The Origins of Usui Shiki Ryoho Reiki
Reiki originates from an ancient Tibetan healing system accessing life essence or Universal Life Force Energy to restore equilibrium and symmetry to the body, mind and spirit. The tradition may have been passed down by spiritual people in India and Tibet, remaining relatively unknown to the western world until recently.
The divine life essence is referred to by many different names depending on the tradition of the culture and/or religion: life energy, universal force, life force, chi, qi, ki, taksu, orgone, prana, kundalini shakti, source, soul, The Holy Spirit, The Beloved, etc. It is precisely this divinity that is accessed when energy healing transpires.
 The modern story of the rediscovery of Reiki begins with Dr. Mikao Usui, a Christian minister and university president from Kyoto, Japan. In the late 1800's, Dr. Usui embarked upon a several-year quest to find out more about this ancient healing system, inspired by the hands-on healings performed by Jesus Christ and the Buddhist philosophy of healing the mind, body and emotional self through spiritual means. His experience culminated on Mt. Koriyama in Japan, when after a 21-day period of meditating and fasting, Dr. Usui received the Reiki symbols and instructions on how to activate the healing process. Dr. Usui then traveled throughout Japan teaching and healing people. Near the end of his life in the 1920’s, Dr. Usui initiated Dr. Chujiro Hayashi as Grand Master.
 Chujiro Hayashi became Dr. Usui’s successor and was recognized by the Emperor of Japan who decreed Reiki to be a national treasure. Dr. Hayashi continued to pass the knowledge of Reiki on to 16 Reiki masters before his death in 1941. This included the first female Reiki masters, Chie Hayashi (Chujiros' wife) and Hawayo Takata. It was Hawayo Takata who brought the healing energy of Reiki from Japan to Hawaii. Before Takata’s death in 1980, she had made 22 Reiki Masters spreading Reiki throughout the islands and to the mainland United States and Canada. Since then, students and practitioners of Reiki have grown exponentially. Those trained in Reiki have had the energy channel activated by a Reiki Master enabling them to provide hands-on healing to others.
Accepted globally and commonly used to treat emotional and mental distress as well as chronic and acute physical problems, the practitioner uses light hand placements to transmit healing energy to balance, harmonize and heal by replenishing the Universal Life Force Energy that becomes depleted from stress, emotional upheaval, disease and trauma, all of which compromise the immune system, lead to fatigue and depression and are pre-dispositions to illness.
Reiki does not stem from or require any particular religious belief, though stories of Buddha and Jesus Christ acknowledge that hands-on healing is both a sacred and an ancient healing tradition.
The Way of Reiki
The *Five Principles of Reiki:
Just for today, I will give thanks for my blessings.
“I live with an attitude of gratitude. Thank you God. I am grateful for….”
Just for today, I will not worry.
“I trust in God’s plan for me; I trust in the process of life.”
Just for today, I will not be angry.
“I choose to live in the love and light of God.”
Just for today, I will do my work honestly.
“I will do the right thing. I will do unto others as I would have them do unto me.”
Just for today, I will be kind to my neighbor and every living thing.
“I love and respect every living being.”
*These principles are adapted from "The Reiki Handbook" by Larry Arnold and Sandy Nevius (Harrisburg, PA, PSI Press,1982). Variations of these principles have evolved over the generations, still the basic precepts remain synonymous amongst the different Reiki lineages. Independent of the principles, the affirmations are written by and a practice of La`Ren Kristen.
“When we lift someone up, we are all on higher ground.” - author unknown
|
