Born in Japan 1865, Dr. Mikao Usui was the founder of a natural system of healing called Reiki, involving life force energy and the laying of hands.

All his life, Dr. Usui searched for a channel of subtle energy that would allow a healer to give life force energy without his own depleting. As a Buddhist monk, he meditated on top of a mountain for 21 days. On the 21st day, a beam of energy shot through his crown chakra. He discovered the miraculous channel.

Reiki can be broken into two words—Rei and Ki. Rei means universal—omniscient or everywhere. Ki, like the Chi in Tai-Chi, refers to the subtle life force energy flowing through all living things, sustaining them, quite similar to oxygen but obviously less potent to the senses. Put the two together and we have, "Universal Life Force Energy.”

In 1923 the great Kanto earthquake struck Tokyo, killing over 140,000 people and injuring coun

tless others. Guided by compassion, Dr. Usui traveled to Tokyo and opened a Reiki clinic where he treated thousands. The Japanese government presented Usui with the Kun San To award for his honorable work.

The doctor's healing society, Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai—meaning "the Usui System of Reiki Healing”—still exists today in Japan. In fact, all over the world, including in the United States, people practice Reiki.

Sources: The International Center For Reiki Training (http://www.reiki.org)

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