(Photos from Mt. Kurama, Kyoto, Japan – The True Roots of Reiki)

The roots of Reiki begins with its founder…Dr. Mikao Usui (1865-1926). The Dr. is used as an honorary title as little is actually known about him before Reiki appeared on the scene. There are, however, many myths, legends and stories and an investigation is currently underway on both sides of the Pacific in an attempt to separate fact from fiction (although the fiction is indeed fascinating).

Reiki was originally created as a path to spiritual enlightenment with one of its side effects being the ability to heal, both locally and at a distance. The roots of Reiki are found in a mixture of Japanese Esoteric Buddhism (Mikkyo), Chinese Chi Kung (a.k.a. kikou in Japan), Dai Rei Do (an energy healing system developed by Mr. Morihei Tanaka), Omoto Kyo (another energy healing system developed by Mr. Onisaburo Deiguchi) as well as several other practices and methods that were popular in Japan at the time. Reports that Reiki originally came from Tibet, China, India, Egypt, Atlantis, Lemuria (a.k.a. the Continent of Mu) or the Pleiades (a group of planets in the constellation Taurus) are all unsubstantiated, although there are systems of Reiki used in conjunction with these other practices, and some interesting methods which add unique additional energies to each. There are also reports that Reiki originally came from Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed, or Krishna, and while it is entirely possible that these great men had access to the same Reiki energy, there is no evidence that it is exactly the same.

During his life, Dr. Usui attuned 16 masters to Shinpiden (his highest level of Reiki training) among which were his successor, Mr. Juzaburo Ushida, who was President of the Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai from 1926 to 1935 and Dr. Chujiro Hayashi (1879-1940) who is responsible for the introduction of Reiki to the West. Dr. Hayashi is also responsible for the movement of Reiki away from an enlightenment process and towards one of healing. In that he was a retired Naval Officer and a Medical Doctor, Hayashi’s own bent was towards a more structured approach with an emphasis on healing, which became the Reiki standard in the West, while the original Reiki practices continued (and still continues) to flourish in Japan under the banner of the Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai (Usui Reiki Healing Society). Perhaps we should distinguish this society from the Hayashi Reiki Ryoho Gakkai, although the two are very similar there are marked differences.

Further changes to the original Reiki system were made by Hawayo Takata (1900 – 1980) who was the first Westerner to be attuned to Reiki, and who is responsible for the spread of Reiki around the world. Even in Japan, more Reiki practitioners include Mrs. Takata in their lineage than any other of Dr. Usui’s or Dr. Hayashi’s Masters. It appears that Mrs. Takata was a great storyteller, having invented a great deal of the Reiki “history” that most of the students in her down-line accept as fact. She did succeed in making Reiki attractive to the average Westerner, and due to her many embellishments, one of the most potentially important healing methods of all time is now readily and easily available to all who would learn. The down-side of this is that most of the stories are not true, but the up-side is that without them, Mrs. Takata would have never succeeded in keeping Reiki alive. One “story” that was told was that all of Dr. Usui’s and Dr. Hayashi’s Reiki masters were killed during the war and that she was the only living Reiki teacher in the world. As mentioned above, the Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai did indeed survive and is thriving to this day. Mrs. Takata was either unaware of this or felt that she stood a greater chance of success if she stood alone. At any rate, her school should be referred to as Takata Shiki Reiki Ryoho, in order to distinguish it from the others.

After the death of Mrs. Takata in 1980, Reiki continued to change and was further divided in the West. One camp held that Phyllis Lei Furumoto (Mrs. Takata’s granddaughter and Hana-Reiki lineage bearer) was the successor to the crown of Takata Shiki Reiki Ryoho, another held that Barbara Ray (another of Mrs. Takata’s 22 Masters) was the head. It doesn’t really matter in that neither of them could possibly be a lineage bearer of Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai since neither Mrs. Takata or Dr. Hayashi held that position.

To conclude this strange eventful history I will refer to Mieko Mitsui (a student of Barbara Ray) who brought Reiki “back” to Japan with her in 1984. She was very surprised to find that it not only already existed here, but was doing quite well, albeit through the very secretive Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai.