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| Mikao Usui Sensei |
All over
the world this month there are people celebrating the birth 150 years ago of a
Japanese man named Mikao Usui. I am
constantly grateful for the miracle of his discovery of this wonderful healing
method we call Reiki. He developed a simple, accessible way for any
human being to have healing in their own hands by connecting with Universal
Life Energy that surrounds us, no matter where we are on the planet. All we need is the willingness and commitment
to learn his method or receive treatment.
Having
spent many years traveling and searching for the answers to deep questions of
faith, he finally made his discovery late in life. He overcame many difficulties: we are
fortunate that he didn't give up! He
taught a few hundred students, all of them Japanese. One of those students, Chujiro Hayashi,
agreed to teach a Japanese American woman from Hawaii. Her name was Hawayo Takata and through her teaching Reiki is now practiced on every continent of the world.
It's
interesting to think about how different the world is today than it was 150 years
ago. Mikao Usui was born into a Samauri
family just after the Meiji emperor was enthroned. At that time the emperor was seen as a deity
rather than a political leader. During
Usui's lifetime Christianity was re-introduced to Japan, having been outlawed
for centuries. We are told that Usui was
inspired by the stories of the healing miracles performed by Jesus, prompting
his long search that resulted in the discovery of the Reiki healing method. When
he travelled to America he wasn't able to catch a plane, but would have sailed
there. The telephone wasn't even invented until he
was 11 years old.
Usui, we
are told on his memorial stone in Tokyo, "wanted to make it possible for
many people in the world to be able to experience this joy of healing". I often feel when I look at his picture that
he is very pleased with how Reiki has spread around the world and is now
practiced by millions of people of many different nationalities, colours and beliefs.
I'm very
grateful for Usui Sensei's dedication, because his commitment has resulted in a
healing method that is very easy for us to learn and use. In other hands-on healing methods it is often
the student themselves who has to go through many challenges to be able to
heal. Usui Sensei offered us a clear
path: all we need to do is decide to practice and learn from Reiki itself.
I'll be
celebrating Usui Sensei's birth with self treatment, thinking of how we are
told he discovered he could heal himself after injuring his toe. I'll also be teaching a Reiki class in Birmingham
and sharing Reiki with other Reiki students.
In a corner of Shropshire we will be practising a healing art that would
not have existed were it not for the life of a man from Japan that we would
otherwise have had no connection with: awesome!
What is
even more awesome is the potential Reiki has for making this a better
world. If it can spread and grow so much
in less than 100 years, what will happen in another 100? Could Reiki bring to the world more of the
kindness and compassion we crave? Could
it change how families and communities relate to each other? I believe this is possible with Reiki
practice.
Thank you,
thank you, thank you Mikao Usui for bringing Reiki healing to our planet!
