Mikao Usui was born into a Japanese Tendai Buddhist fam Mily on August 15, 1865. He was the eidest of three broth ers and two sisters. His father was a lower level noble, allied with the government of the military shogunate. But he was wise enough to foresee the imminent fall of the discredited regime. And sooner than later, crumble it did, thanks to the wisdom and well-laid out strategy of the Meiji emperor and his followers. Usul’s father was with the catalysts of change. A significant change it was, not only in the sense that the regime changed, but also in the sense that it heralded a new era-compassionate in the tradition of the Buddha and ready to embrace modern western science. In sum, it signified a major paradigm shift. Walking the legendary middle path of the Buddha, it sought to combine tradition and modernity.
Until the middle of the 19th century, Japan usually looked towards China. And why not! China, in effect had been the source of inspiration in several fields like art, philosophy, lan guage, religion, etc. Confucius and Lao Tzu were as revered there as in China. But now, Japan was willing to embrace west ern science. It was natural therefore for people doctors, sci entists and Christian missionaries to start pouring into Japan. Dr Mikao Usui in his short autobiographical sketch has passed on information about his own professional and spiritual growth. Based on these several points one can easily construct a holis tic picture of Dr Usui that encompasses his attitude towards spirituality, science, tradition, modernity and the goal of human life. This picture makes him more humane, less mysterious and more worthy of emulation Mikao Usui was singularly lucky as he was among the first Japanese to have come in contact with the right Americans. Important among them was Dr Philips, a unique blend of reli gion, medicine and philosophy. Usui was attracted towards him, as in him he could have a glimpse of rare intelligence and humanism. Usui therefore was very keen to draw from the well of his knowledge as much as was possible for him to digest and integrate with his own worldview. Dr Philips acquainted him with the life and precepts of Jesus. At times, Usui would find in it an echo of the tenets of Buddhism, but he could not reconcile himself to the concept of the Christian god whom he found very punishing and heartless. Nor was the concept of one life, nothing preceding or following it, palatable to him. He therefore decided to learn less about Christianity and much more about medicine. It was no coincidence that around this time, quite a number of doctors and teachers arrived there from Princeton and Harvard universities of America.
Mikao Usui studied with these eminent teachers, conse quent upon which under the decree of the Meiji emperor he was awarded the degree of medicine. He was also granted per mission to pursue the practical training work (internship) under their supervision and guidance. Very soon, guided by Dr Philips and Dr Kerngold, Usui learnt the finer points of surgery, having already mastered pharmacology and the treatment and diag nosis of disease. This is not without reason, therefore, for Usui to have referred to these two doctors and teachers with utmost reverence and gratitude on several occasions.
When Usui was 27, the onslaught of cholera assumed the proportions of an epidemic in Japan. It afflicted him, too. Viewed in retrospect, what appeared as a calamity, in the final analysis changed the very course of his life and proved a blessing in disguise, because this marks the watershed in his life. Usui would not be/could not be the same Usui thereafter.At that point of time there was no standard treatment for cholera, except the tiny pills of opium which placed under the tongue would melt, much like the sorbitrate given for acute heart condition these days. These pills would slow the move ment of the lower intestine and thus save the patient from dehydration which if not checked proves fatal. The only other thing that was additionally administered was a mild mixture of salt water, potassium chloride coupled with fruit juice. This would no doubt prevent dehydration, but would also disrupt the sodium-potassium balance in the body.
Maybe it was a consequence of the acuteness of the ail ment or the effect of those tiny opium pills, one afternoon Usui sank into unconsciousness. Or one could say he was in a state of semi-consciousness, unable to move the body and yet able to hear what others were saying to each other – a sort of invol untary registering of words. Dr Philips was telling his associ ates in a sad, subdued tone, as he later recalled, that Usui would not be able to survive the night. Dr Philips was making this prediction in view of the extremely low blood pressure and the like heart-beat. On hearing this those present there must naturally have felt sad for Usui.
In that state of oscillation between unconsciousness and semi consciousness, Usui started chanting ‘Namo Amida Butso’, and he gradually dipped deeper and deeper into black ness of a dreamless, thoughtless state and suddenly he found he was ‘waking’ (in a figurative manner), not where he was, but in a place filled with light: beautiful golden light, a metaphor for the Pure Land of the Buddha. The scene and setting were awe some. He beheld Mahavairochana. To his right was Amida, to his left was Medicine King Buddha. Above the head of mahavi rochana was ‘our’ first teacher shakyamumi Buddha. Countless Buddhas and Bodhisattvas and their retinues surrounded them. Usui could have considered himself blessed, but he on the contrary, was a bit low and even apprehended punishmenton account of his having moved away from the faith and wed ded his allegiance to western medicine. But that didn’t happen because that was not to happen. There could hardly be any room for punishment in this empire of compassion.
Sensing his inner turmoil, Mahavairochana was the first to speak to him. It was the most kind and loving face, free from passion and attachment, yet filled with compassion for all sen tient beings. ‘My poor child, you fear that because you have rejected your ancient and hereditary faith that we have reject ed you. For a fully enlightened being, a Buddha, this is not pos sible for us to be angry. We only feel compassion for you and for all beings who suffer in the churning ocean of samsara (life), facing the two terrors of birth and death.
Usui ought to have been overjoyed, hearing such good things. But unexpected grace, at times makes one suspect one’s own worthiness, so he prostrated to them many times and said to them he was sorry for having turned away from their spiritual science to the physical science.
As if with a view to boosting Usui’s morale and self-esteem, he continued, ‘But we don’t think you have turned away from us. For all learning and knowledge which relieves suffering flows from the mind of the Buddha.”
Sensing his still persisting diffidence, Medicine King Buddha spoke to him to allay his fears and to remind him of his mission in life. He wanted Usui, a physician like the Medicine King also was, to make a synthesis of both teachings (spiritual and western medical). “Remember the age-old teaching that the spirit, the life energy, the hara, is not separate from body and that all physical suffering first emanates from the Hara, and is due to karmic obscurations and past actions which lead to suffering: the surgeon’s knife or the physician’s pill can only temporarily relieve the suffering. For the individual to truly be healed, he must be healed of ignorance, hatred and greed. He must live a moral life, walking the Middle Path and seeking enlightenment for his own self and others.”
And lo and behold, from the heart of the Medicine King (also known as Lapis Lazuli Buddha) emanated a blue light that touched Usul. And the miracle had happened. The physicians were both surprised and delighted, finding the next morning that Usul had not only survived but all the symptoms of his dis ease had disappeared. Even for the physicians it was some thing unimaginable, but it was true all the same.
After he had overcome the general physical weakness, Usui shared his divine vision experience with Dr Philips, but he soon realized that he should not have done that. He regretted it because Dr Philips took no time to reject it as a dream of the person who had ingested opium. Ridiculing Usul’s claims, he reprimanded him for saying things that a learned man of sci ence could never believe.
After about a week of recovery, Usui thought of approach ing his Bonze (priest of the Tendai faith). He was sure that although the scientist did not believe what he had been told, the Bonze certainly would. Usui could not have been more wrong, because what he experienced with the Bonze marked a more fierce and shocking rejection, and a much worse ridicule and humiliation, too. The Bonze termed the whole thing as Usui’s arrogance and asked him how he could have such a vision when it was beyond even the greatest Abbot to be blessed with. The Bonze called his guards and had Usul thrown out of the premises. Badly mauled and hurt to the core, Usui immediately decided to sever his links with the Tendal faith, which he had belonged to since birth.
At times, it does so happen that when you are selflessly and truthfully striving to attain your lofty objectives, all the pos itive energies converge to draw your chestnuts out of fire. It did happen with Usui too. Dejected and heart-broken after hisunpleasant experience with the Tendai Bonze, he had hardly moved a few steps that he met with a wonderful person; Watanabe, a shingon Buddhist Bonze, destined to be known as Watanabe, the senior, in Usul’s story as his son Watanabe Itami Koishi, too had already been programmed to become Usui’s principal disciple and a trusted friend. Some people may call it a chance meeting, but it was much more than a simple chance meeting. We must note that such chance events occur at just the right moment, and bring forth just the right individuals, to suddenly send our lives in a new and important direc tion. We ought not to forget to intuit higher meaning in such mysterious chance happenings. The electric charge between the two-Usul and Watanabe, the senior made them instantly like each other. The way Watanabe heard Usui’s narration of the divine vision, with empathy, appreciation and rapt attention, made Usui take him as his mentor. A life-long relationship had immediately taken shape.
