Reiki Healing

Dr. Usui's first path led him to America to study different religions and philosophies at the University of Chicago for seven (7) years, after which time he returned to Japan to visit Buddhist temples and speak with the Monks. The Monks said they didn't know how to heal; however, Dr. Usui met with the Abbott who said at one time, they did know the art of healing the body, but it was lost because they had been concentrating on the spirit only. The Abbott invited Dr. Usui to stay at the monastery and study the sutras (the writings of Buddha) if he felt intuitively guided to do so, as anyone seeking knowledge were accepted in their quest.

Dr. Usui read everything there was to read in Japanese, but found no answer. Many of the sutras had been translated from Chinese into Japanese, thus Dr. Usui was intuitively guided to learn Chinese so that he could learn more. Dr. Usui studied for years and still found no answers. The Buddha's original teachings were in Sanskrit. A Tibetan priest had translated the Sanskrit teachings into Tibetan. Upon meditating over what to do next, Dr. Usui then learned the Tibetan language so that he could study the Sanskrit Sutras. It was at this time he believed he discovered the keys to healing.

Dr. Usui returned to the monastery where the Abbott told him that he must meditate, and if it were his destiny, the final answers would be revealed to him. Dr. Usui walked 17 miles to Kuramayama to fast and meditate. At his chosen spot on the mountain, Dr. Usui gathered 21 small stones to count his days of fasting and meditation. Every morning, he would face east and meditate, and throw one stone off the mountain. On the night of the 20th day, Dr. Usui felt as if he were near death, and knew that if the answer did not come on the following day, that he would have to leave the mountain without attaining the knowledge he sought.

The story says that on the 21st day, Dr. Usui rose and faced east. Before throwing the last of 21 stones, he asked "The Source" to show him how to use the information he had found. As he threw the last stone, a brilliant light appeared. At first, Dr. Usui was frightened and wanted to flee, but he was willing to risk death to have these secrets revealed to him.

The light swirled and rushed at Dr. Usui, hitting him directly in his third eye (the Chakra center in the center of the forehead), and he began to see a beautiful rainbow of colors, including bubbles of gold, blue and violet... each having a symbol inside. Thus, Dr. Usui was "attuned" to each symbol and had complete understanding of the healing power of each one. He said "I remember... I will not forget them, and I will not allow them to be lost." Dr. Usui hurried down the mountain to tell the Abbott all that had happened.

On his way down the mountain, he tripped and stubbed his toe. Bending down, he held his toe between his hands, and the pain and bleeding stopped immediately. Dr. Usui felt a heat and energy coming from his hands. This was the first miracle. At the bottom of the mountain, he felt hungry and stopped at a home, asking for rice and tea. The girl who served him had a bandaged jaw, and Dr. Usui asked permission and placed his hands on her aching tooth. The pain and swelling disappeared, thus the second miracle. The girl's father was unable to pay for the healing and asked that he be able to exchange the food for the healing (thus an equal exchange of energy had taken place).

After Dr. Usui returned to the monastery, he was instructed to meditate to seek his next course of action, at which time, he was guided to go and heal the poor... which he did for the next seven years from daylight to dark. Towards the end of this time, Dr. Usui saw a beggar whom he had once healed. The beggar told Dr. Usui that he had returned to begging because he did not want the responsibility that his new life had brought to him. Dr. Usui was saddened and confused, and returned to the monastery.

The monks told him that he had done exactly the opposite that they had been doing. He was healing only the body and not the spirit. Dr. Usui understood: not only must the body be healed, but also the spirit, and that the healee must have some responsibility in the process. Dr. Usui had taken away that responsibility by "giving away" the healing; therefore, an equal exchange of energy must take place between the healer and the healee, and it is the healee's responsibility to accept the healing energy. These lessons completed Dr. Usui's own enlightenment.

Dr. Usui trained sixteen teachers, one being Chujiro Hayashi. When Dr. Usui died in 1930, Dr. Hayashi became his successor. Dr. Hayashi divided the Reiki teachings into three degrees (I believe it is an important point here that Dr. Usui was not the one to do this). Dr. Hayashi had a vision of the second World War's arrival, and trained two women just in case all the men were called to the war.

Mrs. Hawayo Takata was a widow with two children. She became very ill with nervous exhaustion, many physical problems, gall bladder disease, a respiratory condition, and her health was deteriorating. She was told that she had to have surgery, but that the surgery might also kill her. While waiting for the surgery, she was diagnosed with appendicitis, gall stones, and a tumor. The night before the surgery, she heard a voice saying "The operation is unnecessary." She asked the next morning if there was anything else that could be done for her, and she was told of Dr. Hayashi's Reiki clinic.

Mrs. Takata was allowed to stay at the clinic and was completely healed... mind, body and spirit... in four months time. She wanted to learn Reiki, but was refused because she was a foreigner. Hayashi did not want Reiki to leave Japan; however, Mrs. Takata's original surgeon intervened on her behalf, and she was trained in 1936. In 1937, she returned to Hawaii, bringing Reiki with her.