Further Exploration of the Roots of Reiki
by Adonea
Published in the February 2001 issue of "The Messenger"
From my research up to this point, Hayashi Sensei did not change the
system much from how Usui taught Reiki. His clinic was a continuation
of Usui Sensei's, which Hayashi and two other navel officers (Kanichi
Taketomi and Jushaburo Ushida) took over upon Usui Sensei's
transition in 1926. For about 8 years, the 3 naval officers ran it as
a hospice and teaching center. Other information says that in 1931
there was a disagreement of sorts between the 3 navel officers which
caused a break up. Hayashi Sensei left the Gakkai, but kept the clinic
building; while Taketomi and Ushida Sensei's continued to run the
teaching society (Gakkai). In 1936 when Mrs. Takata took her Reiki
training, Hayashi Sensei's organization was called 'Hayashi Reiki
Kenkyukai' translated 'Hayashi Reiki Research Society' and called what
he taught 'Reiki Ryoho' (Reiki Healing Method), as Usui Sensei did.
The name Usui Shiki Ryoho means 'Usui Style Healing Method'; I believe
Hayashi might have casually referred to the method he taught as Usui
Shiki Ryoho. There is a poor copy of a photograph of a 1937 Reiki
Ryoho class taught by Hayashi Sensei (you can actually pick him out of
the crowd ). The english title written at the top of the photo says
'Reiki Ryho ho Kai 1937'. At the bottom of the photo in Japanese Kanji
are the words 'Reiki Ryoho Koushu Kai', which tranlates 'Reiki Ryoho
Training Meeting 1937). I believe this might be the Okuden class that
Mrs. Takata attended before she went back to Hawaii. In 1979 Mrs.
Takata referred to the system passed on to her as Usui Reiki Ryoho in
a audio recording by her, telling the history of Reiki. She also
states on the tape that Hayashi Sensei passed on to her exactly what
he learned from Usui Sensei, with no changes and she is passing it on
the way she learned it from him [Hayashi] with no changes. So in 1937,
Hayashi Sensei was calling what he taught Reiki Ryoho as Usui Sensei
did and in 1979 Mrs. Takata was also refering to what she learned as
Usui Reiki Ryoho. On Mrs. Takata's certificate it states the name of
the system several times including: 'Usui system of Reiki healing',
'Usui Reiki system of drugless healing' and 'Dr. Usui's Reiki system
of healing'. The first one would be 'Usui Shiki Reiki Ryoho', second
'Usui Reiki Ryoho' and third 'Dr. Usui's Reiki Ryoho'; this coming
from my limited understanding of Japanese. Here is a translation of
words: 'Usui' = 'mortar + well', 'Reiki' = 'spiritual energy', 'Ryoho'
= 'healing method or healing system, therapy, remedy, cure', and
'Shiki' = 'style, ceremony, rite, method, system, form'. It does not
refer to 'Hayashi Shiki Ryoho' or 'Hayashi style healing method'.
If
you compare Hayashi Sensei's Healing Guide and the Healing Guide
section of Usui Sensei's Hikkei, they are virtually the same, even
down to the name. Hayashi's manual is called 'Ryoho Shishin' or
'Healing Method Guideline' and contains disorders with therapeutic
guidelines. This section in Usui Sensei's manual is also called 'Ryoho
Shishin'; and if one compares the kanji for these words on both
manuals, they are identical. Both contain a listing of diseases with
areas of treatment. Hayashi Sensei's manual is simplified and does not
contain the begining section on body parts with treatment areas; he
only includes the head with the identical 5 treatment areas (i.e. 1.
forehead, 2. temples, 3. occipital region or back of head, 4. back of
neck and 5. top of head). Both Usui and Hayashi Sensei's say to begin
on the head with all treatments. Hayashi's manual is more technical in
nature, which makes sense to me, as he was a medical officer in the
Navy and had studied Chinese Medicine. It doesn't seem that he changed
much, but since he did have a Reiki Research Society, I am sure he
was continuously experimenting with various methods of treatment (such
as the 7 hand positions mentioned in Tatsumi's notes which could also
have come from Usui Sensei originally). It appears that Usui Sensei
did not have a set series of hand positions, as we are taught in the
West. He wanted everyone to be as intuitive as he was with treatments.
I believe when he found that many people did not have the same level
of sensitivity that he did, he set forth the series of treatment areas
for specific diseases. But these, like the symbols, were only
intended to be temporary tools... with the ultimate goal of fully
incorporating the energy of the symbols and treating each case
intuitively. This is part of the enlightenment process that Reiki
brings about - awakening our inherent intuitive (clairaudient,
clairsentient, clairvoyant) abilities.
Usui Sensei only had Reiki for
a short while; if Mr. Doi's dates are correct (March 1922 for Usui's
satori), Usui Sensei only had Reiki for 4 years. If the date 1914 is
correct (listed in several Japanese books), he still only had Reiki
for 12 years prior to his transition in 1926... not a long time to
develop a complete teaching system that worked for everyone. Usui
Sensei had a definite advantage having gained enlightenment (satori);
he had Universal awareness of how to treat and how to give an energy
connection to Reiki... but not necessarily how to pass on the fullness
of this knowledge in a simple way to others. Hayashi Sensei only
worked with Reiki for 15 years (1925 - 1940) before he made his
transition, and didn't have the advantage of satori, but his research
gave him a greater understanding of what Usui Sensei actually
experienced. During this time, I am sure he began to develop an
understanding of how best to teach 'Reiki Ryoho'. Mrs. Takata
benefited from Hayashi Sensei's research and experimentation,
receiving thorough training. She was his 13th Shinpiden student, we
know now that he did teach others to teaching level after Mrs. Takata.
She had an advantage of working 'Reiki Ryoho' as a Master for 42
years (1938 - 1980), and I believe this was ample time to gain an
understanding of the energy and to develop a style of teaching that
worked for a majority of students. Perhaps this is why she began to
teach a series of 12 basic hand positions; instructing her students to
do a complete 1 to 4 treatment on everyone. She understood that the
more Reiki one receives, the faster that changes would occur, and
having students work on themselves daily would help them to become
more intuitive, a clearer channel for greater Reiki flow and bring
them into closer alignment with 'Creator/God' and their purpose for
incarnating. I am sure she also knew that a one-hour treatment may be
all a person is willing to devote to themselves or others.
I
personally am happy to see the similarities between the
teachings/teachers and to find that I and others have come to deeper
understandings of Reiki through working the system.
|