The History Of Reiki
Reiki is an energy-based approach to healing that originated in ancient Tibetan Buddhist teachings. Reiki was “rediscovered” in the 1800s and, consistent with other therapies based on Asian medical systems, assumes that physical and emotional impairments are linked to abnormalities of a person's energy or biofields.
Reiki is commonly known as an ancient form of Japanese healing. It is said to have been passed down for thousands of years from teachers to students. The word itself means Source Light Energy, “Rei” meaning source light, and “Ki” meaning energy.
Also known as the Usui Sensei, Dr. Mikao Usui was born to a wealthy Buddhist family in 1865. Dr. Usui’s family was able to give their son a well-rounded education for the time. As a child, Dr. Usui studied in a Buddhist monastery where he was taught martial arts, swordsmanship, and the Japanese form of Chi Kung, known as Kiko.
Usui traveled widely in Japan during the last four years of his life, offering his spiritual teachings to more than 2,000 beginning students, but training only 16 as Reiki masters. One of his master's students, Chujiro Hayashi, was a retired naval officer. Hayashi worked with Usui to excerpt the healing practices from Usui's larger body of teachings so that they could be more widely disseminated.
With Usui's blessings, Hayashi opened a Reiki clinic in Tokyo where 16 practitioners gave treatment in pairs. Hawayo Takata, a first-generation Japanese-American, came to Hayashi's clinic for relief from a number of medical conditions, including asthma. Months of treatment restored Takata's health, and she became a devoted student.
With Hayashi's active guidance and support, Takata brought Reiki to Hawaii in 1937 and eventually to the US mainland which eventually became popular in Canada. Takata practiced and taught Reiki for 40 years before she began training Reiki masters (practitioners empowered to teach others). Since Takata's death in December 1980, her 22 Reiki masters have spread her teachings. Reiki has become very popular and is now practiced around the world, although not usually in the traditional form Takata taught.
- Just for today, do not worry
If you worry too much about the future, this reiki principle will help keep you at ease and reduce anxiety. Sometimes we overwhelm ourselves with make-belief / an imaginary future living it in the present and somehow convincing ourselves that this imaginary world we have created in our minds is real. This defeats the purpose of focusing on this very moment and living it to the fullest - live and experience today, do not worry about tomorrow.
Tapping into faith and breathing into the present moment is a very important practice in Reiki. It creates a vital shift in our individual and collective consciousness.
- Just for today, be slow to anger
Anger is not necessarily a bad thing. It’s an experience we all go through. It’s a conscious reaction to a fact and truth that someone or something has encroached into our personal space. It is how we deal with the anger that matters not the feeling of it. When an incident makes you livid, immediately go back to the root cause no matter how difficult it makes feel.
Pause for a little while before reacting to the antagonist be it a situation or a person. No, you are not suppressing your emotions. You are just acknowledging that you are angry, it’s ok to be angry, but only peeling away the layers to understand the trigger and learning to eliminate, ignore or distance yourself from the trigger.
This is an everyday principle which is a reminder to allow the anger to come to the surface, not hiding it but allowing it to thaw and disappear in its own time - instead of judging or shaming yourself for it, which only makes it eat away your conscience for a longer period than necessary.
- Just for today, be humble
It’s easy for our ego to show off, especially when we've accomplished something great. This reiki principle admonishes us to bring it down a notch. It’s human to be acknowledged and credited for an accomplishment or expect thanks or a favor you have done others. But sometimes, people or the establishment you find yourself in may forget or deliberately decide against this acknowledgment. This could be due to inside politics or jealousy but it doesn’t matter.
If you realize your ego puffing up from compliments and how great you are - check yourself, be humble in your spirit/ conscience, and just remind yourself you did it for the love or as the responsibility you took on or just doing your job.
- Just for today, be honest
Do not put on a double personality. Do not put on an act. Do not try to impress and become someone you are not. Be the best version of yourself. It is quite a very admirable goal to strive for, but in practice, it can be very challenging. We are constantly trying to fit in and be accepted whether we like to admit it or not. When you learn to love yourself for exactly who you are, you no longer find the need to fit in, and everybody sees it.
So, instead of constraining yourself to please everyone or hiding the truth of who you are, always be reminded of this principle to let your real authentic self be seen.
- Just for today, be compassionate toward yourself and humanity
Compassion is the panacea to contempt, judgment, and anger. This reiki principle is a reminder to go easy on ourselves and others. Allow people to make mistakes and be willing to forgive. Allow others to learn to do the right thing even if they didn’t begin on the right note. It is not easy to practice this, but remember, it’s all baby steps.
