RECONCILIATION – Along the Path of Mastery

Scholarly differentiation between religion and spirituality. Reiki is not a religion but a spiritual movement. Spirituality is a process of reforming your personality. Contemplation of “Unknown” versus “Mystery” defines our placement from whence our ethics is defined. Similarly to religion Reiki has a doctrine, though a simple one.

Let Reiki teach you!

Practice, practice, practice.

Hawayo Takata translated not just language but culture.

Honor your parents, teachers and elders; a fundamental principal for a Japanese person that every child grows up with.

Stein’s work documents that historic fact differs from „teaching story“. Co-operation with researchers brings clarification and their work shows global recognition of Reiki.

I can take in a lot of what he (Stein) is saying that can be confrontive.

The passing of Phyllis Furumoto’s mother, Alice Takata Furumoto, in August 2013 allowed access to documents from Hawayo Takata. Nowadays the “archive team” (Justin Stein, Robert Fueston, Paul and Susan Mitchell, Joyce Winough) has access.

In the years before mother’s death, the documents were ignored for different reasons but also in resistance to William Rand’s research and the fear of what the documents might reveal. Today, however, an appropriate place is being sought to serve all of the Reiki community.

There’s a whole history here of the development of Reiki from the time that Hawayo Takata died for not just the practice that I hold, but for Reiki, the global Reiki movement in general.

As unbelievable as Hawayo Takata’s ‘teaching story’ sounded, people responded to it because it carries energy while informational fact is often devoid of a message. The focus of the story is on Reiki as it emerged through people’s lives . In the dynamic unfolding of Reiki after Taktata’s death the emphasis was on the metaphorical value of story, not on historical fact.

In 1994 Mikao Usui’s memorial stone was discovered on the Saihoji graveyard in Tokyo by Frank Arjava Petter. This is a significant turning point, as for the first time a substantial body of information was evident.

… it is really important to have some kind of accompanying history that underlies or creates a foundation for the teaching story.

Mary McFayden was the first to bring Reiki to Germany, Brigitte Müller invited Phyllis Furumoto to Germany where she encountered cathartic experiences releasing emotions which had been suppressed for decades.

…healing that went far beyond the individual to this society that just had so much pain that they didn’t know what to do with it…

The Reiki center near Hamburg is visited by people from Northern Europe and Germany, who had lived through WW II. Moving and profound stories of healing of individuals and between people.

…something shifted and (the Wall) didn’t need to be there to demonstrate the separateness of people. So there’s that part of how Reiki has affected societies and cultures ….

In the Netherlands one person from a family goes to a Reiki class; all of a sudden 50 family members want to join and find reunion. In parts of Brazil Reiki stands right there after allopathic medicine and millions of people practice it. In the USA Reiki evolves from a “headache cure” to a spiritual practice with towns where a quarter of the population practices Reiki as a communal service.

As globalization unfolds and the Internet plays a role, webinars open new possibilities. The profoundness of Webinars is not so much the subject of the individual’s attention but the fact that the community listens together, people are in touch and connected with each other.

It’s like the individual is the center, and then the family, and then the city or township or the community and the world. And it’s like we see our practice fanning out, but also having profound effects coming back in.

The spreading of Reiki in the sense of initiating as many people as possible appeared to be the major contribution at the beginning. As time went by it became apparent that being more and more authentically human and to continue being a student was more important. Master initiates should teach as this is their most profound personal growth, which in turn is a master’s contribution to his students and the world.

I went from fulfilling a family duty… to getting to touch people not just physically but energetically and perhaps spiritually … and at the same time you open yourself up totally in surrender…

10,000 Reiki Students in 30 years; 360 eventually become Masters. Originally riding on the legacy of Hawayo Takata the unfolding of Reiki reaches “the golden” age. In the 1990s different styles and schools emerge. Classes become smaller. Some Masters turn away from Reiki, others become more active in treating. A healthy development, also testing individuals’ commitment.

..instead of going deeper they said ‘Well, it’s no longer a viable job, so I quit’. And I thought ‘How can you quit being a Reiki master?’ I just was stunned.

The encouragement prevails to quit jobs and rely entirely on Reiki. “Miraculously” occupations outside the Reiki practice are often revealed which bring insights beneficial to Reiki.

I have been able to sustain myself but it’s not without worry…money has flowed in and out like a river … nothing really is dammed up.

For some people financial stability is a necessary base to become Reiki Masters. Hawayo Takata trained many retired people who had had a successful working life and had completed their parenting. Younger people may not have such a base and may need to take risks. In both cases the willingness to surrender to Reiki is essential.

One example of a woman shows the battle with the decision to be full time Reiki Master or to pursue her career in government shows that pushing her to quit her job was inappropriate.

She was willing to quit her job but the universe had different ideas and I’m glad that she never succumbed to my will.

Other examples and the story of a Sufi student show how central it is to be prepared to let go of deep beliefs about who we are and to allow detachment from worldly possessions.

Money is an indicator of attachment, but it’s not the only one and maybe it’s not the most difficult.

An intimate account of unwisely allowing closeness to a Master student causing feelings of betrayal which the student may not have understood at the time. With years going by sadness lingers. Is there a chance to talk and clear things?

Maybe it is fine to just leave it alone …. but if the circumstances arise that we are able to talk, then of course I would.

Initiating one’s own family into Reiki and Mastery requires thoughtful consideration.

So it’s really important to maintain boundaries in all these different relationships that we have.

Her mother makes Phyllis Furumoto go on a trip with the grandmother Hawayo Takata.

I felt betrayed by my mother ….

Besides the tension, the call to Reiki became evident. “Reiki comes first” was Takata’s credo to be carried on by the granddaughter.

Barbara Weber claims Takata’s succession and rejects cooperation with Phyllis Furumoto, who is recognised as successor by most of the original 22 Masters left behind after Takata’s death.

So another betrayal came about, but it was the greatest gift my grandmother had left me, because if somebody had not challenged all of us, then we would not have found this place in ourselves, the place of …mastery.

10 years of pain and struggle follow. Therapy and friends eventually help her to find her own placement.

If I didn’t feel a complete Yes in everything that I did, then I wouldn’t do it. That was, and still is my motto.

Adversity and confrontative relations continue to be part of Phyllis’ path. A severe test is the diagnoses of breast cancer. However, she focuses on the opportunity this challenge offers.

…..I feel that it was another gift that I have received, you know, in this life.

In the beginning, Phyllis Furumoto’s neediness to be understood led to a misconceived effort for transparency. During confrontative and controversial self-assessment workshops a self-created but entirely distorted image became visible.

my public self was really, really big and my private self was very, very small. Eventually I realized that … I needed to change that.

Misconceptions start to disappear, projections and rumors are replaced with people’s personal experience of Phyllis Furumoto in all her diversity and with her rough edges, too.

During initiation Reiki students open themselves allowing a unique intimacy. Often, the Master serves as a reflector of the student’s projections.

…it is a responsible thing for Reiki masters to process their own projections and their own issues… (in order) not to involve their students, because when they do …it gets messy.

