The Reiki Lineage of
John Harvey Gray
John Harvey Gray took his entire Reiki training from Hawayo Takata (b. 1900- d. 1980), and was initiated as a Reiki Master, the first in California, and the third in the West, in 1976. Fulfilling the confidence Mrs. Takata placed in him, he has taught over 600 classes, taught thousands of students, and given over 10,000 private Reiki sessions. He is the longest-practicing Reiki Master in the Western Hemisphere.

Mrs. Takata's 45-year campaign to bring Reiki to the West, and a more detailed history of Reiki, is the subject of a wonderful little book, as well as a series of audio tapes of talks by Mrs. Takata, available f rom the Center.
Photo: Gunter Baylow, used with permission
Mrs. Takata received her Reiki training from Chujiro Hayashi (d. 1941), an officer in the Japanese Navy, who set up and operated the first Reiki clinic in Tokyo.

Foreseeing the coming of World War II, Dr. Hayashi made Mrs. Takata, who lived in Hawaii, a Reiki Master so that the knowledge would not be lost in the war and its aftermath.
Dr. Hayashi, in turn, received his Reiki training from Dr. Mikao Usui (d. circa 1930).

Dr. Usui rediscovered and named Reiki after a decades-long search for healing techniques ascribed to Buddha and Jesus.

back