by Frans Stiene
Mikao Usui called his teachings Shinshin Kaizen Usui Reiki Ryoho. Let’s explore this name…
Shinshin 心身
Shinshin means mind-body; sometimes this was also written as body-mind. Mikao Usui put the mind first, as he explained:
“The mind should be healed first and the body second, so that one can tread the right path of humanity. When the mind is healthy and its path of oneness has been adjusted, then the body will regain its strength itself.” – Mikao Usui, in the booklet Shin-Shin Kaizen Usui Reiki Ryoho Kokai Denju Setsumei.
Here we can also see that Mikao Usui points to the path of oneness—not only oneness of body-mind but oneness with the whole universe.
“The universe is me and I am the universe” – Mikao Usui, in the book Reiki Ryoho no Shihori by Fukuoka Koshiro.
By starting his teachings by the name shinshin Mikao Usui pointed to a state of oneness of mind-body and therefore a state of anshin ritsumei – enlightenment.
“In the East one starts from the experiential assumption that the mind-body modality changes through the training of the mind and body by means of cultivation (shugyo *) or training (keiko).” – The Body: Toward an Eastern Mind-body Theory by Yuasa Yasuo
Interestingly enough, we see the word keiko (or training) on Mikao Usui memorial stone as well:
“That which is attained within oneself after having accumulated the fruits of disciplined study and training (Keiko) is called (Toku) and that which can be offered to others after having spread a path of teaching and salvation is called (Koh).
“That which is attained within oneself” comes through diligent practice. What is attained? Shinshin, mind-body harmony, or in other words, anshin ritusmei.
徳 (Toku / Virtue): What you cultivate inside yourself through intensive practice (Keiko).
功 (Koh / Merit): What you give outward to the world by helping, teaching, and healing others.
In Japanese Buddhist philosophy, Koh and Toku together create the word Kudoku (功徳), which translates to “pious merit” or “karmic reward” accumulated through good spiritual deeds. But the foundation of doing these spiritual deeds is our own personal training and having accumulated the fruit of this practice.
A student of Mikao Usui points this out beautifully:
“This is because the source of reiki, the agent of this therapy, must be sought in the proper heart and mind. The power to treat disease is thus a byproduct of becoming a better person. The healing of diseases with this therapy is secondary.” – Tomita Kaij, Reiki and the Benevolent Art of Healing
So hands on healing others is a byproduct of our own personal spiritual development. This is also pointed out within the Reiki precepts; there is no mention of hands on healing on others at all, rather it points to our own cultivation of our mind. The meditation practices like joshin kokyu ho – pure mind with each breath – and seishin toitsu – concentration – also point this self cultivation out. The symbols also point to this state of mind. When we look at Mikao Usui’s overall teachings, we can see that the majority of the teachings focus on shinshin mind-body oneness and that hands on healing on others is the byproduct of all of this.
Thus, as the memorial stone states, we must first accumulate the fruit of our spiritual practice before we can start to help others. Mikao Usui also stated this in the question and answer section of the booklet Shin-Shin Kaizen Usui Reiki Ryoho Kokai Denju Setsumei and the Usui Reiki Ryoho Hikkei:
“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.”
We have to heal others with the mind of Kami or Hotoke/Buddha. How do we realize this state of mind? By shinshin, mind-body oneness, anshin ritsumei/satori.
“If the unity of mind and body (or “body-mind” in the Japanese idiom) is achieved, insights can be tested by deeds. This point explains why satori in Zen Buddhism is verified by action rather than by asserted propositions.” – The Body: Toward an Eastern Mind-body Theory by Yuasa Yasuo
Here we can see that when we remember this unity of mind-body, satori, we can check it by deeds. What are these deeds? Living a life of no anger and worry, being grateful, true to our way and our being and having compassion which does not change according to circumstances. The precepts therefore explain this state of shinshin, mind-body oneness, anshin ritsumei/satori.
“Dogen emphasizes the efficacy of zazen (seated meditation) for forgetting the self and “molting the body-mind”” – The Body: Toward an Eastern Mind-body Theory by Yuasa Yasuo
Forgetting the self and shinshin mind-body oneness are essentially the same thing. One of Mikao Usui’s students also pointed out the importance of this concept/teaching.
“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 Kaji Tomita, published in 1933.
Therefore when we look correctly at Mikao Usui’s teachings and what Kaji Tomita, one of his direct students, point out we see that within the system of Reiki the utmost importance is forgetting the self: mind-body oneness. And it is from this state of mind that we have to perform hands on healing.
Kaizen 改善
Kaizen is often translated as improvement. International transformation leader Jun Nakamuro explains kaizen in a beautiful way:
“Kaizen is a process in your mind, of reviving your innate potential as a human being.” – Jun Nakamuro
Kaizen is thus also a process within our own minds, focused on remembering our innate human potential. What is this potential? It is remembering our mind-body oneness, anshin ritusmei. The realization that we are Reiki.
“Kaizen is more personal, and it occurs within your own mind. Kaizen could be better translated as “continuous self-development.”” – Jun Nakamuro
Of course Mikao Usui also pointed out this continuous self-development within the precepts: practice diligently.
Usui 臼井
Mikao Usui’s name
Reiki 靈氣
Reiki spiritual energy – pure mind. Our essence, our innate potential.
“Everything in the universe contains Reiki” – Mikao Usui, in the booklet Kokai Denju Setsumei (first copy is said to be from 1922.)
Everything is Reiki, everything is pure mind, we just have not realized this but by our diligent practice of realizing shinshin mind-body harmony we become aware of this.
“It is pure Mind, which is the source of everything and which, whether appearing as sentient beings or Buddhas, or as the rivers and mountains of the world which has form, or as that which is formless, or penetrating the whole universe, is absolutely without distinctions, there being no such entities as selfness and otherness.” Zen Master Huang Po
Ryoho 療法
Ryoho can be translated as healing method. But what is healing? According to the etymology website etymonline, healing comes from:”restoration to health,” Old English haling, verbal noun from heal (v.). Figurative sense of “restoration of wholeness” is from early 13c.; meaning “touch that cures” is from 1670s.
When we consider that the word “heal” comes from the word wholeness, it makes perfect sense that Mikao Usui so often pointed out that first we have to heal ourselves, the realization of shinshin mind-body oneness. When we realize that our essence is already whole, mind-body oneness, we realize that we are Reiki, pure mind.The kanji of Ryo also has the elements of fire and light in it. What do we have to burn to really heal, to remember our wholeness? The concept of I, me, mine.
And when we have burned away that concept we start to see our innate wholeness which has always been there in the first place.
“We do not make harmony. We do not achieve it or gain it. It is there all the time. Here we are in the midst of this perfect way, and our practice is simply to realize it and then to actualize it in our everyday life. – Hakuyu Taizan Maezumi
This is why Mikao Usui called his system Shinshin Kaizen Usui Reiki Ryoho. A system to remember the oneness of our mind-body shinshin, which we must continuously remember in all we do today, kaizen, so that we lay bare our innate Reiki – pure mind because that is the most profound healing Ryoho for ourselves and others.
“In the Buddhist tradition, cultivation is a passage to reach the metaphysical insight of satori. Cultivation specifically means the discipline of the body-mind.” – The Body: Toward an Eastern Mind-body Theory by Yuasa Yasuo