Young Masters tend to let their egos inflate. Therapy keeps this in check and it helps to reflect our coming of age over generations.  Some masters may choose therapeutic outlets (e.g. sport).

When an initiator’s responsibility is not carefully dealt with, transgressions can occur. An example and the resulting sadness and regret.

…a drama that my husband and I had created … I hope that there are not very many people in my Reiki life where I have created that kind of situation.

To forgive myself for being human, was one of my first things …

…coming to a place of being able to forgive was really a major piece of work.

Exploring constellations between Usui, Hasyshi, Takata and Furumoto showed a human angle which allowed to let go of expectations of “perfectness”.

… it was my big paradox to hold my grandmother as the woman that I knew she was and my experience of her as a granddaughter and as a Reiki Master knowing she was not perfect and yet hearing how she was so perfect for everybody else.

Making amends with some people may be right but under other circumstances it may be appropriate to leave things rest.

The gift of accepting who we were as human beings at that time and being able to understand both sides of the coin… is a kind of reconciliation in and of itself and doesn’t need to involve the other person.

When irrevocable damage is done between two people, as exemplified in the relationship between Phyllis Furumoto and her then husband, acceptance of each other’s vulnerability is part of the healing.

Hawayo Takata had taken her daughter Alice to Japan when she met Chujiro Hayashi. Alice got 1st degree from him. Later she was pushed to study medicine in the hope that she would take over from Takata.

My mother was going to raise a family; she didn’t want to have a career so to speak with Reiki.

Phyllis Furumoto’s father was a medical doctor. He and his wife Alice settled in Iowa.

They wanted to be kind of free of the Hawaiian immigration culture at the time.

The daughter grew up as a pampered child until the age of 5 when a sibling boy started to be centre of attention. Of Japanese descent, with a speech impediment young Phyllis faced alienation and discrimination during her school years.

When I was 64 and found out that I had breast cancer three of my childhood girlfriends came and we talked about my relationship with my mother which was very fraught and my family life back in those days and who they saw I was during that time. And it was a revelation, really, I mean, this was really true reconciliation.

Discrimination at school could not be discussed at home and the girl Phyllis endures loneliness. Surrounded by excellent students she rebels by being lazy.

The rule of the family was „to mind your family duty and never lower your fathers head“

Mary, the one friend, insists Phyllis should read and study. To no avail then, but a lesson for later on in life.

The summer when I was turning 16, I was in a car accident. We drove in a place where we weren’t supposed to drive because it was all gravel roads. Mary got killed instantly… I was in hospital for a month.

Grandmother and parents become overly protective. Not being allowed to go out, having to wear orthopaedic shoes and being surrounded by tall blond girls the teenager Phyllis becomes increasingly convinced she was not matching any beauty standard. Eventually, she achieved a degree of success.

I found out that if I read the books, that I could actually get very good grades, it was pretty amazing. So I had to thank Mary for that.

The doctor father did not take care of the children very well. On the rare occasions they got sick he would describe medication. Phyllis finds herself in a protective environment and with low self-esteem.

25 years old Phyllis Furumoto is taken to the mountains of Colorado. She spends her last fifty Dollars to convince a ski instructor to give her lessons. He is reluctant because there is deep powder snow.

Skiing freed me, it freed my body so that I could move effortlessly and that freed my spirit. A really amazing transformation!

An extraordinary man, Hall O’Leary, starts the “Disabled Ski Program” with successes all over the world. In his irreverent way, he challenges Phyllis, now 28 years old. She is inspired and brings Reiki people to the ski resort.

I wanted them – my Master candidates especially – to have this experience of learning how to ski and being on a mountain with blind skiers and amputees skiing and little kids. So they couldn’t say: I can’t do it.

The ski bum Phyllis turns 30 and wonders what life holds in store.

Little did I know that my mother calling me to travel with my grandmother in the summer of 1979 would be the answer to my question about my own vocation and what I would do for the rest of my life.

Skiing with people who were “not able bodied” and starting to treat them with Reiki brought up the question, what is healing?

With my father a doctor, I thought it was strange, why would we give these people Reiki? We’re not going to grow another arm or a leg, or make them smarter… How are we going to change their lives and what was the purpose of giving them Reiki?

Finally, I realized that healing was all encompassing, that my idea that a whole person would have their sight, would have 2 arms, 2 legs, would have all their faculties, was not true.

Still a young Master Phyllis Furumoto learns what it means to be “perceptually handicapped”, that she has a distorted view of herself and the world.

My practice of Reiki had brought me back into myself … knowing my strength, my character and that we make our own world…
I have come out the other side, my viewpoint on the world is that it’s a friendly place.

Later, an encounter group in the post-war years (Vietnam), triggers another insight.

…the first glimmer of what it’s like to be on a path, rather than “be a victim” of life.

The change of perception is illustrated with the visit of the three woman visiting after Phyllis’ diagnosis of cancer. They help her rewrite her own childhood story coming to realize that people cared whether she reciprocated or not.

Having seen herself as a Japanese outsider during her youth, this picture finds a new dimension at the 40th highschool reunion when a former classmate says “I never noticed that you are Japanese”.

…It’s a work in progress. But the experiences allowed me to become a stronger person and to be able to handle adversity without feeling a victim and that for me has been a really valuable lesson in my life.

Alice Takata Furumoto, who had received 1st degree from Chujiro Hayashi, was not happy with the way Reiki was taught by her mother and her daughter.

We were trying to figure out the psychology of what was happening and were astonished that it worked… this was sacrilegious, anti-Reiki so to speak.

Although Alice understands that Reiki was Takta’s destiny, their relationship is difficult. Alice makes a sacrifice not to pursue Reiki but to dedicate herself to being a mother. Towards the end of her life, Alice gives hands-on treatments to Phyllis but never accepts treatment from her daughter.

Towards the end of her life Takata lives near her daughter Alice, who becomes increasingly protective of her mother. They receive visitors and discuss their potential. Alice prefers the humble students who report regularly to Takata and pushes her own daughter as successor.

My mother, even when I was there would say, “It’s Phyllis, look at Phyllis, she is your perfect person!” And I would go: „No! I’m not your perfect person.“

With the death of her mother, Phyllis is free to decide what will be public. Hawayo Takatas deserves her due place in the history books of Reiki. Mementos and documents should find an appropriate and accessible home, preferably a museum.

… to be held as a whole person, not just a Reiki person, but as a Japanese-American woman who did this amazing thing and dedicated her life and has touched the lives of people all over the world.

Hawayo Takata emphasizes the practice of Reiki – with due respect for a sensible lifestyle. She totally trusts Reiki and the reactions it creates.

She brought Reiki from the Japanese culture into the Hawaiian islands at a time when Japan was going through a major demolition of their culture and of their values and also of their country.

Whatever Reiki practice survived in Japan, it had to go underground while it is a flowering time for Takata. With her, the practice adapts to its new Western environment and eventually to a world-wide culture finding its way back to Japan.

