History

Dr. Usui eventually found himself at a Zen monastery. He asked the head monk: “Do the Zen know how to heal the body?”
The monk explained that they concentrated on healing the spirit and there just wasn’t enough time to teach the physical healing of the body. Dr. Usui requested that he be admitted to the Zen monastery so that he could study the Buddhist scriptures in search of the key to physical healing. He was admitted and so began his study.

Dr. Usui first studied the Japanese translations of the Buddhist scriptures but did not find the explanation he sought. Then he learned Chinese so that a wider range of Buddhist writings would be available to him, but still to no avail. He was later guided through his meditations to learn Sanskrit so that he could read the original Buddhist writings. After reading the teachings of the Tibetan Buddhistic Sect, he discovered what he felt to be the keys to healing. Dr. Usui found the symbols, formulas, and descriptions of how Buddha healed.

Nearing the end of his search, Dr. Usui had uncovered the knowledge he was seeking but he still did not have the power to heal. He discussed this with his old friend, the monk; they meditated upon the path to take. They were told that Dr. Usui should go to a designated place upon the holy Mount Kuri Yama. There he was to fast for twenty-one days and meditate to seek the power to heal; during this time he would receive enlightenment and Spiritual clarity.

Dr. Usui climbed Kuri Yama to a certain level and found a place that faced east. Since he had no calendar, he gathered twenty-one small stones and placed them before him. Every morning he awakened before the sun rose and would throw away one of the twenty-one stones to keep count of the days.

Each day he meditated and fasted. On the twenty-first day, Dr. Usui awakened to a darkened morning. It was like a new moon day when no light shone in the heavens before the breaking of dawn. When he awakened he could not even see his hand in front of his face. He found his way to his meditation spot and picked up the last stone. Dr. Usui prayed before throwing the last stone off the side of the mountain. He asked God for confirmation of his findings and asked to be given the enlightenment of how to use them.

As he threw the final stone off the side of the mountain, a light appeared far off in the east. It became brighter on its approach, frightening him. Dr. Usui fought the urge to run as a voice in his head reminded him, “You have searched for years and years, and you have meditated and fasted for twenty-one days. You have asked for enlightenment and confirmation, and now you want to run away from it?”

Dr. Usui quieted his intellect and said, “No, if that light is for me, I accept the enlightenment.”

The light became very bright and streamed across the heavens and hit him directly in his third eye. For a moment he thought he had died and ascended into heaven because he had never before been in such a euphoric state. He saw many bubbles in all the colors of the rainbow, and then a powerful white light, followed by golden Sanskrit letters, the secret formula of the Universal Life Force, and how to contact it. They came to him one by one, commanding him to memorize and preserve them.

Finally, the bubbles, the light, and the Sanskrit letters disappeared. Dr. Usui felt rested and full of life and energy. He jumped to his feet. He wanted to hurry back and tell the monk his exciting news. In his rush, he stubbed his toe on a rock. He reached down to comfort the pain and to stop the bleeding. He found that the pain and the bleeding stopped very rapidly and realized that something was different about the energy in his hands; they had become very hot.

After healing his toe, Dr. Usui continued his pilgrimage down the mountain. Soon he began to feel hungry, so he stopped at a home that served travelers and ordered cold rice and cold tea. In a few minutes, a Japanese girl with a bandage wrapped around her jaw brought Dr. Usui his meal. She told Dr. Usui that her tooth had been aching for days. Encouraged by his own phenomenal pain relief Dr. Usui asked, “May I give you a healing?” She accepted his offer gladly. He put his hands around her jaw and within moments the pain and swelling started going down. She was very happy and went to tell her father.

Dr. Usui ate his meal and went to pay the papa san. He reached into his pocket to get some coins out, but the papa san said, “Thank you, sir monk, but I cannot accept the money. You have rendered unto my daughter a service for which I do not have the money to pay. Please accept the food in exchange for the healing services that you have rendered.” Dr. Usui accepted the food in exchange for his services and continued his journey home.

Upon returning to Kyoto, he went to tell his friend, the monk, what happened. He asked for advice on what to do now that he had received the keys and the energy of healing. He wanted to learn more about its use and how to develop it and as such he was directed by the monk to meditate on it.

From his meditation, Dr. Usui was guided to go to the beggar kingdom in Tokyo. This kingdom was controlled by a beggar king. Dr. Usui went to see the beggar king and asked if he might live there to heal the sick and the afflicted. The beggar king admitted him but did not believe Dr. Usui would succeed in healing the beggars. For the next seven years, Dr. Usui worked on healing the sick in the beggar kingdom. He worked from daylight to dark, healing the young and old alike, and saw many beautiful results take place. He began to understand how Reiki flowed through him into others, and how the body became well.

One afternoon, Dr. Usui took a walk to the edge of the beggar kingdom. He saw a young beggar who looked familiar. He asked if the beggar knew him, and the beggar said, “Of course, Dr. Usui. Do you not remember me? I am one of the first beggars you healed.”
Dr. Usui said, “I healed you and you are still a beggar?”
The beggar looked back at him and said, “Oh, Dr. Usui, yes, and I did just what you told me. I went out to the temple to receive a new name, went to society, and began dealing with my karma, doing just what you told me to do. I even got a job and soon married, but it was too much responsibility. So, I decided that I would rather be a beggar. That way I wouldn’t even have to be responsible for myself.”

Dr. Usui was greatly upset, and thought, “What a terrible thing I have done. Perhaps the churches were right, the physical is not enough – the spiritual has to also be healed. Never again will Reiki be given away, always will there have to be an exchange of energy.” He decided to immediately leave the beggar kingdom.

As he walked back to the monastery, Dr. Usui was greeted, in Spirit, by the teachers who had greeted him on Kuri Yama. At this time he was given the Five Spiritual Principals of Reiki.