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karthika
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« on: November 09, 2011, 08:02:56 AM » |
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What follows is a basic 'Timeline' - setting currently accepted (2003) Reiki-related-events (from the birth of Mikao Usui, 1865, to the death of Chujiro Hayashi, 1940) in the broader context of Japanese society at the time.
Tuesday Aug 15 1865 - Mikao Usui born in the village of Taniai, Gifu Prefecture, Japan.
Apr 25,1867 - Tokyo opened for foreign trade
1867 - Ryoma Sakamoto, a Samurai, helped topple the feudal government system. The Tokugawa Shogunate gave up power.
1868 - Beginning of Meiji period (see: MEIJI, USUI & SHUGENDO )
1869 - Emperor relocated Japan's Capital from Kyoto to Edo, renamed Tokyo ("Eastern Capital")
1869 - Mikao Usui believed to have been sent to a Tendai Monastery School Feb 3
1870 - Proclamation of the Great Doctrine which restored Shinto - also known as: Kami no Michi ('the Way of the Kami') as the guiding principle of the nation. Every Japanese citizen required to register at the Shrine of the local Kami of his residence - i.e. the local Shinto Temple (not at Buddhist Temples, as is mistakenly stated by several Reiki researchers)
Jun 27 1871- The Yen became the new form of currency in Japan.
1871 - Samurai class banned from carrying swords
1873 - Centuries-old ban on Christianity lifted, and compulsory registration at local Shinto shrines was terminated after vigorous criticism
1877 - Last Revolt by the Samurai class is quelled
1877/78 - At the age of 12 Usui-Sensei began martial arts training. He studied either 'Yagyu Ryu' or 'Yagyu Shinkage Ryu' - martial arts incorporating (swordsmanship) and Jujutsu (unarmed combat). He would go on to gain his Menkyo Kaiden (teachers licence) in his 20's.
Sept 15,1880 -Chujiro Hayashi born in Tokyo
1882 - The central Bank of Japan was established.
Apr 4,1884 -Isoroku Yamamoto was born. As a Japanese Naval Commander, he would go on to mastermind the attack on Pearl Harbour.
Feb 9,1885 -The first Japanese arrived in Hawaii.
1887 Chujiro Hayashi's wife, Chie born
1888-92 It had been claimed by some that during this period (- apparently as a result of a Cholera-induced, profound near-death experience in which he is said to have received visions of Mahavairochana Buddha) Usui-Sensei converted from Tendai to the other Major Branch of Japanese Mikkyo (Esoteric) Buddhism - the Shingon school [ - however, the source of this information has recently been exposed as having fabricated a considerable amount of supposed 'original' Reiki information and documents.
It is generally asserted that Usui Sensei remained Tendai until the end of his life]
Jul 23,1894 - Japanese troops took over the Korean imperial palace in Seoul.
1894/5 Sino-Japanese War
Apr 23,1895 - Russia, France, and Germany forced Japan to return the Liaodong peninsula to China.
1899 - A statute was passed that discriminated against the northern Ainu people.
Dec 24 1900 - Hawayo Kawamuru (later: Takata) born in Hanamaulu, Kauai, Hawaii.
Apr 29,1901 - Hirohito, future Emperor of Japan, born.
Mar 1902 - Japan formed an alliance with England.
Dec 1902. Chujiro Hayashi graduated at the Japanese Naval Academy
1904/5 Russo-Japanese War
190? Mikao Usui married Sadako Suzuki
Feb 24,1908 - Japan officially agreed to restrict immigration to the U.S.
1908- Usui-Sensei's son, Fuji (1908-1946) born
1910 -Japan officially annexed Korea.
1911 - Seitosha - first Japanese feminist group founded in this year
1912 - Death of the Emperor Meiji. Prince Yoshihito became Emperor Taisho
1913 - Usui-Sensei's daughter, Toshiko, born
Aug 23 1914 - Japan joined the Allied side in World War I, declaring war on Germany
1914 - Possible date when Usui-Sensei received the Reiki ability??. This is apparently the date given in 2 different Japanese books on Reiki?? & according to Dave King of Usui-Do, is the date cited by Tatsumi-san [said to have been one of Hayashi- Sensei's students]
Jan, 1915 - Japan claimed economic control of China
1915 - A Tendai Buddhist nun referred to as: 'Suzuki San', becomes one of Usui Sensei's student, remaining with him until 1920
March,1915 - A book entitled Kenzon no Gebri (Health Principles), written by a Dr. Bizan (or Miyama?) Suzuki, includes the admonition:
"Just for today, do not anger, do not fear, work hard, be honest, and be kind to others."
