Some people say that Usui Mikao, the founder of the system of Reiki was a Tendai lay monk while others say that he was practicing Pure Land, as he is buried in a Pure Land Temple in Tokyo.
Let’s take a closer look at this and see what we can find.
Shingon Buddhist and Mikkyo practices teach that the ancient wisdom of the Mind, Speech and Body (also known as The Three Secrets) are present everywhere and in all things. It is said that these secrets allow us to uncover our true nature—one that exists both within ourselves and the entire universe. Practitioners use mudras, mantras and visualizations to purify and harmonize The Three Secrets.
In the course of one of the lessons during my recent personal training trip to Japan, the Ajari, (eminent monk of Tendai or Shingon Buddhism) showed me a specific Buddhist verse called “shichibutsu tsukaige” (The verse of admonishment of the seven Buddhas, also referred to as the Precepts of the seven Buddhas).
USUI Mikao臼井甕男 (1865–1926) is celebrated as the founder of Reiki. While the story of his reception of reiki 霊気 (literally, “numinous energy”) is well-known, practitioners may be less aware of its resonance with Japan’s long history of mountain asceticism. Over a thousand years ago, religious itinerants began secluding themselves in the mountains in order to acquire special powers.
As some of you know I just spent a week in Japan deepening my own personal spiritual practice with a Japanese Shingon priest, Takeda Hakusai Ajari, who was once a Tendai monk as a disciple of the great Sakai Dai Ajari, learning about Shinto, Shugendo, Tendai and Shingon.
All attachment and aversion come from what we have mentally created. We have made an image and that is our mind as we normally experience it. In order to solve this problem in a more profound and permanent way, we have to look at our mind and see its true nature. In our innate, unfabricated nature, which is the basic state of our mind, there is no problem. We make all our problems by creating concepts and all kinds of mental conditioning.
The traditional Japanese system of Reiki uses several symbols and mantras in its teachings and ongoing practices. These symbols and mantras are tools that help you deepen your understanding of and directly experience your true nature.
In many Asian teachings, including Buddhism, karma is an important concept. Since Usui Mikao, the founder of the system of Reiki, was a Japanese Buddhist practitioner, we wondered: Is the concept of karma contained within the teachings of the system of Reiki?