But I also know that the system itself as an energetic entity has its own momentum in development. So she was not necessarily doing it out of her own conscious will but following the energy of Reiki … in order for the practice to flourish.

Alice Takata Furumoto informs Reiki community slowly of her mother’s death on December 11th, 1980. 

Many Masters called saying, “You’re your grandmother’s successor, now what are you going to do?” I couldn’t really answer.

1981: Barbara Weber (Ray) claims to be Takata’s successor. Phyllis Furumoto visits her; Weber declines cooperation. 

The masters had not been able to mourn their teacher … so I organized this meeting in Hawaii in (mid) 1982.

This first ever group uncovers that Takata’s teaching varied among students. And they discuss Weber’s claim. Virginia Samdahl’s daughter who feels loyal to Barbara Weber was the first one to articulate the difference between “initiation lineage” and “spiritual lineage”.

In 1983 The Reiki Alliance is founded. Some express their recognition of Phyllis as Takata’s successor in ways befitting an Indian guru. The meeting in ’84 gives birth to the “Blue Book” stating the Alliance’s values and identity. 

These statements have great foresight and also a great challenge. One of them says “we recognize all masters as equal in the oneness of Reiki” … It doesn’t mean we are the same… it was very important for me that this thought was a founding stone, a cornerstone of the Reiki Alliance because I didn’t want anyone to feel “they were better than”.

The statement may have been somewhat reactionary and defensive in response to Weber’s claim to be the successor of Takata. With 85% of the masters belonging to the Alliance and  everyone practicing the same system it is easy to agree to “equality”.

It means the same thing as in the US constitution, that all men are created equal. …it is our challenge not to go into our human ego and decide that we or our lineage or whatever is the best.

The spirit of Takata – even with practical differences among students – pervades the Reiki community.

At the end what we would say “and that is what we were taught”… This phrase joined us together in a way that really nothing else did. It was really like having a common mother, if you want to use that analogy.

Philosophically one can say that everyone on the planet pursues mastery. Reiki has become an accessible expression to enact a path.

In this sense, if we are truly masters, we’ll be able to understand that particular statement and actually support it. It’s a piece of wisdom that we came up with that was way beyond our mental consciousness at the time. Wise beyond our years, so to speak.

Takata inherits from Hayashi house, estate – everything. Phyllis interprets this as an expression of appointing a successor.

When my grandmother died, everything went to my mother…. She handed the lineage in some way, this inheritance piece to me.

The term “Grand Master” emerges from Takata’s initiates who take inspiration from fraternal organisations.

Phyllis has difficulty in accepting being called “Grand Master”. In 1992 Paul Mitchell and she form “The Office of the Grand Master”. 

I don’t know who came up with the phrase, but I introduced “lineage bearer” because I knew that I was that. … that’s what I was recognized as.

The 5 roles of Reiki Master emerge: Initiator, Teacher, Student, Mentor and Tradition Keeper. Some of these are less obvious: Mentoring, for example, expands beyond the realm of one’s own body of students. And oral tradition in which even non-verbal communication has a significance.

The definition of Grand Master has it’s own individuation. Roles are, for example, “lineage bearer” and “form keeper”.  

…but we haven’t gotten to explore that and I think once we do, we will understand more.

Grand Master is recognized. It is not taken. The Reiki community grew me as a Grand Master.

Every master of Hawayo Takata did have the seed of lineage bearer or Grand Master in them. 

Being one of the youngsters among the original 22 Takata initiates Phyllis Furumoto is lineage bearer and Grand Master.

In truth I couldn’t do anything to „change“ the system without going back to the circle and somehow having agreement among us.

Different kind of practices appear and the call for control arises. An impossibility.

It was important for me to hold the totality of what Hawayo Takata passed on… the totality really was about the 22 masters and in all the different ways and variations that we practiced.

Now most of the original 22 have died, three are still active, Rick Bockner, Paul Mitchell and Phyllis Furumoto (Wanja Twan is not teaching). The group’s legacy is carried by all of today’s generations, which Phyllis calls the “Master-Body”:

…which for me is this collective of all Reiki Masters and whether or not you choose to be an active member of this body you add to the body energetically, just by being a Master.

More Masters claim to be Takata’s successors.

Wanja Twan recognises Phyllis Furumoto but allows her students to recognise her own daughter as Wanja’s heir.

John Gray initates Beth Gray who is hugely successful but reluctant to initiate Masters. One of the few is Barbara McGregor who builds a myth around Beth.

Our understanding of recognition of mastery and lineage was so slim at the time that we were really lucky we didn’t get into more of a muddle.

People who got initiated by Phyllis change the form to the point that Usui Shiki Ryoho can no longer be recognised. Others are embraced in a spirit of inclusiveness.

Somebody said in the middle of a music festival „I’m going to initiate you.“ They don’t even know their name. But that initiation was sincere enough that they followed the path of mastery and ended on my doorstep.

There are different sects in Japanese Buddhism. They co-exist without animosity or competition, a role model for Reiki.

What’s really important is … not to end up having a monologue.

At first with all these different forms I used to think that it was a betrayal of my grandmother and her teaching. But now what I’m seeing is that we create our whole field of different forms of Reiki practice.

The initiation is essence and then there is the form of practice. Both are equal; neither form nor essence are more important.  

People who can trace their initiation through from Hawayo Takata or me or from Chujiro Hayashi. Then the evaluation is on the form, because if the form is in alignment with this practice, then they’re practicing this system. If their form is somewhat out of alignment, but their intention is to practice this system, then they just have alignment issues.

Conversely, if someone’s form is similar to this system but their intention is not to practice it, then they are not.

To evaluate Masters such as Barbara McGregor, one would need to know her practice. Being very much a woman on her own who strictly differentiates between her own students and those initiated by other Masters, it appears she is not in alignment with this system.

Reiki masters who won’t teach or mentor anybody else’s students… I have found that always to be disconcerting but I also accept it.

“This system” means Usui Shiki Ryoho honouring the lineage of Usui, Hayashi, Takata and Furumoto.

Hawayo Takata called both, the energy and the practice, “Reiki”, short for Usui Shiki Ryoho (Reiki). This stays so until early 1990s. With the emergence of different forms confusion spreads.

An effort to trademark causes bad blood in the community. Phyllis Furumoto challenges Joop Hilger’s registration.

He settled out of court but it took 2 years and a lot of money. I was awarded the right to trademark.

Formalities to erase Hilger’s trademark take time, during which Reiki becomes publicly known and can no longer be trademarked. Many wrongly assume that trademarking would have made Phyllis rich. 

I ended up without any trademarks, which is actually good.

Other forms of Reiki practice trademark under their own name separating themselves from “Usui System of Natural healing” and thus create clarity…

…which was wonderful.

…people who are angry with me about Trademark had no idea what was happening.

Trademarking involves control. Joop (Hilger) puts himself in this position and the German community asks Phyllis Furumoto to intervene. She does at substantial cost and feels let down by those who had called her. What would have happened if she had not responded?

