01. Origins of Usui Reiki Ryōhō

In this post, I share a reflection on the intention and teachings of Usui Mikao Sensei.

Usui Mikao is the founder of the Usui Reiki Ryōhō, and it was through his own deep spiritual practice, meditation, and devotion that he experienced a great awakening on Mount Kurama. It is from this journey that he developed a system for connecting with Spiritual or Universal Life Energy, the system we now call Reiki.

He created a construct in a sense, a system which he believed would be helpful for all people; a construct to deconstruct the layers of modern life, distraction, barriers and disconnect. It was to offer a path of healing, remembrance, and spiritual return.

It is precisely this intention that Reiki could be learned by ANYONE that I love the system so much. It speaks of my relationship with herbalism, which is also that it is a practice for EVERY BODY. These practices, both herbalism and Reiki, are ‘every mans medicine’.

Usui did not begin by looking for a healing technique, but rather his intention is rooted deeply in Japanese Tendai Buddhism and he was seeking the truth of life itself. Usui Sensei called it the Usui Reiki Ryōhō—"Usui’s Spiritual Energy Healing Method"—a system rooted in ancient Japanese spiritual traditions. It was a way to live in alignment with the Great Bright Light that exists within all beings.

He gave us simple tools:

• Hands-on healing

• Gasshō meditation

• Breath practices

• The 5 precepts / principles

• The Reiju blessing (attunement)

Reiki, above all, offers a path back to ourselves. To self-awareness, self-connection, self-knowing.

I like to remember Usui not only as a teacher, and a great example of what is possible when we are committed to our practice, focus on grounded self-healing, and open our hearts to expand our gratitude for this beautiful life.