Usui memorial stone — the authentic primary source of Reiki history
Usui memorial stone · Saihōji Temple, Tokyo

On the grounds of the temple Saihōji in Tokyo, next to Usui's grave, stands his memorial stone. The inscription dates from February 1927, less than a year after Usui's death, and it is the most important source we have on his life and practice. It was written in the style of a Buddhist sutra, which is why it is full of Buddhist technical terms and historical key words that carry more meaning than you see at first glance. I translated the inscription for my book Reiki in der therapeutischen Praxis.

In this article I'd like to go through the most important passages with you, with the Japanese original, the romanization where it helps, and a short explanation.

The Title 碑文

靈法肇祖臼井先生功徳之碑
Reihō Chōso Usui Sensei Kudoku no Hi
The memorial stone of the life's work of Master Usui, founder of the spiritual method.

The title alone is very interesting. Reihō 靈法 means spiritual method, chōso 肇祖 the first founder of a lineage, and kudoku 功徳 merit in the Buddhist sense. So the choice of words already places Usui among the great spiritual masters.

What Makes a True Master 徳

修養練磨ノ實ヲ積ミテ中ニ得る所アルヲ之ヲ徳と謂ヒ
Shūyō renma no jitsu wo tsumite naka ni eru tokoro aru wo kore wo toku to ihi
It is said that inner richness arises when one builds, day by day, the genuine practice of the spiritual disciplines.
開導拯濟ノ道ヲ弘メテ外ニ施ス所アルヲ之ヲ功ト謂フ
Kaidō jōsai no michi wo hiromete soto ni hodokosu tokoro aru wo kore wo isaoshi to ifu
A meritorious deed lies in spreading the path of initiation and of leading others out of suffering into happiness — by making encounter possible wherever one goes.
功高ク徳大ニシテ始メテ一大宗師タルコトヲ得ヘシ
Kō takaku toku dai ni shite hajimete ichidai shūshi taru koto wo eru heshi
Only through merit born of great and long-standing experience, and through outstanding sincerity, can one attain the standing of a true master.

Interestingly, the text doesn't begin with Usui's biography but with a general statement about what makes a true master. In this way Usui is presented right from the start as someone who embodied this ideal.

Usui's Origin and Character 人物

先生通称甕男號は暁帆岐阜縣山縣郡谷合村の人
Sensei tsūshō Mikao, gō wa Gyōhan, Gifu-ken, Yamagata-gun, Taniai-mura no hito
The master's given name is Mikao, his Buddhist name is Gyōhan. He was born in the village of Taniai in the district of Yamagata in Gifu Prefecture.
Gyōhan 暁帆, "the sail hoisted at daybreak", is the Buddhist name he received at his ordination.

The inscription describes Usui's character in a way that recalls Buddhist portraits of great masters. He was modest and gentle, always had a smile in his heart and cared little about his outer appearance, although he had an impressive build. Whenever something needed his attention, he showed inner strength and patience and prepared everything with great care.

His knowledge was extraordinarily wide. According to the inscription he was well read in medical literature and Buddhist sutras, among other things, and he knew about psychology, the methods of hermits with supernatural powers, incantations with magic formulas, divination with oracle sticks and face reading. The inscription sums it up by saying that there was nothing he wasn't familiar with.

Failure and Endurance 不屈

既にして世に立つ事志と違に轗軻不遇屢窮約に處りしも毫も屈撓せす
Sude ni shite yo ni tatsu koto kokorozashi to chigau ni kanka fugū shibashiba ni kiwami tsuzumayaka ni kōri shi mo gōmo kuttō sezu
He set extraordinary things in motion. Yet they did not unfold as he had hoped. Though he suffered defeat and disregard again and again, in the most severe measure, he simply refused to give up.

For me this is one of the most touching lines of the whole inscription. Before Reiki, Usui had to fight his way through many setbacks, and the inscription doesn't hide this at all. On the contrary, it emphasizes how he kept going and practiced more and more.

