King's Touch Reiki

There was a discussion on Linkdin recently following the inquiry "are there different styles of Reiki?"  Yes & no!  Many different branches have formed, since Mikao Usui brought Reiki forward more than 100 years ago.  This article provides an interesting overview of the history in Japan, plus some of the Western modifications & modifiers! Usui's focus (Usui-Do) was on a spiritual system rather than hands-on healing, and many of his students were Buddhist monks and nuns, including his neice Suzuki-san, Yuri-in (who lived past 100), & Tenon-in (aka Mariko-Obaasan) who in died in 2005 at 107. Research, practice and a traditional fast granted Usui a high level of Ki. Around 1925, Usui-Sensei began 'renting out his dojo to others,' who would present their own lessons. Senior students Toshihiro Eguchi & Dr. Chuujiro Hayashi both explored healing, & included hand healing concepts and an energy transfer ceremony in their own teachings. Spiritua...

In the last post , I gave several exercise to increase the ability to sense Byôsen. The word comes from "byo" - ill, stiffness, tumor; "sen" gland. In Usui's original training, the ability to sense byosen was necessary for the student to advance to Oku Den , the next level. Byôsen can be felt as warmth, strong heat, tingling, pulsing sensations, or tension. In 'The Hayashi Reiki Manual,' Petters describes a session where he was holding the client's feet &  " perceived my client's whole body at once, the way you would feel the whole form of an apple if you wrap your hands around it. I felt not only the outside of his body but the inside as well. I could feel his feet, his legs, his inner organs, his back, his head, his hair .. I could feel where energy was moving freely and where it was obstructed. The problem areas felt like dark spots in a light body, like dark holes in the Milky Way." (p. 45) This brings to mind a time when ...

 In The Hayashi Reiki Manual, Petters writes, "The Japanese and Western Reiki schools differ in one central way. In Western Reiki we are taught that Reiki is "intelligent' & that it will find its way to the areas in the body that need it the most. Of course this seems true but it is only half the truth. The other half is that the body wants Reiki and will let the practitioner know where and how it wants to be touched. This happens through what Japanese Reiki practitioners call ' Byosen .' " (P. 37)  The art of sensing the Boyden (blockages) is called  Hibiki   The five levels are described as: Warmth - heat slightly higher than body temperature. Strong heat Tingling - generally felt in the hands & fingers, it may ebb and flow several times over the course of the session. Pulse-like sensation - Hibiki or a pulse-like feeling 'indicates that you can actually feel the Reiki stimulating blood vessels. .. The blood circulation is activated an...

Here we are, at the end of the year! As we prepare for the first session of our Reiki class this Sunday, January 5, I'd like to share links to the 'History of Reiki' posts I've done over the last couple of months. When Takata brought Reiki to the West in the late 30s, & began telling the story of Reiki to people outside of Japan, she 'edited' her tell for her Western audience. In recent years, as communication between Reiki practitioners in Japan has opened up, a more accurate picture has emerged. I've enjoyed revisiting the Reiki stories, & look forward to sharing more of them with you! Here are links to my posts on the history of Reiki: Mikeo Usui: Mountaintop Experience                     Reiki - The word                     Reiki Principles , as Usui taught them Chujiro Hayas...

After Mrs Takata recovered her health, she was ready for the next step:  Learning how to do this wonderful Reiki!  She asked Mr Hayashi, but he was reluctant to teach a Western person Reiki, feeling that Japan had already 'lost' enough of its teachings to the US. “It is a closely guarded treasure. It is for Japanese people only.”   She WAS an American woman! When she wanted to see something, she stopped and looked. When she wanted to know something, she asked. She respected his answer, and said no more; but she wasn't about to give up! One day, her surgeon, Dr Maeda, asked how she was doing. She told him that she had a reaction after the forth treatment. Then, for 14 days & nights, 'bathroom, bathroom, bathroom! So much I had to crawl back to my room. I was able to walk for the first time December 24, my birthday; and the next day I was a new person. I gained 14 pounds, and lost 10 years! I am getting well, & I want to learn Reiki. Please, doctor...

Around the same time that Takata sought answers for her own health, and Hayashi had opened his Tokyo clinic & was teaching hands on & spiritual healing, Englishman, Edward Bach, had similar questions, a similar quest. " Health is our heritage & right. It is the complete and full union between soul, mind & body.'   (Edward Bach, Collected Writings, P 91) Bach was born in Mosley, England Sept 24, 1886. He studied medicine, graduating in 1912, & commented ' It will take me 5 years to forget all I've been taught.' He had already begun to notice that different emotional states, worry, anxiety, anger, could affect the patient's health. He dreamed of a different kind of hospital, where patients could learn about themselves, & doctors would look more at the person than the symptoms. As an MD, he worked both as a general practitioner, bacteriologist & pathologist, developing vaccines made using a patient's own intestinal bacteria. ...

When Takata had received Reiki for 6 months, she was ready to learn! But... Though she was of Japanese descent, they considered her 'American,' & Dr Hayashi was reluctant to accept her as a student. Again, she spoke with Dr Maeda, & pleaded her case. "If I don't have my health, I have nothing!" She was determined to learn! So Dr Maeda took traditional writing materials, a brush, Sumi ink, & wrote Hayashi a letter, stating her sincerity, and she was accepted as a student.                                 **************************************** Frank Arjava Pettier & Tadeo Yamaguchi's book 'The Hayashi Reiki Manual'  includes information from the handbook Hayashi gave his students. The authors also recount Tadeo's mother, Chiyoko's memories of studying Reiki with Dr Hayashi. The full story of her experiences ...

As a child, I always LOVED it when my mama told stories of 'the Olden Days,' when she was growing up. Many of the stories of Reiki that have come down to us were told by the the Dynamic woman who brought Reiki to the West in 1938, Hawayo Takata. I've always loved the stories she told of her own experiences. Born Christmas Day, 1900 in Hanamaula, Kaui, Hawaii; Hawayo Kawamura's mother had big dreams for her tiny daughter, so named her after the Big Island of Hawaii. As a young girl, Hawayo quickly moved from field work to working in a Store, & March 10, 1917, she married Saichi Takata. They had two daughter, and remained in Hawaii, while the Kawamuras returned to Japan. By 1930, she had been widowed, & in 1935, her sister died. Her own health had deteriorated, both from continuing to work hard, & from grief. She decided to take the news of her sister's death to her parents directly, & visited them in Japan to do so. After the services were fin...

Chujiro Hayashi was born in 1879 or '80 in Tokyo. Like Usui, he was married, with two children. He served in the Japanese Navy, & in 1918, became commander of the defence station of Port Owinato. Hayashi trained in Western and Chinese medicine, and his traditional Japanese spiritual practices included Soto Zen & Shinto. His student Mrs Yamaguchi relayed he was also Christian (Methodist). This would not be uncommon in Japan, even now. Hayashi retired from the Navy, & in 1925, became a student of Mikeo Usui, 10 months before Usui's death. Several other Naval officers joined the school not long afterward, & continued his healing/spiritual work under the title 'Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai.  In 1931, Hayashi began developing his own clinic & school for healing, which became known as Hayashi Reiki Kenkyu Kai - Hayashi Spiritual Energy Research Society. His clinic had a treatment room where eight clients could be treated, with two practitioners at each futon...