THE REIKI SYMBOL THAT (SUPPOSEDLY) NEVER WAS...
Copyright © 2005 James Deacon
[Modified
Sept 05.2006]
Some time ago I remember reading an interview in one of the Reiki
magazines in which either Phyllis Furumoto, or Paul Mitchell (-
her co-holder of the Office of Grandmaster in the Reiki Alliance)
stated that there are actually only three Reiki symbols
used in Usui Shiki Ryoho ( - meaning this in the sense of: 'in
terms of giving Reiki treatment'). [We know Takata-sensei
taught the sole use of DKM was for attunement.]
It
was only a short while after this (-and some might say
it was merely a coincidence?) that Hiroshi Doi decided to reveal
yet another new snippet of 'secret Gakkai information', i.e:
that there were actually only three symbols in the Usui
Reiki Ryoho system...
However,
unlike the Reiki Alliance leaders, Doi's meaning was not that
the DKM was solely reserved for attunement purposes. He was claiming
that there were only three symbols. Period.
Three symbols - and the DKM was not one of them!
Doi
claimed that the Gakkai doesn't use the DKM, not even for attunement
purposes - and that Usui-sensei didn't use a 'master symbol' at
all.
[Though,
as Doi himself states, he has not reached the Shinpiden level
in the Gakkai - so he is therefore not privy to the 'Mystery Teachings'
of this level. The Gakkai (so Doi tells us) is a very formal organisation
- strictly following rules of protocol and secrecy - so just how
is it that he is supposedly able to say what does or does
not feature in the attunement and other practices used by
those who have reached the higher levels in the organisation
? ]
Hiroshi
Doi's claims have apparently also been 'validated' by certain
other 'cliquish' Reiki Masters, though no one is willing (or able?)
to say just how they have validated them! And soon, others started
to spread the story, as usual without question...
But
then again, just who would they question - Doi, so we are told,
is the only one with direct access to the fabled Gakkai.
(Of course, many are currently questioning whether the Gakkai
actually really exists
or whether its 'members' are - to put it politely 'channelled'
by Doi…)
DKM
- a piece of Artwork?
Hiroshi Doi would have us believe that, originally, the DKM was
simply a piece of calligraphy which Usui-Sensei presented to each
of his Shinpiden students.
The way Doi tells it, this piece of 'brush art', was intended
as a reminder that their ultimate aim in life should be the achievement
of enlightenment; but that somehow, over the years, the calligraphy
evolved into an actual Reiki symbol…
Interestingly,
a simple online search for DKM will eventually lead to the discovery
that - hanging in a place of prominence in most modern-day Ninjutsu
Dojo's - one will find a scroll bearing a piece of calligraphy
which reads:
'Shiken Haramitsu DAI
KO MYO'
And the purpose of this scroll?
To remind the martial arts student that their ultimate aim
in life should be the achievement of enlightenment...
So,
having been informed that Usui-Sensei himself practiced a form
of martial art, should we view this ninjutsu-related fact as something
that 'lends weight' to Hiroshi Doi's story ?
Possibly.
But
personally, I am more of the opinion that Doi's story about DKM
simply being a piece of calligraphy may well have come into being
purely as a result of Doi himself having 'googled' (literally
or otherwise) the phrase DKM - in an attempt to seek out other
snippets of information about its wider usage.
[And
no doubt he would have also discovered the link with the
Sekai Kyusei kyo and their 'Scroll of Light'... or would
he?]
DKM,
as Doi teaches it?
So why then - if the DKM was not actually a Reiki symbol and neither
the Gakkai, nor Usui-Sensei, ever even used a master symbol of
any sort - does Doi himself teach the use of the DKM, as a master
symbol?
Well
apparently, Doi says that having been used and 'believed in' by
so many Reiki practitioners over the years, the DKM has developed
a life of its own, and has become empowered as a viable symbol
in its own right.
(An interesting twist, I feel - that somehow we, the collective
Reiki Community, rather than Usui-Sensei - are responsible
for creating and empowering the 'master symbol' which we use
to attune others to Usui-sensei's Reiki Phenomenon!)
If
not Usui-Sensei, then who?
And if the DKM was not originally the Reiki 'master symbol' -
if there wasn't even the concept of a 'master symbol' -
how and when did DKM become the 'master symbol'?
Who is responsible?
