It is one of the oldest healing methods still in use, based on the existence of a force called Universal Life Energy, believed to be present within us and around us. Practitioners of Reiki say anyone, from small children to the elderly, can tap into this force, and use it for mental, physical and emotional healing. So how does Reiki work? And where did this method originate? It all started with a student’s question, and a teacher’s search for the answer.

How Reiki Began

Reiki was originally developed in Tibet, but later re-discovered by a Japanese priest and teacher, Dr. Mikao Usui. Dr. Usui was a Christian priest and the director of a small Japanese university at the end of the nineteenth century. During one of his classes, his students raised several questions--they wanted to know if he believed in Christ’s supposed healing miracles, whether he could demonstrate one of these miracles and why, if these healing miracles were possible, there were not more healers in the world. Dr. Usui could not provide an answer. Because he was unable to answer their questions, he resigned, as was the Japanese custom. However, their questions had roused his curiosity, and he set forth to find the answers, dedicating the rest of his life to this pursuit.

Dr. Usui’s quest took him around the world. He traveled first to the United States, where he received a doctorate in theology. While there, he studied Christ’s reported healing miracles, but despite an intense course of study, he was not satisfied by the answers he found. He then went to northern India and Tibet, where Christ had supposedly studied. Later, Dr. Usui returned to Japan, where he studied the teachings of the Buddha, who himself was reported to have performed healing miracles. Eventually, Dr. Usui entered a Zen monastery. Here he studied the Buddha’s writings and meditated. His meditations led to visions, including one that instructed him to go to a holy mountain near Kyoto and meditate for 21 days. It was during this period of solitary meditation that Dr. Usui had the revelation that would shape his destiny and form the basis of Reiki. In a vision, Dr. Usui saw four Sanskrit symbols, and heard a voice that proclaimed these symbols to be the secret to healing. Dr. Usui developed the system of Reiki around these symbols, which are considered so sacred that they are secret to all but advanced Reiki practitioners. When Dr. Usui awakened from his meditations, he also discovered that he had acquired healing powers. He spent the rest of his life developing these abilities in himself, and teaching others how to tap into this healing energy.