History of
Dr. Mikao Usui
The origin of Reiki can be traced back to ancient Tibet, thousands of years ago. This technique was re-discovered in the 1800's by a Japanese Dr. named Mikao Usui.
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The tradition of Reiki was an oral one and was passed on by Master to Master and Student to student by word of mouth. The following is a synopsis of the story of Dr. Usui's discovery of Reiki, keeping in mind that each storyteller may have embellished the story over the years as it was passed down.
Dr. Usui began to question and wonder how such figures as Jesus and Buddha performed their miracles of healing and thus he began a lifelong quest to uncover the source of ancient healing techniques.
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He requested that he be admitted to the Zen Monastery so that he could study the Buddhist scriptures. He was admitted and granted access and so began his study.
Dr Usui first studied the Japanese translations of the Buddhist scriptures but did not find the explanation he sought. Then he learned Chinese so that a wider range of Buddhist writings were available to him, but still without success.
He was guided through his meditations to learn Sanskrit so that he could read the original Buddhist writing and have access to those writings that had never been translated into another language. After mastering the languages, he began reading the teachings of the Tibetan Buddhist sect. From those writings Dr. Usui discovered the symbols, formulas and description of how Buddha healed.
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Although he believed he had uncovered the knowledge, he still did not have the power to heal. He discussed this with an old friend that was a monk and they meditated upon the path to take. They were guided that Dr. Usui should go to a designated place upon the Holy Mount Kuri Yama. There, he was to fast for 21 days and meditate to seek the power to heal.
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Dr. Usui climbed Kuri Yama to a certain level and found a place that faced East. Every morning he awakened before the sun rose and would throw away one of the 21 stones to keep count of the days.
Each day he meditated and fasted. On the twenty-first day, Dr. Usui awakened to a dark morning. He could not even see his hand in front of his face. He found his way to his meditating spot and picked up the the last stone. Dr. Usui prayed before throwing the last stone off the side of the mountain. As he threw the stone off the side, a light appeared far off in the East. It began getting brighter and coming closer to him as the light streamed across the heavens and hit him in his third eye. For a moment he thought he had died and ascended into heaven because he had never before been in such a euphoric state. He saw many bubbles in all the colours of the rainbow. Then came the powerful, bright white light followed by golden Sanskrit letters - the secret formula of the Universal Life Force and how to contact it. They came to him, one by one, commanding him to memorize and preserve them. Finally the bubbles, the light and the Sanskrit letters had come and gone. Dr. Usui felt rested, full of life and energy.
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He jumped to his feet. He wanted to hurry back and tell the monk of his exciting news. In his eagerness, he stubbed his toe on a rock. He reached down to comfort the pain and to stop the bleeding. He found that the pain and the bleeding quit very rapidly. He realized that something was different about the energy in his hands, they had become very hot.
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Soon he began to feel hungry so he stopped at a home that served travellers. In a few moments a Japanese girl with a bandage wrapped around her jaw brought Dr. Usui his meal. She told him that her tooth had been aching for days. Encouraged by his own phenomenal pain relief, Dr. Usui asked if he could give her a healing and she accepted the offer gladly. He put his hands around her jaw and within a short period of time the pain and swelling started going down.
Dr. Usui ate his meal and then went to pay the girls Father. He thanked Dr. Usui and told him he could not accept the Dr's money as he has rendered a service for which he did not have enough to repay. He offered the food in exchange for the healing service. Dr. Usui accepted the food in exchange for his services as a healing channel.
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Upon returning to Kyoto, he went to tell his friend, the monk what had happened. He asked for advice on what he should do now that he had received the codes and the gift of the Life Force Energy. Dr. Usui was directed by the monk to meditate on it.
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From his meditation Dr. Usui was guided to go to the beggar kingdom in Tokyo. This kingdom was controlled by a beggar King. Dr. Usui went to him and asked if he might live there to heal the sick and the afflicted. The beggar King admitted him but did not believe Dr. Usui would succeed in healing beggars.
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For the next seven years Dr. Usui worked on healing the sick in the beggar kingdom. He worked from dusk until dawn, healing the young and the old and saw many beautiful results take place. He started to understand how Reiki flowed through him into the healed and how the body became well as he acted as a conduit for Reiki.
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One afternoon, Dr. Usui took a walk to the edge of the beggar kingdom. He saw a young beggar who looked familiar and asked if the beggar knew him. He replied, "Of course Dr. Usui I know you. Do you not remember me? I am one of the first beggars that you healed." Dr. Usui said, "I healed you and you are still a beggar?" The beggar looked back at him and said, "Oh Dr. Usui, yes I did what you told me. I went out to the temple to receive a new name, went to society and began dealing with my karma, doing just what you told me to do. I even got a job and soon got married but it was too much responsibility. So I decided that I would rather be a beggar. That way I wouldn't even have to be responsible for myself."
Dr. Usui was greatly upset and thought "What a terrible thing that I have done. Perhaps the physical is not enough - the spiritual has also to be healed. Never again will Reiki be given away-always there will have to be an exchange of energy.” He decided to immediately leave the beggar kingdom.
He opened up a space for people to come and learn about Reiki. In this way he started teaching Reiki throughout Japan and gathered a following of sixteen teachers. Dr. Usui made his transition about 1893 after asking Dr. Chujiro Hayashi to see that the Reiki teachings were preserved and passed down.
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Dr. Hayashi continued in Dr. Usui's tradition; traveling, teaching and dedicating his life to Reiki. He trained two Japanese women. One of these teachers stayed in Japan, the other Mrs. Hawayo Takata of Hawaii was made a Reiki Master in 1938. Prior to Dr. Hayashi's death, Mrs. Takata was integral in spreading the teachings of Reiki to Canada and the United States.
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Today, there are many Reiki Masters and Reiki practitioners around the world. These individuals dedicate and commit their lives to living, being of service and channelling The Universal life force, Reiki.
Dr. Hayashi