(Hilger) might have taken somebody to court … but he had no authority in the community at that point. And I was still recognised by most as Grand Master. So it was a very interesting juxtaposition in the mid 1990s. Now that is not so true because of the proliferation of different kinds of Reiki and the many students all over the world.

There is a possibility to protect Reiki with an “industry trademark” like, for example, pure wool. Simple criteria can be set and those using Reiki commercially could have shared the cost.

That could have cleaned up the “fringe” element of Reiki… They would have had to use another word, which would have been fine.

The Reiki Alliance could have become the organisation of licensed Masters of Usui Shiki Ryoho, leaving other practices to apply for their own trademark. This would have created clarity and would not have been expensive. It was not to be so.  

…to just assume that if you have a trademark you’re gonna earn money, is crazy.

With today’s technology we could have done something neat and beneficial for everyone.

Unlike Barbara Weber who came up with “Radiance Technique” Phyllis cannot think of a name. The costly experience of refuting the German Trademark ends in the conclusion that Reiki needs no “policing”. Phyllis expresses her gratitude for the financial support by the Reiki Alliance.

Joops bottom line was that I wasn’t doing my job so that he had to do it for me. And now I am taking it away from him. I can see that and understand why there would be animosity.

There is a human desire to make things our own and to protect what is dear to us. However, there is no way to prevent the proliferation of the different forms of practice.

This started happening from the moment Hawayo Takata died. Or before.

Taking possession of a practice may lead to wanting to change it. If key elements are omitted, the original practice ceases to exist. Eliminating energy exchange, dropping lineage, etc. are fundamental alterations to Hawayo Takata’s teaching. Equally, the practice mutates if elements are added.  

That is all these people making Reiki their own. I don’t want to control them, they’re not threatening my practice.

There is only one person who can change or corrode your practice, and that’s you. …I can’t be angry at these people because I see that they’re just doing something very human. And so, I let it go after a while.

The calling to be a Reiki Master is an individual’s calling to mastery, Reiki is the form through which they gain mastery.

It is not appropriate to set criteria for the certification of masters. People speeding the completion of all degrees find that the maturity into stable mastery may take many years. It is as though it was self-regulated.

Phyllis Furumoto prepares the candidates for Mastery if they ask her. 

And I’d say “Yes”. And I’d say “well, Reiki actually prepares you.”

Living one’s life as though one was a master, is at the centre of this process. At some point, mastery will fill the candidate’s being.  

And that will be the time that I will initiate you, recognizing this fulfilment.

Nowadays this maturing process lasts 5 to 10 years. When Phyllis realised she had breast cancer some candidates feared she might die before she could initiate them.  

They said, „can’t you speed this process up?“ and I said, „No. If your path as a Master is to be prepared by me and I die before I initiate you, then that’s a part of your path.”

In 1982 everyone knows that they can initiate Masters but it is decided that Phyllis Furumoto is the only person to do so.

In 1986 some Masters are initiating Masters, some start their own form. Others ask Phyllis about initiating Masters.

As the community grows and branches out the impression prevails that Phyllis claims to be the only person with the power to initiate Masters. A misconception Phyllis needs to correct. Furthermore, she sees Masters ready to initiate new generations. The conference in Friedrichsdorf takes place in 1988.

I’m going to give this back to you, I’m going to say to you: every master has the right to initiate masters.

Controversy arises. Many Masters want her to continue her exclusivity. They are angry with Phyllis “giving away” a power that she does not have in the first place.

Leading students into Mastery is a considerable commitment and responsibility.

There is no way as a Master that you should ask anybody’s permission to initiate a Master. If you are not a master enough to do this on your own, you shouldn’t be doing it.

The call for a “training program” is voiced. Phyllis cannot comply with this.

You’re being trained to initiate 1st and 2nd degree. If you want to initiate a Master, I want you to wait 10 years. If you can’t, this is something you take on for yourself. So I’m not going to be here to tell you how to do it.

Critique arises because Phyllis Furumoto is not offering a training how to initiate Masters. Then, in 2005:

I had to, the voice of the Master Body was coming through these women and I needed to somehow do it.

Since then Phyllis offers her support regularly. The central decisions remain with the Masters. They merely learn how to assess candidates, some techniques and the Master initiation. This has proven successful because Masters allow candidates to mature in their own good time.

Quite often we know who we are and have grandiose ideas. But when you know who you are not, then you know that you’re a master because you know what your boundaries are.

The same is true for the Master community. As it gets clearer about its boundaries the people who come to be Masters are also clearer.

In the late 1990s Phyllis had stopped initiating Masters because Masters could no longer sustain their living with seminars. Meanwhile she has resumed because candidates come for reasons of their own spiritual growth and because more and more see it as their calling.

This change shows the maturity of our practice.

The Reiki community world wide grows. So does the need for ecological awareness. Can they be brought together?

The land on which the ranch stands has changed because of cattle. Grass died, cactus spread. Man needs to reconcile with nature to allow recovery. The ranch is a good starting place with Reiki people visiting, living here. The contemplation about the ranch’s prospects unfold.

We really opened the vision to including reconciliation with forms of Reiki practice.

To be able to come together not to teach each other our systems but to be able to share what we have in common which is so much more profound than our differences.

There is no specific reason for Reiki Home to be in Arizona other than Phyllis proximity and because so many visitors responded positively to the farm.

Topics like the origin of Reiki as an energy, the value and disadvantage of oral tradition or distant initiations, the sharing of opinions and experience, have great potential for fruitful discussions. Not about finding out who’s right or wrong but to deepen the understanding.

If if we all came together we would further our own individual practices, our own individual understanding of the universe and raise the practice of Reiki in the world to a recognized force in our social transformation.

The archive team stitches together a history of Hawayo Takata’s practise and digitalizes it. A university rather than a museum archive is preferred and negotiations are under way. In winter (2016/2017) Phyllis Furumoto’s documents will be put together for future records. This includes people’s research and case studies.

There are lots of things to do to speed up the process of my archive, because it is going to be massive compared to my grandmother’s.

There is no Master symbol like a 2^nd degree Symbol. There is a common, though sacred Buddhist phrase in Japanese.

Language is symbol. We can say “Father, Son and Holy Ghost” and it’s a symbol; it has more meaning than just the words themselves in Christianity. It has become a holy phrase that evokes, if a priest says these words, a certain kind of energy.

Mastery is when a human being becomes part of a transformational process. The Mona Lisa serves as an analogy: the painting becomes more than colour on canvass because Da Vinci transfers energetic presence into the painting. The “masterly” touch in Reiki is the initiation.

It is the student who chooses the Master. The person perceives that the Master carries within a “key” to unlock Reiki and thus holistic healing potential.

They trust us to be trustworthy and they trust us to connect with that masterful part of ourselves and share that with them.

At some level every human is in search of mastery. But as Reiki Masters we have declared ourselves and are committed to pursue the path of mastery consciously.

