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The History of Reiki by William Rand Below
is a reproduction of an article published by William Rand regarding the
history of the western Reiki lineages with reference to Mikao Usui. William
Rand is the well known founder of The The
article has been written following years of research by William Rand into the
history of Reiki and he has sought where possible to incorporate information
from verifiable sources. William’s
intention with the article was to produce a statement of the history of Reiki
which is more accurate than the standard version of the Reiki history which
came from Hawayo Takata. The
article may be found on William’s website for The Although
I am in William’s Reiki lineage, the reproduction of the article on this
website does not mean that the other content of this website is endorsed by
William. What is the
History of Reiki?
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Takata photo taken June 11, 1979, Penticton, British Columbia, Canada
Used with permission from the estate of Gunter and Ursula Baylow
The following referenced history of Reiki is taken
from Reiki,
The Healing Touch and has been carefully researched to contain verified
information from dependible sources. You have permission to copy and paste
this history including the photos on to your own web site as long as you use
the entire text and do not make changes to it.
Mrs. Hawayo Takata brought Reiki from
Until the 1990s, the only information we had about
Reiki came from Mrs. Takata. Her story of Reiki was recorded on tape, and
this recording is still available along with a transcript of the contents.(1)
In the past most people including many authors simply accepted Takata
Sensei’s interpretation of the history of Reiki as accurate without
attempting to do any additional research. Because of this, Mrs. Takata’s
version of the story was repeated in all the earlier books written on Reiki.
(Fortunately many current authors are using more recent historical
information.)
In the course of researching the origins of Reiki,
I learned that Mrs. Takata took liberties with the history of its
development. In 1990, for example, I wrote to
I continued to seek additional information about
the history of Reiki, but attempts to secure it went slowly at first. The
main reason for this is that after World War II, the
This is why an accurate history of Reiki took so
long to unfold up to this point in time. Then in 1996, I received from
Invited by Arjava Petter, Laura Gifford (now
Laurelle Shanti Gaia) and I went to Japan in 1997 and with Arjava as our
guide, we were taken to Usui Sensei’s grave and Mt. Kurama and much of the
new information was explained to us.(4)
In 1999 and 2000 I invited Arjava and Chetna to
come to teach workshops on the Japanese Reiki Techniques across the
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3 Toshitaka Mochitzuki, lyashi No Te [Healing Hands] (1995),
227, ISBN 4-88481-420-7 C0011 P1400E; “The Original Reiki Ideals,” Reiki News (Fall 1996); and page vi
of this manual. To order the Original Reiki Ideals click here. 4 For more information, see
Appendix A, “Discovering the Roots of Reiki,” and The Inscription on the
Usui Memorial section below. 5 William Lee Rand, “An
Interview with Hiroshi Doi,” Reiki News
Magazine, Pts. 1 and 2 (Summer 2003): 9–11; (Fall 2003): 12–14.
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A More Accurate
History of Reiki
The following is an updated history of Reiki based
on accurate, verifiable information. Where possible, sources have been
referenced so others can follow up on this research if desired. The history
begins with a look at the inscription on the memorial stone that was erected
in 1927 in memory of Mikao Usui Sensei, founder of the Reiki healing system.
The Inscription
on the Usui Memorial
The inscription on the Usui Memorial, dating from
1927, was written by Juzaburo Ushida, a Shihan who was trained by Usui Sensei
and able to teach and practice Reiki the same way he did. He also succeeded
Usui Sensei as president of the Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai. Masayuki Okata, also
a member of the Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai, was the editor. The English
translation was done by Tetsuyuki Ono and is reprinted here from the book,
lyashino Gendai Reiki- ho, with permission from the author Hiroshi Doi.
The large kanji at the top of the memorial stone
reads: “Memorial of Usui Sensei’s Virtue.” The remainder of the inscription
reads as follows:
What you can naturally realize through cultivation
and training is called “VIRTUE” and it is called “MERIT” to spread a method
of leadership and relief and practice it. It is people of many merits and a
good deal of virtue that can be eventually called a great founder. People who
started a new learning and founded a fresh sect among sages, philosophers,
geniuses etc., named from the ancient times, were all those as mentioned
above. We can say that Usui-Sensei is also one of those people.
He started newly a method to improve
body and spirit based on REIKI in the universe. Hearing of the rumor, people
who would like to learn the treatment and undergo the cure gathered from all
quarters all at once. Really, it was very busy indeed.
