Mikao Usui — the historical sources

What do we actually know about Mikao Usui, and what can be backed up by historical sources? That question has interested me for a long time. Many stories about Usui that circulate today don't come from Japanese sources, but came about later. In my book Reiki in der therapeutischen Praxis I translated the inscription on Usui's memorial stone from the original and explained it. In this article I'd like to give you an overview of what the sources say.

The memorial stone at Saihōji 碑文

The most important historical source on Mikao Usui is his memorial stone, the Usui sensei kudoku no hi 臼井先生功徳之碑, "memorial stone of the merits of Master Usui". It stands next to Usui's grave on the grounds of the temple Saihōji 西方寺 in Tokyo and was erected in February 1927, less than a year after Usui's death on 9 March 1926.

According to the stone itself, the text was composed by Okada Masayuki, a doctor of literature, and the calligraphy was done by Ushida Jūzaburō, a rear admiral and Usui's successor as head of the society Usui founded. So it was written by people who knew Usui or his circle personally.

The stone gives Usui's general name Mikao and his Buddhist name Gyōhan. It says he was born on 15 August 1865 in the village of Taniai in the Yamagata district of Gifu Prefecture, and that his ancestors go back to the samurai Chiba Tsunetane (1118–1201). It describes how he travelled by ship to the West and made his way through China, how he went up into the Kurama mountains, fasted and did hard ascetic practice, and how on the 20th or 21st day he suddenly felt a mystical energy above the crown of his head and received the method of healing with spiritual life energy. In April 1922 he moved to Harajuku in Tokyo, founded a society and began passing on and practicing the Reiki method.

What the stone says, and what it doesn't 読解

What I find especially interesting is the description of Usui's interests. According to the stone he loved reading, studied historical biographies, and was well versed in medical literature and Buddhist sutras, among other things. On top of that he was interested in psychology, the methods of hermits with supernatural powers, magical incantations, divination and more.

Okada Masayuki explains towards the end of the inscription that the text was written in a Buddhist style. That explains why it contains many Buddhist technical terms, and it is also a hint of Usui's connection with Buddhism. Because of the comparisons with saints of old and the mention of his Buddhist name, I assume that the text was meant to be written in the style of a Buddhist sutra, to place Usui on the level of great monks. In Japan that isn't unusual for truly important people.

There are also things the stone doesn't say. It doesn't name the specific practices Usui did in the Kurama mountains, and it doesn't give a full account of his spiritual sources. There are various theories about this, but none of them is completely certain.

The old stories of Kurama 縁起

What I find interesting here is that the stone says almost nothing about the place itself. Yet Kurama has its own very old stories. According to the tradition of the Kurama temple, in the year 770 the monk Gantei, a close companion of the Chinese master Jianzhen (jap.: Ganjin), was led up the mountain by a white horse. There he had a vision of Bishamonten and founded a temple on that spot. The story of Maōson goes back even further. According to the temple's tradition, he came down to Kurama from Venus around six and a half million years ago. And then there are the tengu, the mountain beings of Kurama's forests, above all the great tengu Sōjōbō, who according to legend showed the young Minamoto no Yoshitsune the art of the sword.

Of course these stories aren't historical evidence in the source-critical sense. But they show the world Usui stepped into when he withdrew to this mountain. There's more on this in the article on the Kurama mountains.

The Usui Reiki Ryōhō Gakkai 學會

The society Usui founded in 1922 is known today as the Usui Reiki Ryōhō Gakkai 臼井靈氣療法學會. After Usui's death, Ushida Jūzaburō 牛田 took over its leadership, followed by Taketomi Kan'ichi as the third president. The society still exists in Japan today as a closed organization. In the West it only became widely known in the 1990s.

It is important to me to mention one more thing here. Every Reiki lineage begins with Usui, but not every lineage goes through the society or through one particular student. Usui had several master students, and from them many lines developed.

Documented and later additions 史実

So what can be documented, and what was added later? Here is a short summary.

Documented on the memorial stone: Usui was born on 15 August 1865 in Taniai, Gifu Prefecture. His Buddhist name was Gyōhan. He travelled to the West and through China, was well read in medicine and Buddhist sutras, among other things, and interested in many spiritual methods. He practiced in the Kurama mountains, where on the 20th or 21st day he had his decisive experience. In 1922 he moved to Tokyo and began passing on his method. In 1923 he treated many victims of the Great Kantō earthquake. He died on 9 March 1926 in Fukuyama, at the age of 62.

Later additions without a basis in the Japanese sources: a journey to America and studies at an American university.

Why the sources matter for practice 真実

Some people ask whether it really matters if the story is true, since the energy flows anyway. I think it does matter, because the better you know the sources, the better you understand why the symbols look the way they do and which traditions Reiki draws on: esoteric Buddhism, Shugendō, Shintō and shamanic Daoism.

You'll find the full translation of the memorial stone with explanations in my books, and an overview in the article on the memorial stone. Which part of Usui's story surprised you the most?