History of Reiki (ray-key). I assumed it would be much like the Tarot. I
thought I might find a historical time line with some data found and some
missing even. However, what I did find was not what I expected to!
The History of reiki is HIGHLY controversial as there is very little
documentation that tracks it. Much is thought to have been lost during
World Wars II & I. There are very few ancestors around of Makao Usui
(me-ka-o you-soo-ee), who is said to be the founder of Usui Reiki, so
named. There are so many different versions out there as to how Reiki
came to be and who was actually the first to bring it to us, as we know it
today. There are also many versions of how Usui transgressed into his
many years of learning and searching for this system. I will stick to the
traditional story, for the most part here. If you wish to read more about
the arguments on this story much information can be found about Reiki
on the Internet and in many books.
began his journey to learning out of an interest in the healing methods of
Jesus, Buddha, and other great healers back in the 1800�s, but Reiki was
ancient even before then. Usui studied and learned to read the Sanskrit
language; an ancient scholarly language of India and Tibet. He found the
origins of Jesus and Buddha�s method of healing in the ancient
remnants of Shiva�s early culture, in the esoteric teachings of India.
Makao Usui took residence in a Zen Buddhist monastery. He found the
teachings in the Sanskrit language here. The material he read did not
include how to activate the energy and make it work. He then went to
Mount Koriyama in Japan for a three-week period of meditation, fasting,
and prayer. He chose his meditation spot and placed 21 small stones in
front of him to mark the time, throwing away one stone at the end of
each day. Just before dawn, on the final day of his quest he saw a
projectile of light coming toward him. He first reaction was to run from
this light, but he thought again. He decided to accept what was coming,
even if it resulted in death. The light struck him between his eyes on his
forehead, known as the Third Eye Chakra, and he lost consciousness for
a time. It is said he saw millions of bubbles of light and then the Reiki
symbols, and that he was given information on how to activate each of
them.
When he walked down the mountain he experienced what is traditionally
known as THE FOUR MIRACLES. First he stubbed his toe while walking
and put his hands on it instinctively. His hands became hot and the toe
was healed. Next he reached a house that served pilgrims at the bottom
of the mountain. He asked for a full meal, which is not wise after 21 days
of fasting, but ate it without any discomfort or pain. Then the woman
serving the meal had a toothache and he placed his hands on either side
of her face and healed her pain. Next, he returned to the monastery and
learned the director was in bed with an arthritis attack and he also
healed the monk.
Usui named the energy Reiki; which means Universal Life Force Energy,
and went to the slums of Tokyo. He lived there for several years healing
people in the town�s beggar�s quarter. There were people with
deformities, missing limbs, or with apparent diseases that were
supported by the community as beggars. After healing each one of
these people, he asked that they each start a new life, but he found the
same faces returning. After seeing people he thought he healed still
begging instead of making an honest living, he became discouraged and
left the slums.
during the middle of the day, and lecturing. This is how he met Chujiro
Hayashi, a retired naval officer still on reserve status. He taught Hayashi
the Reiki System and Hayashi became Usui�s successor in 1930 when
Usui died. Reiki has been passed down over the years from this point
forward. I will leave further studies to how Reiki developed from there
open for the curious to search the Internet and bookstores for more
information. There is a lot of it out there and as I said, a great deal of it is
controversial, so use discernment when choosing which to believe in.