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Mikao Usui |
Usui-Sensei, whose popular name is Mikao and whose
pen name is Gyohan, came from Taniai-village,
Usui-Sensei was born on 15th August, 1865. Having
learned under difficulties in his childhood, he studied hard with efforts and
he was by far superior in ability to his friends.
After growing up, he went over to Europe and
One day, Usui-Sensei climbed
Having said “It is much better to give this power
widely to a lot of people in the world and enjoy it among them than to keep
it exclusively by his family members.” Usui-Sensei moved his dwelling to
Aoyama Harajuku,
Thereafter, his training center became too small to
receive the visitors, so he built a new house in Nakano outside the city in
February 1925 and transferred there. As his reputation got higher and higher,
it was so often when he received an offer of engagement from everywhere
throughout the nation. In accordance with these requests he traveled to
His wife got married, coming from the Suzuki
family, and she is named Sadako and has a son and a daughter. The son’s name
is
Usui-Sensei’s natural character was gentle and
prudent, and he did not keep up appearances. His body was big and sturdy, and
his face was always beaming with a smile. But when he faced the difficulties
he went ahead with a definite will and yet persevered well, keeping extremely
careful. He was a man of versatile talents and also a book lover, knowing
well in the wide range from history, biography, medical science, canons of
Christianity and Buddhism and psychology up to magic of fairyland, art of
curse, science of divination and physiognomy.
In my opinion, it is evident to everybody that
Usui-Sensei’s cultivation & training were based on his career of art and
science, and the cultivation & training became a clue to create the REIKI
cure.
Reviewing the fact, I understand what the REIKI
cure is aiming at is not only to heal the diseases but also to correct the
mind by virtue of a God-sent spiritual ability, keep the body healthy and
enjoy a welfare of life. In teaching the persons, therefore, we are supposed
to first let them realize the last instructions of the Emperor Meiji, and
chant the 5 admonitions morning and evening to keep them in mind.
The 5 admonitions in question are:
1. Don’t get angry today.
2. Don’t be grievous.
3. Express your thanks.
4. Be diligent in your business.
5. Be kind to others.
These are really the important precepts for a
cultivation, just the same as those by which the ancient sages admonished
themselves. Usui-Sensei emphasized that ‘This is surely a secret process to
bring a good fortune and also a miraculous medicine to remedy all kinds of
diseases.’ by which he made his purpose of teaching clear and accurate.
Furthermore, he tried to aim at making his way of guidance as easy and simple
as possible, so nothing is difficult to understand therein. Every time when
you sit quietly and join your hands to pray and chant morning and evening,
you can develop a pure and sound mind, and there is just an essence in making
the most of that for your daily life. This is the reason why the REIKI cure
can very easily spread over anybody.
The phase of life is very changeable in these days,
and people’s thoughts are apt to change, too. Could we fortunately succeed in
spreading the REIKI cure everywhere, we feel sure that it would have to be
very helpful in order to prevent people from disordering their moral sense.
It never extends people nothing but the benefits of healing long term
illness, chronic disease and bad habit.
The number of pupils who learned from Usui-sensei
amounts to more than 2000 persons. Some leading pupils living in
As a result of our pupils’ recent meeting and
discussion, we decided to erect a stone monument at the graveyard in his
family temple so that we may bring his virtuous deed to light and transmit it
to posterity; so, I was requested to arrange an epitaph for the monument. As
I was much impressed by his great meritorious deed and also struck by our
pupils’ warm hearts of making much of the bond between master and pupil, I
dared not refuse the request, but described the outline.
Therefore, I do expect heartily that people in the
future generations would not forget to look up at the monument in open-eyed
wonder.
— Usuida, in February, 1927. Edited by Masayuki
Okada, The Junior 3rd Rank, the 3rd Order of Merit, Doctor of Literature.
Written by Juzaburo Usuhida, The Junior 4th Class of Services, Rear Admiral.
Mikao Usui
Mikao Usui, or Usui Sensei as he is called by his
students in Japan, was born August 15, 1865 in the village of Taniai in the
Yamagata district of Gifu prefecture, which is located near present day
Nagoya, Japan.(6) 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.(7)
Usui Sensei had an avid interest in learning and
worked hard at his studies. He traveled to Europe and
In March 1922 Usui Sensei’s personal and business
life was failing.(11) As a sensitive spiritualist, Usui Sensei had spent much
time meditating at power spots on
When this happened, he was filled with excitement
and went running down the mountain. On his way down he stubbed his toe on a
rock and fell down. And in the same way anyone would do, he placed his hands
over the toe, which was in pain. As he did this, healing energy began flowing
from his hands all by itself. The pain in his toe went away and the toe was
healed. Usui Sensei was amazed by this. He realized that in addition to the
illuminating experience he had received, he had also received the gift of
healing.(13)
Usui Sensei practiced this new ability with his
family and developed his healing system through experimentation and by using
skills and information based on his previous study of religious practices,
philosophy, and spiritual disciplines. He called his system of healing
Shin-Shin Kai-Zen Usui Reiki Ryo-Ho (The Usui Reiki Treatment Method for
Improvement of Body and Mind) or in its simplified form Usui Reiki Ryoho
(Usui Reiki Healing Method).
