For a long time, legends circulated about Mikao Usui that have little to do with the Japanese sources. The truth is more interesting. He was a samurai descendant, a martial artist, a seeker — and his path ran through the deepest esoteric traditions of Japan.
Mikao Usui (1865–1926) is the founder of Reiki. He was born into a family with samurai lineage, trained in the martial arts, traveled through Japan, China and Europe, and immersed himself in the esoteric traditions of his homeland — Shingon Buddhism, Tendai Buddhism, Shugendo and shamanic Daoism.
His decisive experience came in the Kurama mountains, north of Kyoto. After 21 days of intense practice — fasting, meditation, water purification — he experienced a deep opening of consciousness. What he received there became the foundation of Reiki. Not as a soft relaxation method. As a path of spiritual development and the unfolding of supernatural abilities.
The memorial stone at Saihoji Temple in Tokyo, erected by his disciples, is the only contemporary source about his life. It tells a different story than the later legend. A story of discipline, depth, and an uncompromising search for what is real.
In Shingon Reiki, Usui's original intention is at the center, the way his memorial stone describes it: a path of inner and outer fullness, of growth and of strength.
Each piece illuminates a different facet of the man who brought Reiki into the world.
“I am very glad I came across Mark Hosak's book. After that I decided to receive the initiation into Reiki Level 1 with Mark Hosak in April 2005. Already back then I was deeply impressed by the clarity and the intensity with which Mark guided the practitioners on their path."
“I've been on the path with you for five years now, dear Mark. It took me a little while to decide. First I experienced Reiki, then something shamanic, and finally a monk weekend."
In Mark's books you'll find the full research on Usui's life and his intention. And on the Shingon Reiki path you experience what Usui actually wanted: a path of strength, of development, of inner fullness.
Who Usui actually was can't be said in one sentence. Here are the pieces that show him from different angles.
Mark Hosak earned his PhD at Heidelberg University on Siddham in Japanese art, did three years of research at Kyoto University, and walked all 88 temples of the Shikoku Pilgrimage. He has visited the Usui family temple in Taniai. He is the author of the bestselling The Big Book of Reiki Symbols and a master of Shingon Reiki for over 25 years.