Mikao Usui — the Samurai behind Reiki

When people think of Reiki today, they often think of gentle hands and relaxation. That has its place. But I'm also interested in another side of Usui: his background in a warrior family and what of it lives on in his practice. I came to Japanese through martial arts myself, at 13 in Bremen, when I asked at a Japanese school for a karate master and traded karate lessons for German lessons. I've always understood martial arts as a path to peace.

Usui's background 千葉

Mikao Usui was born in 1865 in Taniai, a village in what is now Gifu Prefecture. According to the memorial stone his companions put up in Tokyo in 1927, one of his ancestors was Chiba Tsunetane (1118–1201), a well-known warlord from the period when samurai rule began in Japan. When Usui was born, the age of the samurai was coming to an end; with the Meiji Restoration of 1868 the warrior class was gradually abolished. But a culture doesn't vanish in one generation. I think it's very likely that the values and bearing of this tradition lived on in his family.

The life principles through a warrior's eyes 五戒

The five life principles (Japanese: gokai 五戒) are often read as gentle words of wisdom. Read against the background of the warrior tradition, they take on a different color. "Just for today, do not anger" then means above all mastering your own mind, because whoever acts in anger loses clarity. "Do not worry" recalls what the martial arts call mushin 無心, a mind that doesn't cling to thoughts of the future and is fully in the moment.

With the fourth principle it's worth looking closely at the pronunciation. It reads 業に励め, and Usui kindly handed down the reading as well: gō ni hageme. Because the character 業 is read gō here and not gyō as in modern Japanese, this is a Buddhist reading with a Buddhist meaning. It refers to karma, not simply to work. Put simply, the principle says: "Work on your karma today." More in the article on Usui's life principles.

Shugyō, practice as a path 修行

Japanese has a word for serious practice, shugyō 修行. It's used for daily martial arts practice just as much as for the austerities of Buddhist monks and the mountain ascetics of Shugendō. Usui's 21 days of fasting and meditation in the Kurama mountains belong squarely in this tradition. Three weeks on a mountain, fasting and meditating, takes stamina and resolve. More in the article on Usui and Shugendō.

Zanshin, the remaining mind 残心

Japanese martial arts have the term zanshin 残心, literally "remaining mind." It means staying alert after an action. In archery (Japanese: kyūdō) you can see this beautifully in the moment after the arrow is released, when the archer holds the posture a little longer. I think this idea fits a Reiki session well, too. It doesn't end the moment the hands come away. You stay present a little longer and let the connection resonate.

Ki in the sword and in the hand 氣

The word ki 氣 appears in martial arts and in Reiki alike. Aikidō means "the way of harmony with ki," and Reiki is spiritual ki. The same word doesn't mean the same energy, though, because in Reiki the rei 靈 defines the kind. In martial arts the power doesn't come from the muscles alone but from the whole body, from the ground through the legs and the hara into the hands. It's similar in Reiki, where it isn't only the hands that are involved. The less you get in your own way, the more freely the power can flow. More in the article on Reiki energy and martial arts.

Fudō Myōō, protector of warriors 不動

Many samurai revered Fudō Myōō 不動明王, the Immovable Wisdom King. He stands in flames, holding a sword that cuts through illusion and a rope with which he binds the obstacles of the mind. His face is wrathful, but his wrath is aimed at delusion, not at people. In Shingon Reiki the initiation into Fudō Myōō is part of the Master Path. More in the article Fudō Myōō, protector of warriors.

What this can mean for your own practice 道

You don't have to be a samurai to get something out of this side of Reiki. For me it mainly means taking Reiki seriously as a daily practice and seeing the life principles as a challenge to my own mind. Strength and gentleness aren't a contradiction to me, and that's exactly what I experienced with my ninjutsu grandmaster, Taguchi, in Osaka. Can you get through today without getting angry?