In April 1922, he moved to
The lowest degree of his training was called Shoden
(First Degree) and was divided into four levels: Loku-Tou, Go-Tou, Yon-Tou,
and San-Tou. (Note that when Mrs. Takata taught this level, which in the West
we refer to as Reiki Level I, she combined all four levels into one. This is
most likely why she did four attunements for Level I.) The next degree was
called Okuden (Inner Teaching) and had two levels: Okuden-Zen-ki (first
part), and Okuden-Koe-ki (second part). The next degree was called Shinpiden
(Mystery Teaching), which is what we call master level. The Shinpiden level
includes, Shihan-Kaku (assistant teacher) and Shihan (venerable teacher).(15)
Contrary to previous understanding, Usui Sensei had
only three symbols, the same three we use in the West in Reiki II. He did not
use a master symbol. This fact has been verified by Hiroshi Doi and by
research done by Hyakuten Inamoto, Arjava Petter and Tadao Yamaguchi.
In 1923, the great Kanto earthquake devastated
Demand for Reiki became so great that he outgrew
his clinic, so in 1925 he built a bigger one in Nakano,
The Japanese government issued him a Kun San To
award for doing honorable work to help others.(19) While traveling to
There were many hands-on healing schools in
After Usui Sensei died, his students erected a
memorial stone next to his gravestone. (This is the memorial stone pictured
on page 14.) Mr. J. Ushida, a Shihan trained by Usui took over as president
of the Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai, and was responsible for creating and erecting
the Usui Memorial stone and ensuring that the grave site would be maintained.
Mr. Ushida was followed by Mr. lichi Taketomi, Mr. Yoshiharu Watanabe, Mr.
Toyoichi Wanami, and Ms. Kimiko Koyama. The current successor to Usui Sensei
is Mr. Kondo, who became president in 1998.
Contrary to what we have been told in the West,
there is no “lineage bearer” or “Grand Master” of the organization started by
Usui Sensei—only the succession of presidents listed above.(23) The twenty
teachers initiated by Usui Sensei include Toshihiro Eguchi, Jusaburo Guida,
Ilichi Taketomi, Toyoichi Wanami, Yoshiharu Watanabe, Keizo Ogawa, J. Ushida,
and Chujiro Hayashi.(24) Contrary to one version of the Reiki story, Chujiro
Hayashi was not the successor to Usui Sensei, but rather Mr. J. Ushida as
previously mentioned.
Chujiro Hayashi
Before his passing, Usui Sensei had asked Hayashi
Sensei to open his own Reiki clinic and to expand and develop Reiki Ryoho
based on his previous experience as a medical doctor in the Navy. Motivated
by this request, Hayashi Sensei started a school and clinic called Hayashi
Reiki Kenkyukai (Institute). After Usui Sensei’s passing he also left the
Gakkai.
At his clinic he kept careful records of all the
illnesses and conditions patients who came to see him had. He also kept
records of which Reiki hand positions worked best to treat each patient. Based
on these records he created the Reiki Ryoho Shinshin (Guidelines for Reiki
Healing Method).(25) This healing guide was part of a class manual he gave to
his students. Many of his students received their Reiki training in return
for working in his clinic.(26)
Hayashi Sensei also changed the way Reiki sessions
are given. Rather than have the client seated in a chair and treated by one
practitioner as Usui Sensei had done, Hayashi Sensei had the client lie on a
treatment table and receive treatment from several practitioners at a time.
He also created a new more effective system for giving Reiju (attunements).(27)
In addition, he developed a new method of teaching Reiki that he used when he
traveled. In this method, he taught both Shoden and Okuden (Reiki I&II)
together in one five-day seminar. Each day included two to three hours of
instruction and one Reiju.(28)
Because of his trip to
Hawayo Takata
The following is a summary of Mrs. Hawayo Takata’s
version of her early years leading up to her contact with Reiki at the
Hayashi clinic:
She stated that she was born on December 24th,
1900, on the
In order to provide for her family, she had to work
very hard with little rest. After five years she developed severe abdominal
pain and a lung condition, and she had a nervous breakdown. Soon after this
one of her sisters died and it was Mrs. Takata’s responsibility to travel to
After informing her parents, she entered a hospital
and stated that she was diagnosed with a tumor, gallstones, appendicitis and
asthma.(30) She was
told to prepare for an operation but opted to visit Hayashi Sensei’s clinic
instead.
