Mikao Usui - Founder of Reiki Ryoho Gakkai

Mikao Usui Sensei (1865 - 1926)

In March of 1922, Usui Sensei Spent 21 days fasting and meditating on Mount Kurama and it was there that he was awakened to know that the universe was within him. It is said that a big Reiki entered him through the top of his head and he acquired the healing power of Reiki. Usui Sensei developed a system to help lead others to the same enlightenment and healing abilities which he had experienced. He named this system Reiki Ryoho (Reiki healing method).

In April 1922, Usui Sensei founded the Reiki Ryoho Gakkai, an institution to teach and promote Reiki Ryoho in Japan. Before his death in 1926, Usui Sensei was able to teach 2,000 students and 21 masters to carry one the lineage of Reiki Ryoho. What a wonderful thing that he wanted to share this gift so freely with the world.

Today, there are two main schools of Reiki. One is called Western Style Reiki which includes Usui Shiki Reiki, the Radiance technique and other forms which have stemmed from these styles. They all have lineage leading to a Hawaiian woman named Takata who brought Reiki to the US around 1970. The second school is called Traditional Japanese Reiki which includes the Reiki practiced within the original Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai, Gendai Reiki, Komyo Reiki Kai and Jikiden Reiki. There may be more that I have not been made aware of. The Original Reiki Ryoho Gakkai recognizes only these forms as true branches of Usui Reiki as many of the Western Reiki lineages have been lost.

Due to the modesty of Usui sensei and the fact that he was unknown before his enlightenment, there have been many stories invented about his life and the origins of Reiki. Mostly by the early Western Reiki masters who we can only assume were trying to fill in some holes for their students. Unfortunately, many of these stories are still taught by Western Style Reiki masters across the US and Canada. Traditional Japanese style Reiki Masters are instructed to always remain true to the foundations of Reiki laid out by Usui Sensei himself. Often they adopt an additional philosophy that Reiki must not be made to appear mysterious or miraculous.

There are many who are still thankful for the work of Takata and other Western Reiki masters for bringing the knowledge of Reiki to the world, for it may have remained a closely guarded Japanese secret or even died out due to skepticism.

May the spirit on Mikao Usui Sensei live on in the hearts of every Reiki practitioner.

- Whitney