{"id":301,"date":"2021-05-09T04:29:06","date_gmt":"2021-05-09T04:29:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/box2475.temp.domains\/~reikigr1\/?page_id=301"},"modified":"2024-07-12T11:25:45","modified_gmt":"2024-07-12T11:25:45","slug":"the-grey-book-and-reiki-history","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/reikigreybook.com\/en\/resources\/the-grey-book-and-reiki-history\/","title":{"rendered":"The \u201cGrey Book\u201d and Reiki History"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

by Dr. Justin Stein, PhD<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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I am pleased to be asked to write this essay to accompany the first-ever authorized reprint of the \u201cGrey Book\u201d on its 40th anniversary. It was compiled and published in 1982 by Alice Takata Furumoto (1925\u20132013) after the passing of her mother, Hawayo Hiromi Kawamura Takata (1900\u20131980). The original 100 copies of this book were intended as gifts to the Reiki Masters trained by Takata and those who would be trained by Takata\u2019s successor (and Alice\u2019s daughter) Phyllis Lei Furumoto (1948\u20132019).<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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The Grey Book contains a collection of historical materials that Alice wanted to share with the burgeoning Reiki community, through the instructors she considered authorized. For the 1980s and 1990s, the materials included in this book supplemented oral tradition as the basis for historical knowledge about the practice of Reiki in Japan and its transmission to North America. Moreover, this book\u2019s publication was part of a project to validate Phyllis as the rightful heir to Takata\u2019s legacy at a time when a succession dispute with Barbara Weber (Ray) was taking shape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this foreword, I offer historical context for the materials contained in the Grey Book in hopes that it provides some perspective on why Alice chose this collection of documents to bring to Hawaii Reprographics, a Honolulu-based printer, and produce a slim volume titled only in Japanese characters. I will move through the book\u2019s eight sections in order: the cover \/ title page, Takata\u2019s diary, Hayashi\u2019s Therapy Guide<\/em>, Takata\u2019s \u201cArt of Healing\u201d essay, the photos, Takata\u2019s Master Certificate, the list of Master students, and the dedication.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Photo<\/figure>
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The cover is quite simple, bearing handwritten calligraphy for the two Japanese characters for reiki<\/em>; the title page reproduces these characters, followed by the Romanized text: \u201c\u2018LEIKI\u2019 \/ REIKI\u201d. Yet this simplicity belies some depth. First, the unknown author of the calligraphy made a strange choice to write the traditional character for rei <\/em>(\u9748, as opposed to the simplified character \u970a, how it has officially been written since 1946), while writing ki<\/em> in the simplified form \u6c17 (as opposed to the traditional \u6c23). This \u201cmixing and matching\u201d of traditional and postwar styles was almost certainly unintentional (and Alice wrote the kanji<\/em> in the simplified style on the Hawaii Reprographics order form), but this accident reflects how Reiki therapy was adapted from prewar Japan to a new, postwar world. Similarly, the inclusion of \u201cLeiki\u201d\u2014a now-obsolete way the term was sometimes Romanized in the 1930s and 1940s\u2014seems another, more conscious, recognition of Takata\u2019s work as a translator who brought this foreign practice to a new context where even the linguistic phonemes differed.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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The book\u2019s opening pages reproduce four pages from Takata’s personal notes and diary from her 1935\u20131936 trip to Japan, when she underwent her initial five months of training in Usui Reiki Ry\u014dh\u014d under her master, Hayashi Ch\u016bjir\u014d (1880\u20131940), one of the top shihan<\/em> (instructors) trained by the therapy\u2019s founder, Usui Mikao (1865\u20131926). The first excerpt, dated December 10, 1935, reproduces her class notes from her first day of class at the Tokyo headquarters of the Hayashi Reiki Kenky\u016bkai (Hayashi Reiki Research Association). Interestingly, the practice Takata describes here seems rather different from what she taught herself later in life. For example, she describes the need to concentrate, purify one\u2019s thoughts, and meditate \u201cto let the \u2018energy\u2019 come out from within,\u201d whereas she would emphasize to later students that concentration was not necessary, but reiki<\/em> flows naturally, without effort. The teaching that \u201cthe \u2018energy\u2019 \u2026 lies in the bottom of your stomach about 2 in. below the navel\u201d closely resembles many Japanese teachings about the hara<\/em> or tanden<\/em>, but is another aspect she omitted from most of her classes later in life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regardless of what these details tell us about Reiki\u2019s historical development, reading these journal entries from the beginning of Takata\u2019s career is enlightening as they humanize this great teacher, providing a window into her as a student. In the second entry (dated April<\/span> May 1936), when she writes with excitement about how Hayashi-sensei has agreed to \u201cbestow upon (her) the secrets of Shinpi Den [i.e., Master Level], Kokiyu-Ho [i.e., the breathing technique], and Leiji-Ho, the utmost secret in the Energy Science,\u201d we as readers grow excited