The life of the founder Mikao Usui
The founder of Reiki is Japanese Mikao Usui, born in 1865. His father educated him according to the progressive ways of Emperor MEIJI, then in power. Fervent meditator, of Japanese family tradition, Mikao Usui developed a particular interest in meditation. Let us remember that meditation allows, above all, to stop the suffering of the spirit. Mikao Usui had a deep desire to pass on these methods to everyone, regardless of their culture. So he was interested in healing the mind; it produces well-being. Then he sought the creation of a simple, secular, agnostic and effective practice. He attended a centre on Mount Saint Kurama Yama, near the city of Kyoto. He belonged primarily to a Japanese Buddhist branch at the time.
History of Usui’s Reiki Research
The Reikiki
In Kyoto there are many libraries and monasteries that protect the largest collection of ancient Japanese texts. History shows that Mikao Usui did a lot of research here. For many years, he continued to collect texts and study them. In particular, he probably discovered a very old text called “Reikiki”. Moreover, its origin goes back to the emperor DAIGO.
Religion and Japan
In Japan, the state religion was Shintoism. However, since the appearance of Buddhism in the country, the population was turning away more and more. At the time of Mikao Usui, we were born Shinto … and died Buddhists! But finally, the purpose of these two disciplines remained the same: to reach fullness. In fact, Shintoism is an ancestral religion of Japan and predates the introduction of Buddhism. He refers first to the worship of the ancestors and to the worship of the emperor. On the other hand, Buddhism refers to the Buddha’s teachings on the suffering of the spirit. Contrary to popular belief, Buddhism is not a religion based on external and superior deities. But the principles of Buddhism are based on the scientific explanation of human consciousness. For example, they demonstrate how to move from suffering to the absence of suffering (awakening of consciousness). Meditation is then a vehicle to verify these teachings.
Sudden death of Usui
Birth of Reiki and Death of Usui
Mikao Usui dedicated his life to researches and meditations. It took the form of a practice he called Traditional Reiki. So, after long research, Mikao Usui founded Reiki in 1922. Then he instituted it in a company: Usui Reiki Ryôhô Gakkai. He devoted a lifetime to develope his personal practice. He was on the road to his educational achievement when he suddenly died of a cerebral embolism, and without having the time to list and record the results of the beneficiaries of the practice.
Orphan Reiki
Indeed, who can ignore that it often takes ten to twenty years for a founder to evolve his clinic. For example, to step back, observe and understand the links between his technique and the results obtained. In short, it takes time to develop a human health practice, test it, then adapt it, before you can develop training courses to transmit it, and finally train practitioners, and later teachers. Moreover, the spiritual tradition of Mikao Usui being oral, it transmitted his knowledge by this way. For example, the Buddha has left 250 volumes of teaching. Freud left many writings, of which the main psychoanalytic works have 23 volumes. While Mikao Usui left no writing, it is not difficult to understand that Hayashi seised the practice of Reiki on the death of Usui and made his “remake”, transforming the method into medical practice. Then he made it pass to the West via Hawayo Takata, who has finished deviating the deep meaning of the authentic approach.