USUI SHIKI RYOHO
“THE USUI SYSTEM OF NATURAL HEALING.”
In Reiki, everyone has a “lineage,” it’s the line of teachers that connects them to Dr. Mikao Usui, the founder of Reiki as we know it today. Below is the Reiki lineage from Dr. Usui to Awakened Light Reiki.
DR. MIKAO USUI
Dr. Mikao Usui was a Japanese doctor of religious studies and taught in Kyoto, Japan in the late 1800s. He set out on a quest to learn how Jesus, Buddha, and other enlightened beings were able to heal people with a touch. In his journey, Dr. Usui studied at monasteries and universities in Asia and the United States, learned several languages, and pored over many ancient documents. After finding a set of symbols in a Sanskrit scroll, he set out on a 21-day fast atop Mount Kurama. It was on the twenty-first day of the fast that Dr. Usui was struck in the head by a beam of light that revealed to him much of the practice of Reiki, as well as the use of the symbols he discovered. Dr. Usui went on to practice Reiki across the country, lecturing and traveling extensively throughout Japan, and training many Japanese students in the use of Reiki.
CHUJIRO HAYASHI
Among those trained by Dr. Usui was a retired Japanese naval officer and physician, Dr. Chujiro Hayashi, who founded a series of Reiki clinics in and around Tokyo in the mid-1920s. His first clinic is said to have been near the Imperial Palace and was frequented by royalty and members of the court, giving Reiki an immediate reputation and following among the educated elite in Japan. As the awareness and interest in Reiki grew, Hayashi opened more clinics and trained increasing numbers of students. He is credited with codifying the system of hand positions commonly used in Reiki practice today and is believed to have made many adjustments to Usui’s system that made it less mystical and more easily explainable to doctors and patients, and more easily taught to the average student. Medical doctors would often refer complicated cases to Hayashi’s clinics. It was through such a referral that Hawayo Takata was first introduced to Reiki.
HAWAYO TAKATA
Mrs. Takata was a Japanese-American woman from Hawaii who had numerous health problems, including a tumor, gallstones, and appendicitis. Her husband had died unexpectedly, and she was struggling to raise her two young children. As her health was deteriorating, Mrs. Takata went to Japan seeking medical help, and through a twist of circumstances, became a patient at one of Hayashi’s clinics. After several months of treatment, Mrs. Takata's ailments healed, and she spent the following year as a student of Hayashi's with the intention of treating herself and her family. When she returned to Hawaii in 1936, Takata began to practice Reiki and was soon visited by Mr. Hayashi and his daughter. Hayashi lectured in Hawaii, and when he left in 1938, he made Mrs. Takata a Reiki Master.
JOHN HARVEY GRAY
In the 1970s, Mrs. Takata was frequently invited to the mainland to lecture on and teach Reiki in the United States and Canada. One such trip was to the Trinity Metaphysical Center in Redwood City, California, led by the Reverend Beth Gray. Beth and her husband, John Harvey Gray, both studied Reiki under Mrs. Takata, and in 1976 John became the first Reiki Master initiated by Takata in California, and the third of her masters worldwide. In the 1990s, John often visited New York City, teaching Reiki in Manhattan. It was there that Brian Brunius first met John Harvey Gray, taking the first and second degree Reiki classes with John and completing his Reiki mastery a decade later. John taught over 900 Reiki classes to more than 15,000 students and gave over 10,000 private Reiki sessions in his lifetime. He was the longest-practicing Reiki Master in the Western Hemisphere. Until his death at age 93 in January 2011, John and his wife Lourdes Gray together operated The John Harvey Gray Center For Reiki Healing in Rindge, New Hampshire.
BRIAN BRUNIUS
Brian Brunius, founder and director of the NYC Reiki Center, is a Reiki Master Instructor who sees clients in his Manhattan office and provides consultation by phone to those outside of the NYC area. He travels extensively, sharing the energy of Reiki all over the world.
Brian began his study of Reiki in 1995 when he took the first -degree course with John Harvey Gray in New York City. In 1997 he participated in second degree Reiki with John. In 2010 Brian completed a master apprenticeship to enable him to teach Reiki courses as a Master recognized by The Reiki Alliance, an international community of Reiki Masters dedicated to the practice of Usui Shiki Ryoho, the Usui System of Natural Healing.
CHRISTOPHER TELLEZ
Christopher Tellez is the owner of SF REIKI CENTER. He started practicing Reiki in 2010. Christopher became a Reiki Master Teacher in 2016 after studying under Brian Brunius of NYC REIKI CENTER and completing a rigorous two-years Master Apprenticeship, 2000 hours of client sessions, and presentation of his thesis on Needs Assessment of the Bay Area Reiki Community.
Christopher is a traditional Reiki Master following the standards of Hawayo Takata, who introduced the West to Reiki, and the discipline of Usui Shiki Ryoho. He has also worked in the social work profession for over two decades and holds a master’s degree from Columbia University School of Social Work. Currently, he is working on attaining his LCSW.
DAVE HADLEY
Dave Hadley is the founder of Awakened Light Reiki. He began his Reiki studies in 2015 under Brian Brunius of NYC Reiki Center. He was attuned to Reiki 1 and then Reiki 2 both with Brian Brunius.
In 2019, he began his Reiki Master studies with Reiki Master Christopher Tellez of San Francisco Reiki Center and was initiated as a Reiki Master January 2021 (after a two year-2000 hour apprenticeship) and now teaches Reiki in the tradition of the Usui System of Natural Healing, the teachings of Hawayo Takata, through the initiating lineage of John Harvey Grey.
He focuses on continued studies and practices to deepen his own relationship with Reiki as a spiritual practice to better serve his clients and students in their own healing journey.
In loving gratitude to Reiki Master Christopher Tellez for his patience, love and continued Reiki teachings!