HAWAYO
TAKATA & DORIS DUKE:
Reference to 'Mrs
Takata' in the Doris Duke Papers collection
[April 2013]
[Updated, Jan. 2015]
.
Doris Duke
It is perhaps not all that well-known in the Reiki community that Hawayo Takata had several celebrities amongst her clientele.
One of these people was Doris Duke (the American heiress and philanthropist).
Not only was Doris one of Takata-sensei's clients, she was also a good friend.
In time she would even becone one of Takata-sensei's students.
Recently, [January 2013] doing some Reiki history-related research, I came across an
interesting reference in the Inventory of the Doris Duke Papers:
[ Inventory of the Doris Duke Papers, 1798-2003 and undated (bulk 1930-1999)
http://library.duke.edu/rubenstein/findingaids/uadukedoris/ ]
Under the heading:
Loans, 1931-1992
(All the materials in this subseries
are related to personal loans Doris Duke made to a variety of
individuals including friends, family, staff members, and businesses.
While a small portion of these loans are to strangers who wrote to Doris
Duke requesting a loan, most reflect Doris Duke's support of ballet
companies, film production, and the needs of her friends. Materials
include correspondence, vouchers, promissory notes, and financial
records concerning loans forgiven by Doris Duke.)
I discovered the following reference:
Correspondence relating to Doris Duke's loan of $75,000 to Mrs. Takata
for the purchase of Springboard Farms1 in La Quinta, CA, 1955–1961
[Box 95 Folder 1]
A few days after making this discovery, I contacted Phyllis Furumoto about the matter, and while she
was of course well aware of her grandmother's friendship with Doris
Duke, and was also aware of the Springboard Farms venture, she was
unaware of the existence of any documentation relating to the
matter.
A couple of months later - April 2013 - I posted the details to various Reiki fora, including:
The Reiki Learning Lounge
[The
reason for waiting was simply because I had felt that, as family,
Phyllis should be given the opportunity to access the papers before I
shared the information publicly]
As it transpired, Box 95 Folder 1 contains (as would be expected) material purely related to the loan.
Though, elsewhere in the collection of Doris Duke papers there are other documents pertaining to Ms Duke's association with Hawayo Takata.
In one box ( - a box categorised as restricted personal correspondence) there is a personal letter from Takata, from November 1954.
However, more interestingly, in another box, are a couple of folders which contain materials related to Reiki:
Reiki exercises and notations regarding Doris Duke's past life, 1978, 1986
[BOX 270, Folder 13]
and
Reiki and leg exercises prescribed for Doris Duke, circa 1980s-1993
[Box 270
Folder 14]
For those who are interested, the Collection of Doris Duke papers is open for research by the public.
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Addendum:
Doris Duke - Reiki Practitioner
Doris
Duke was well-known for her interest in various forms of Eastern
philosophy, spirituality; health and healing practices, etc
Ms
Duke had broken her wrist in 1957 and received Reiki treatment for
the injury from Takata-sensei.
We know that later, she also received
treatment for - amongst other things - severe arthritis in her
knees.
Not content with simply being on the receiving-end of Reiki
treatment, Doris Duke went on to learn Reiki from Takata, taking both
the first and second degree.
And lest anyone suggest that Ms Duke's involvement with Reiki was just 'a passing fad', as can be
seen here, she was still using Reiki to treat friends and
acquaintances at least into the mid 1980's :
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NOTE:
1 Information re: Springboard Farms, Inc.
from Public Records provided by the California Secretary of State:
Corporation Number
C0308364
Springboard Farms, Inc.
was a corporation registered in the state of California.
It was a domestic
corporation, meaning it was formed, as well as registered, in
California. Its articles of incorporation were filed on August 29,
1955.
All of Springboard
Farms, Inc.'s powers, rights and privileges in the State of
California have been suspended. This could have happened because they
failed to file a return and/or pay taxes to the California Franchise
Tax Board, or because they failed to make certain informational
filings with the California Secretary of State. The specific reason
for this suspension can be found by ordering a status report from the
Secretary of State.
Springboard Farms, Inc.
was a for-profit entity.
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