Reiki Comes To America
~ Hawayo Takata - Reiki Grand Master ~

Hawayo Takata Brings Reiki to the U.S. At the age of 35, Hawayo Takata, a Hawaiian woman of Japanese decent, was very ill and had all types of physical problems. She sought traditional medical relief, one of which nearly resulted in surgery. But when Mrs. Takata was being prepared for the operation, she heard a voice telling her not to have the surgery. After hearing this 3 times, Takata asked the nurse if there were any other treatments she could try?   In 1935, Mrs. Takata was sent to Dr. Hiyashi. There she learned about Reiki after some brief encounters with skepticism. Mrs. Takata's health soon improved with each Reiki session.   Before returning to Hawaii, Takata attained the first level of Reiki Channel. She practiced this technique in Hawaii, which was meet with great excitement from her family and friends who witnessed the results it had provided to Takata herself. She returned to Japan and acquired the next level of Reiki training. By 1938, she had become a Reiki Master bringing the knowledge back to Hawaii practicing and teaching.   If it had not been for Takata, Reiki would have died once more in the 1960's. In 1973, she was the only Reiki Master of the Usui system in the world and was considered as it's Grand Master. She was also the first person to bring Reiki to the United States, teaching the system at the University of Hawaii.   She came to the U.S. mainland in the mid-1970s bringing her teachings to the growing interest and open mindedness of the west.   Takata Masters Before her death in 1980, Takata initiated 24 Reiki Masters. There is a debate about the number of masters directly taught by Takata. Some say 21, others say 20. These are the masters that were provided to me by Rev. Beth Gray.   George Araki Barbara McCullough Beth Gray (deceased) Ursula Baylow Paul Mitchell Iris Ishikura (deceased) Fran Brown Barbara Weber Ray Ethel Lombardi Wanja Twan Virginia Samdahl Phyllis Lei Furumoto Mary McFadyen John Harvey Gray Dorothy Baba (deceased) Rick Bockner Harry Kuboi Bethel Phaigh (deceased) Harry Kuboi Patricia Ewing Shinobu Saito Takata's Sister Barbara Brown Takata's Daughter   After Takata's death, the Takata Masters gathered for a special conference in Hawaii and voted Mrs. Takata daughter as their new Grand Master. A few Masters decided to break off from this original organization and began their own version of the Reiki teachings. Some of you may recognize some of the names in this list above. A Reiki Alliance was formed to maintain the values, rules and knowledge dedicated to the Usui system. But even Mrs. Takata daughter began to have her doubts about some of these restrictions and she too broke off from the alliance. Whatever the form, Reiki is a powerful tool to be used for the good of all.

Source: 1, h5, h6, h7, h8, h9, h10 Created: 03/28/1999       Updated: 03/10/2008