USUI DO
Copyright
© 2003 James Deacon
Usui
Do [Usui's Way], propagated by Dave
King, is said to constitute:
"an authentic reconstruction" of the "meditative,
Spiritual system" of Mikao Usui.
According
to Dave King, Usui Do, is about "Unity of self through harmony
and balance" and is a means of achieving "Empathic connection
with the self and all of creation." Usui do does not
focus on healing others.
While,
from this, one might initially be forgiven for believing that
Usui Doi and Usui Teate are
almost identical, Usui Do practitioners are at pains to point
out that the
system has no connection with any other interpretation of Usui-Sensei's
teachings.
It
is not based on Mikkyo Buddhist teachings, has no ritual content,
Qi Gung-type practices, etc; and it is not necessary to learn
any Japanese terminology in order to practice the system.
Usui
Do is taught in the traditional Japanese 'Dojo' format - more
familiar to practitioners of the Martial Arts - with students
(referred to as doka) attending on a regular basis. The
original system was divided into 13 levels, apparently based on
the grading system divised by the founder of Judo: Jigoro Kano.
While,
in progressing through each of the 8 lower grades, the Usui Do
student will at each stage undergo a rite-of-passage referred
to as a 'transformation', this is not an 'empowerment', 'attunement'
or 'initiation' process, merely a rite of acknowledgement of the
level achieved.
The
Usui Do teachings were unknown to the western world until December
1971, when - according to Dave - as a result of a chance encounter
in Southern Morocco, Dave and a number of other Taoist Qi Gung
students (including Melissa ['Shen-lissa'] Riggall and George
Mullen) who were holidaying there, received training in the Usui
system from a Japanese gentleman named Yuji Onuki.
Yuji
Onuki, is said to have been born in 1898 and to have been - from
1926 until 1930 - a student of Toshihiro
Eguchi [a friend, student and associate of Usui Sensei].
Onuki
- apparently dressed only in a simple robe and sandals - and carrying
a blanket and a small leather shoulder-bag containing a few hundred
Yen - was, so we are told, travelling around the world in order
to pass on the Usui system to anyone who was willing to learn
it.
However, prior to encountering the Qi Gung students in Morocco,
Onuki had apparently only taught two other groups since leaving
Japan.
According to George Mullen, Onuki, accompanied by a Russian friend,
had made his way by ship from Yokohama to Russia. There he had
boarded the Trans-Siberian railway to Moscow, and from there on
to Marseilles, then along the Mediterranean coast to Spain, eventually
reaching Southern Morocco where he met Dave, Melissa, George and
the others.
George also states that, during the time they spent training with
him, the septuagenarian Onuki slept nightly on the beach....
Dave
King also tells us that later, in 1995, another chance encounter
- this time in rural Japan with a gentleman called Tatsumi,
- presented him with a further opportunity to expand his understanding
of Usui-Do.
To the information provided by Onuki and Tatsumi, additional information
is said to have been provided by a number of Usui-Sensei's (still
-surviving) students.
One of these long-lived individuals is said to be a Buddhist nun
(born in 1897) who had worked with Usui-Sensei from 1920 until
1926.
This
nun, referred to as 'Mariko-Obaasan', has apparently provided
a valuable insight into the day-to-day activities of Usui's dojo,
and is a primary source of much of the 'new' history of Reiki.
For
more concerning Usui Do, see http://reikinews.site.voila.fr/page2.html
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NOTE:
Some time back around early/mid September 2004, Dave King had begun referencing 'Usui Teate' on his Usui-do website
By
March 2005 a statement had appeared on Dave's site to the effect that
only Laurie Anne King and Dave himself had been authorised to teach
'Usui Teate' outside of Japan. However, some what confusingly the 'Usui
Teate' as offered by Dave and Laurie is, according to Dave, not the same as the Usui Teate taught by Chris Marsh(!)
Chris Marsh has apparently now given up teaching his 'Usui Teate' materials...