Can we return to the traditional roots of a system that appears to have become almost inseparable from the New Age movement? The International House of Reiki would like to think so.
Having begun in the early 1900s in Japan, the system of Reiki spread throughout the world with the help of Hawayo Takata. After her death in 1980 there was confusion between her students as to what the exact teachings were. Dogma became a necessity for some new branches while others freely interpreted the system to mean what they felt was appropriate. Out of this a backlash eventually developed and practitioners began researching what they were practising and teaching.
Throughout the 1990s practitioners returned to Japan and met traditional groups and teachers who still practised there. There was a blossoming of information from Japan and a greater sharing of information between East and West. This has helped many Western practitioners to teach from a more open and enlightened viewpoint than had previously been possible. One development from this has been the introduction of international Reiki events that have included Japanese teachers. Teachers who currently travel from Japan include Doi Hiroshi and Inamoto Hyakuten.
Just two years ago there were said to be 12 students of Usui Mikao alive and still practising his teachings in Japan. Today this number has dwindled to just five. An Englishmen, Chris Marsh, has been slowly passing these teachings on to the West. One of these old students, Suzuki san, is his teacher and is the cousin of Mikao Usui.
Other information is being taught by practitioners claiming to have discovered information through old students or researched material. It is hoped that in the future the continuing 'new' information that surfaces can be verified and consequently aid all practitioners. Over the last few years there has been information taught, such as Medicine Dharma Reiki (also known as Universal Reiki Healing and Men Chhos Reiki) that made claims of having original notes and teachings from Mikao Usui. It now appears that this is untrue. Students had devoted their time (and money) to these teachings. The result was embarrassment and general confusion. To ensure that this does not happen again all students-to-be should first check out their teachers and what they teach. Associations are just one way of going about this.
Bronwen and Frans Stiene traveled to Japan in 2001 and their experiences with modern Japanese teachers during this journey are related here in their article 'In Search of the Roots of Reiki'. They invited Inamoto Hyakuten to teach in Australia in 2003.
Some teachers are emerging today as highly influential in the modern world of Reiki or in Usui's original teachings. These are: Doi Hiroshi Inamoto Hyakuten Chris Marsh
Doi Hiroshi Teacher of Gendai Reiki Ho and initiator of Usui Reiki Ryoho. Doi Hiroshi is also a member of the Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai. He officially joined the society on the 22nd of October 1993 and completed Okuden, Level II, in 2003. Doi Hiroshi has studied many styles of Reiki, Western and Japanese, as well as numerous energetic and spiritual techniques. He was one of the first Japanese to study Levels 1 and 2 with Mieko Mitsui who was teaching Barbara Weber Ray's The Radiance Technique in Japan. He also studied all 3 levels of a system of Reiki called Neo Reiki and has trained with Yamaguchi Chiyoko.
Inamoto Hyakuten Teacher and founder of Komyo Reiki Kai. Inamoto Hyakuten has developed this form of Reiki from the teachings of Yamaguchi Chiyoko who studied with Usui's student Hayashi Chujiro. Inamoto Hyakuten has also been a translator for Doi Hiroshi and has translated Usui Mikao's memorial stone inscription that can be found on this site. Inamoto Hyakuten is teaching around the world and taught in Australia at the request of the International House of Reiki in May, 2003.
Chris Marsh Chris Marsh is an Iaido practitioner and teacher in England as well as a professional musician. On one of his regular visits to Japan he was invited to meet with Suzuki san san and eventually her fellow students (all aged somewhere between their late 90s and 112 years of age). These students had studied with Usui Mikao in the early 1900s but do not call what they teach 'Reiki'. There are some fundamental differences to the system of Reiki as it is taught today. Instead it is easier to refer to these teachings as simply - Usui's teachings.