This is almost certainly the direct source of Usui Sensei's Five Reiki Principles.
[There may have been an earlier edition of this book published in Dec.1914]
1915 - Tamai Tempaku, a practitioner of the ancient art of Ampuku (abdominal massage) and student of Chinese acupoint therapy, published the first book describing his newly developed therapeutic modality, which he named 'Shiatsu'.In the volume entitled: Shiatsu Ryoho (“Finger Pressure Method of Healing”) Tamai described the treatment of pathological conditions identified by modern Western medicine using his Shiatsu Ryoho which integrated traditional therapies, spiritual wisdom, and western models of anatomy and physiology.
1917 - Gichin Funakoshi first introduced the Okinawan martian art of te (or naha-te) to the Japanese mainland. The art is better known today as Karate
1917 - Hawayo Kawamuru and Saichi Takata married 1918 Chujiro Hayashi appointed Director of Ominato Port Defense Station, at the foot of
Mt Osore, Northern Japan.
1918 - Japan's first Parliamentary Cabinet formed.
1918/19 - Usui-Sensei said to have begun 3 year training in Zen.
1919 - A therapist named Mataji Kawakami (?) published a book entitled: Reiki Ryoho To Sono Koka (Reiki Ryoho & Its Effects) This book was not about 'Usui Reiki Ryoho'. It seems that the term Reiki Ryoho (indicating 'Spiritual Healing') was used by several therapists, before Usui-Sensei, to describe their practices.
April 1921 Usui Sensei believed to have incorporated the gokai (the 'five principles' or 'precepts') into his teachings.
Nov 25,1921- Hirohito became Regent of Japan.
March 1922 - Possible date when Usui-Sensei received the Reiki ability?? Kurama Yama (Mt Kurama), about a 20 minute train ride from the old capital of Kyoto, is said to be the mountain in where Mikao Usui carried out his 21-day meditation, and on the 21st day experienced the phenomenon that is Reiki.[However, others have previously suggested that it was in fact Koya Yama (Mt Koya) and not Kurama Yama which was the place.] Whatever the case, prior to this date, Usui-Sensei is said to have been practicing and teaching his own personal system of self -development involving teachings which, while Buddhist in origin, included some Shinto energy practices. Apparently he did not really have a name for the system -though it is referred to by some as:'Usui Do' - 'Usui Way'
April 1922 - Usui-Sensei opened his first training centre (some call it a "clinic") in Harajuku,Aoyama, Tokyo.His 'motto' for the training centre was:"Unity of self through harmony and balance".It is also claimed by some that Usui-Sensei founded Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai (Usui Reiki Healing Method Learning Society) at this time, though others maintain that the Gakkai was actually founded by some of his senior students sometime after UsuiSensei's death.
1922 - Usui-Sensei supposed to have used the Reiju empowerment method for the first time in Harajuku, Tokyo.
1923 - Usui-Sensei said to have introduced a grading system used by Jigoro Kano (creator of Judo). Thus the levels in the original Usui-Do system became:Rokyu, Gokyu, Yankyu, Sankyu, Nikkyu (CKR symbol taught at this level), Ikkyu (SHK symbol ), Shodan (HSZSN symbol), Nidan (DKM symbol), Sandan, Yondan,Godan, Rokudan, Shichidan (/Nanadan).This format was in use up until late 1925 1923 Toshihiro Eguchi returned to the training centre to practice his own te-no-hira (palm healing) system which apparently incorporated elements of Usui-sensei's teachings.Eguchi's system had religious overtones and included a form of blessing ceremony that Eguchi had learned from a friend named Nishida.Usui-Sensei, it seems, was somewhat uncomfortable with Eguchi's approach but eventually permitted Eguchi to teach at the centre on a twice-weekly basis.
He was allowed to perform the blessing ceremony, but apparently not allowed to chant a prayer element known as the Komyo Kigan .
