Today, March 9, is the perfect day to reflect on the origins of Reiki. It marks the passing of a man, Mikao Usui, who shared his own personal development towards enlightenment and created the Usui Reiki System of Natural Healing that we practice today.
To learn more about the founder of Reiki, read my prior article ‘Who was Mikao Usui Sensei‘.
Honoring Usui, the Founder of Reiki
Below the photos is a video of an honoring visit of a Reiki practitioner to Mikao Usui’s grave.
In Japan, cemeteries are not sad places where one mourn the death. Rather, cemeteries are places where one honors the death. Particularly on Ancestors Days, a public holiday called Obon, families visit cemeteries and hold elaborated family picnics on the grounds.
They cherish spending time, sharing food with and making offers to their ancestors. Offerings can be in the form of rice, vegetables, flowers and/or incense.
9 March 1926 ~ Usui died of a stroke.
Usui only taught 2000 people Reiki, and that of them only 16 became Reiki Masters. That was 88 years ago. Today, where a ‘normal’ person can have a million followers on social media, these numbers of influence seem incredibly low. Yet, the power of the seed and the germination has been strong. There must be over million practitioners and thousands of Reiki masters on the planet today, and I am both proud and pleased to be one of them.
Namaskar, Usui.
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Usui’s path was one towards enlightenment. Enlightenment signifies a unification with all there is. With oneness. One humanity. Let that be our central thought for this week.