Chujiro Hayashi 1878 - 1940
Dr Hayashi has played 2 important parts in Western Reiki. Number one is that he is probably the originator of the hand position system used here in the West. Number two is that he initiated Mrs Takata to Reiki Master which brought Reiki to the West.
An ex-naval Officer in the Japanese Navy and a Naval Doctor who graduated Navy School in December 1902.
He started his Reiki training with Usui Sensei in 1925, 47 years of age. It is believed he was one of the last Reiki Masters trained by Usui.
Following his first training he left the Usui school and started a small clinic in Tokyo named "Hayashi Reiki Kenkyu-kai", which had 8 beds and 16 healers. Practitioners worked in pairs of two to a bed giving treatments to patients.
Hayashi originally had seven to eight hand positions that covered the upper body only. These positions are based on the Eastern traditional healing methods (such as Chinese Medicine) that the "body" is the head and torso, the limbs are considered "external". When treating these positions, which cover major energy center's (acupuncture points), the energy will flow not only through the body but also to the arms and legs. (using meridians). Therefore it is only necessary to treat the head and torso in order to treat the entire body mind.
Usui Sensei used head positions only, then treated any problem area on the body. He also gave additional positions for treating specific conditions.
It seems that Hayashi may have adopted further hand positions and that these may have been the base for the hand positions used in the western world. These hand positions that cover the whole body gives a better overall flow of energy around and through the body.
Dr Hayashi compiled his own 40 page manual on how to use the hand positions for certain ailments. This manual may have been give to his students. During his work with Reiki he initiated about 17 Reiki Masters including Mrs Takata.
Chujiro Hayashi ritually ended his life by committing Seppuku' on May 10th 1940.
