Vancouver Reiki Clinic, Inner Focus Holistic Healing, hopes you will enjoy reading all about the History Of Reiki. Please feel free to contact Barb Weston at Inner Focus Holistic Healing if you have any questions about Reiki Sessions, Reiki Training or Reiki in general.

Dr. Mikao Usui was born on August 15th, 1865 in the village of Taniai in the Yamagata district of Gifu near Nagoya in Japan. On March 9th, 1926, at the age of 61, he passed away after suffering a stroke. I have read different accounts of his life and how he came to discover or rediscover the healing method which he called Usui Reiki.

One account tells us that he was the principal of a Christian seminary in Kyoto Japan. One day, one of his seminary students asked him why they had not heard anything about the healing methods used by Jesus Christ in their studies. The student also asked if Dr. Usui could perform the same healing miracles that Jesus had performed. Being unable to answer his student, Dr. Usui made a decision to give up his position at the seminary and began searching for the answers.

Unable to find the answers in Chinese Scripts, Christian Writings and the Holy Writings in North India, he did find some Sanskrit Formulas and Sanskrit Symbols in old Buddhist Sutras in Japan. These symbols appear to have held the answers to his questions but they did not give any clue as to how to activate the energy to use it for healing. Dr. Usui decided to leave the monastery he was living in and meditate in solitude in hopes of finding the answer. He went to the Holy Mountain Kurama to begin his 21 days of solitude. He meditated there for 21 days hoping to gain contact with the level of consciousness of the Sanskrit Symbols in order to determine the truth of their contents.

Dr. Usui placed 21 stones in front of him and removed one stone at the end of each day. He studied the sutras and meditated. Nothing happened until the last day when he saw a great light moving rapidly towards him. The light drew nearer and became larger and larger until it struck him on the forehead and he immediately saw millions of little bubbles. Well known Sanskrit Symbols appeared in these bubbles along with the knowledge of how to use them for healing. Dr. Usui then understood how he was to teach this ancient healing art. When he returned to a normal state of consciousness, he was full of strength and energy and returned from the mountain to begin teaching this loving, healing art.

The other account I have read suggests that Dr. Usui entered a Tendai Buddhist School at the age of four. This school is said to have been located on or near Mount Kurama.

As he matured, it is suggested that he studied "Kiko", the Japanese version of the healing discipline known as "Qigong". Qigong is based on the development and use of one's own personal energy. Usui wondered if it was possible to do healing work without depleting one's own energy. His studies included medicine, psychology, religion and fortune telling. The Asian Culture has long considered fortune telling a very worthy skill.

Later in life, Usui became the Secretary to Shinpei Goto, head of the health and welfare department. Shinpei Goto later became Mayor of Tokyo. The connections Usui made at his job helped him to become a successful business man and he was also a member of the Rei Jyutu Ka. Rei Jyutu Ka is a metaphysical group dedicated to developing psychic abilities.

In 1914, his business and personal life were failing and Usui spent much time meditating on Mount Kurama where he received his Buddhist training earlier in life. He then decided to enroll in Isyu Guo, a twenty-one day training course sponsored by the Tendai Buddhist Temple located on the mountain. It is believed that part of the meditation practice Dr. Usui participated in involved standing under a waterfall allowing the water to strike and flow over the top of his head, activating his Crown Chakra. It was during the Isyu Guo training that the Reiki energy entered his Crown Chakra which greatly enhanced his healing ability. He realized he had just received a wonderful new gift, the ability to heal others without depleting his own energy. And thus, he began sharing and teaching this new healing skill we know today as Usui Reiki.

In 1922, Dr. Usui moved to Tokyo and started a healing society which he named "Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai". This means Usui Reiki Healing Society. He also opened a clinic in Harajuku Aoyama where his students called him Usui Sensei. The demand for Reiki grew and he built a larger clinic in 1925 in Nakano Tokyo. His reputation as a healer grew and he began to travel so he could teach and heal more people. He traveled across Japan teaching more than 2,000 students and initiating 16 teachers. For his efforts, the Japanese government issued him the Kun San To Award for doing honorable work to help others. His life came to an end on March 9th, 1926 when he suffered a stroke while teaching in Fukuyama.

Both accounts of his life are very interesting. I invite you to do your own research into his past if you are so inclined. Personally, I do not feel the need to find out which account is factual. The fact that Dr. Usui discovered or rediscovered the Reiki System of Natural Healing and shared this knowledge with others is what is important. By sharing and teaching the Reiki system, he has enabled hundreds of thousands of people to experience the incredible power of Life Force Energy and many, many lives have been changed because of it.