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*Taken from “Reiki; Hawayo Takata’s Story, by Helen Haberly, Archedigm Press. Hawayo Takata was born in 1900, Christmas eve at
Hanamaula, on Kuai Island, Hawaii. She was named Hawayo after
the newly formed territory. She was, however, a small, delicate child and was unable to keep up. With the help of the other villagers, though, she managed to make it through that first summer. When the ordeal of the harvest was over, she sat on the ground crying. Lifting her hands to heaven, she prayed, ‘God, please let me do better things with my hands, and do not send be back to the cane fields, ever again.’ So, when the principal of a nearby church boarding school approached her parents to hire her out as his assistant to teach first grade, it seemed, indeed that prayers were answered. She lived and worked diligently at the school and studied in the evenings. At 14, she got another job in a soda fountain, working part time, Saturdays. Not so long after that, she was offered a job as pantry girl, at double the salary, on a nearby plantation. She lived and worked on this plantation for the next 24 years, gradually working her way up to head housekeeper. Here she met and married Saichi Takata, with whom she had two daughters. Saichi was very involved in community affairs and served on the local Welfare Board, the first person of asian descent to do so. Saichi died in 1930 at the age of 34. Saichi had left instructions that his passing was not to be grieved, so, while missing him greatly, Hawayo threw herself into her work. In 1935, the stress caught up with her and she suffered a nervous breakdown and developed painful abdominal symptoms and respiratory problems. Surgery was indicated for the abdominal condition but the respiratory condition prevented the use of anaesthetics. Completely at an impasse, Hawayo, now only 35 but feeling 60, prayed for guidance. A few days later her sister died suddenly and it fell to Hawayo to tell her parents, who had in the meantime returned to Japan after nearly 40 years in the Islands. Rather than write them a letter, Hawayo decided to go to Japan and tell them in person. As well, she would seek medical help for her illnesses. These were not her only reasons for wishing to go to Japan. Her husband Saichi, had also left instructions that he was to be buried in his homeland, Japan. Hawayo still had his ashes waiting to be taken to the Ohtani Temple in Kyoto for consecration and burial. So she went to Japan. After the services for her sister in Tokyo, she entered the hospital where surgeons confirmed Gallstones, a tumour, and appendicitis as the sources of her abdominal pain and scheduled her for surgery. The following morning, prepped and waiting in the operating room, eyes closed, and listening to the bustle and chatter as preparations were being made, Hawayo heard a voice, quite clearly, saying, “this operation is unnecessary.” She opened her eyes quickly and looked around, but there was no one near her. A second time she heard the voice, and a third, even louder. The voice told her to ask the head surgeon. She slipped off the table and confronted the Head Surgeon. “Do you know of any other treatment I could try?” The surgeon replied that he did, actually, but that it would take much time, and she would have to commit to it for as long as it took, months, maybe a year, maybe more. Hawayo replied that she could commit up to two years. Her health was her main concern at this time. Everything else she might have wanted to accomplish in life depended on regaining her health. The doctor said OK. Hawayo dressed and was taken by the surgeon’s sister, who also happened to be the dietitian in the hospital to a clinic in another part of the city. They were welcomed by the wife of the clinic’s director, Mrs. Hayashi. When it came her turn, Hawayo entered without fear. She came into a large room with 8 couches and 16 practitioners, two per table, working away under the watchful eye of the clinic’s director, Dr. Chujiro Hayashi. Fully clothed, she lowered herself onto one of the couches and 2 practitioners began their work, one at the head and another at the abdomen. As their hands touched lightly, they commented on what they were sensing and confirming the previous diagnosis, “there is a lump here, could be a tumour”, and “the Gallbladder is not too good.” Wondering how these men could know what her problem was without a lot of painful poking and prodding, Hawayo thought they must have some sort of machine. The next day again, she went to the clinic. This time she made a thorough examination of the couch looking for any evidence of some sort of machine. She even frisked the practitioners looking for any kind of gadget. Noticing the commotion, Dr. Hayashi came over and asked there was a problem? Upon hearing Hawayo’s concerns, he smiled and said, yes, there is energy involved but it is not electricity, it is Reiki, “Universal Life Energy.” Not understanding, Hawayo