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HISTORY
Reiki
is an ancient form of healing believed to have spread through Tibet, China and
India a few thousand years ago. Some believe that it originated in ancient
civilizations like Lemuria and Atlantis. It was rediscovered in the late 1800's
by Dr. Mikao Usui, a theologian, who discovered ancient manuscript texts which
contained the healing symbols.
Dr. Mikao Usui
Image taken from
www.reiki.fi
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 qi-gong, 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. 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! |
