The evidence of Reiki has been traced back over 2500 years in history, and has been linked to ancient civilizations of India, Greece, Egypt, Rome, Tibet, China, the West and Atlantis through proofs dated more than 10000 years back in time. Thus Reiki is believed to be a prehistoric and ancient healing technique. However, due to colonization by the West its commonness amongst indigenous people was diminished and finally lost due to warfare.

Dr Mikao Usui  

The original formula of the 7 Level System of Reiki was re-discovered by Dr Usui in the early 1900's in ancient Sanskrit texts called the sutras. The sutras are books of knowledge written in the ancient form of Indian, and date back approximately 2500 years. No documentation has been made of Dr Usui's life. However, his story has been passed down via a student of a student – Mrs Hawayo Takata, as told here:

Dr Mikao Usui was a monk-scholar. He had a great interest in the life of Christ, Buddhism and the reason behind the innate ability to spontaneously heal that some humans have acquired.   After years of studying fragments and indications pointing towards a possibility to learn such a healing technique, he happened upon a monastery with a library that contained texts discussing his sought after topic. Here Dr Usui discovered and ancient sutra giving the keys - or symbols - to activating and applying universal life force energy though a formula just as logical as mathematics. Nothing difficult, but very simple, like 2 + 2 = 4. However, the book did not contain a method for activating him self to this higher energy. He decided to meditate on the topic and cleanse him self to receive the method.

Dr Usui left for Mount Kuriyama, which is ca. 17 miles outside Kyoto. Upon the mountain he meditated and fasted for 21 days with the purpose of receiving the alignment to the Reiki energy. He had gathered 21 stones to use as a calendar, and would remove one stone each day to keep count. During his long-term meditation he would also read the sutra and chant.

On the last day Dr Usui opened his eyes and looked into the dark morning sky. There he saw a flicker of light and knew he was about to receive what he came for. The light grew and came closer, faster and faster. It struck him in the centre of the forehead and he had the sense of dying. He felt nothing, and at the same time saw millions of bubbles and a rainbow of colors. Lastly he saw a great white light like a screen right in front of him, he saw the Reiki symbols radiating in gold, and he said, "Yes, I remember."  

Over the next few days Dr Usui returned to normal consciousness. In his excitement coming down the mountain he stubbed his toe. Sitting down he put his hands on his foot, and within moments felt the healing energy flowing through him and out through his hands. The pain diminished and the bleeding stopped. This was the first proof he had of his newfound ability to heal, independent of food or his own energy.  

Once Dr Usui had returned down from the mountain he entered an in for food. While waiting the innkeeper's granddaughter came to him with some tea. She had a toothache and her face was swollen. As they were too poor her grandfather was not able to take her to the dentist. Dr Usui put his hands on her inflamed face. After blinking her eyes a few times the girl ran to her grandfather telling him, "This is no ordinary monk!". This was the second proof of the energy.  

Dr Usui had ordered 3 bowls of rice in spite of the innkeeper's suggestion not to eat too much as he had been away from food for so long. When the food arrived he ate it all with no digestive problems. This was the third proof. 

The same evening Dr Usui returned to the monastery where he had found the original sutra. He shared his experience with the abbot and put his hands on him, as he was greatly afflicted by arthritis. After a few minutes the abbot declared that the pain had stopped and that he felt filled with energy. This was the fourth proof .  

Soon after this the decision that Dr Usui was to go to Beggar City in Kyoto was made. Here he was to heal the beggars in order for them to have new and better lives. Dr Usui called this process of healing 'Reiki', which is two Japanese words in one meaning Highest Universal Life Energy. Here he treated the sick for many years.

As he worked he noticed that some people he had healed felt it was just too hard to work for a living, so they remained in Beggar City as beggars. This came as a shock to Dr Usui - he felt he had failed in his work, as he had not known to teach them gratitude. He realized that if he had taught them the spiritual side of it first, and then had healed the body, the project would have been a success. Thus he formulated the five Reiki Principles:

These principles are created with the purpose of allowing for greater conscious awareness and enlightenment. They are there to assist the Reiki practitioner; when you are permanently aligned to the Reiki energy you will have a higher vibration than before, and also a greater potential to create and manifest in your life. It is therefore good to focus more on the positive and allow one self to be happy, which is part of the purpose of the five Reiki Principles.

