Membership of the UK Reiki Federation
About Lineages
Lineages and the system of Reiki
For those wishing to learn the system of Reiki it is necessary to understand why there is an emphasis placed on lineages.
The UK Reiki Federation recognizes and welcomes diversity arising from different lineages within the Usui tradition. However, in order to maintain minimum agreed standards of practice, not all lineages and practices are deemed acceptable for membership by UKRF Agreed Standards.
What is a lineage?
A lineage is the line of teaching that your teacher has been trained in. A teacher’s lineage reflects the information that the teacher will be passing on to the student.
Therefore different lineages will have different techniques, philosophies and understandings of working with the system of Reiki. Some lineages even have different histories.
Before beginning a course it is important to know the lineage of the teacher to see if it is a branch of the system of Reiki recognized by the UKRF, and to see if the course suits your needs.
Since the system of Reiki began in the early 1900s and was brought to the West in 1938 by Hawayo Takata, there have been various histories and understandings about the system of Reiki. Unfortunately, since Hawayo Takata died in 1980 there have been a number of people who have decided to create their own lineages. Created lineages are not acceptable under UKRF standards.
To know if your lineage is a legitimate Reiki lineage according to UKRF standards, below are some basic guidelines.
Lineages that follow a Western teaching will always have these people at the beginning of the lineage tree:
- Mikao Usui
- Chujiro Hayashi,
- Hawayo Takata
All lineages from Mrs. Takata would include one or another of the following masters as they were the 22 taught by her.
George Araki
Dorothy Baba(deceased
Ursula Baylow (deceased)
Rick Bockner
Patricia Bowling
Barbara Brown
Frank Brown
Phyllis Furumoto (grand-daughter of Mrs. Takata)
Beth Gray
John Gray
Iris Ishikuro (deceased)
Harry Kuboi
Ethel Lombardi
Barbara McCullough
Mary McFayden
Paul Mitchell;
Bethel Phaigh (deceased)
Shinobu Saito;
Virginia Samdahl (deceased)
Wanja Twan;
Barbara Weber Ray
Kay Yamashita (sister of Mrs. Takata)
If your Reiki master is in the Takata lineage, and his chart does not include one of those names listed above, you should ask the master for verification or contact UKRF for assistance.
There are also some Japanese lineages (e.g. those including either Hiroshi Doi or Chiyoko Yamaguchi) available that follow Japanese teachings.
If you are unsure about your lineage or have queries please don’t hesitate to contact UKRF.
Lineages that are not currently considered acceptable under the UKRF standards include:
Universal Healing/Dharma Reiki
Men Chhos Reiki
Medicine Buddha Reiki
Lineages including the name of Mr. Patswani