1923 Torii gate at entrance to Amataka shrine in Taniai village erected by Usui-Sensei and his family.
1923 Over 106,000 people reported missing or killed, 500,000 injured and 694,000 houses were destroyed, in an earthquake measuring 7.9 on the Richter scale - the epicentre was about 50 miles from Tokyo. Usui-Sensei apparently became quite famous as a result of helping many of the survivors, and his success and reputation with Reiki is said to have spread all over Japan.
Feb 1924 - Usui-Sensei moved his Centre to larger premises in Nakano, outside of Tokyo.
Jun 26,1924 -Crown Prince Hirohito married the daughter of Prince Kuniyoshi Kuni, Nagako
1924 - U.S. passed an Immigration Act banning Japanese from emigrating to the U.S.
March 1925 -Males over the age of 25 were given the vote
May 1925 -A further group of Tendai nuns arrived at the Usui Sensei's Training Centre (staying until the November of that year).
May 1925 - Chujiro Hayashi arrived at the training centre
June 1925 - Chujiro Hayashi received Sandan(?) training from Usui-Sensei
Nov 1925 -18 junior Naval Officers and the Rear Admirals: Juusaburo Gyuda (also known as Ushida) and Kanichi Taketomi (-these latter two are believed to have been the actual founders of the Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai -) joined Usui Sensei's classes. At this point there was a sudden shift in the nature and structure of the training given at the centre, and as a result of the Rear Admirals' influence, a significantly different system of energy work began to emerge alongside Usui-Do - with a focus on working on others rather than on oneself.This system apparently included Eguchi's hand healing concepts and blessing ceremony, and was being referred to as: 'Usui Reiki Ryoho' by the Naval Officers,who also produced a healing guide (compiled by Hayashi-Sensei) and began utilising several Ki Ko (Qi Gung) techniques from Eguchi's book.A new grading system came into use - grades above Nidan were dropped - and four new levels introduced, called: Shoden (first grade), Chuuden (middle grade),Okuden (inner grade) and Kaiden (grade of explanation).It is also possible that it may have been under the influence of the Naval Officers that the Gyosei (poems penned by the Meiji Emperor) began to be used at the start of the meetings
1925/26 - Kaiji Tomita learned Reiki around this period, and later taught Reiki in the 4-level format introduced by the Naval Officers.Apparently, his classes for the first three levels: Shoden, Chuuden and Okuden,each involved a 10-hour period of training over 5 days, and Kaiden involved
15 days training (presumably 30 hours).After Usui-Sensei's death, Tomita went on to establish the 'Tomita Teate Ryohokai' (Tomita Hand-Healing Centre).[One of Tomita's students: Asuke-san, also went on to found his own Healing Society]
Jan 1926 - The grading levels were changed once more to: Shoden (which now included Chuuden, and had four sub-levels), Okudenzenki previously: Okuden),Okudenkouki and Shinpiden (the latter two covering what had formerly been taught as Kaiden), with the Shinpiden level having almost the same content as the Sandan level in the grading system originally used by Usui-Sensei.It is said that Gyuda and Taketomi reached the Shinpiden level with much celebration, however Hayashi-Sensei had continued his training and, unbeknown to the other Naval personnel, was awarded the original grading system level of Shichidan. The only other person to reach this level was Toshihiro Eguchi and it is said that both Eguchi and Hayashi-Sensei continued teaching the original Usui-Do system along with their own healing systems for several years after Usui-Sensei's death.
March 9 1926 - Usui-Sensei travelled to Fukuyama town to meet with his creditors, and died there as a result of a stroke (he had apparently had several previous ones)[/color][/size] 
of the 5 Precepts that had hung in the training centre.
1926 - A few months after Usui-Sensei's death, Hayashi-Sensei (with the cooperation and assistance of Ushida and Taketomi) is believed to have moved Usui-Sensei's training centre to the Shinano Machi district (where apparently his own clinic was)
Dec 25,1926 - Hirohito became the Emperor Showa. However, he would not be formally enthroned for almost another two years 1926/27 According to some, Rear Admiral Juusaburo Gyuda and other students formed the "Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai" (Usui Reiki Healing Method Learning Society[/Association])"', posthumously honouring Usui-Sensei by naming him as the first 'president' of the society.
Feb 1927 - Usui-Sensei's students said to have erected the memorial to his memory which now stands in a graveyard at the Saihoji temple, Tokyo, and which mentions Mount Kurama as the site of Usui-Sensei's receipt of the Reiki phenomenon.