The Kanji for the sacred phrase is written in as many handwritings as there are writers. If a person who does not know Japanese attempts to “draw” the Kanji it is natural that it is not as fluent as if drawn by a native. Thus there is no need to be concerned about the correctness of lines and configurations of a Kanji.

It is unfortunate that their focus of their mastery is on this Kanji and not on the way that they live and on their practice of Reiki.

The idea of the Master symbol did not come from the original 22 Takata Masters. They practiced and taught the way that she gave them the system bar minor differences.

It was clear that it was Kanji and that there were several different ways to write the Kanji.

There is a book by my mother called “the grey book”.  The Kanji on that is very old, it’s almost Chinese. Written today it would have many less strokes and would almost not be recognisable.

Phyllis Furumoto has no knowledge that the sacred phrase was introduced by Hawayo Takata. She assumes that Takata taught her the way she learnt from Hayashi.

It was not in Hawayo Takata’s nature to make Reiki more palatable to the western mind.

None of today’s practices are “the genuine one”. If the (secretive) associations in Japan whose mission was to keep the teaching as accurate as possible do not include this (Kanji), then it is an anomaly.

But we have no idea why and to speculate to fill in the blank is dangerous.

Takata’s classes were not structured and varied. It is hard to say why but Phyllis accepts her wisdom. These variations often lead to arguments when it does not matter where, for example, a Reiki treatment starts.

She taught each master how they needed to be taught. It really depended on their personality. Wanja Twan asked many questions Phyllis would not have raised with Takata. Naturally, one received knowledge which the other did not.  

Hawayo Takata’s practice was not embedded in one of us, it was embedded in all 22 of us. And it was only if you could take the big picture of the 22 of us, then you would get her practice. And that’s what was so magical for me.

Hawayo Takata responded to the American need at the time. She emphasised Reiki in context with physical healing. Her more expansive teaching is reduced to technique.

Technique has to be a recipe and if you don’t follow the recipe then you don’t get the results.

In a spiritual practice you are taught a practice. It is through that practice and your own development that you get the result.

Technique is closely linked with the hunt for evidence. Spiritual practice is more elusive and continuously brings up new questions. It is a challenge in the information age to hold the unknown until it becomes known. People tend to seek instant knowledge from “experts”. This can be contradictory to a spiritual practice.

I am not an expert, no one is an expert and you only get experts in technique.

There are more women in Reiki than men. Originally in Japan men dominated.

In the 1980s, we did everything according to our heart. There was something about that time that was innocent and was authentic.

Men have had many fields in which they could prosper. Reiki offers the potential to bloom for woman and find their own identity. This may be one factor why there are more woman than man in Reiki today.

In 1986, 1987 the Reiki Master community was testing their powers. …lots of wonderful, magical things happened. But we did not have personal boundaries.

This liberty invites cult-like behaviour. Masters would have affairs with students. Dysfunctional relationships were the result. An inherent aspect in the Japanese culture is the respect for the teacher, whose role, too, is clearly defined. In the West such structures do not exist. Codes of Ethics are drawn up in the 90, the process of Mastery makes another step.

You have access to your truth and no one else does.

Dealing with Reiki it is important to accept that not one person dictates truth. To allow and respect each other’s differences is prerequisite to embracing your brothers and sisters as Reiki Masters.

Truth lives on through the tribe and keeps the tribe nourished on energetic-physical-spiritual levels.

The pursuit of truth can be more intellectual, masculine or more intuitive, feminine. Ideally, they feed on each other. Over the years there has  been friction. For long the story as told by Hawayo Takata has not had a solid foundation. This changed with research, particularly the discovery of Usui’s memorial stone.

The only truth that you need to be concerned about is the truth of your own experience. And don’t ever give that up!

Why would I have to make a sacrifice? If you ask me “what would I have to give?” that’s a totally different question.

Conciliation in the Reiki world cannot be pushed. This filming, the Australian Congress, Reiki Home can bring fractions together in the right time.

And when we meet it will be in a way that people will say “well, that wasn’t so difficult! Why did we think that this was impossible?”

I have to be able to make the space open for the conversation and I work on it myself.

As a continuation of the question about Yin-Yang (patriarchy) Phyllis Furumoto acknowledges that she feels less reactionary towards Frank A. Petter and William Rand and affirms their work.

..it’s like this is part of the process to have us come together, not particularly in the sense of being in the same room talking together but being able to use data and find it OK.

Meeting protagonists in the Reiki world (like Frank Arjava Petter, William Rand or Lawrence Ellyard) merely for the sake of meeting is unlikely. 

In order to have transformational processes three levels need to come together: individual, community and a higher purpose. The key for a meeting would have to be the latter. ProReiki, for instance, has the higher purpose of making Reiki professional.

…it would have to be something that all of us were passionate about and all of us were willing to come together to talk about.

Reconciliation is the force that brings us together, but it’s not the purpose. Just to be clear: I could do reconciliation without meeting them.

I don’t know their systems, I don’t know what the differences are, so I haven’t a clue and don’t see the disparity personally

Asked about criticism of the use of “Master” Phyllis Furumoto defines her knowledge within the tradition of “Usui Shiki Ryoho under this lineage”. While indeed in Japan one does not declare himself as “Master” Hawayo Takata used this term to respectfully introduce the status of Usui and Hayashi into the West. Similarly the term “Grand Master” was coined by the original 22 Masters for Phyllis Furumoto.

…for me it’s not politics because we are not talking about social behaviour. We are talking about the manifestation of spiritual practice which has a totally different meaning.

In Buddhism, as an analogy, many sects emerged. In essence they refer to the original teaching and objective but their practices differ from each others’ pursuit of enlightenment. It is acceptable that a student of one sect moves on to another because maturity exists. Reiki with its comparatively short history is yet to evolve fully into this. 

I would love Reiki to become that way because it means that there is no competition, there is no right and wrong, just different forms and different methods to get to the same relationship with Reiki, the universal life energy.

Neither can they nor is it beneficial if they are resolved, if that means “sameness”.

No two snowflakes, no two human beings are the same. Reiki celebrates us as individuals.

Some people learn through the experience of money. In Phyllis Furumoto’s system 10,000 Dollars are asked for mastery. It symbolizes the extent of the Master candidate’s commitment.

They commit to let go of all of the belief systems they have and to be open to changing everything in their lives.

In a spiritual practice it is not about amount, currency or wealth but about the inner progress triggered by money. This process is as nonnegotiable a commodity as is time, for instance, in Japanese meditation teachings.

Money can be a catalyst also for the Master’s own growth. An example of a Mexican lemon seller unveils a teacher’s preconceived notions about her illiterate and poor student.

The Soviet Union was dissolved at the end of 1991. Phyllis visits Russia. Overcoming fear and her prejudices, she speaks her truth. The response was unexpected:

He said “here is this giant (USSR) brought to it’s knees and split apart. When you said that to us you gave us back our dignity. And our desire to be a Reiki Master in the world. We never even imagined that. You gave us something to work for”.

A seed, wanting to grow, is likened to “activating force”. The soil to “restraining force”. Without the latter, there is no growth, maturity. Something seemingly in conflict is coming together.

