Kleemann / Jayne Women in Reiki

Lifetimes dedicated to healing in 1930s Japan and today
1. Auflage 2021
ISBN: 978-3-7543-6186-3
Verlag: BoD - Books on Demand
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 6 - ePub Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 432 Seiten

This book is the first to focus on the women who practised in the early days of Reiki. Some are well known while others are yet to be discovered. Follow the stories of Chiyoko Yamaguchi, Hawayo Takata, Chie Hayashi, Kimiko Koyama and other women who used Reiki in their everyday lives and passed it down through the generations. What were their life circumstances? What challenges did they have to overcome? And what can we learn from them today? Reading this book will not only give you fresh insight into the roots of Reiki and what life in Japan was like when the first women were practising, it will enhance your understanding of what Reiki is through a deeper connection with the culture it comes from. In addition to learning about the traditional way of practising Reiki you will gain useful recommendations for living with Reiki today from the experiences of female teachers in Japan, Canada, Germany and the UK.

Silke Kleemann's first contact with Reiki in 1999 was in a Western-style lineage going back to Hawayo Takata, but from 2004 onwards she became a student of Tadao Yamaguchi, head of the Jikiden Reiki Institute. Today, Silke provides treatments and teaches Jikiden Reiki and meditation. She lives in Munich where she also works as a freelance writer, editor and literary translator.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Kleemann, Silke