March 1927 -A family tomb (containing some of Usui-Sensei's remains) was erected on the same plot as the memorial by Fuji Usui.
1927 - A woman named Chio Uno (1898-1996) scandalized Japanese society by cutting her hair short!
1928 - Wasaburo Sugano (Uncle of Mrs Chiyoko Yamaguchi) learned Reiki from Hayashi Sensei
Mar 4,1928 - Article about Reiki by Shou Matsui (a student of Chujiro Hayashi ) appears in a Japanese magazine: 'The Sunday Mainichi'
1928 -Toshihiro Eguchi established his own school: Eguchi Te-no-hira Ryoji Kenkyukai (Palm Treatment Research Association)
1928 -A book entitled "The Essentials of Seiki Self-Healing", by Jozo Ishii was published by the Seiki Ryoho Institute. The term: Seiki translates as 'Vital Life-Force'
1929 - Eguchi began teaching his healing system to members of Tenko Nishida's Ittoen Community
1930 - Hayashi-Sensei had begun to restructure his own system, referred to as: Hayashi Reiki Ryoho Kenkyukai - something which would in time evolve into the therapeutic modality learned by Takata-Sensei between 1935 and 1938, and later presented by her as 'Usui Shiki Ryoho'.
1930 -Toshihiro Eguchi published: Te-no-hira Ryoji Nyumon (An Introduction to Healing with the Palms)
1931 - Hayashi-Sensei left the Gakkai. By this time he apparently stopped teaching the original Usui-Do system, although he had conferred Shichidan status on Tatsumi and at least 11 other students. Eguchi had also left the Gakkai by this time (some suggest he had joined the Gakkai
for a year out of respect to Usui, but left because he was unhappy with the ultranationalistic attitudes of the Naval Officers), however he Continued to teach Usui-Do alongside his own system - one of his Shichidan level students being Yuji Onuki.
1933/4 - Kaiji Tomita wrote a book: Reiki To Jinjutsu – Tomita Ryu Teate Ryoho (Reiki & Humanitarian Work - Tomita Ryu Hand Healing).
1935 - Chiyoko Yamaguchi's elder sister Katsue studied Reiki in Daishoji in the North of Japan
1935 - Usui-Sensei's daughter, Toshiko, dies
1935 - Hawayo Takata was accepted into a one-year internship at Hayashi-Sensei's clinic
1936 - On completion of internship, Hawayo Takata initiated into second degree
1936 - It is suggested by some that Hawayo Takata and Hayashi-Sensei's wife: Chie, both received the master level initiation some time late in the year.
Oct 1936 - Takata-Sensei returned to Hawaii.
1937 - Hayashi-Sensei, accompanied by his daughter, travelled to Hawaii, and they embarked on a lecture tour to promote the art of Reiki Healing.
Feb, 21 -Takata-Sensei certified by Chujiro Hayashi as: "a practitioner and Master of Usui's Reiki system of healing"
1938 -Chiyoko Yamaguchi began studying Reiki in Daishoji in the North of Japan
May 11,1940 - Cognisant of the likely entry of Japan into what we now designate W.W.II, and of the moral and ethical conflict between resuming military duty and his Reiki values, Hayashi Sensei - in the presence of his students, including Takata Sensei whom he had called back to Japan - committed seppuku (suicide) at his Villa in Atami, near Mt. Fuji..
1940 - After Hayashi-Sensei committed suicide, his wife Chie took over the running of the Hayashi Reiki Ryoho Kenkyukai clinic
1940/1 - Takata-Sensei returned once more to Hawaii.Partly, one assumes, as a result of Japan's entry into the war, Takata-Sensei is said to have lost contact with both the Hayashi Reiki Ryoho Kenkyukai itself and with other Japanese Reiki practitioners.It would be more than 40 years before contact with Japanese Reiki practitioners would be re-established...[Though recently it has been claimed that Takata Sensei may have actually travelled to Japan in 1952 for a memorial service for Hayashi Sensei and met with his wife Chie]
THE HISTORY OF REIKI (Unless, of course, you know differently ...)   |
Friendship is the expression of unshakable LOVE, LOVE that is noble, pure, free from desire or egoism.....Sairam  |
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