Who was Dr. Mikao Usui?

Mikao Usui was born on August 15, 1865 in the town of Taniai in Japan, not far from where Nagoyo is today. His family had lived here for eleven generations, and Mikao was born into the Tendai sect of esoteric Buddhism. At a very young age he was sent to a Tendai monastery to receive primary education from him. He continued his Buddhist education until he became a Tendai lay priest.

The Tiantai teaching was first brought to Japan by Chinese monks in the 8th century. In a short time it became what became Japanese Tendai. The Japanese Tendai did not substantially deviate from the beliefs created by the Tiantai school in China.

The Tendai sect flourished under the patronage of the imperial family and became the dominant form of mainstream Buddhism in Japan and was also the basis for most developments in later Japanese Buddhism.

Mikao Usui was also influenced by Shintoism, the traditional faith of the Japanese people before contact with China. The original Shintoism was a very simple religion and had only one mandate: the need to be loyal to the ancestors. Its earliest aspects were naturalistic, including spiritism, totemism, and nature worship. The early Japanese worshiped the sun, thunder, earth, tigers, snakes, the three, stones, etc. A later stage is more intellectual and ethically oriented.

As Mikao grew older, Japanese society underwent great changes. Now it was starting to open up to the west again. For the first time since the 1640s foreigners were allowed into the country, the ban on Christianity was lifted in 1873, and the country abandoned a feudal society and adapted to an industrialized society.

Mikao was an enthusiastic student and received a Ph.D. in literature, spoke several languages, and studied Western medicine, theology, and philosophy. He had the opportunity to travel to China, USA and Europe where he was able to deepen his studies.

Early in his adult life, Mikao lived in Kyoto with his wife and two children. He had several carriers as a businessman, and at one point was also a private secretary to Count Shinpei Goto. At the same time, he continued his spiritual studies and became involved with a group called the Rei Jyutsu Kai. This group had a temple (Kurama-dera) at the base of Kurama-yama Mountain.

Mikao Usui is also said to practice Shugenja in addition to Tendai Buddhism. Shugenja is a Japanese mountain ascetic shamanism that incorporates Shinto and Buddhist practices.

Around 1900, Mikao fell seriously ill when an epidemic swept through Kyoto. He had a near death experience in which he had a vision and instruction from Mahavairovana Buddha. This was a very important experience for Mikao and made him rethink his life. He turned his mind to the esoteric science of healing as Buddha thought it, and developed a compassionate desire that he might learn healing methods to benefit mankind.

Mikao went on to study Shingon Buddhism to find explanations for his vision. This led to a confrontation with his family who declared him a traitor to his family and ancestors.

He spends a lot of time and money studying the Buddhist scriptures, particularly those dealing with healing techniques and energy disciplines. For many years he continued to study and practice the Buddhist teachings. He eventually became a respected and learned Buddhist teacher with a following.

In 1914 he held a meditation retreat at the Kurama-yama monastery. It is believed that during this retreat he was able to merge all his knowledge and realize how he could work with divine life energy.

He first practiced the new healing technique on himself and his friends before, at a later stage, he offered his healing to the residents of Kyoto. This gave him the opportunity to hone and refine the healing method, later known as Reiki healing.

In 1922 he moved to Tokyo and opened a Reiki clinic where he practiced and also taught the Reiki system to his students. He founded the Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai, that is, the Usui Spiritual Energy Therapy Society, which is a society of Japanese Reiki masters that still exists today.

After the 1923 Kanto earthquake in Tokyo, where more than 140,000 people died and more than three million were left homeless overnight, Mikao and his students took to the streets and offered Reiki healing to countless victims.

His fame quickly spread throughout Japan and he began to receive invitations from all over the country. Her schedule became tight as teaching requests continued to increase. He traveled throughout Japan giving healings and teachings. On March 9, 1926, he died unexpectedly of a stroke at the age of 62.