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Copyright © 1996 by Paul D. Mitchell
A Description of the Modality/Therapy
The Japanese word, reiki, is translated as universal life energy or God-power. The practice consists of laying the hands on the body in a proscribed pattern and allowing the energy of life to flow through the hands to the person being treated.
While Reiki can be practiced in a professional setting, it is less a complementary healing modality than a personal healing practice. The basis of the practice is self-treatment and treatment of others within the realm of family and friends.
The basic and mysterious element of life energy is the essence of this healing practice. Because this is so, Reiki can be used in any situation where there is a desire for and openness to healing. Culturally, we know so little about this element of life energy. It is in the practice of this art, consciously being with this energy, that we learn more, become more aware.
The form of treatment is simple while comprehensive. The student learns the technique for self-treatment, treatment of others, and for first aid applications. Beginning students have the capacity to give a good treatment. It is important to note that the Usui System is a healing practice, meaning it is through daily personal practice that the art has its deepest value and significance. The practice plunges one into a deepening understanding of the question, "What is healing?" At the same
time, applying Reiki is practical and useful to accelerate and strengthen any healing process from bruising to chronic illness to mental-emotional imbalances.
A Non-Detailed History
The origins of Reiki could be said to be as old as humankind. In all human history there have been those who were known for their healing touch. This is something that we know little about and consider a gift. The particular form of this gift that we know of as the Usui System of Reiki Healing has its origins in the person of Mikao Usui, a Japanese gentleman who lived in the late 1800's.
As a Christian educator, he was challenged by his students about his unwavering faith in the healing power of Jesus and the early Christians. It became his personal quest to be able to source this power as a help for the young and skeptical. Through years of scholarship, studying sacred scriptures of Christian and Buddhist origins, as well as living a life of personal prayer and meditation, Mikao Usui experienced a spiritual awakening or spiritual transmission that resulted in the formation of this system of
healing we have received.
What we know has been passed on to us through a series of lineage bearers who have been guardians and preservers of the integrity of the practice. The successor of Mikao Usui was Chujiro Hayashi who practiced and taught in a clinical setting in Tokyo, Japan. It was to this clinic that a young Japanese-American, Hawayo Takata, was brought in 1932. She was healed of the illnesses that brought her to Japan by Reiki, and as a result stayed for a year of training and practice.
Hawayo Takata became a Master of the System, a person empowered to train others in the practice, in 1937. At that time Reiki was taught for the first time outside of Japan by her teacher, Chujiro Hayashi. Mrs. Takata was chosen as Dr. Hayashi's successor and the guardianship of the System shifted from Japan to the United States just prior to World War II.
Before her death in 1980, Mrs. Takata chose as her successor her granddaughter, Phyllis Lei Furumoto. Phyllis Furumoto resides in north Idaho at the present time. The Usui System is now being taught and practiced world wide.
Why, How and When to Use this Therapy or Modality
Human beings are energy systems. If we accept this premise, then life energy is the essential and most basic element of the human energy system. We suffer when we do not have enough energy to carry out our life functions or when we, as energy systems, are out of balance. The effect of receiving a Reiki treatment is that our supply of life energy is increased and our energy system is brought into balance. In this state of balance and renewed energy we can heal.
Reiki is first a healing practice focusing on self-treatment. Daily practice is ideal. The practice balances and strengths the functions and health of the physical body, enhances relaxation and self-awareness, and quiets and nourishes the spirit. Out of the practice of self-treatment it becomes natural to treat family and friends with the same benefits. Reiki is used to treat injuries to accelerate the natural healing function of the body. Reiki can be used at any time and in any situation when we can lay our hands on ourselves or another.
Contraindications of the Therapy
This practice is not for everyone. What is important is that people's individual boundaries be respected. What is the source of this energy of life? Each of us must answer this question for ourselves. My teacher, Hawayo Takata, would say that this energy comes from the Source of life. There are many names for this source -- God, The Great Spirit, the Universe