Do you know anything about the Buddho practice?

by Steve Gooch

(Egypt)

The Question

I am interested to know if you have any knowledge of a practice called ‘Buddho’ that I am told is one of the systems that helped forme the modern expression of Reiki at its founding with Mikao Usui in the early part of the 20th century.

Do you know of a Japanese Zen Monk called Seiji Takamori who was supposed to have spread the teachings of Buddho to the West in 1992, after studying for 20 years in Nepal?

My Answer

Thank you for your question.

I do not know anything about Reiki. Since I am a trained massage therapist and Reiki is considered a form of massage, I am aware of what it is. I also received one session of Reiki, I think, but my knowledge stops there.

Reiki is not part of Buddhism. In the years between 1910 and 1939, many “New Religions” as they are called in Japan emerged. It was a time of awakening in Japan and many spiritual movements started. Reiki is one of them, Sokka Gakkai is another and Omoto-kyo, closely related to Aikido, is another one. They are vaguely related to Buddhism -Soka Gakkai is considered a school of Buddhism- or Shintoism but most of them are now too small or disappeared. They, for the most part, were based on a prophet who had a vision, or a revelation and after the death of that prophet, the movement died down. Reiki spread abroad and is quite popular there but like Aikido and many other things, they are well know abroad but mostly unknown in Japan.

Now, about Buddho and Takamori Seiji, I again do not know of them since they are related to Reiki. I had to look it up on Google. I am sure you have looked yourself, but for the benefit of others, I will give a link here that talks about it more.

A page on Takamori Seiji

From what I could understand there, Buddho is a form of meditation taught by Usui.

Here is an excerpt: “One of the gifts of this training was a special mediation that had been passed on by Mikao Usui to Hayashi, and from Hayashi to Takeuchi. It was called Buddho meditation, and Seiji was told that Mikao Usui had practised this technique during his retreat on Mount Kurama where he received his empowerment. It was extremely powerful.”

So chances are that you should inquire to a school of Reiki about that practice, if you want to learn more.

Thank you again.