The Experience on the Mountain 鞍馬

一日鞍馬山に登り食を断ちて苦修辛練すること二十有一日倏ち一大霊気の頭上に感し
Ichinichi Kurama yama ni nobori shoku wo tachite kushu kōren suru koto nijū yū ichinichi tachimachi ichidai reiki no zujō ni kan shi
One day he went up into the Kurama mountains, abstained from food and carried out hard, demanding ascetic practices. On the twentieth or twenty-first day, he suddenly felt an immense spiritual power above the crown of his head.
"Above the crown of his head", zujō 頭上: the power was felt above him, at the crown.
豁然として霊気療法を得たり
Katsuzen toshite reiki ryōhō wo etari
As if out of a clear sky, he received the method of the spiritual life force.

Katsuzen means "suddenly" or "all at once", a bit like the sky clearing. So the inscription doesn't describe a gradual process but a sudden breakthrough.

What Usui Actually Intended 本意

顧ふに霊法の主とする所は獨り疾病を療するに止まらす要は天賦の霊能に因りて心を正しくし身を健にして人生の福祉を享けしむるに在り
Concerning this spiritual method, it must be made clear: it should not be confined to easing complaints and unfavourable habits alone. The decisive point is that the supernatural abilities of one's natural endowment form the ground from which the spiritual heart is perfected, the body kept healthy, and a life of abundance received.

In my view this sentence is a key to understanding Reiki. The order is interesting: first the abilities a person is born with, then the spiritual heart, then a healthy body and a fulfilled life. So for Usui his method was above all a spiritual path.

The term reinō 靈能, supernatural or spiritual abilities, is central here. It means abilities beyond the five physical senses that lie dormant in everyone and can be awakened through spiritual practice. Tenbu 天賦, natural endowment, contains the character 天 for heaven. Put simply, it is a gift from heaven that you bring with you.

The Great Earthquake 震災

十二年九月大震火災起り…日に出てて市を巡り救療すること幾何なるを知るへからす
In September of 1923, a great earthquake disaster broke out, accompanied by fire. At daybreak, the master walked through the city and turned to those who suffered, without knowing whether he would ever receive anything for it.
其の急に赴き患を済うこと大率此の如し
His rescue of others from sorrow under the most adverse conditions was so great that it has no equal.

The Great Kantō earthquake of 1 September 1923 had a magnitude of about 7.9 and cost more than 100,000 lives. The inscription describes how Usui set out at daybreak and helped people without any prospect of payment.

The Transmission 伝承

先生の門に入る者二千餘人
Sensei no mon ni hairu mono nisen yojin
More than 2,000 people entered the master's gate, that is, came to him to practice his method.
先生逝くと雖も霊法は永く世に宣播すへし
Sensei yuku to iedomo reihō wa nagaku yo ni senpa subeshi
Although the master has departed, the spiritual method is to be carried out into the world, for all ages, as a guide.

So Usui's companions wrote it into the stone themselves: the method was not meant to end with his death, but to be spread in the world for a long time to come.

The Authors 著者

The inscription is dated February 1927, a little less than a year after Usui's death. The text was composed by Okada Masayuki, a doctor of literature and holder of a high order of merit. The calligraphy was done by Ushida Jūzaburō, a rear admiral of the Japanese navy and Usui's successor as head of his society.

That a scholar of this standing composed the text and a highly decorated naval officer wrote the calligraphy shows how much respect Usui enjoyed in his time.

"We hope that we have done everything we could for the generations to come — that when they see him, they feel deeply moved, look up to him, admire him, speak of him with reverence, and proclaim it aloud." Closing line of the inscription on the memorial stone, 1927 — Translation: Dr. Mark Hosak

Almost a hundred years later, these words are still being read. Have you ever stood in front of the stone yourself?

Carry Usui's Legacy Forward

Discover Shingon Reiki

Shingon Reiki builds on the sources of Usui's method and on the traditions behind it. If you like, take a look at who Usui was and at his life principles.

Who Was Mikao Usui? The Five Life Principles