Dr Usui left Beggar City and went to a big mall in Kyoto. Here he lit a torch and began walking up and down. As people passed they laughed. But one young man approached him and asked him why he needed a torch on such a beautiful sunny day? Dr Usui said he was searching for people who wanted to see the real light; those who are ill, depressed or want relief from misery. He then announced that he would give a lecture that evening for those who wanted to hear about Reiki. And so started Dr Usui's teaching experience with Reiki. During his life he taught many students, and shared the knowledge of Reiki.

One of his students was Dr Chujiro Hayashi , who continued to teach the formula of the Original 7 Levels of Reiki. As a member of the Japanese aristocracy, Dr Hayashi was able to start his own private clinic in Tokyo, which operated until Dr Hayashi's death in 1941. The clinic treated serious illnesses and severe cases, and Reiki was administered at all hours of the day. Some patients received treatments from several practitioners at once - a group treatment.

Reiki Grand Master Teacher Hawayo Takata  

Hawayo Takata , born in Hawaii with Japanese descent, was the daughter of a plantation worker. She worked in the same cane fields as her parents during her childhood and only finished second grade, after which she continued working in the plantation's main house. As time progressed she was given more and more responsibility and ended up in charge of the household staff. She married the family accountant, also of Japanese descent.

But her husband unfortunately died of a heart attach in his late twenties, leaving Hawayo to take care of their two daughters. By the mid 1930's Hawayo's own health was failing. She was depressed over the loss of her husband, which had drained her energy. A few times - in very important matters - she had heard her husband's voice coming to her. She was then suffering from lung, heart, stomach and gall bladder problems. She took her children to her parents' home in Japan in preparation for her death.

After a few months at her parents' house she rested and prepared for surgery. But just before the surgeons were to start operating she again heard her husband's voice. It was telling her not to have the surgery. Hawayo refused the surgery, and her doctor referred her to Dr Hayashi's Reiki clinic in Tokyo. Here she would receive a full body treatment on a daily basis.

After eight months her health was fully restored . Her experience with Reiki had also transformed her life and a desire to learn how to give these treatments to others. Soon she was an apt student of the Original 7 Levels of Reiki, and by 1940 she had been trained by Dr Hayashi in the whole system. She took her knowledge with her back to the Hawaiian Islands and practiced and taught there for the next 30 years.

However, not until she was in her seventies did she feel it was time to educate people as Reiki teachers. She trained twenty-two Reiki teachers, but most of them only to the first teacher level - level 3B. The only one she trained as a Grand Master Teacher - level 7B - was Dr Barbara Weber Ray.

Only a 7B teacher has the power, knowledge and energy to align students to all the levels, including 7B teachers. A 5B teacher can teach and align a practitioner to 3B, but not 5B. As such, Dr Barbara Ray was the only student of Mrs Takata to be fully empowered to make other 5B and 7B teachers, and teach all the levels of the original system.

In August 1980 Hawayo Takata announced Dr Barbara Ray as her successor at a large formal reception at Barbara's home in Atlanta, Georgia. There were over 200 guests present. Then, in December, Mrs Takata passed away.  

At the request of Hawayo, Dr Ray was to inform the other students of the higher levels. She was also to train those who felt ready to teach. Dr Ray contacted Hawayo's former students but found that most of them had started an association and were already teaching, and thus declined the offer of her correct training. Thus, these teachers were teaching a fragmented form of the original system, and chose not to be properly informed.

Mrs Takata's granddaughter, Phyllis Furumoto , called the 21 students together. She found that none of the symbols they were using were accurate or alike. In order to distinguish the original system from the fragmented and inaccurate one - a 'system' that has unfortunately let its branches grow - Dr Ray decided to call the original by the name of The Radiance Technique.

Reiki Grand Master Teacher Dr Barbara Ray  

Barbara Weber Ray was born in Houston, Texas, in 1941 and grew up in Chicago, New York and Florida. She received a BA and MA in the Classics, Ancient Languages and Civilizations, and a PhD in Humanities at Florida State University.   Academically her studies took her on a journey into ancient civilization, ancient and symbolic languages, Renaissance history, art history and modern cultural, intellectual scientific and spiritual movements

After a twelve-year career in college teaching and administration, Dr Ray decided to dedicate her self to healing. She became an author of the seven level system of Reiki, which she named The Radiance Technique to separate it from other fragmented forms and branches of the system.   In the two years leading up to Mrs Takata's death, Dr Ray studied with her extensively. In August 1979 she became a Reiki Master (all 7 practitioner levels), and went on to be trained in the entire seven level system by December that same year(Reiki Grand Master Teacher). As she had a scholarly approach to her training and her teaching, the original system is still kept intact and has retained its unique formulas and methods.

