Hawayo Takata

A Brief History of Reiki

Reiki (ray-key) is a natural healing technique that makes use of the laying-on of hands. Thought to have originated in Tibet thousands of years ago, Reiki was re-discovered by Dr. Mikao Usui, a Japanese Buddhist in the 1800’s. It was his purpose to find how Buddha healed the sick.

During his 10 year quest he studied the teachings of Christ, and the sacred literature of Japan, China, India, and Tibet. At the end of his quest the complete system of Reiki came to him during a mystical experience on the Holy Mountain of Kuriyama in Japan.

Mikao Usui initiated sixteen masters, one of whom was Chujiro Hayashi.

At the age of 47 Dr. Hayashi received Reiki teacher training from Usui Sensei. For about ten years he ran a Reiki clinic. During those ten years he came up with a more complicated set of hand positions and divided the Reiki training into three levels or degrees.

Hayashi initiated thirteen masters, one of whom was Mrs Takata. After being healed from serious conditions in Dr. Hayashi’s clinic, Mrs. Takata decided to learn Reiki. She spent at least a year working for Dr. Hayashi in his clinic before receiving the second-degree training. In 1938, she received her teacher training from Dr. Hayashi.

Hawayo Takata features prominantly in Reiki history as the master who brought Reiki to the western world. She lived in Hawaii and before her death in the 1970’s, taught 22 Reiki masters. Most of the Reiki that we know and love in the western world comes through the Takata lineage.

For my sources seeRecommended Reading

Is the ability to channel Reiki ever lost?

The following question was taken from a lecture given by Hawayo Takata in 1975 which was held at the Trinity Metaphysical Center in Redwood City, CA. Reverend Beth Gray, pastor of the center, presented questions from an audience compiled entirely of Takata’s Reiki students.

Reverend Beth Gray: “If, for some reason one fails to do Reiki for a period of a month or so, does one lose the power?”

Hawayo Takata: “That’s a good question. No. Once you have the contact … through me … and that is everybody who is here. (see note below) Reiki stays with you everlasting. But, it may, it may not, when you are tired, have the full charge come out at one time. You will become quiet, because your battery down here has run down.

So, what do you do to yourself? One, and Two, and Three, and Four (the first four positions of the first Reiki pattern). Your Foundation Treatment (the first four positions) has to be done so that you recharge your own battery. And when that is finished … and then when you try to treat people, your energy goes up, because you are filled, you are not empty.

A lady that was … had no children, learned Reiki and she treated her husband, who was a professor of a university, and in a few months he got well. And they decided that Reiki was wonderful. His vitality was high. He was treating himself. She was treating herself. But actually, she did not have any patient, or did not work on anybody for seven years.

And one morning, when she was going to town, a seven-year-old boy was on his way to school, and when he got at the train station he ran out of the train and then he slipped on the platform. And when he slipped on the platform … this was winter … cold … and he began to have bleeding nose, bleeding nose. And this woman, out of kindness, she said, ‘Oh, how very, very unfortunate that this little youngster got hurt.’ And so she ran to him, and she pinched his nose, and treated the back of the nape of the neck for stopping the bleeding nose.

Just because this was an accident she didn’t have to go through the performance of One, Two, Three, Four, but it was an acute accident … happen now, so she went right to the nose and stopped the bleeding. And she was so happy about this result. So, she stopped on her way to, this place of, to the studio of Reiki Center and she made her report, saying that, ‘I still have Reiki after seven years of no use.’ And so she said, ‘I believe that Reiki is everlasting.’

Reiki is everlasting. There’s only one way you can lose and that is, I have said and I have warned you, that no matter how great you become or what an expert in treating and healing, that you cannot teach unless, you go up to the higher degrees. What you have learned is the First Degree. But, with the First Degree it is good enough to give you protection and also you can help yourself and others.”

Note:

At the time of this lecture, Hawayo Takata was the only Reiki Master teaching in the West; hence her response, “Once you have the contact (attunement) … through me…and that is everybody who is here …”

For my sources seeRecommended Reading

The Evolution of Reiki

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The Usui System of Natural Healing has evolved over time. In its current state it is much more organized and structured than the simple, flexible, intuitive method practiced by Dr. Usui.

The following is a description of the evolution of the Usui System of Reiki:

  • During his mystical experience on Mt. Kurama, Dr. Usui received the ability to do Reiki treatments, the Reiki symbols, and the ability to pass Reiki on to others.
  • Later he added the Reiki Ideals and the idea that one needs to receive compensation for a treatment.
  • Dr. Hayashi added the standard hand positions, the three drees and the attunement processses.
  • Mrs. Takata added the fee structure.
  • The required waiting periods between classes were added by several of Mrs. Takata’s Masters after she passed on.

After Mrs. Takata’s transition, a few teachers began making changes in the way they taught Reiki. Most of the changes were beneficial, and included the addition of knowledge and healing skills the teachers had learned from other systems or had acquired from inner guidance.

However, some changes were restrictive, making it more difficult for students to progress. Some took the Third Degree and divided it into several small parts, calling each new part a new Degree and charging additional money.

