Reiki

A Brief History of Reiki

Reiki, originating from the words raku-kei, is the art and science of spiritual self improvement.  Reiki originated in ancient Tibet, thousands of years ago.  The Reiki calligraphy, in Sanskrit was used in meditation in Tibetan monasteries.  Reiki symbols were painted upon large wall hangings in the monasteries and acted as a centre focus in the practices toward enlightenment by the Tibetan holy men.

What is now called Reiki was re-discovered in the 1870's by Dr Mikao Usui.  As the story goes, Dr Usui, the president of a small Christian University in Japan, was asked by his student "How did Christ heal?"  This question led Dr Usui to resign from his University position and begin a ten year search for the answer.  His quest led him to many parts of the world to study in many different languages, and finally to original Sanskrit Buddhist sutras where he found ancient symbols that he believed to be the formula for healing.

At this point, Dr Usui felt he had the keys to healing, but did not know how to awaken his healing power.  He decided to go to a mountain and meditate for 21 days, to seek the power to heal.  On the final day, Dr Usui saw a beam of light rushing towards him.  The light struck him in the middle of his forehead, and at that moment he saw the Reiki symbols and felt them enter his mind and memory.  Dr Usui spent the rest of his life sharing Reiki.  Before his death, Dr Usui passed the keys of Reiki over to his closest associate, Dr Chijiro Hayashi, who ran a Reiki clinic in the early 1900's in Japan.

Reiki was brought to Hawaii in 1934 by Mrs Hawayo Takata, who was born on the island of Hawaii in 1900 and lived in the Hawaiian islands until 1970.  In her mid-thirties, Mrs Takata become widowed and very ill and travelled to Japan to seek treatment.  While there, she was guided to Dr Hayashi's clinic and healed with Reiki.  She studied Reiki for a year in Japan and was later made a Reiki Master (one who can fine tune or empower others with Reiki energy).  Mrs Takata spent the rest of her life sharing Reiki, and in 1970 she moved to California and began to train other Masters.

Until recently, Reiki training followed an oral tradition.  Very little was written about Reiki and much of Mrs Takata's teachings have come from her diaries and taped interviews.

Source: www.angelspirit.co.uk

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