Phyllis Lei Furumoto grew up in Iowa, USA, just after WWll. Her mother, Alice, had high expectations and was a serious taskmaster to her first child. This mother-daughter relationship was not always easy; yet there was a mutual respect and understanding of the nature of each other. When Phyllis finally accepted her grandmother’s offer to work with her, it was from a place of surrendering to family duty. As the years flew by, Phyllis created a life around her destiny and her role as Takata Sensei’s successor. It was the perfect vocation for her.
Phyllis and I moved to Green Valley, Arizona, in 2008 to be close to Alice and for Phyllis to spend more time with her mother. As I got to know Alice, I saw how close she held her Reiki practice and the memory of her mother, Hawayo. For Alice, Reiki was personal and to be talked about with only your teacher. This often put Phyllis in a challenging place and, yet, supported her in holding the tradition and culture of Reiki as a Japanese healing folk art. Alice treasured the gift of Reiki as given to her by Chujiro Hayashi when she was a young girl. She had her personal practice of Reiki that she shared with her children as they grew. Making the choice of raising a family rather than being a Reiki Master, fulfilled her. She held a unique place in our lineage. She was the daughter of a grandmaster and the mother of her successor.
Phyllis devoted her life to being a grandmaster of a lineage practice. She supported Reiki communities around the world with stories of her grandmother’s teachings. She developed the practice into a clear language that defined Usui Shiki Ryoho. She created community wherever she went and inspired Reiki students to gather and support each other. She focused on the skills needed for clear communication with compassion, held a vision of the potential of a global Reiki community, all the while being a curious student herself.
Phyllis nurtured a community of translators and interpreters in nine languages to be with her in groups around the world. I remember several times when she was being interpreted in a language she didn’t know, she could feel when the energetic of the words was not quite right. For her interpreters it was a new experience about the energy of the meaning of words rather than the words themselves. She was open to receiving students of all practices and left a legacy of thousands of hours of audio and video teachings. Her first response to questions and concerns of Reiki students was to gather and offer a “workshop.” Phyllis loved the mystery of Reiki and was committed to exploring and contemplating the questions that come from practicing Reiki.
The timing of this edition of the Grey Book is fortuitous. A new generation carries forward the tradition of spiritual lineage in our form of practice. Even though my mourning process of the loss of my dear partner continues, I am blessed to be a bridge, a link, to Phyllis’ successor, Grandmaster, Johannes Reindl. I have seen and felt his energy, touched by this mystery of spiritual lineage, as if Phyllis is pouring her light into him. The thousands of Reiki students touched by Furumoto Sensei’s teachings and Reiki students just beginning their journey have an opportunity “to know again” and recognize this mystery of Spiritual Lineage through their relationship with Johannes.
~Joyce Winough
Green Valley, AZ
June 1, 2021
