MIND-BODY-SPIRIT
When East Meets West: Reiki Energy Healing Methods Evolve and Flourish
BY ANNIE LARSON
peror as a divine being (a kami ) until the end of WWII. According to the United Religions Initiative : The followers of Shintoism believe spiritual powers exist in the natural world. They believe spirits called “kami” live in natural places such as in animals, plants, stones, mountains, rivers, people and even the dead.
To understand the gentle healing energy of Reiki as both a comple- mentary & alternative medicine and a spiritual practice, it’s helpful to explore eastern traditions and western changes to Reiki lineages. There is a rich, largely oral history that has made its way from East
to West, passed down from teacher to teacher. B etween Mikao Usui’s discovery of Reiki over 100 years ago to the latest of - fering of Holy Fire® Reiki by William Lee Rand, a modern authority and prominent teacher of the Reiki System of Healing, the practice has grown and transformed. The delineation of such growth is shaped by eastern traditions and influ - enced by western culture, which creates confusion and controversy over the very nature of what Reiki is and how to prac- tice it. Certainly, many other Reiki Master Teachers, like William, have contributed to the proliferation and changes to Reiki. Though, if not for William, who studied, researched, traveled and wrote about the origins of Reiki in Japan, and who created several forms of it, Reiki may have slipped into obscurity. This was my realization when I met William this past summer at a conference in upstate New York where he was teach- ing. William was a conference speaker who looked out of place in his blue Ha- waiian shirt, faded jeans, and a green baseball cap against the backdrop of the hippie vibe of the old Sufi camp, where other attendees donned flowing peasant skirts, harem pants, and kimonos while att ending the several Yoga, healing, and
Mikao Usui, to distinguish the Kanji Reiki from his method of healing, added the word Ryoho (treatment, or method) . His first school was so -named “Reiki Ryo- ho Gakkai”, which translates to the “Spir- itual Energy Healing Method School ”, which opened in Tokyo within a month of Usui Sensei’s Reiki enlightenment. To become Reiki practitioners, stu- dents attend a certification class, as taught by a Shihan (master teacher), where they receive an initiation, called a reiju (at - tunement), and the accompanying train - ing to conduct chiryo (treatment). This process connects them to channel Reiki energy for healing. Students receive in- struction in three degrees or levels: Sho- den , Okuden , and Shinpiden . The third degree is the master level, hence the title “ Reiki Master ” . A Reiki Master Teacher is one who has trained to teach others in giv- ing attunements and conducting classes. Enter Hawayo Takata Before his death in 1926, Usui Sensei attuned and taught sixteen other Reiki Master Teachers; of those, Chujiro Ha - yashi was the last to be attuned. Because
metaphysical sessions being held . During lunch I introduced myself to this lanky older gentleman with a scruffy white beard and mustache , though I was not in his seminar, and he invited me to join him. This encounter began a week of meals and conversations about the convo- luted history and mysterious roots of the founder of Japanese Reiki, as well as William’s own 25-year journey to become a leader in the Reiki healing community — a title he would reject — all in the true spirit of sharing Reiki knowledge. History of Usui Reiki The origins of Reiki as a connection to a channel of healing are credited to Mikao Usui on Mount Kurama, Kyoto, Japan, in 1922. At age 56, Usui Sensei underwent shugyo — an austere daily training, or in his specific case, a 21-day inner peace meditation — under an Osugi (cedar tree) until he had his revelation about a channel, or method of natural healing, that addresses the whole person on the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual levels. Reiki is a Japanese word made up of two kanjis , rei and ki that means “spiritual energy”. This idea of spiritual energy comes from Shintoism, which was the state-sponsored belief that elevated the em-
Hayashi Sensei was a doctor, Usui Sensei encouraged him to open his own practice. He called it “Hayashi Reiki Kenkyukai” (institute). Ha - yashi Sensei attuned and taught Hawayo Takata. Takata Sensei was born in 1900 on the territory of Hawaii. After the premature death of her husband in 1930, she left with her two children from Hawaii for Japan to seek treatment for several illnesses. While in the hospital, she heard about Reiki. Under the care of Reiki Master Chujiro Hayashi Sensei, she recovered and stayed to learn his practice of Reiki. In February 1938, Hayashi Sensei initiated Takata Sensei as a Reiki Master, the first woman to hold that title. Hawayo Takata shrouded the origins and history of Reiki when she migrated from Japan back to Hawaii in the late 1930s. Reiki changed to accommodate western beliefs and customs. Takata Sensei wrote much in her diaries, lectures, and letters that have no basis or history in eastern Reiki as channeled by Usui Sensei. She confused many as - pects of Reiki, including associating it with Christianity and even in- ferring Usui Sensei was a Christian minister giving Sunday sermons! Usui Sensei was Shinto but raised in Buddhism. Reiki symbols re - vealed to him on Mount Kurama are found in the “Lotus Sutra”, a ven -
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PATHWAYS—Spring 24—13
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