for her as well. Incidentally, this \u201cultimate secret\u201d probably refers to reiju-h\u014d<\/em> (that is, how to perform the ceremony commonly called \u201cinitiations\u201d or \u201cattunements\u201d) rather than reiji-h\u014d<\/em> \u970a\u793a\u6cd5; the latter is a kind of meditation that Takata described in the first entry, where the practitioner sits in gassh\u014d<\/em> (palms together) and awaits \u201cthe sign\u201d to start practicing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the diary entries, the following section (which makes up the majority of the Grey Book) reproduces the Therapy Guide <\/em>(Ry\u014dh\u014d shishin<\/em>) that Hayashi Ch\u016bjir\u014d gave to his students. Written in Japanese, this booklet describes sets of hand positions that can be used to treat various maladies. It includes a bilingual anatomical chart to help its readers locate the organs for the hand positions. It is largely identical to the booklet that Takata received during her training course in Tokyo, but the cover indicates it is a special edition created for Japanese American students. This edition includes a phonetic guide (furigana<\/em>) alongside the main text, as the working-class immigrants and second-generation Nisei who made up the majority of early Reiki students in Hawaii were generally less skilled at reading Japanese characters than Hayashi\u2019s largely middle- to upper-class students in Japan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The text demonstrates one form of knowledge that Reiki practitioners in the 1930s used to determine hand positions for treatment. It describes a series of medical conditions, each with recommended hand positions for treatment. It is unlikely that early practitioners received training in recognizing the technical medical conditions described in the Guide<\/em>; it may have been common for patients to receive a medical diagnosis from a physician before coming to a Reiki practitioner for treatment. In addition to these recommended hand positions, we also know that early practitioners also used a scanning technique (called by\u014dsen<\/em> or by\u014dkan<\/em>) to find areas in need of treatment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Takata herself describes this technique in the next section: a 1948 essay \u201con the Art of Healing.\u201d This five-page typewritten essay is one of the clearest descriptions of Reiki therapy that Takata ever produced. It contains a detailed description of the nature of reiki<\/em> as a \u201cuniversal life force\u201d, as well as details regarding Reiki training and practice, including an early version of the comprehensive \u201cfoundation treatment\u201d as well as a list of specific hand positions to treat particular conditions. These procedures are to be supplemented by the sensations in the practitioner\u2019s hands. \u201cDuring the treatment,\u201d she writes, \u201ctrust your hands. Listen to the vibrations or reaction.\u201d These will help the practitioner locate the \u201ccause\u201d (of disease); daily treatment of this \u201ccause\u201d will dissipate the \u201ceffect.\u201d This emphasis on finding and treating the \u201ccause\u201d of disease is consistent with accounts of Reiki in prewar Japan and contrasts with the teaching that \u201creiki<\/em> will go where it\u2019s needed\u201d that she would impart to students in the late 1970s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The treatment guidelines in Takata\u2019s essay have many overlaps with the class notes in her diary and the treatments in Hayashi\u2019s Therapy Guide<\/em>, but Takata already made some changes based on her decade-plus of experience treating and teaching Reiki. In addition to practical changes of hand positions (for example, adding treatment of a pregnant woman\u2019s gall bladder and pituitary gland), she also added language derived from American religious and medical practices that demonstrates her early attempts to make Reiki understandable to non-Japanese audiences. For example, she experimented with using the language of the King James Bible to translate Usui\u2019s \u201cfive precepts\u201d (gokai<\/em>), starting with \u201cJust for today\u2014Thou Shalt not Anger.\u201d Her repeated use of \u201cthe Great Spirit,\u201d a common concept among Native American cultures, is explained by the fact that she wrote this essay as part of the requirements for her receipt of a \u201cDoctor of Naturopathy\u201d certificate from the Indian Association of America, a Native American-themed fraternal order. As I describe in my dissertation (and forthcoming book), when traveling to teach and treat in North America, Takata carried copies of this certificate and another naming her as \u201can ordained Licentiate Minister of the American Indian Mayan Church and Indian Missions\u201d to confer an air of authority to her and her unorthodox healing practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the \u201cArt of Healing\u201d essay come four photographs: a portrait of Usui-sensei that Takata seems to have received from Hayashi during her training; photos of Hayashi-sensei and Takata-sensei covered in leis taken in Honolulu in February 1938, just before Hayashi returned to Japan; and a photo of a Reiki demonstration at the Young Men\u2019s Buddhist Association Hall in Honolulu. In this final photo, Takata can be seen giving a treatment in the center and Hayashi is seen seated behind the table and to the right. To the right of Hayashi hangs the gokai <\/em>scroll. Alice\u2019s caption indicates this was a meeting of the \u201cReiki Therapy Association\u201d (Reiki (Ry\u014dh\u014d) no Kai), although she seems to misdate the photo as 1937; as the same photo ran in the Hawaii Hochi <\/em>on March 4, 1938, titled as Hayashi\u2019s 14th<\/sup> (and final) seminar, it was likely from February 1938. As there are over 120 people in the photo, this is likely a gathering of students from these classes taught between October 1937 and February 1938, who came to say farewell to Hayashi-sensei.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The following page reproduces the February 1938 notarized certificate, signed by Hayashi, declaring Hawayo Takata to be a \u201cMaster of Dr. Usui\u2019s Reiki system of healing\u201d: the only one in the United States and one of only thirteen \u201cfully qualified as a Master of the profession.\u201d Based on other contemporary information, this number seems to be the number of shihan<\/em> (Masters) in the Hayashi Reiki Kenky\u016bkai, and does not recognize the shihan<\/em> of the Usui Reiki Ry\u014dh\u014d Gakkai. This document may be the first time the now-standard phrase (Reiki) Master appeared in print. Also notable is the use of the term \u201cUsui Reiki system of drugless healing\u201d; Usui himself seems to have emphasized that his system did not require needles or herbs, and Takata preserved that language of \u201cdrugless healing\u201d for decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The final two pages jump forward in time more than forty years, to the time of publication and of Takata\u2019s transition. First, Alice compiled a list of twenty-one \u201cMaster Students\u201d whom she knew her mother to have trained; all of these (including Takata\u2019s sister Kay Yamashita and her granddaughter Phyllis Furumoto) were trained as Masters between 1975 and 1980. As Paul Mitchell notes in his foreword<\/a>, the list is incomplete (missing at least George Araki); it also contains a notable misspelling (Barbara \u201cWebber\u201d, rather than \u201cWeber\u201d).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, Alice included a brief final dedication, which she signed and stamped with three seals (hanko<\/em>). The large hanko<\/em> may have been inherited from Hayashi or it may have been created by Takata: it reads \u201cSeal of the Superintendent of the Usui-style Reiki Research Association\u201d (Usui-shiki Reiki Kenky\u016bkai Shukan no in<\/em>). This stamp symbolizes the authority of the office Takata assumed as Hayashi\u2019s successor, which became known as \u201cGrand Master\u201d. The two smaller hanko<\/em> bear the names Takata and Furumoto. This final dedication pronounces Phyllis as the rightful heir to Takata\u2019s legacy, and asserts that Takata lives on in all those who practice Reiki. As such, it makes the book itself a kind of lineage chart, documenting Reiki\u2019s transmission from Usui, through Hayashi and Takata, to Furumoto and (implicitly) to the book\u2019s owners and readers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In sum, the Grey Book was created by Alice Takata Furumoto as both a loving tribute to her late mother and an offering to her daughter. It chronicles the lineage transmission in a way that was meant to concretize Phyllis\u2019 inheritance and make it legible to the Reiki community. Moreover, the book served as a physical token that indicated its owner was an authentic, recognized Master of Usui Shiki Ryoho (USR). As such, its materiality became as important as its contents; to possess it was as (or more) important as to be able to read and understand it. By the late 1990s, one could find scans of the Grey Book online, but to have the .pdf file was quite different than possessing the item itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, the second edition of this book cannot help but transform the \u201caura\u201d of the object. However, the dedication of the USR Office of the Grandmaster<\/a> and Reiki Centers of America<\/a> to reproduce the physical book as closely as possible to the original while also supplementing it with translations of and commentaries on the contents is truly remarkable and is a testament to a new era of Reiki \u2013 one that is more global, more inclusive, and possesses a more profoundly historical consciousness. It is an honor to have been a part of this process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

~Justin Stein, PhD
Vancouver, BC
May 2021<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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by Dr. Justin Stein, PhD I am pleased to be asked to write this essay to accompany the first-ever authorized reprint of the \u201cGrey Book\u201d on its 40th anniversary. It was compiled and published in 1982 by Alice Takata Furumoto (1925\u20132013) after the passing of her mother, Hawayo Hiromi Kawamura Takata (1900\u20131980). The original 100 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":299,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-301","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/reikigreybook.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/301","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/reikigreybook.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/reikigreybook.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reikigreybook.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reikigreybook.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=301"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/reikigreybook.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/301\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6256,"href":"https:\/\/reikigreybook.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/301\/revisions\/6256"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reikigreybook.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/299"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/reikigreybook.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}