The “reconciling force” is greater than the two positions. It brings something to creation and there is something new that evolves because of this.

Mikao Usui’s activating force was his quest for answers. The outer world was restraining. Eventually he got in touch with the reconciling force, the beginning of this practice.

Squabbling over right or wrong are activating and restraining forces in the Reiki community.

Reiki is our reconciling force. When we surrender to it and hold the creative dissonance that is happening right now, we are going to get something greater than we could ever imagine.

“Kokoro” in Japanese describes the state when heart and mind are in union allowing humans to be fully in their presence, whether in love or in battle. The Western idea of the intellect and emotions being two separate entities is not beneficial.

The congruency of your heart and your mind saying YES!

Chujiro Hayashi, in the 1930s, is reluctant to take Hawayo Takata as a student. Eventually, prior to Pearl Harbour (1941) and his imminent death Hayashi recognises Takata as successor. Later she would say that he “laid down and went into transition” and that it was the most spiritual moment in her life.

I don’t believe it was suicide. Maybe some historian researcher will tell me otherwise but even so he still chose this moment. And in Japan that’s a very honourable death.

With his final instructions to Takata, Chujiro Hayashi saves Reiki in some way for the future. 

He said “…and so it goes out and whatever happens to Reiki will happen”. And actually what happened to Reiki fulfilled Mikao Usui’s dream that Reiki would touch the world.

Many Japansese are kept in US internment camps. Takata travels freely in Hawaii treating and teaching. Young US born Japanese men serve in Italy and return after the war. Amongst them is Phyllis Furumoto’s father. This generation goes from being slaves to running the state of Hawaii. In the 1950ies Takata is able to buy a plot of land in Honolulu.

For a Japanese woman who was born on a plantation to have done this through Reiki is amazing.

Alice Takata Furumoto calls her daughter “a lost soul” who seemed to use other people’s opinion to make decisions.

I married because my mother told me that I couldn’t live out of wedlock.

With Reiki this starts to change but it lingers into the early years when Phyllis Furumoto is already Grand Master. In 1983 a first sign of her own will: in opposition to the original 22 Takata Masters she insists that Barbara Weber is included. It was not to be. Nonetheless, Phyllis realises the importance of owning her decisions.

I needed to break down all these walls inside of me and listen to all my voices and come to a place where is was really YES.

By 1989 Phyllis is in Germany when the Berlin Wall comes down. She and her Masters can now go to the East legally. Hope arises that a new order between nations and between people is possible in the world.

But somehow today, in 2016… we’re failing our test of humanity … unless we follow the saying “if you have enough build a longer table rather than a wall”.

Phyllis Furumoto acknowledges that it is possible that Barbara Weber was to be successor. In many ways she was better positioned than Phyllis. Takata and Weber have a falling out with each other, so painful that Takata no longer mentions Barbara’s name.

Weber alienates many of the 22 Takata Masters. The process of succession is more than telling someone to be one’s successor. There also has to be recognition. Of the 22 masters initiated by Takata, a majority recognise Phyllis. And there is another factor: the successor feels an energetic transmission, which can also be perceived by others.

This Hawayo Takata had no control over. I believe that this was also true about Chujiro Hayashi. He might not have wanted Hawayo Takata, to have been the successor but he got where the energy was going and he surrendered to it.

This Grand Master’s “pilot flame” reinforces the young woman as successor despite her immaturity. Barbara Weber’s contention accelerates the ensuing growing phase.

She forced me to go inside and find the strength to have this position and to be able to have the community nourish this part of me because I believe that all of us initiated by Hawayo Takata had the possibility of being her successor.

It is the achievement of a community to grow its Grand Master.

The question of Phyllis Furumoto’s succession has been present since the 1980s. In 2013 metastasis of cancer appear again. “Succession weekends” start. They are not about voting a person into office. More existential questions are explored: What are the functions of the spiritual lineage? Is there an energetic essence called the Master Body? 

All Reiki Masters are to be included, especially those in the system that carry responsibility. If one person emerges, he or she will be recognised as lineage bearer close to Phyllis’ death.

Just like when Hawayo Takata died. …she gave me the gift of her wisdom, but we didn’t have to struggle personality wise. 

Takata wanted Reiki to spread globally, but she would not have been comfortable. Phyllis keeps up with the spread of Reiki into different cultures and languages. Initiation is no longer the main consideration but rather how a possible successor’s mind works. 

The succession may not be one person, it could be a group of people.

The master body needs to open to another way of thinking. Conflict may accompany a natural progression towards a creative resolution, reconciliation.

A group of Masters accompanies me now and at the end there hopefully will be a collective lineage bearing.

This process is aided by Video conferencing to include people all over the globe in order to carry Reiki into the future. Not only for the benefit of this system but for…

…the whole of the global Reiki community.

“Usui Shiki Ryoho” (Usui System of Natural Healing) is as Hawayo Takata taught. In 1983 The Reiki Alliance was formed for this specific system. Many Masters practice this system and are not members. The Trademark dispute is settled out of court. In the 1990s Phyllis Furumoto adds the lineage for further clarity. 

If everybody ceased to recognize me as Grand Master then I wouldn’t be it anymore.

In addition to the five aspects of mastery Grand Mastery includes “lineage bearer”. In 1993 Phyllis and Paul Mitchell form the Office of the Grand Master. Paul is Head of Discipline, a role that may be assumed by people who have collective lineage bearing.

If you’re sure that there is going to be a successor for me then I’m equally sure that the possibility that there won’t be is equal.

Any of Takata’s masters could have become her successor. Any Master has the potential to be a lineage bearer. This practice is like a heritage seed and affects all other practices whatever their name.

If you found a practice in resistance to me you are connected to me.

The “return” of Reiki to Japan was also in competition to Phyllis. This triggers defensiveness that is contrary to the spirit of Japanese spiritual practices. “Keeping tradition” is to honour the cultural origin of one’s practice.

I’m not a proponent of putting all the practices together, that is not going to save the day. What’s going to save the day is for us is to be respectful with each other no matter what.

In some countries Reiki has entered into academia. This development and globalisation dilute the essence of the practice. Phyllis Furumoto does not support this but acknowledges good work done.

So I have to hold it in my big self as another option for people to come to Reiki.

In regular Reiki 1 and 2 “folk-art” for family and friends is taught. There is value in further training for “public practitioners” (office registration, fee structure, keeping records and accounts, etc.) and there may be legal requirements (anatomy, physiology).

I really loved in Germany that practitioners learn the characteristics of diseases so that they wouldn’t treat it.

Receiving of treatments is equally important as the giving. Professionals need to learn dealing with, e.g. allopathic medical doctors. The terms “complementary” and “alternative” suggest a secondary choice. It should be up to the person who is being treated whether they make Reiki their primary or their secondary care.

When complementary therapy is used as a primary therapy, it means that allopathic medicine has resigned. Undue pressure is the result and the value of the treatment, which may be beyond healing in the traditional sense, is out of sight.

