The founder
Mikao USUI, a Japanese born in a samurais’ family in the 19th century, has developed the Reiki energy technique.
When he was very young, he used to practise Kiko (Chi-Kung) whose exercises allow to feel the circulation of energy and to open the meridians.
Sensitive to the use of energies, he healed people with this energy before he noticed that some difficult cases sucked out his own energy. He thus decided to stop the care and continued to study the martial arts. These allowed him to perfect his knowledge on the use of energy (Ki). His training also includes medicine, psychology, religion as well as the art of divination.
Besides the Shintoist and Buddhist teachings, he nurtured his spirituality and his internal development with Zasen meditation.
Birth of the Reiki practice
Usui Sensei[1] developped this system of self-healing and spiritual development called «Usui Reiki Ryoho». He then founded an organization, “Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai” (Usui Reiki Healing Method Society), to initiate people for therapeutic purpose. Some of these people passed Reiki Masters to pursue his teaching. Among these, Mister Chujiro Hayashi, doctor and officer in the Imperial Navy, has attuned Mrs Hawayo Takata who brought Reiki in Hawaii and made it available worldwide.
The simplicity of this technique allows anyone to learn to connect to and channel energy for their own benefit, and for the benefit of others, without having to train for years and years.
[1] Sensei : Japanese term for the person who transmit their knowledge and experience
Source : Reiki – the Healing Touch (William Lee Rand)