Brief Reiki History

Reiki was discovered by Dr. Mikao Usui around the turn of the century. Dr. Usui was searching for a method of healing like that of the Buddha. Asking Buddhist Priests, he discovered that none knew how to heal. His long search led him to study at Buddhist monastaries, throughout Japan, where he hoped to unlock the secret to healing. Apparently the knowledge had been lost. Dr. Usui ended up at a Zen Buddhist monastery where he learned Sanskrit and Chinese in an effort to find healing material. Evenutally he found a formula for contacting a higher power that could bestow the gift of healing.

Dr. Usui went up to the holy mountain of Kori-yama to fast and meditate for 21 days. On the last day, he saw a great light moving toward him. This light had a consciousness to it and it communicated to him, and he realized that this was what he was looking for. He also realized that it had enough power to kill him if it struck him, and he briefly considered fleeing. But he could not give up after his long search, so he let it hit him. He was knocked unconscious and rose out of his body where he saw thousands of bubbles, each with a symbol in it. Each one came to him and he was attuned to it as well as gaining knowledge as to how it was to be used.

When the attunement process was complete, he came back to his body. Walking down from the mountain, he stubbed his toe, cutting it open. He immediately grabbed his foot, and his toe was healed. Continuing on, he came upon a mother with a sick child. Dr. Usui touched the child and she was healed as well. He came upon an inn and decided to get something to eat after his long fast. He ordered a large meal and suffered no bad side effects. One shouldn't have a large meal after a prolonged fast, as it can cause problems. Lastly, he was able to cure the abbot of the Zen Buddhist monastary, where he had studied, of his rheumatism. These are known as the four miracles of Dr. Usui.

Dr. Usui opened a clinic where he practiced and taught Reiki until he passed away around 1930. He charged Dr. Chujiro Hayashi to keep Reiki alive so that it would not be lost again. Dr. Hayashi also started a clinic where he worked and taught for many years. In 1938, sensing the outbreak of World War II, Hayashi passed on the responsibility for the development of Reiki to Ms. Hawayo Takata, a Japanese-American living in Hawaii. From there, Reiki has spread and has evolved greatly.

Reiki has changed a great deal from when Dr. Usui visited Kori-yama. He received the ability to do Reiki, knowledge of the Reiki symbols, and the ability to pass on Reiki to others. He later added the Reiki ideals and the idea of compensation for a treatment, which I spoke of earlier. Dr. Hayashi added the standard hand placements and the three degrees of Reiki and their attunement processes. Ms. Takata added the fee structure for the different levels. She charged $175 for Reiki I, $500 for Reiki II and ten thousand dollars for the Master level. She felt that this amound of money would instill the respect needed for the Reiki Master attunement. This was done because she believed that Westerners might not value Reiki if it was given away. And to an extent this is true. There is the saying we have of,"You get what you pay for." However, many teachers are charging lower prices in an attempt at making Reiki available to everybody. There are also traditional schools that still charge the ten thousand dollars.