Dr Ray was also the only student of Mrs Takata to receive Hawayo's own hand drawn symbols. She passed them on to all her students as part of her professional standards and teaching program.

Knowing she was about to pass away, Mrs Takata recognized the need to ensure that the complete Reiki system be passed on intact for it to extend beyond her lifetime in the Western world. Dr Ray's academic training and professional approach enabled her to understand and teach the inner knowledge of Reiki and pass it on accurately and intact, and for this reason Takata singled her out as the best person to entrust the entire system to.  

In company with Mrs Takata, Barbara Ray announced the formation of the American Reiki Association Inc. at a public reception in Atlanta in August 1980. This established an organization for the teaching and training of the seven levels of Reiki, as it had been passed down from Dr Mikao Usui. In 1982, Dr Ray changed the name of this organization to The American-International Reiki Association Inc. (AIRA) to reflect its international expansion.

 

Reiki Grand Master Teacher Gary Samer  

Gary Samer was born and grew up in Buffalo, New York, in 1953. Graduating from high school he received academic scholarship and ventured into marine biology studies and a pre-medical degree at the State University of New York from 1971 to 1975.

After working as a deep-sea saturation diver in the North Sea, Gary pursued his interest in natural healing. He was trained in Back flower remedy, touch for health therapy, re-evaluation counseling, herbalism, homeopathy and native American healing, and went on to running a free healing clinic in Findhorn, Scotland, where he lived from 1980 to 1985.   Gary was trained as a Reiki Grand Master Teacher by Dr Barbara Ray by 1984, and taught Reiki in Europe and North America before emigrating to Australia in 1985. He introduced and popularized the Original 7 Levels of Reiki here, as first rediscovered by Dr Usui. Since beginning, he has taught Reiki to over 10,000 people in 12 countries.

In 2001 Gary became a distributor of Jason Winters Products. He has been running a free naturopathic help service from his home in Coffs Harbor, where he lives with his wife and four children.              

 

Reiki Grand Master Teacher Dez Dalton  

Dez Dalton was born in the United Kingdom and moved to Toronto, Canada, soon after, where he grew up. In 1972 Dez emigrated to Australia, where he became a professional touring musician. From the mid- 1970's he was a successful manager in music publishing and promotions.  

In the early- 1990's Dalton developed an interest in natural health, studying yoga, tai chi, qui gong, tantra, macrobiotics, ayurveda, chromatology, Taoism and the I AM Teachings. In 1994 Dalton started his training in the Original 7 Levels of Reiki with Gary Samer. In 2000 he completed his training, becoming a teacher of the entire system, and has since taught hundreds of people.

He has lectured and given talks at a multitude of expo's and festivals since then, including the Mind Body Spirit festival and the Pathways Festival. He now runs his Reiki clinic in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, and teaches all the practitioner levels and teacher levels. Dez also runs the Great Silence Meditation in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney - a unique blend of Eastern and Western philosophy lifestyle teachings.      

 

Reiki Master Teacher Charlotte Hukvari  

Charlotte Franciska Hukvari was born in Norway. She moved to Greece in 1998 where she studied and practiced meditation, and to Sydney, Australia in 2001. Here she studied at the University of Sydney and later at the University of Technology Sydney. She received her BA majoring in performance studies, film and English, and a Graduate Diploma respectively, this time majoring in education.  

During these same years she also studied all the 7 practitioner levels/self development levels of the Original 7 Levels of Reiki with Dez Dalton, and became a level 3B teacher of Reiki Degrees 1 and 2 in late 2003 - also with Dez Dalton. She has shared the Reiki energy at festivals such as The Inner Peace Festival in Geelong and the Yoga Expo Melbourne and visit venues in Geelong and Surf Coast region to educate and inform people about the Original 7 Levels of Reiki, the Great Silence Meditation and general well-being. She also functions as a voice for the Great Divine Light Beings. Charlotte has also studied the I AM Teachings, Iyenga yoga, Taoism, various energy sciences and theories, philosophy, the negative effects of the garlic/onion family, world religion, quantum mechanics and physics, and meditation.

She now lives in Geelong in Victoria, where she teaches and practices Reiki at her Herne Hill home clinic. Charlotte is also a stage performer as is regularly seen in stage and screen productions in the Geelong Region.