Very soon, the two of them made numerous fire-offerings as gratitude for the wonderful blessing that had been bestowed on Usui at the Assembly of the Buddhas. And then began the series of meditation and study sessions with Watanabe Bonze, Usui’s life began to change, and change for the better. He became very calm. His desires and attachments began to break away and the obscurations which he had had in his mind since his childhood began to melt and dissipate. And the sun started shining brightly once the dark clouds of ignorance scat tered. Watanabe gave him all the shingon initiations which led to a great spiritual awakening in Usui, and with this, he also began to correctly interpret his divine vision. The path had been paved all right but the destination was yet not visible.
He started practising as a physician and soon became fairly well known in and around Osaka. As an effective heal er, of course. He could easily gain the trust of his patients. The rustic peasants revering him as one who was a goodhealer and felt this had been preordained. It was not over credulity or superstitious nature of the patients that made them make this evaluation of and observation about Usui. Rather it was their innate capacity to perceive things that go beyond normal perception. Moreover, they were testing their faith on the touchstone of their experience about the ailment and riddance from it.
In 1898, a strange incident occurred at a bookstore in Kyoto. We should try not to commit the mistake of treating it as another coincidence. Since his divine vision, two incidents one after another had taken place which should be viewed as a log ical extension of that unique experience. Usui’s break with the Tendai faith, and embracing Shingon faith were the first links in the chain. And what happened at the Kyoto bookstore was without doubt the next link in the chain of events. The third one, a decisive and definitive link, accelerating Usui’s onward march towards Reiki.
He found an old lacquer casket that bore the seal of the emerji Shingon Temple. Being a devout and dedicated Shingon practitioner, Usui intuited that it must contain some of the sutras and commentaries. So without thinking twice, he imme diately purchased the same.
He took home the casket, made of teak and camphorwood. When he opened it, he discovered the treasure he had all along been looking for, although without knowing what in par ticular he had been seeking. But, without any doubt here was the treasure needed for actualizing the task that had been entrusted to him by the Buddhas in that divine vision.
And the priceless treasure was the Tantra of the Lightning Flash. The more he read and meditated, the clearer it became to him that here was a system of spiritual healing that had been revealed from the lips and tongue of Shakyamumi Buddha: thetreasure that, through the ignorance and carelessness of man had been lost. He immediately resolved to study and perfect the invaluable system of healing and eventually hand it down to select disciples who in turn would pass it on to others.
In consonance with the above resolve, Usul moved from one place to another, acquainting people with Reiki. And very soon a team of potential disciples started building around him. With a view to making his mission successful he started chart ing his agenda and strategy commensurate with the directives received from the Buddhas in his divine vision. He started combining spiritualism with science, while at the same time also consistently formulating the moral-ethical code of healing.
It would be really educative to recall that Usui, in his inter face with his disciples, would dwell on anatomy and physiolo gy as well as Chinese and western medicine, and underline Reiki’s complementarity. He was aware of the limitations of medicine, as were many of his contemporary Japanese physi clans, too. Rather than underline the limitations; Usul would emphasize the potential when coupled with Reiki. When we talk of Usui’s views on other related issues, we shall find that Usui always looked for the thread of unity in the midst of plu ralism (be it in the field of religious faith or healing therapies or even diverse disciplines of knowledge and learning).
The motive behind working out his autobiographical sketch was that he wanted to share his life experiences with his dis ciples. Once he had written it, he handed it on to Watanabe Koishi Itami. Isn’t it wonderful that both Watanbes- the father and son- were so dear to him. The senior was his spiritual men tor and a dear friend, while the junior was his principal disciple and also the 4th president of the organization that Usui had founded. He handed the sketch to his disciple as he wanted him to be able to trace his roots and also acquire from his mas ter authentic and genuine nuts and bolts of the healing system.As a normal practice, Usui would pass on relevant infor mation to his disciples, based on his handbook. While developing it, he had taken care of all possible issues relat ed to healing.
We have earlier talked of the five Reiki principles in Takata’s context. It would be appropriate here to make a cou ple of points to set the record straight.
(1) These principles had not been laid down or formulated by Dr Usui. It may contradict the general perception, but true it is. The Meiji emperor (1868-1912) was the real author of these principles whose objective was to accord mean ing to life. There are many legends about the Meiji Emperor suggesting that he was a highly energized per son who subscribed to a set moral code.
(2) The order of these principles as presented by Usui in his handbook differs from the one given by Takata and her disciples, both in terms of order and language. When we discuss these principles, we shall analyze and interpret them in the context of the Buddhist teachings.
Dr Usui had initiated around 1500 I and II Degree healers and more than twenty Masters.
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