Each school of Reiki could have their own public practice program. That would be ideal. I don’t believe that I could mentor and instruct students from another system because I would always be running up against disrespecting their practice.

Similarly, as with the term “complementary therapy” Phyllis Furumoto hesitates to encapsulate Reiki to the restraints of the title’s question.

I consider Reiki to be a bona fide option for anybody who wants to have benefit on a physical, emotional, mental or spiritual level.

There are four aspects: healing practice, personal development, spiritual discipline and mystic order. Each is present when we get in touch with Reiki. Often the first experience is relieve of symptoms. In whatever form of practice, Reiki promotes and sometimes provokes healing in the large and in the small sense of the word.

Reiki can be someone’s spiritual practice and become a much broader landscape from which to operate as a human being. As a community of people who choose Reiki as a spiritual practice we can be seen as a mystic order…

…without the benefit or intercession of someone else, like a minister, a priest, a facilitator.

Phyllis Furumoto emphasises the value of endeavouring to honour the other person’s opinion as one honours one’s own.

If I don’t do that, then how could I ask others to honour my opinion or my practice without me honouring theirs?

In the 1990s snide remarks are made within Phyllis’ circle about “new” forms of practice. It turns out that they are often in reaction to critical comments made about Phyllis’ practice. A change of attitude is necessary to allow mutual respect.

There are many, often contradictory viewpoints about the different aspects of Reiki. Conserving one’s own truth and opening to new perspectives can be a balancing act.

Truth, the actual universal truth can only be found if …we honour and speak our own positions without fear of retribution or judgement and be able to hear each other in the same way.

Phyllis sees little impetus to change the practice as it was given to her. At the same time she is sympathetic towards people who want to change theirs.

These two philosophies… have come together to provide in the world an incredible Reiki community and it couldn’t have been done one without the other. So, yes, I hold my practice to be clear, strict and not without movement.

In the years following Hawayo Takata’s death Masters swarm out in different directions.

An exemplary story is the one of Mary McFayden. During WW II she lived  through the bombing of London. Her teaching Reiki in Germany significantly contributes to the healing of…

…wounds inflicted by the whole process of fascism.

The Australians welcome Beth Gray with her single-minded charisma. Many students want to become Masters but Gray is reluctant and initiates only few. As Gray wants to immigrate she has a stroke.

What she passed on to her students, still lives in Australia.

Barbara McGregor in particular made a strong stance. Her idiosyncrasies as well as her gift of Reiki are much like Beth’s. Equally, she is unapproachable and uncooperative (with the Reiki community outside her own).

The 5 roles of Mastery play a role from the moment a student says that he wants to be a Master. Phyllis Furumoto recommends at least 10 years of experience teaching before taking on a Master Candidate. If one of Phyllis’ masters has a student before this time, then it is appropriate to refer that student to her. This does not always work as the case of a South American student illustrates.

Sometimes students have to wait for their Masters to mature in order to start their own journey of mastery.

When Phyllis accepts a Master candidate she is opening a most profound and personal part of herself to the candidate. It is a unique responsibility.

It also demands willingness to not be the only person in that Master’s life, that Reiki is the ultimate teacher, not me.

The ancestors or the lineage that the Master comes from serve as a part of the teaching of the student. Phyllis cannot ask her own initiating Master, Hawayo Takata, in a conventional way. She does so by distant treatment. Sometimes she gets an answer.

The time when I didn’t get an answer was actually more profound than when I did (laughs).

There is no hierarchy within the roles, they are equally important in Phyllis Furumoto’s system. Teacher has a limited scope. He or she delivers something to the student. Initiator has energetic responsibility. For life.

This is not something that many Masters adhere to. Or even believe.

Initiator is a role which deserves further study. Mentoring expands beyond one’s own students, ie a Master makes him- or herself available as mentor to other Master’s students as well. A Master is a life-long student of Reiki.

We get to further our own studentship while teaching.

Through practice and mentoring one becomes a developed student. Tradition keeper is a new aspect. Phyllis offers weekends to explore this role, which starts with:

You don’t change what I’ve given you.

This is confrontative. The idea of oral tradition is important part of the system and often challenged. It is Phyllis’ belief that oral tradition is all the more important in today’s world of media.

The student – teacher relationship can be a challenge. Quoting Hawayo Takata: “Everybody has the right to their own relationship with Reiki, the energy”. It is not for the Master to interfere. It is important for us as students to be able to follow our path.

Chujiro Hayashi may not have been Mikao Usui’s “best student”. He may well have been a rebel. The contemplation whether to initiate this woman from Hawaii, Hawayo Takata, led to a unique decision and Reiki out of Japan to America and into the world.

Was this an act of dissonance or an act of surrender (to Reiki)? I think it’s a bit of both.

In the 1970s Barbara Weber may well have been introduced as Takata’s successor. Educated, a great organizer and dedicated she helps Takata record a book. Later, in the 1980s Phyllis and Weber have uncomfortable disputes.  

She did what her heart and her being really needed to do for Reiki. And I will never call this dissonance. She followed her path and I did the same thing.

The Reiki Alliance gives opportunity to talk but that does not imply agreement.

The key gift of Reiki is that we experience being profoundly connected. So, if we have that, then what’s a little difference of opinion?

“The four Agreements”: always do your best, don’t take it personally, do not make assumptions and be impeccable with your word.

When I do my best I often don’t do what others expect. When I don’t take it personally, others sometimes think that I don’t care. When I don’t make assumptions, I don’t assume that somebody is hurt when it is not accurate. When I don’t have knowledge of language and culture I often offended people like a “bull in a China shop”.

I feel everyone follows their path of Reiki. Even though I may not like it or I don’t agree with it, I will fight for your right to have your own path, your own opinion.

I’ve made assumptions and I’ve not always said what I really needed to, because of my shyness or because I feel like I won’t be taken seriously.

For all these times when I’ve transgressed, have entered your space unwillingly and uninvited, where I’ve offended you in some way, where my loyalty to my Master has caused you pain because it’s different from what you have learned is Reiki, for all these things I want to ask your forgiveness because it wasn’t my intention, it’s not the way I hold you. Without you I wouldn’t be who I am today.

At age 30 the Phyllis Furumoto has a burning question. Her mother and provocateur, Alice Takata Furumoto, makes Phyllis travel with Hawayo Takata. The life-long journey of Reiki mastery starts. It takes ten years of inner struggle to come to the “Yes-place”.

“I can’t live this life as family duty. I have to live it as my own life …Decisions had to be my own decisions.”

Already in 1983 trademarking Reiki is a consideration. In the 1990s, when Phyllis has her TM fight, she understands the benefit of industry TM. She regrets that by now it is too late.

In 1988 in a speech in Germany, Phyllis fails to dissipate the misunderstanding that she claims to be “the only one with the power to initiate Masters”. She acknowledges that others can and should initiate Masters. The community had grown too big for Phyllis to be the only Master initator.

