by Frans Stiene
“When this inner light appears, even the most intense physical pain dissolves like mist; the mind experiences a subtle bliss and a weightless freedom.” – Shaku Reikai, founder of Dai Rei Ryōhō
Was Mikao Usui teaching just hands on healing or was he teaching a path to remembering our true self?
“Usui Sensei had no standard curriculum, and the length of time of the training depended on the spiritual progress of each student. It is said that he gave one-on-one lectures mainly on the right mental attitude needed for spiritual advancement based on his own experience.” – Hiroshi Doi
When we look correctly at Mikao Usui teachings we see that he taught hands on healing and a very direct path to remembering our true nature, our essence, that we are Reiki.
“So the old Gakkai members said that Usui Sensei taught the way to Satori very intensely to those who had achieved a certain level.” – Hiroshi Doi
Some students just want to perform hands on healing on themselves and others and others want to really rediscover their true nature.
As most of us already know the concept of hands on healing within Mikao Usui’s teachings, let’s have a closer look at the part of his teachings that often do not get enough attention: the concept of remembering our true nature.
“Its essence is seeking the harmony of body and mind. When engaged in self-cultivation by doing seiza, forgetting the “self” is of utmost importance. When it comes to self-cultivation, one must discard all thoughts.” – Reiki and the Benevolent Art of Healing by Tomita Kaij, 1933.
Tomita Kaji, a student of Mikao Usui states that the utmost importance is forgetting the “self.” This forgetting the self is remembering our true nature. We can call this remembering, satori or anshin ritsumei, or any other word, but often we get distracted by these words themselves instead of truly remembering our true nature.
“Empty your mind and become selfless.” – Reiki Ryoho no Shihori a booklet handed out by the Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai
In the Reiki Ryoho no Shihori we also see that we must become selfless, which means remembering our true nature. Remembering our true nature is remembering that we are Reiki, a great bright light.
Remembering that we are Reiki, our true nature is also called a mindset of kami or hotoke.
Within the booklet Shin-Shin Kaizen Usui Reiki Ryoho Kokai Denju Setsumei and the Usui Reiki Ryoho Hikkei, two booklets handed out by the Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai, we find an interview with Mikao Usui. His answer to the question below points clearly to our true nature.
“Q. Does Usui Reiki Ryoho only heal illness?
A. No. Usui Reiki Ryoho does not only heal illness. Mental illnesses such as agony, weakness, timidity, irresolution, nervousness and other bad habits can be corrected. Then you are able to lead a happy life and heal others with the mind of Kami or Hotoke [Buddha]. That becomes the principal object.”
So the principal object of Mikao Usui’s teachings is the mind of kami or hotoke, or in other words, forgetting the self, remembering our true nature, satori, anshin ritsumei, or whatever we might call it.
“Everything in the universe contains Reiki” – Mikao Usui, in the booklet Kokai Denju Setsumei (first copy is said to be from 1922.)
We are the universe and the universe is us; this direct experience is remembering our true nature, satori, anshin ritsumei etc…
Please do not get caught up with these words, they are just fingers pointing to the moon.
“Reiki is kami and Hotoke (buddha nature), though I’m afraid this answer may cause much misunderstanding especially for you westerners. I think we shouldn’t stick to the word too much, which often gets the stumbling block to us.” – Takeda Hakusai Ajari.
Within the booklet Reiki Ryoho no Shiori, which is handed out in the Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai in Japan, we see a section called “Strict Teachings of Mikao Usui.” Within this section we find a wonderful poem, which encapsulates Mikao Usui’s teaching about remembering our true nature in a nutshell:
“Kumo wa harete nochino hikari to omounayo Motoyori sorani ariake no tsuki”
“Do not think that the light appears only after the clouds [confusion, thoughts, ego] have cleared. The light of the moon [Great Bright Light – that we are Reiki] has been shining in the sky from the very beginning.”
Of course we also can look at the Reiki precepts. In traditional Japanese teachings these precepts describe our true nature, so they also point to anshin ritsumei, satori, or whatever we might call it.
The meditation practice of joshin kokyu ho, which translates as pure mind with each breath also points to our true nature, as does Hatsurei ho, emanating our rei, our essence.
The first symbol and mantra points to the mindset of kami, the second symbol and mantra point to the mindset of buddha, the third symbol and mantra hon sha ze sho nen points to the right mindset of our original nature. And this symbol and mantra also point to shonen which is part of the eight fold path in Buddhism, which in turn is linked to remembering our true nature.The fourth symbol and mantra points to our inner great bright light.
The traditional concept of Reiju points to our true nature, helping people to remember their own inner great bright light. Reiju translates as spiritual blessing; it doesn’t translate as a hands-on healing activation method. And what is the deepest aspect of a spiritual blessing? Remembering our true nature. So as you can see, Mikao Usui taught hands on healing but the majority of his teachings point to remembering our true nature; this direct experience is often called satori or anshin ritsumei in Japan.
“For the members of our association, please keep this in mind that the more you have a higher virtue in yourself the stronger your spiritual energy becomes.” – Reiki Ryoho no Shiori.
By looking at these practices within Mikao Usui’s teachings we can see that a huge part of his teachings is about remembering our true nature, not just hands on healing.
Thus if we only focus on hands on healing we focus only on a very small part of Mikao Usui’s teachings.
“Even though the Usui Reiki Ryoho is effective in itself, no progress will be made if we go no further than detecting and eliminating Byosen. We heighten our consciousness by engraving the gyosei and the Five Principles in our hearts and avoid resonating with discordant vibrations. Additionally, we must heighten our resonance with reiki through our daily life; we must attain peace of mind and strive to study every day to approach the maximum state of Daianshin, or absolute peace.” – Gendai Reiki Ho – The Spirit of Usui Sensei and the Truth of Traditional Reiki by Hiroshi Doi translated by Rika Saruhashi.
