Popular Misconceptions

myths & misconceptions
There are myths and stories abundant in Reiki - some downright silly, some plain nasty - and some which sound as if they might be true, if you don't know any different. Please use your common sense and discrimination. If someone tells you anything designed to cause fear or concern - they have a problem - not you!


To be fair, not everyone is exactly lying when they pass on some of the 'warnings'. They are usually just repeating what they have been taught - and genuinely believe what they are telling you. Not everyone is simply being unscrupulous, and deliberately trying to mislead. Most of us at Grassroots, and elsewhere, also received these teachings.....and experience has shown that these myths are exactly that - just myths.


Here are some of the more common misconceptions that are passed on time and time again - and they don't even seem to get worn out in the constant retelling!

Reiki Fallacies.

There were many stories told about Reiki, its origins, history, development and journey to the Western World. Most of these have now been proved to be untrue.

If you have read about Reiki in most of the older books, you have been misinformed about almost everything that was believed to be factual information regarding the discovery of Reiki, how it was used, and how it came out of Japan. Many more facts of what and what not to do in Reiki that were passed on to students are also now shown to be in error, perhaps through misunderstandings from teacher to pupil, or because of teachers adding their own interpretations and thoughts to Reiki teachings which were then passed on as fact by the students.

Mikao Usui was a Christian Dean of a Japanese University.

MIKAO USUI WAS A BUDDHIST AND NEVER TAUGHT AT ANY UNIVERSITY.

Dr. Usui gained his Doctor of Divinity Degree at the University of Chicago

MIKAO USUI WAS NEVER A STUDENT AT THIS OR ANY OTHER AMERICAN UNIVERSITY

Dr. Usui discovered the secret of healing in Buddhist Sutras after many years of searching.

THERE IS NO EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT THIS CLAIM. USUI SENSAI HIMSELF SAID THAT HIS HEALING METHOD WAS A NEW METHOD UNLIKE ANY OTHER

Dr. Usui devised his principles of Reiki and the idea of the 'energy' exchange after becoming disillusioned with the beggars who returned to their old ways after he had healed them free of charge.

NO-ONE HAS BEEN ABLE TO FIND ANY EVIDENCE THAT THIS STORY IS TRUE. DR. USUI DID WORK WITH VICTIMS OF A TERRIBLE EARTHQUAKE THAT OCCURRED IN JAPAN WHERE MANY LIVES WERE LOST. FOR THIS HE WAS HONOURED BY THE GOVERNMENT. IT IS BELIEVED THAT THE BEGGARS QUARTERS MYTH MAY HAVE BEEN DRAWN FROM HIS WORK WITH THE SURVIVORS OF THE DISASTER.



Dr. Usui invented his 5 principles so that people would have a philosophy to base their Reiki practice on.

THE REIKI PRINCIPLES ARE TAKEN DIRECTLY FROM THE MEIJI EMPEROR , WHO HELD IN HIGH ESTEEM BY MIKAO USUI

Dr. Usui passed on the office of Grand Master of the Usui System, and the running of his clinic to Dr. Chujiro Hayashi

CHUJIRO HAYASHI WAS NEVER MIKAO USUI'S SUCCESSOR. DR. HAYASHI BROKE AWAY FROM DR. USUIS GAKKAI AND FORMED HIS OWN REIKI SCHOOL. HE HAD NOT FINISHED THE COMPLETE SHINPIDEN TRAINING WITH DR. USUI, THEREFORE WAS NOT ELIGIBLE AS SUCCESSOR, AND STRICTLY SPEAKING WAS NOT QUALIFIED TO BESTOW THE TITLE OF MASTER OF USUI REIKI ON ANYONE. DR. HAYASHI, QUITE PROPERLY, CALLED HIS SYSTEM HAYASHI REIKI. HE HAD ALTERED THE TEACHINGS HE HAD RECEIVED, SO THAT THEY WERE NO LONGER USUI REIKI, BUT HIS OWN SYSTEM.

Dr. Hayashi trained the Hawaiian lady Mrs. Hawayo Takata in the Usui System of Natural Healing.

DR. HAYASHI DID NOT TEACH USUI REIKI. HE TAUGHT HIS OWN SYSTEM HAYASHI REIKI

Mrs. Takata brought the Original teachings of Dr. Usui firstly to Hawaii, then to America

AS IS SHOWN, MRS TAKATA DID NOT TEACH USUI REIKI. SHE LEARNED A SYSTEM CALLED HAYASHI REIKI. IT WAS A REVISED VERSION OF THIS THAT SHE TAUGHT TO HER OWN STUDENTS.

Mrs. Takata was the first Western Master of Usui Reiki

THE TERM MASTER WAS NEVER USED IN USUI REIKI. MRS TAKATA WAS NOT INITIATED INTO THE USUI SYSTEM. THEREFORE MRS TAKATA WAS NEITHER A MASTER NOR A STUDENT OF USUI REIKI

All the Reiki practitioners in Japan were killed during WW2, so that Mrs. Takata was the only practising Master/Teacher in the world. All Reiki lineages are directly from Mrs. Takata and Dr. Hayashi

THE JAPANESE REIKI SCHOOLS WERE INDEED STILL PRACTISING ALL THROOUGHOUT AND AFTER THE WAR, ALBEIT VERY DISCREETLY. THERE WERE MANY JAPANESE REIKI SCHOOLS STILL WORKING ANDTEACHING STUDENTS FROM MANY OTHER LINEAGES.

Anyone who learns Reiki that has come directly from Dr. Hayashi and Mrs. Takata is practising traditional Usui Reiki

THEY ARE PRACTISING HAYASHI/TAKATA REIKI, OR WESTERN REIKI

Traditionally Reiki was taught orally, notetaking was not allowed.

DR. USUI ALLOWED HIS STUDENTS TO TAKE NOTES. HE ALSO PRODUCED A MANUAL WHICH HAS NOW BEEN PUBLISHED BY FRANK PETTER.

The Reiki Symbols are secret, and never to be shown to anyone who has not been initiated into 2nd degree Reiki.

DR. USUI DID NOT USE REIKI SYMBOLS WHEN TRAINING HIS STUDENTS. THERE IS A STORY, AS YET UNSUBSTANTIATED, THAT HE DID DEVISE THE USE OF SYMBOLS (BORROWED FROM OTHER BUDDHIST SCHOOLS) FOR A FEW STUDENTS WHO HAD DIFFICULTY IN TUNING IN TO THE ENERGY, AS A FOCUS TO HELP THEM DEVELOP THEIR SENSITIVITY. HIS TEACHINGS DID NOT INCLUDE SACRED AND SECRET SYMBOLS AS A PART OF HIS METHODS FOR EVERYONE. THE SYMBOLS ARE COMMONLY USED IN MANY OTHER DISCIPLINES AND WERE NEVER SECRET.

Many Western teachers are now teaching the original Reiju empowerment process that Dr. Usui used.

DR. USUI'S REI-JU HAS NOT YET BEEN DISCOVERED. THE REI-JU THAT IS BEING USED NOW IS FROM MR. HIROSHI DOI, A MEMBER OF THE JAPANESE REIKI SCHOOL. MR. DOI IS NOT YET A SHINPIDEN TEACHER AND SAYS HIMSELF THAT HE DOES NOT KNOW THE EXACT METHOD THAT THE JAPANESE GAKKAI USES.


From Grass Roots Reiki with thanks for the enlightenment,

Dean