2500 years, but was forgotten about for a long time.
In the nineteenth century the system was rediscovered by a man called Dr Mikao Usui.
Reiki roots come from India having passed through Tibet and China to Japan where Dr Mikao Usui rediscovered it. He was a Christian headmaster and minister at Doshisha University in Kyoto, Japan.
One Sunday morning some of his students asked him whether he really believed the stories about Jesus' miracles and especially his healings. Usui answered that yes, he did believe that Jesus performed miracles and healed people. The students said that they were too young to believe, they needed proof. Usui took his students literally and left his post at the university in search of the answers to these questions. Dr Usui wanted to explore his religion and went to the United States where he studied the Bible and Christian scriptures, but could not find the formula for how Jesus performed his healings. So he studied Buddhism as he knew the Buddha also healed the sick. Seven years later Usui returned to Kyoto in Japan where he learned Sanskrit, the sacred and ancient language of India where Buddha was born. Only then did he come across some symbols that described how Buddha did his healing. To achieve a healing power from inside, Usui decided to meditate and fast on the sacred mountain. Kurayama, seventeen miles from Kyoto.
Having climbed the mountain, Dr Usui settled down to meditate and fast for 21 days in the hope he would accomplish his task. It was on the last morning just before dawn that he saw a flickering light on the horizon that came closer and closer. Dr Usui became quite frightened, but he was brave and faced up to this bright light which as it got close it turned into a white beam that hit him between the eyes. It was so powerful that Dr Usui fell down, unconscious. When he came round, he looked up at the sky full of all the colours of the rainbow dancing in front of his eyes. Then the sky turned into what looked like a huge white screen showing the symbols that he had seen in the Sanskrit scriptures written in gold letters. As they vibrated in front of him, their use and meaning were transmitted to him and they seemed to say Remember, remember, remember!
When Dr Usui came to, he was filled with light and energy even though he had fasted for 3 weeks. This was the first sign for Dr Usui that he had received something on the mountain. He was so excited that in his haste coming down the mountain, he stubbed his toe so badly that it was bleeding. Automatically he put his hand over his toe and the bleeding and pain went away. For Usui this was the second miracle of the healing energy of Reiki.
Further down the mountain, Usui came across an outside snack bar so he ordered a traditional Japenese breakfast. The owner advised him to just have something simple to break the fast gently, but Dr Usui insisted on a full meal. When the old mans grand daughter came with his breakfast, he could see the girl had been crying and that her face was swollen. She told him she had toothache from an infected tooth, and when he placed his hand over the aching tooth the pain went away almost immediately. This was the third proof of the Reiki energy and the fourth miracle for Dr Usui was the fact that he could digest his whole breakfast without getting indigestion!
This is the story of how Reiki was rediscovered.