Mrs. Takata was unfamiliar with Reiki but was
impressed that the diagnosis of Reiki practitioners at the clinic closely
matched the doctor’s at the hospital. She began receiving treatments. Two
Reiki practitioners would treat her each day. The heat from their hands was
so strong, she said, that she thought they were secretly using some kind of
equipment. Seeing the large sleeves of the Japanese kimono worn by one, she
thought she had found the secret place of concealment. Grabbing his sleeves one
day she startled the practitioner, but, of course, found nothing. When she
explained what she was doing, he began to laugh and then told her about Reiki
and how it worked.
Mrs. Takata got progressively better and in four
months was completely healed. She wanted to learn Reiki for herself. In the
spring of 1936 she received First Degree Reiki from Dr. Hayashi. She then
worked with him for a year and received Second Degree Reiki. Mrs. Takata
returned to Hawaii in 1937, followed shortly thereafter by Hayashi Sensei and
his daughter who came to help establish Reiki there. In February of 1938
Hayashi Sensei initiated Hawayo Takata as a Reiki Master.
To summarize Takata Sensei’s Reiki background, she
traveled from
Takata Sensei practiced Reiki in Hawaii,
establishing several clinics, one of which was located in
It was not until after 1970 that Takata Sensei
began initiating Reiki Masters. She charged a fee of $10,000 for Mastership
even though the training took only a weekend.(33) This high fee was not part
of the Usui system, and she may have charged this fee as her way of creating
a feeling of respect for Reiki. She said that one should never do treatments
or provide training for free, but should always charge a fee or get something
in return. She also said that one must study with just one Reiki teacher and
stay with that teacher the rest of one’s life.(34) In addition, she did not
provide written instruction or allow her students to take notes or to tape
record the classes and students were not allowed to make any written copies
of the Reiki symbols. She said that Reiki is an oral tradition and that
everything had to be memorized.(35) While this is generally true, she didn’t
always teach the same way and in at least one class she allowed her students
to take notes and gave them handouts.(36)
It is not certain why she said Reiki is an oral
tradition or why she taught Reiki this way. What we do know from our research
in
Before Mrs. Takata made her transition on December
11, 1980, she had initiated twenty-two Reiki Masters.(39) These twenty-two
Masters began teaching others. However, Mrs. Takata had made each one take a
sacred oath to teach Reiki exactly as she had taught. This made it difficult
for most of them to change, even though some of her rules made it more
difficult to learn, which seemed to go against the nature of Reiki.
This version of the history of Reiki from Usui
Sensei to Mrs. Takata relies on verifiable information that has taken a long
time to reach the West. In addition to the reasons for this mentioned
earlier, there are a number of others. After Hayashi Sensei died and World
War II ended, Takata Sensei stated that all the other Reiki Masters in Japan
had died during the war and that she was the only Reiki Master in the world.(40)
Therefore, most people refrained from researching the history of Reiki,
thinking she was the only authority. Many of the Masters she initiated also
discouraged people from doing such research, stating that it was not needed,
as their knowledge of Reiki was complete. Add to all this the fact that the
Gakkai had become a secret society along with the linguistic, cultural, and
geographic barriers that separated the United States from Japan, and it is
easy to see why most authors simply accepted her story as true without
seeking verification. Most did not realize that the organization started by
Usui Sensei still existed in
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Footnotes |
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33 34 We know that
Keizo Ogawa took Reiki Master training from Usui Sensei and lichi Taketomi,
so it is not likely this rule came from Usui Sensei. 35 “Mrs. Takata
Speaks,” audiotape. This was also explained to me by Bethal Phaigh in 1981
when I took Reiki I from her. 36 William Lee
Rand, “Takata’s Handouts,” Reiki News
Magazine (Summer 2009): 58. This article contains the handouts
and notes taken during one of her classes. 37 A
translation of this manual is in Reiki,
The Healing Touch on page 63. 38 John Harvey
Gray and Lourdes Gray with Steven McFadden and Elisabeth Clark, Hand to
Hand, The Longest-Practicing Reiki
Master Tells His Story (Gray, 2002), 93. 39 Before she
died, Takata Sensei created a list of the twenty-two Masters she had
initiated. They are: George Araki, Dorothy Baba (deceased), Ursula Baylow
(deceased), Rick Bockner, Barbara Brown, Fran Brown (deceased), Patricia
Ewing, Phyllis Lei Furumoto, Beth Gray (deceased), John Gray (deceased),
Iris Ishikura (deceased), Harry Kuboi, Ethel Lombardi, Barbara McCullough,
Mary McFadyen, Paul Mitchell, Bethel Phaigh (deceased), Barbara Weber Ray,
Shinobu Saito, Kay Yamashita (Mrs. Takata’s sister), Virginia Samdahl (deceased),
and Wanja Twan. 40 Graham,
“Mrs. Takata Opens Minds to Reiki.” This is also stated on her Reiki flyers
dated July 1975 and June 1976. |
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Reiki Since Mrs.