Often, the fact that  the Usui system had been modified was not mentioned and when their students became teachers, they began teaching what they thought was pure Usui Reiki when in fact it was not. In this way, many varieties of Reiki have developed with some thinking they have the only authentic version of Reiki when actually what they are teaching is a modified form.

For my sources see: Recommended Reading

Reiki Comes To The West

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Hawayo Takata and Dr. Hayashi

Hawayo Takata was born at dawn on December 24, 1900, on the island of Kauai, Hawaii. Her parents were Japanese immigrants and her father worked in the sugar cane fields. She worked very hard as she was growing up. She eventually married the bookkeeper of the plantation where she was employed. His name was Saichi Takata and they had 2 daughters.

In October of 1930, Saichi died at the age of 34 leaving Mrs. Takata to raise their two children. In order to provide for her family, she had to work very hard with little rest. After five years she developed severe abdominal pain, a lung condition and had a nervous breakdown.

Soon after this, one of her sisters died and it was the responsibility of Hawayo to travel to Japan, where her parents had moved, to deliver the news. She also felt she could receive help for her health in Japan.

She took a steamship and was accompanied by her sister-in-law. After informing her parents of the death of her sister, she entered a hospital. It was found that she had a tumor, gallstones and appendicitis. After resting several weeks, she was ready for the needed operation.

On the operating table, just before the surgery was to begin, Hawayo heard a voice. The voice said, “The operation is not necessary. The operation is not necessary.” She had never heard a voice speak to her like this before. She wondered what it meant. The voice repeated the message a third time even louder. She knew she was wide awake and had not imagined the voice. It was so unusual, yet so compelling that she decided to ask the doctor.

She got off the operating table, wrapped a sheet around herself and asked to speak to the doctor. When the doctor finally come, she asked if he knew of any other way that her problems could be helped. The koctor knew of Dr. Hayashi’s Reiki clinic and told Hawayo about it. This was something she wanted to try.

At the Reiki clinic, she began receiving treatments. She had never heart of Reiki before and did not know what it was. Using their Reiki hands the practitioners could sense what was wrong with Mrs. Takata. Their diagnosis very closely matched the doctor’s at the hospital. This impressed her and gave her confidence in what they were doing.

Two Reiki practitioners would treat her each day. The heat from their hands was so strong that she thought they were using some kind of equipment. She looked around, but saw none. Seeing the large sleeves of the Japanese kimono one of the practitioners was wearing, she thought she had found the location of the equipment. She grabbed the sleeves, but found nothing. The startled practitioner wanted to know what she was doing and when she explained, he began to laugh. Then he told her about Reiki and how it worked.

Mrs. Takata received daily treatments and got progressively better. In four months, she was completely healed. Impressed with the results, she wanted to learn Reiki. However, it was explained that Reiki was Japanese and that it was intended to stay in Japan. It could not be taught to an outsider.

Mrs. Takata talked to the surgeon at the hospital and convinced him to ask Dr. Hayashi to allow her to learn Reiki. Since Dr. Hayashi wanted to teach Reiki to another woman besides his wife, and since Mrs. Takata was so persistent, he decided that she should be the one. In the Spring of 1936, Mrs. Takata received First Degree Reiki. She worked with Dr. Hayashi for one year and then received Second Degree Reiki.

Mrs. Takata returned to Hawaii in 1937. She was soon followed by Dr. Hayashi and his daughter who came to help establish Reiki in Hawaii. In the winter of 1938, Dr. Hayashi initiated Hawayo Takata as a Reiki Master. She was the thirteenth and last Reiki Master Dr. Hayashi initiated. She, in turn, initiated 22 Reiki Masters before her transition in 1980. That list can be found here.

For my sources see: Recommended Reading

The Original Twenty Two

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Between 1970 and her transition on December 11, 1980, Mrs. Takata initiated 22 Reiki Masters. This is the list she gave to her sister before she passed through transition.

  1. George Araki
  2. Barbara McCullough
  3. Beth Grey
  4. Ursula Baylow
  5. Paul Mitchell
  6. Iris Ishikura
  7. Fran Brown
  8. Barbara Weber Ray
  9. Ethel Lombardi
  10. Wanja Twan
  11. Virginia Samdahl
  12. Phyllis Lei Furumoto
  13. Dorothy Baba
  14. Mary McFaden
  15. John Gray
  16. Rick Bockner
  17. Bethel Phaigh
  18. Harry Kuboi
  19. Patricia Ewing
  20. Shinobu Saito
  21. Kay Yamashita
  22. Barbara Brown

The original 22 teachers have taught others. In the decade since Mrs. Takata experienced transition, Reiki has spread rapidly in the West. It is now practiced throughout North and South America, Europe, New Zealand, Australia and other parts of the world. There are now (at the time of this writing) an estimated 50,000 Reiki Masters with as many as 1,000,000 people practicing Reiki throughout the world.

Every Reiki Master should be able to trace their lineage back through time to the original Reiki Master, Dr. Usui Sensei.

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The words printed here are concepts. You must go through the experiences. ~Carl Frederick

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