The Three Masters
Dr. Mikao Usui
Dr. Mikao Usui, or Usui Sensei as he
is called by his students in Japan, is the founder of the Usui
System of Reiki. He was born August 15, 1865 in the village of
Yago in the Yamagata district of Gifu prefecture, Japan. It is
thought that he entered a Tendai Buddhist school on or near Mt.
Kurama ("horse saddle mountain") at age four. He also
studied kiko, the Japanese version of qigong, which is a health
and healing discipline based on the development and use of life
energy. The young Usui found that these healing methods required
the practitioner to build up and then deplete his own life energy
when giving treatments. He wondered if it were possible to do
healing work without depleting one’s own energy. He went
on to study in Japan, China and Europe and ended up spontaneously
receiving Reiki during a meditation practice on Mt. Kurama.
Usui Sensei had an avid interest
in learning and worked hard at his studies. He traveled to Europe
and China to further his education. His curriculum included medicine,
psychology, and religion as well as fortune telling, which Asians
have long considered to be a worthy skill. It is thought that
he was from a wealthy family, as in Japan only the wealthy could
afford to send their children to school. Eventually he became
the secretary to Pei Gotoushin, head of the department of health
and welfare who later became the Mayor of Tokyo. The connections
Usui Sensei made at this job helped him to become a successful
businessman. Usui Sensei was also a member of the Rei Jyutu Ka,
a metaphysical group dedicated to developing psychic abilities.
In 1914 Usui’s personal and business life was failing. As
a sensitive spiritualist, Usui Sensei had spent much time meditating
at power spots on Mt. Kurama where he had received his early Buddhist
training. So he decided to travel to this holy mountain, where
he enrolled in Isyu Guo, a twenty-one-day training course sponsored
by the Tendai Buddhist Temple located there. We do not know for
certain what he was required to do during this training, but it
is likely that fasting, meditation, chanting and prayers were
part of the practice. In addition, we know there is a small waterfall
on Mt. Kurama where even today people go to meditate. This meditation
involves standing under the waterfall and allowing the waters
to strike and flow over the top of the head, a practice which
is said to activate the crown chakra. Japanese Reiki Masters think
that Usui Sensei may have used this meditation as part of his
practice. In any case, it was during the Isyu Guo training that
the great Reiki energy entered his crown chakra. This greatly
enhanced his healing abilities and he realized he had received
a wonderful new gift - the ability to give healing to others without
depleting his own energy!
Dr. Chujiro Hayashi
Dr. Hayashi
was a retired naval officer. He received the Reiki Master initiation
from Dr. Usui about 1925 at the age of 47.
Up to this
point, the Usui system of healing consisted of the energy itself,
the symbols, the attunement process and the Reiki ideals. This
was what Dr. Usui had received during his mystical experience
on Mt. Kurama. Dr. Hayashi went on to develop the Usui system
of healing. He opened a Reiki clinic in Tokyo and kept detailed
records of the treatments given. He used this information to create
the standard hand positions, the system of three degrees and their
initiation procedures.
Hawayo Takata
Reiki comes to the West. Hawayo Takata was born at dawn on
December 24th, 1900, on the island of Kauai, Hawaii. Her parents
were Japanese immigrants and her father worked in the sugar cane
fields. She worked very hard as she was growing up. She eventually
married the bookkeeper of the plantation where she was employed.
His name was Saichi Takata and they had two daughters. In October
of 1930, Saichi died at the age of thirty-four leaving Mrs. Takata
to raise their two children.
In order to provide for her family, she had to work very hard
with little rest. After five years she developed severe abdominal
pain, a lung condition and had a nervous breakdown.
Soon after this, one of her sisters
died and it was the responsibility of Hawayo to travel to Japan
where her parents had moved to deliver the news. She also felt
she could receive help for her health in Japan.
She took a steamship and was accompanied by her sister-in-law.
After informing her parents of the death of her sister, she entered
a hospital. It was found that she had a tumor, gallstones and
appendicitis. After resting several weeks, she was ready for the
needed operation.
On the operating table, just before the surgery was to begin,
Hawayo heard a voice. The voice said, "The operation is not
necessary. The operation is not necessary." She had never
heard a voice speak to her like this before. She wondered what
it meant. The voice repeated the message a third time even louder.
She knew she was wide awake and had not imagined the voice. It
was so unusual, yet so compelling that she decided to ask the
doctor. She got off the operating table, wrapped a sheet around
herself and asked to speak to the doctor.
When the doctor finally came, she asked if he knew of any other
way that her problems could be helped. The doctor knew of Dr.
Hayashi's Reiki clinic and told Hawayo about it. This was something
she wanted to try.
At the Reiki clinic, she began receiving treatments. She had never
heard of Reiki before and did not know what it was. Using their
Reiki hands the practitioners could sense what was wrong with
Mrs. Takata. Their diagnosis very closely matched the doctor's
at the hospital. This impressed her and gave her confidence in
what they were doing.
Two Reiki practitioners would treat her each day. The heat from
their hands was so strong that she thought they were using some
kind of equipment. She looked around, but saw none. Seeing the
large sleeves of the Japanese kimono one of the practitioners
was wearing, she thought she had found the location of the equipment.
She grabbed the sleeves, but found nothing. The startled practitioner
wanted to know what she was doing and when she explained, he began
to laugh. Then he told her about Reiki and how it worked.
Mrs. Takata received daily treatments and got progressively better.
In four months, she was completely healed. Impressed with the
results, she wanted to learn Reiki. However, it was explained
that Reiki was Japanese and that it was intended to stay in Japan.
It could not be taught to an outsider.
Mrs. Takata talked to the surgeon at the hospital and convinced
him to ask Dr. Hayashi to allow her to learn Reiki. Since Dr.
Hayashi wanted to teach Reiki to another woman besides his wife,
and since Mrs. Takata was so persistent, he decided that she should
be the one. In the Spring of 1936, Mrs. Takata received First
Degree Reiki. She worked with Dr. Hayashi for one year and then
received Second Degree Reiki.
Mrs. Takata returned to Hawaii in 1937. She was soon followed
by Dr. Hayashi and his daughter who came to help establish Reiki
in Hawaii. In the Winter of 1938, Dr. Hayashi initiated Hawayo
Takata as a Reiki Master. She was the thirteenth and last Reiki
Master Dr. Hayashi initiated.
Between 1970 and her transition on December 11, 1980, Mrs. Takata
initiated twenty-two Reiki Masters. Below is a list of the Reiki
Masters she initiated. This is the list she gave to her sister
before she passed through transition.
George Araki
Barbara McCullough
Beth Grey
Ursula Baylow
Paul Mitchell
Iris Ishikura (deceased)
Fran Brown
Barbara Weber Ray
Ethel Lombardi
Wanja Twan
Virginia Samdahl
Phyllis Lei Furumoto
Dorothy Baba (deceased)
Mary McFaden
John Gray
Rick Bockner
Bethel Phaigh (deceased)
Harry Kuboi
Patricia Ewing
Shinobu Saito
Kay Yamashita (Takata's Sister)
Barbara Brown
The original twenty-two teachers have taught others. In the decade
since Mrs. Takata experienced transition, Reiki has spread rapidly
in the West. It is now practiced throughout North and South America,
Europe, New Zealand, Australia and other parts of the world. There
are now an estimated 50,000 Reiki Masters with as many as 1,000,000
people practicing Reiki throughout the world.
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