Takata
Reiki energy is very flexible and creative,
treating each unique situation with a unique response and working freely with
all other forms of healing. The Reiki energy itself provides a wonderful
model for the practice of Reiki. This began to be acknowledged gradually
after Takata Sensei passed on. In the mid-1980s, Iris Ishikura, one of
Takata’s Masters, trained two Reiki Masters at a more reasonable fee and made
them promise they would also charge a reasonable fee. The Masters trained by
Ishikura at this lower fee began training many other Masters in turn. Out of
this group, many were open to change and began allowing the wisdom of the
Reiki energy to guide them in the way they should practice and teach Reiki.
Because of this, restrictive rules began to fall away. Reiki classes became
more open and more supportive of the learning process. Workbooks were
created, notes and tape recordings were allowed, reasonable fees were
charged, and many began studying with more than one teacher. All this
generated greater respect for Reiki. It also increased people’s understanding
of Reiki and improved their healing skills. With lower fees, the practice of
Reiki began to grow quickly and spread all over the world. It is estimated
that there are at least 1,000,000 Reiki Masters in the world today with well
over 4,000,000 practitioners, and the numbers continue to grow!
I learned Reiki I on the
I chose to allow the Reiki energy to guide how I
would teach. Rather than adhere strictly to the rules set by Takata Sensei, I
wanted to do everything I could to help my students learn Reiki and use it in
a way that was right for them. If they wanted to start a Reiki practice or to
teach, then I wanted them to be as successful as possible.
To further this purpose, I took everything I had
learned about Reiki to that point, organized the information and placed it in
a class workbook that included drawings of the Reiki hand positions, which I
then gave to my Reiki students. I have continued to expand and update the
workbook until it evolved into the workbook you are reading now.
From the beginning, I encouraged students to take
notes and to tape record my classes; I openly answered all questions and
actively encouraged my students to do well. I taught the value of developing
one’s intuition and having confidence in one’s experience and personal
decision-making abilities. Knowing that one can always learn more, I
continued to study Reiki from others and eventually took the Master Training
from four additional Masters including two from
Because I based my Reiki practice on the process of
working in harmony with the qualities and values apparent in Reiki energy and
following Reiki’s guidance in carrying out my plans, my classes were filled
with students right from the beginning.
A newsletter was started in 1990 that continued to
grow in size and readership and in 2002 became the Reiki News
Magazine.
Wanting to maintain high standards for Reiki, I
started a teacher certification program (now called our Center Licensed
Teachers program) that required additional training and takes about three
years to complete.
In 1995 a website was started (www.reiki.org) that offers over 300 free
articles on Reiki and lots of resources for those wanting to practice or
teach Reiki. We also have a web store, which offers class workbooks, Reiki
tables, and other products helpful to Reiki practitioners and teachers. (www.reikiwebstore.com)
We began the Center for Reiki Research in 2009 (www.centerforreikiresearch.org).
Staffed by seven Ph.D qualified researchers, it contains references and
summaries of all Reiki research studies published in peer-reviewed journals,
a list of 70 hospital Reiki programs, and many useful articles and other
features to help those interested in promoting an evidence-based
understanding of Reiki. We’ve also started our own research study on pain in
orthopedic patients due to be completed in 2012.
In 2010, we created a professional Reiki Membership
Association (www.reikimembership.com).
The current membership of over 1300 Reiki practitioners and teachers offers
Reiki sessions and classes across the
The text above is reprinted from Reiki the Healing Touch by William Lee Rand.
Permission is granted to reprint the text onto your web site as long as you
use the entire text and do not make changes and indicate that the source is
from www.reiki.
Posted 25th October 2011
.