It’s not about giving away power. I had nothing to give away. It’s about sharing sacred tools so that a worthy student can step on the path of mastery

Phyllis alienates and disappoints close intimates. Mature Masters who were ready to initiate refused to do so. Young upstarts did not hesitate.

I opened Pandora’s box. I wish I had not used the sledge-hammer but perhaps the key.

Joop Hilger had trademarked in his name. With the Reiki Alliance Phyllis demands back her right and settles with Hilger out of court. In this intense crisis Phyllis does not take time to reflect her grief about Joop not taking her on board or about her incapacity to hear his call. Furthermore, she feels let down by the German community.

Phyllis asks the Reiki Alliance to become an association of licensed Masters. They  refuse. She wakes up to the fact that she has championed a case for others who did not want it in the first place. Crushed between her personality and her lineage bearer self she finds herself unsupported and alone. She drops all licensing endeavours. Some leave Reiki in disappointment, others question Phyllis’ intention. The pain in her is evident to this day.

If I have any regret in my time as the Grand Master, that’s the one. I never met Joop in person. I should have. …. That’s really sad.

Now, nearly 20 years later Phyllis has found distance and forgiving of herself. Sadness still lingers but talking about it helps and opens a new perspective:

I don’t even know who to write now to say “Thank you for all that you did to support me, your local communities and the vision of Reiki”.

“No” is the short answer. In this system there will be a lineage, whether an individual or a group.

I know that I fulfill a role. It’s on an energetic level, it has nothing to do with my personality.

If one of the elements is missing from this practice, like spiritual lineage, the system breaks down. The same is true, for example, with the question of money as exemplified in Russia.

If the Grand Master could be seen as a part of the system, much like the symbols, the process might be easier. For a systemic way, where the Master body holds the lineage, we need to rise to a higher level of consciousness.

If the system dissolves it will be disbursed into humanity and may eventually be a mere memory, a phase of evolution.

Phyllis advocates better understanding of initiation and direct communication of our assumptions about one another. This creates opportunity to clarify projections and second-hand information.

The community has a job to do after I die or step back. They need to recognize another spiritual lineage bearer. There is the possibility that Reiki will do it’s job and advance the view of people to recognize where the energy is going.

Cancer is a message. It shows Phyllis Furumoto the finity of her life. As such she sees it is a gift. It opens an understanding of her own calling to prepare the system and perhaps the global Reiki community to serve humanity.

We have the potential to realize a different way of life, become conscious, compassionate.

Reiki has a unique kind of leadership to offer. Without hierarchy, in a circle. Phyllis sees herself not the “top of the line” but with an imperative duty to this system.

The focus is on the circle she calls the Master Body. To make a difference in a passionate way, to understand shared leadership, to appreciate every person’s dignity. Whether we agree with them, like them or not. The huge gift of Reiki is to remember our intrinsic connection.

Recently a group was discussing “what is Reiki calling us to do?” What touched everyone was this:

Reiki is calling us to serve life.

Phyllis Furumoto hopes that her legacy will be that she has guided the Reiki community to become a higher expression of itself. Analogous to human growth from birth to adulthood, Reiki is asking all of us to take the next step in maturity: Reconciliation.

Reconciliation not for reconciliation’s sake but as a stepping stone to the next stage of development of this practice, and I mean practice globally.

This facilitates Reiki’s call to serve humanity with its political, spiritual or mental development. Like in ant colonies, cooperation among people is key in this process. Humans have many gifts but often get caught up in “right or wrong”. The paradox of our self-righteousness is presented in simple Reiki practice when two people have entirely opposite experiences at the very same moment.

To hold both truths at the same time equally …. if we could accept that and live our life in that way, it would change our own and the global community.

Reiki – from its discovery in Japan to being passed on to a woman who made it go around the world and serve as a provocateur for the Reiki that was left in Japan to rise again – has matured and created a momentum for us to go into the future.

I’d like to be known as the person who saw that and fanned the flames.

In the relative world we compare. Not so in the absolute word where things are simply the way they are “just so”. Phyllis Furumoto holds this paradox:

My personality is in the relative world and the lineage bearer comes from the absolute. Reiki gave me a bridge.

Maybe instead of the metaphor of a bridge one could use a slide to highlight the ease of the transition from one side to the other. In everyday life one is much in the relative word. In a Reiki class the Master leaves the personality behind and accesses the absolute, so much so that:

My husband would say: “I need to come to your class because I need to see the best of you.” (laughs)

Braking speed limits, falling ill, etc. appear to be in contradiction to being Grand Master. But Reiki is not about escaping the world in the here and now, it is about having ever increasing access to the absolute. Drinking coffee or eating may help us sometimes to “come back” to the relative world, as a Sufi class illustrates.

Once we hold the paradox of being spirit in a human body and live fully while holding the knowing that we are all one, it is so much easier to be in the relative. Phyllis invites those who do not like or recognise her to accept that she does her best on her path.

That’s where we go when we’re Reiki Masters, that’s where we go when we give Reiki treatments, that’s where we go when we treat ourselves: to our absolute best.

Phyllis Furumoto, 30 years old, meets Paul Mitchell, a student of Hawayo Takata and there is instant recognition. Years later, they found themselves living not too far apart with some other Masters.

Because our Master had died we needed to comfort each other and compare notes.

Until 1990 Phyllis organises groups for Master candidates. Varying facilitators bring in Sufi-dance, Gestalt-therapy, etc. Paul was regularly there with his Aikido work. Their relationship is not at ease when in 1992 he feels that he should help Phyllis:

It was reconciliation when we came together …and he became known as Head of discipline and our office together was the office of the Grand Master.

Since then they work as peers. He plays a significant role of anchor and provides activating or restraining force in exchange with her. The question of succession arises for both of them. It is uncertain if Paul’s position will be filled. He wants her position filled by one person. Phyllis can see a development with the Master Body.

Differences in personalities eventually lead to the realisation that more people should get involved. Reiki 1 and 2 students are invited to the first OGM-Retreat in 2005. In 2016 this circle meets in Kazakhstan.

So, who is Paul? I have lots of levels of answers but he’s been my partner in the Office of the Grand Master…. supportive of everything that I’m doing. In his own way he has supported the lineage by not being the lineage bearer.

Don Miguel Ruiz’s “The four agreements” are similar to the Reiki principles but are more direct. “Be impeccable with your word”, “Don’t take anything personally”, “Don’t make assumptions”, “Always do your best”.

I thought the formation of new forms of Reiki were an affront to Hawayo Takata. And so I definitely took things personally, if not also for Hawayo Takata. So I was strict, strong and really confused because at the same time I really do believe that every person has a right to their own opinion and who they are.

The number of assumptions that I’m making to fill in the blanks have lessened and in making those assumptions I feel like I have put other people in boxes or put on to people certain attitudes that maybe weren’t correct.

To be impeccable means to say my truth as best I can in any given moment. And the most important part of this is the “in any given moment”.

(This section was filmed in two takes because of technical reasons. The first take is the prelude for “Apology”, video 59.)