

       Ursula Baylow

       Rick Bockner

       Patricia Bowling Ewing

       Barbara Brown

       Fran Brown

       Phyllis Lei Furumoto

       Beth Gray

       John Harvey Gray

       Iris Ishikuro

       Harry Kuboi

       Ethel Lombardi

       Barbara McCullough

       Mary McFadyen

       Paul Mitchell

       Bethel Phaigh

       Barbara Weber Ray

       Shinobu Saito

       Virginia Samdahl

       Wanja Twan

       Kay Yamashita

      Hawayo Takata’s students, and their succession of students, brought Reiki to North America, Europe, and other countries.

She continued to study with Chujiro Hayashi and then brought the system back to her native Hawaii. Hayashi and his daughter followed her to Hawaii to help her set up a Reiki practice.

      Takata’s versions of Reiki history

      Many of the stories that Hawayo Takata and her students told and that were subsequently repeated in many books about Reiki history were later found to be inaccurate. For example, she told stories that Mikao Usui was a Christian

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