What is reiki      Reiki and personal development      Mikao Usui - Reiki's founder
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Originally Usui Sensei did not have a formal name for his system, simply referring to it as 'the spiritual medicine of many illnesses' (apparently he did not call it 'Reiki')

In time it came to be known as Usui Do, or Usui Teate, and eventually Usui Reiki Ryoho.

In April 1922 Usui-Sensei opened his first clinic in Harajuku, Tokyo, where he practiced and taught Reiki.

The 'motto' for his clinic was: "Unity of self through harmony and balance".

The emphasis of Usui Sensei’s teachings was as much about spiritual awakening as on purely physical healing. There is reliable information, provided on Usui’s memorial, that about 2000 people learned Reiki from Usui Sensei, but most of these would only have achieved the first level of training. No more than 17 acquired the third level, “the secret teachings”.
  
His healing skills must have been extraordinary, as he was renowned all over Japan and admired as “the pioneer of restarting Hands-on-healing from past generations” (quote from his memorial) and the number of people helped by Reiki is reported to have been several hundred thousand.
On the 9th of March 1926, in Fukuyama town, Usui Sensei died as a result of a stroke (he had apparently had several previous ones).

After Usui-Sensei's death, some of his students formed the "Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai" (Usui Reiki Healing Method Learning Society /Association), posthumously honouring Usui Sensei by naming him as the first kaicho (president or chairman) of the society.

In Feb 1927, they erected a memorial stone commemorating his achievements in a graveyard at the Saihoji Temple, Tokyo.

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