Dr Mikao Usui was born August 15 1865 in the village of Taniai which is located near present day Nagoya Japan. At the age four he entered the Tendai Buddhist school near Mt. Kurama. He also studied qigong which is a health and healing discipline based on the use of life energy. The young Usui found these healing methods required the practitioner to build up and then deplete their own life energy when giving treatments.

One of Dr Usui students asked if he believed Jesus had healed and he replied yes. The student then asked if man could also heal in the same manner as Jesus had done. This set Dr. Usui off on a journey to find the answer.

He traveled to Europe and China to further his education. His studies included medicine, psychology, religion and fortune telling.

After years of study he felt he needed more insight and decided to embark on a 21 day fast and meditation on a nearby mountain called Mount Koriyama.

On reaching Mount Koriyama Dr Usui gathered 21 stones and made a pile, he intended to throw one stone away at the end of each day. During this time, he contemplated all he had learned and experienced and meditated on the symbols he had seen in the scriptures.

He had still not found his answers but on the first light on the 21st day began to dawn he saw light coming straight towards him. He did not move, the light got stronger and stronger until it finally hit him between the eyes. Dr Usui thought he was about to die when he saw millions of tiny bubbles in all colours of the rainbow. The symbols and the very essence of their meaning were contained within the bubbles. Dr Usui immediately understood them. Reiki had been discovered once more.

He got up, took his first steps and started on the 25-mile trek to Kyoto. He was surprised that he hadn't died of starvation and didn't feel hungry anymore. "This was indeed a miracle," he thought.

Usui used his new healing ability to help others. He spent the next seven years with the poor people in Kyoto. In 1922 he moved to Tokyo and started “Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai” which means Usui Reiki Healing Society. He taught classes and gave treatments. In his lifetime he taught more than 2,000 students and initiated 16 teachers. He was also given a Kun San To award for helping others by the Japanese government.

Chujiro Hayashi was one of the 16 teachers Dr Usui had trained. Hayashi was a respected teacher and opened one of his own clinics in Tokyo. He practiced and taught Reiki classes and many of his students received their Reiki training in exchange for working in his clinic. It was to this clinic Mrs Takata was directed in 1935.

Hawayo Takata was born on Dec 24, 1900, on the island of Kauai, Kawaii. Her parents were Japanese immigrants and her father work in the sugar cane fields. She eventually married the bookkeeper of the plantation where she was employed. His name was Saichi Takata and they had two daughters. In October 1930 Saichi died at the age of 34, leaving Mrs Takata to raise their two children.

To provide for her family, she had to work very hard. After five years she developed severe abdominal pain and a lung condition, and she had a nervous breakdown. Soon after this one of her sisters died and it was Hawayo's responsibility to travel to Japan, where her parents had resettled, to deliver the news. She also felt she could receive help for her health in Japan.

There she entered a hospital where she was diagnosed with a tumour, gallstones, appendicitis and asthma. She was told to prepare for an operation but opted to visit Dr Hayashi's clinic instead.

Mrs Takata was unfamiliar with Reiki but was impressed that the diagnosis of Reiki practitioners at the clinic closely matched the doctor's at the hospital. She began receiving treatments. Two Reiki practitioners would treat her each day. The heat from their hands was so strong, she said, that she thought they were secretly using some kind of equipment. Seeing the large sleeves of the Japanese kimono worn by one, she thought she had found the secret place of concealment. Grabbing his sleeves one day she startled the practitioner, but, of course, found nothing. When she explained what she was doing, he began to laugh and then told her about Reiki and how it worked.

Mrs Takata got progressively better and in four months was completely healed. She wanted to learn Reiki for herself. In the spring of 1936 she received First Degree Reiki from Dr Hayashi. She then worked with him for a year and received Second Degree Reiki. Mrs Takata returned to Hawaii in 1937, followed shortly thereafter by Dr Hayashi and his daughter who came to help establish Reiki there. In February of 1938 Dr Hayashi initiated Hawayo Takata as a Reiki Master.

Mrs Takata practiced Reiki in Hawaii, establishing several clinics, one of which was located in Hilo on the Big Island. She gave treatments and initiated students up to Reiki II. She became a well-known healer and traveled to the U.S. mainland and other parts of the world teaching and giving treatments.

It was not until 1970 that Mrs Takata began initiating Reiki Masters. She charged a fee of $10,000 for Mastership even though the training took only one weekend. This high fee was not part of the Usui system, and she may have charged this fee as her way of creating a feeling of respect for Reiki. She said that one should never do treatments or provide training for free, but should always charge a fee or get something in return.

“You cannot discover new oceans unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore”