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Briefly, the lineage of Reiki that we are familiar
with in the West, begins Usui died in 1926. His student, Chujiro Hayashi, a former naval surgeon,
founded a clinic in Tokyo shortly after. He added some hand positions
and developed Hayashi committed ritual suicide in 1940. His student, Hawayo Takata, initiated in 1938 in
Hawaii brought Reiki to the West. All Reiki streams, outside Japan
lead back to Hawayo Takata. For a
Lineage is something that does come up from time to time among Reiki people. Sogyal Rinpoche, in his book, The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, suggests that to belong to a particular lineage is to embrace a particular set of ideas and prescribed way of practicing. In a lineage, the last or latest in the Line, does things and teaches exactly the same as the first in the Line, even if that Line goes back a thousand years. Lineage in Reiki has more to it than learning a set of hand positions or particular teachings. It has to do with maintaining the frequency of the vibration of the healing. Almost all teachers of Reiki claim the lineage back to Usui, via Hayashi & Takata. After Takata, lineages do get a little fuzzy. When Takata died in 1980, she did not specifically designate anyone to take her place, nor did she specify any particular mode of Reiki practice. Apparently Takata herself was sometimes contradictory about what was considered proper Reiki practice and what was not. Into this vacuum of leadership stepped Phyllis Furumoto, Takata's granddaughter, and Barbara Webber Rey, each claiming to be the Grand Master of Reiki, and holder of the resonance of the one true Reiki. According to reports of those who were close to the situation at the time, most just assumed that Phyllis would receive the mantle. From this inauspicious, or some might say auspicious turning point, Reiki has spread like the thousand petaled lotus. Today, Reiki seems to be all over the map. There are numerous streams, including Tara Mai Reiki, Karuna Reiki, Reiki Plus, Tibetan Reiki, and other 'new improved' brands of Reiki, that sound more like cheap soap commercials than sacred healing. As each of these streams evolve the further and further away from the source they go. Since Reiki is not a religion, requires no particular commitment, has little to learn and is at the same time an extremely powerful healing modality, it has become very popular around the world. In the west, Reiki has been added to, modified, adulterated and diluted to fit the personalities of those who practice it. There are many who embrace this idea and suggest that Takata gave each student/master different symbols to encourage each to seek their own unique path. It certainly has done that and poked its nose into many wierd and wonderful places. To me the cult of individuality is a peculiarly 'American' idea, but not without precedent. The Chinese developed the idea of the 'Superior Man', thousands of years ago. Still when looked at dispassionately, Reiki has not really strayed very far from its original premise as a healing/spiritual practice. A massage therapist friend of mine suggests that all healing is ultimately spiritual and the massage is just what she does with her hands while the healing is going on. My own belief is that Takata herself probably didn't fully understand or appreciate the Eastern concept of Lineage, or if she did, thought that the free wheeling, individualistic American style of democracy in which she taught, probably wouldn't have tolerated it. Or, perhaps, at another level, humanity has reached a stage of growth where, at least temporarily, concepts like 'lineage' have become less important than they used to be. We are now, for the first time in human history, a global community. Reiki is one practice that reaches out and embraces that. It is no longer a particularized practice seeking adherents in foreign cultures, but an energetic frequency that embraces all. While it is my belief that the cultural roots of Reiki are important to learn, it is quite clear that the various streams of Reiki taught and practiced in the West, in the sense of what one does with one's hands, is not anything like what Dr. Usui birthed into the world. At the energetic level, though, it is the same healing energy. In other words, as Reiki folk, I think the challenge is to look past what it is we 'do with our hands' while the healing is going on. There are others, my teacher included, who think this personalized approach to Reiki mastership might have produced bastardized versions of an essential sacred practice. It has been suggested that passing on the Reiki symbols without a full time commitment to the practice and without the teaching is rather like selling someone a Mercedes without an engine or the knowledge of how to drive it. Sogyal Rinpoche suggests that it is not possible to achieve enlightenment without a proper teacher (Guru). One of the ways to know if a teacher is right for you is to know their 'lineage.' To know a teacher's lineage, he says, is to know the substance of the teachings. In the East, enlightenment is very serious business and not usually left up to such fuzzy concepts as what you 'resonate with', what 'feels right', trusting one's intuition, or how one's energy is perceived. Lineage is something I did not take very seriously for a long time. Mainly because I didn't really understand it all that well. I am only now coming to an appreciation of the importance it holds in the many healing traditions. Still I live and work in Canada, and in North America, lineage is still something that is not well understood or paid much attention to. It seems to me that we all come to Reiki at whatever level serves us best, and generally gravitate towards those who serve that level. I believe it is my good fortune, and at the same time a message from the Universe that I am so close to the source (only 6 steps away from Usui himself), and studying with teachers dedicated to the practice, who never stop learning, never stop gathering knowledge, never stray from the path to wisdom. This does not necessarily mean that my Reiki or healing practice is better than the next guy's, although, I think, my Ego would like to think so. It does mean, for my own path to enlightenment that I am encouraged to set my commitment at a rather high level. My teacher often talks about the importance of having an 'impeccable character.' An important part of my learning is to figure out what that means exactly.
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with
Mikao Usui. He rediscovered certain techniques among Sanskrit
scrolls and given the knowledge of symbols and sounds to use
these techniques and to tune others into the frequency of healing
in a vision after a 21 day fast on Mount Kuryama, near Kyoto in
Japan. Some believe that Dr. Usui actually achieve 'Satori' or
enlightenment in the Eastern sense. The year was 1922.
diagnostic
and treatment techniques involving multiple practitioners. It
is likely that Hayashi drew on his experience as a naval surgeon,
doing western style medical diagnosis in addition to the more
energetically based Usui hand positions. 
period
of time during World War II, and shortly after, Takata was the
only known practitioner and Master outside Japan and is referred
to in many resources as Grand Master for this reason. 
healer and researcher long before she embraced Reiki.
She is also a christian minister. She founded the first
Reiki centre in North America, in the early '70's, which
continued operation until the early 90's. She retired
from Reiki teaching in 1992 shortly after suffering a
debilitating stroke. She still lives in California. Elsewhere
on this site there is a more in-depth 
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