Jayne, Amanda

Leseproben

Introduction
In the history of Reiki, women have played an important role: Since the passing of Reiki founder Mikao Usui and one of his most active disciples, Chujiro Hayashi, two women have been widely recognised for ensuring the ongoing practice of this healing method, both making crucial contributions to the worldwide dissemination of Reiki. One was the well-known Hawayo Takata, a second generation Japanese born in Hawaii who learned Reiki from Hayashi in 1935 and introduced Reiki to the USA; from there, it spread across the world. The other was Chiyoko Yamaguchi, who also learned from Hayashi in the 1930s: Her uncle, Wasaburo Sugano, was an organiser for Hayashi’s seminars and so in 1938, at the tender age of 17, Chiyoko Yamaguchi was gifted the chance to learn Reiki. She practised until her death in 2003, for 65 years. Hawayo Takata and Chiyoko Yamaguchi were ardent practitioners and embodied Reiki in their very own way. It is known that both of them gave treatments to the people around them throughout their lives and over the years developed deep practical insights into the application of Reiki. Takata taught teachers primarily in the last few years before her death in 1980, and the lineages from these master students of Western-style Reiki are active across the world today. Without Hawayo Takata, most of us outside Japan would probably never have heard of Reiki; even in Japan the re-introduction of Reiki thirty years ago, through teachers from abroad, was a crucial element in allowing it to engage a wider audience. Chiyoko Yamaguchi founded her Jikiden Reiki Institute, together with her son, Tadao Yamaguchi, at a different moment in time. It was 1999 and in the West Reiki had already become a well known energetic healing practice. However, Chiyoko Yamaguchi initiated a new phase in the understanding of traditional Japanese Reiki practice, as the core of Jikiden Reiki is to transmit the Reiki method exactly as Chiyoko and her family had learned it from Hayashi in the 1930s. A new understanding of the cultural and spiritual background became available for students all over the world. Out of love for Reiki and an unusual openness for Japanese, Chiyoko Yamaguchi and her son Tadao decided to accept non-Japanese students, thus being true to Mikao Usui’s vision to spread Reiki worldwide. It is a gift that they were willing to share their family’s rich experience with Reiki. Amanda was lucky enough to learn with Chiyoko in 2002, and to attend seminars and treatment practices with her until Chiyoko’s death in August 2003. Being one of the very few students from outside Japan who had a chance to receive prolonged teaching by Chiyoko Yamaguchi herself, we give a fair amount of space to Amanda’s memories. They are rare testimonies about this woman who simply lived her life and made the best of it with Reiki, leaving us many valuable insights. Silke first studied Reiki in a lineage going back to Hawayo Takata, but from 2004 onwards became a student of Tadao Yamaguchi, Chiyoko’s successor as head of the Jikiden Reiki Institute. Our personal experiences give us insight into both traditions, and we, as many Reiki practitioners probably are, have been confronted with numerous opinions about these two pioneering Reiki women. Often, it seems, their ‘human side’ is forgotten. It is easier to judge than to put ourselves in their shoes. Who were the people behind these names? We thought it might be a good idea to approach these women through the stories of their lives, rather than looking from an academic perspective, in order to give readers an easily understandable sense of who they were, how they lived and what they faced during their lifetimes. There are several books and testimonies about Hawayo Takata, and Chiyoko Yamaguchi’s life story is told in-part in the books of Tadao Yamaguchi and Frank Arjava Petter, yet they are not the only women who have nurtured and guided Reiki over the years. What of the others? In this book we want to open the perspective a little: Who were the other women engaged in Reiki practice in the early years of this Japanese healing method? What were their life circumstances? And how did the social circumstances of the time influence their practice? What challenges did they have to overcome to pass Reiki on to the following generations? In Part I Back in Japan we begin with the stories of six of our female predecessors, the women to whom we owe so much. The women whose experience with the practice and teaching of Reiki enabled them to help this healing method survive the vicissitudes of history. As they lived mainly in Japan in the first half of the 20th century, we will also give some background information about the time and circumstances in which they lived. We hope you enjoy the historical and cultural context we provide and that it helps you to get a more vivid understanding of their lives and the great things they accomplished. In addition to Chiyoko Yamaguchi, we look at the lives of Chiyo Sugano and Katsue Komatsu, members of the Yamaguchi family network in Daishoji, Ishikawa. Their stories offer an interesting insight into Japanese family life at the time and illustrate how the strong interconnections of the families permitted Reiki to flourish in this rather far off, rural area. Chie Hayashi, the wife of Chujiro Hayashi, had to overcome numerous challenges after her husband’s death and to date hasn’t received the recognition she deserves for her sacrifice and her enormous courage and perseverance. At first it was hard to find information about her, but in the end we were delighted to discover some unexpected treasures. Regarding Hawayo Takata, we concentrate on her story of learning Reiki in Japan and establishing her practice in Hawaii. Her life experiences illustrate the difficulties that come when attempting to pass on a method established in one strong culture to another very different one. Hers is an example of the issues that can come with living ‘between worlds’ that so many migrants know, in her case made harder by the emerging war between Japan and the USA. Last but not least we give a glimpse into the achievements of Kimiko Koyama, so far the only female president of the Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai and a woman who has left an inspiring legacy. We also give a brief overview, as there is little information available, of female members of the Usui Gakkai. It has been fascinating and inspiring to delve into the biographies of these women, to witness their commitment, the challenges they faced, and see how they devoted their lives to family and Reiki. Through them, we have noticed a deepening in our own understanding of Reiki and a desire to encompass the spirit they embodied as we teach and practise Reiki. It was not easy to validate some of the historical data regarding these women. This is most likely a familiar characteristic of research about women as the ‘female side’ of history has all too often been neglected. It is noticeable in the family trees we have studied that many of the women’s names are undocumented where the men’s have been passed down. In Japan – as in many other parts of the world – it was less likely for women to be in leading positions or to have been able to chronicle their experiences with their own publications. To pay respect to this fact, we include a chapter about the history of women in Japan in the appendix. It is meant only as an overview of some aspects of the history of women, as to honour all the places women have held in society and the achievements they have made would be a whole book in itself. That said, we have highlighted a few events and accomplishments that stood out for us. We give some general understanding about what traditional Japanese Reiki is in Part II What it’s all about. We don’t go into the details of general Reiki history as other books have already done this and we assume the majority of our readers will be familiar with it, but we wanted to make clear exactly what we are talking about when we say ‘Reiki’ and ‘Reiki method’. We also wanted to give some useful recommendations for practitioners that we hope inspire you to use Reiki in your everyday life, and to highlight some of the many things we can learn from Chiyoko Yamaguchi’s lifetime of Reiki practice. You will find our reading recommendations in the bibliography at the end of the book. In addition to books about Reiki, we have some works of literary fiction that give a vivid impression of the life circumstances for women in Japan at various points in time. We both love literature and hope some of you will find pleasure in this extra reading! This book honours the many women in those first few decades of Usui’s Reiki method who were actively using Reiki with their families and providing treatment and support for their fellow human beings. They passed it on to the following generations with love and care and it is because of them that we have access to this wonderful healing method. Today, there are women throughout the world putting their time, presence and dedication into using Reiki and living the Gokai, changing the world by changing themselves and serving those around them one by one. This book is meant for you – without the silent practice of women just like you, we would probably not be sitting here writing this book. With this in mind, we decided to walk the bridge from the female Japanese ‘ancestors’ of Reiki practice to female practitioners and teachers...