[I
admit I find it really quite fascinating - the way this whole
process works. It's really quite a clever 'mind-game' - you claim
an accepted 'fact' to be untrue, but instead of even bothering
to work out a clear and rational alternative scenario, you simply
offer snippets of information here and there - snippets of information
that will logically invite further questions - and hey presto!
this opens up a 'creative space' into which other inquiring minds
are drawn, to engage in further speculation - further 'flights
of revisionist fancy' - on your behalf!]
In
an attempt to 'fill in the missing links' it has been suggested
that Hayashi sensei may have created the concept of a 'master
symbol' exclusively for Takata-sensei (as to why he should have
done this - or even felt the need to do so - well, 'flights of
revisionist fancy'…).
And,
as to why Hayashi-sensei - who, from what we can gather, was concerned
with developing Reiki as a therapeutic modality (rather
than a spiritual discipline) - would add to the system's
'powertools' something like the DKM - which has strongly spiritual
overtones, intimating as it does, of the Radiant Wisdom of
Deity?
Well, here is yet further opportunity for 'flights of revisionist
fancy'.
It
has also been suggested that Takata-sensei invented the
master symbol herself - which means we would have to assume that
Hayashi-sensei must have either given her, shown her, or at least
told her about, the DKM calligraphy (supposedly only used as a
piece of inspirational artwork) ['flights of...']
[It
really is so easy to get drawn into this speculative 'mind-game'!]
In
support of this theory that it was Takata's creation, it has been
pointed out that one of Hayashi-sensei's other students, Chiyoko
Yamaguchi (of Jikiden Reiki) didn't use or teach the DKM
master symbol - she had not received it from Hayashi-sensei.
Was
this because Hayashi-sensei himself did not have it to use or
teach? ['flights of...']
(Or
maybe Hayashi-sensei was simply experimenting with different ways
of teaching what had afterall by this time evolved into Hayashi
Reiki Ryoho - perhaps this was why Chiyoko Yamaguchi
didn't receive the DKM as a master symbol from him?)
[Chiyoko
Yamaguchi did not begin her Reiki training until after
Takata-sensei had completed her Master level training,
which included the use of the DKM]
But
there is also another possible explanation why Chiyoko Yamaguchi
didn't receive the DKM from Hayashi-sensei:
Some
time back on at least one Reiki forum, questions were raised about
whether or not Chiyoko Yamaguchi ever actually undertook
the Master Level with Hayashi-sensei.
Not
long after this, it was revealed that Mrs. Yamaguchi had actually
completed her training, not with Hayashi-sensei, but with her
uncle, Wasaburo Sugano, who it seems was one of Hayashi-sensei's
master-level students...
The
fact that Sugano did not teach the DKM as the master symbol,
does not necessarily mean that Hayashi-sensei did not.
It has also been commented that (interestingly I thought), it
was only after her son, Tadao, had attended a 'western'
style Reiki seminar that the Yamaguchi's began to talk about Mrs
Yamaguchi's training with Hayashi-sensei…
Mrs. Yamaguchi claimed she used have a number of notes (apparently
copied from Hayashi-Sensei's own Reiki notes), but that these
were later lost in a fire during a time when she was living in
Manchuria.
Her certificates seem to have also gone the same way...
But all this is beginning to lead away from the issue of Hiroshi
Doi's 'mind-game' claims that originally DKM was not the 'master
symbol' - not a Reiki symbol at all…
Just
as well, though, because if you were expecting a nice neat conclusion
to this piece, there isn't one.
Because,
at this point I'd just like to introduce yet another new snippet
of 'secret Gakkai information', courtesy of Hiroshi Doi.
According
to Doi, the most important and powerful Reiki symbol is the HSZSN…
The
'Power' Symbol
The
'Power Symbol' and its 'secret Shinto jumon'
The
'Mental-Emotional Healing' Symbol
Various
different forms of Symbol 2
The
'Distant' Symbol
Various
different forms of Symbol 3
The
'Master' Symbol
Various
different forms of Symbol 4
The
Introduction of the symbols into Reiki
The
Reiki Symbols - Unsubstantiated Associations
'Training
Wheels' or Essential, Deeper 'Spiritual Tools'?
The
Symbols from a Japanese Buddhist Perspective
The
Kurama Kokyo Sect and the Reiki Symbols
The
Choku Rei Trail -
the terms 'Choku Rei', 'Dai Ko Myo'
and 'Reiki' in Japanese 'New Religions