asked for more information. Dr. Hayashi explained that it was something like radio. You have radio in Hawaii do you not? When the radio broadcasts there are no physical lines connecting the station to your radio, yet when you turn your radio on and tune in to a station, you receive what they are sending. Reiki is like that. Reiki is energy so big, we cannot measure it, so deep we cannot fathom it, so we call it Reiki. It is very simple. When we put our hands on, contact is made and the energy flows. When we want to stop we simply take our hands away.” This made some sense to Hawayo since there was no mistaking that she could feel the heat and the vibration when ‘Reiki’ hands were place upon her. For the next three weeks Hawayo stayed in the hospital, but went daily for Reiki treatments, after which she was feeling very much better. She also talked much about Reiki with the dietitian, who was also, it turns out, a Reiki practitioner. Hawayo determined that she would also learn this ‘Reiki.’ At first her requests were rebuffed. Reiki was not for outsiders, she was told. Still she pressed her case and ultimately convinced her doctor to write a letter to Dr.Hayashi, asking that she be allowed to join the association and take the class. This was no ordinary letter. It was handwritten, on a scroll, which meant it became a matter of honour. To refuse the request would mean a serious loss of face. So, the association relented and Hawayo took the class. After 3 months her respiratory problems alleviated and after 6 months she felt well enough to become an intern in Hayashi’s clinic. She moved in with the Hayashis and went to work. For the next year she lived the life of an intern. Up at 7 AM every morning helping out around the clinic, running errands etc., until noon. In the afternoon she made house calls, ran more errands, cleaned up and did anything else that needed doing. There were few breaks and fewer days off. Sometimes she went out with Dr. Hayashi to help out with his clients. Often she went alone. After a year, she received her second degree Reiki. In Japan, this is the practitioner’s level. In 1937, Mrs. Takata returned to Hawaii, having completed her training. A few weeks later, Dr. Hayashi arrived with his daughter to teach Reiki in the Islands and set up clinics. After 6 months, Dr. Hayashi returned to Japan, but before he did, at a farewill banquet, he proclaimed Mrs. Takata a Reiki ‘Master’. This meant that she had the necessary qualifications to teach. The next year, she took the opportunity to act as interpreter for the Archbishop of the Jodo mission on his tour of California on the mainland. After the tour was over, she continued on to Chicago and took courses at the National College of Drugless Physicians which she completed in July of 1938. Returning to Hawaii, word of her successes with Reiki healing spread quickly and almost overnight she was receiving requests from all over the Islands. In 1939, on a trip to the Big Island of Hawaii, she bought a large house on an acre of land at Hilo and converted it into a clinic with living quarters for her and all her family. In early 1940, Mrs. Takata dreamt of Dr. Hayashi pacing back and forth 3 times in a white silk Kimono. The dream disturbed her. Some time later, she felt compelled to go to Japan and see him. Upon her arrival, Mrs. Hayashi told her that her teacher had decided to go into transition, but had not yet set the date. She had come too soon. Mrs. Takata was told to go away, but when she was summoned she should waste no time coming. While waiting, Mrs. Takata went to Kyoto for training in Hydrotherapy. On May 09, she received the summons. Upon her arrival at Atami, where the Hayashi’s were then staying, all seemed normal, even cheerful. At 1.00 PM, Dr. Hayashi entered in the white Kimono Mrs. Takata had seen in her dream. Over the next 20 minutes, in front of all the guests, and after three separate and distinct signs, Dr. Hayashi went into transition. He was 62. Mrs. Takata returned to Hawaii some time later, leaving Mrs. Hayashi to look after the clinic in Tokyo.
In the 25 years since Mrs. Takata's death, Reiki
has spread throughout the world in a myriad of forms. In 1997,
Frank Arjava Petter wrote Reiki Fire,
and in 1999, The Legacy of Dr. Usui,
followed up in 2001 by The Original Handbook
of Dr. Usui. These are important books which have had a
deep impact on the practice of Reiki, not only in the West, but
in Japan. His journey to the east and subsequent discoveries related
in these books cast a great deal of doubt on Mrs. Takata's version
of the Reiki story.
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Her
father, a Japanese immigrant, worked the sugar cane fields. When
she was 12, Hawayo, like all the children in the village, went
to work in the cane fields. Her job was to follow behind the cutters,
slicing off the tops of the cane and filling large bags with the
short pieces. 
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