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Talk:Mikao Usui

Needs refs
This needs references and copyediting. I am not sure as to the new material added. michael  Curtis talk+contributions 23:15, 1 June 2006 (UTC)

I have no other information, but the History section in the Reiki article seems much more reliable.

This is an extremely POV article with a lot of original research ("I have a photocopied set of notes"!!!) which oozes scepticism & hostility to anything we know about Usui (the suggestion that the whole thing is based on Joseph Campbell is particularly NPOV and biased). There's nothing wrong with saying we don't know much about Usui & that what we do have is possibly conjecture etc but this article suggests that the whole thing is nothing more than a fiction and a ridiculous one at that. The inference is, therefore, that his teachings and Reiki as a whole is a load of nonsense. I think this article needs clearing up & non POVing. ThePeg 19:38, 6 May 2007 (UTC)

Takata's story of Usui is now largely discredited in detaiils such as Usui having anything to do with Christianity. (This is now believed to have been invented in order to increase the acceptability of Reiki to Westerners.) The most authoratative sounding research I've seen published in English is that of Frank Petter, in his more recent books. He has the advantage of being married to a Japanese woman and having spent much time in Japan. Andy Beer 10:02, 30 June 2007 (UTC)

I removed the references to Count Shinpei Gotō, save those that were relevant to Usui. It was not relevant, for example, to include that Count Gotō was the governor of Tokyo, as this was clearly not relevant to Usui's development as a person. If this is incorrect, an explanation of the influence should be recorded, as well as references, etc., so that the portrait is constrained to Usui instead of including bits of information which seem irrelevant. A link to the entry Count Shinpei Gotō should be included, and such details belong on the linked page. Because I don't have the reference with Frank Arjava Petter in it, I cannot include the reference, thus the "reference needed" tag. Red Heron (talk) 19:04, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

Need a reference to the memorial inscription translation--a document with the translation in it would be helpful! That's why I added the "citation needed" tag on that particular entry. Red Heron (talk) 19:40, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

Addition of Reiki-wiki.com link to this entry
I've made this suggestion in the Reiki article discussion as well. I'd like to add a link to reiki-wiki.com to the bottom of this entry. Reiki-wiki.com is hosted by my teachers, Bronwen and Frans Stiene, authors of The Reiki Sourcebook and The Japanese Art of Reiki. (I'm also one of the moderators on that wiki.) It's a great resource, with quick access to the research that Bronwen and Frans have shared over the years. I think would be an appropriate addition to this entry as well. trishi (talk) 02:54, 9 July 2008 (UTC)

 * It's not in the Reiki article currently, and doesn't belong here. I can't answer for why it wasn't included in the Reiki article (seeing as this original post is two years old), but I know it won't be accepted over there now. It doesn't belong here as it isn't to do with Usui alone. An informative site it may be, but no good here I'm afraid. --  Xxglennxx  ★ talk ★ 23:37, 27 April 2010 (UTC)

Current clean up
I'm currently cleaning up this article from top to bottom. I've already done quite a bit - moved paragraphs, added content with references, added sections etc, but there's still a lot to be done. If anyone else would like to help (with a high level of English), then please feel free to do so also :) --  Xxglennxx  ★ talk ★ 23:38, 27 April 2010 (UTC)

 * Just wanted to say I'm an English geek with 14 years of copyediting and proofing, and I'll do what I can to clean it up, but some of this needs a full rewrite and I don't have all of the sources listed. Red Heron (talk) 18:25, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

 * This article is one of the worst, probably the worst, I've ever come across. It states few ascertainable facts, engages in an NPOV war, contains a reference to a different healing system, and clearly doesn't know its subject.
 * I immediately declare my own partial point of view. I'm a fully qualified Christian seer, recognised as hyperperception after it manifested during a psychological panel test involving half of Harley Street's psychologists: I'd been the visionary in the team which won the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize.
 * Following a report I have a Reiki Master's aura, I found my way to a Healer Santuary's Open Day to check it. In a meditation workshop, completely unknown to any other participant, I first read the room, becoming aware of a general moderate level of power consistent with self-powered individuals, with one exception, a group which sgowed a deficiency. As it was not my intent to intervene at an individual level, I simply offered power to the room and felt it drawn in that area. That was interesting, but purely interoceptive, subjective, so I stayed silent and waited. The meditation ended, and it's leader, who's simply monitored at a light level, asked if there were any questions. A hand shot up from the group, "I've never come out of a meditation tingling before. Is this normal?" I intervened and explained at a superficial level, agreeing with the workshop leader and the tingler to discuss in greater depth later. My explanation was understood. The report was accurate, I'd switched on somebody's gift at a distance.
 * I've subsequently related in a similar way in a Christian Healer Sanctuary. The powers are the same, the difference is that the Christian practice of individual confessional repentance before the Almighty is better at clearing the power channels, the meridians. That practice is NOT Chakra work, but it's far more closely defined meridian technique used in acupuncture. I'll accept that no physiological structures can be identified in this, but then again, given Kyrilian photography detects the said auras, and that electrical induction extends in a similar way between distinct objects, then I consider this is not necessarily physiological at all, but an extension of our nervous system.
 * As I stated, I have a similar cultural background to Usui. From a military family, working in defence dipllmacy, I think - subjectively - that a number of factors came together. Firstly, from the diplomacy, long-distance telepathic empathy. Secondly, from my faith studies (my mother was PA to Gandhi's High Commissioner Krishna Mennon in London during the Indian Independence talks in 1946-7), I respond better to Zen philosophy than most Christian mystics: the common ground is humility. Zen is a Taoist doctrine, and only Buddhist by appropriation. The common ground is Lao Tzu's aphorism, "Blessed are the meek", iterated in the Christian Beatitudes. The mountain animist reference may relate to Taoist roots: as I say, the roomful of practitioners were self-powered rather than Universal-channelling people. In this, I'll refer you to the distinction in 2 Peter 1:20-21, discussing how each operate.
 * My own understanding is that Usui and his circle come from a similar diplomatic backckground, defence diplomacy. That is implicit in his Samurai heritage: mine is UK Special Forces. I've discussed this with Nicholai Vieru, the coach of the only gymnast to wipe the board with perfect marks at Olympic level (his daughter introduced me to Harley Street): all agree there is something conceptual not unlike a crystal conception of perfection, recognised in many creeds. As a Samurai, you may impute practices which were predominantly Shinto, and Taoist. Fundamentally realist, therefore, feet-on-the-ground in spirituality even if head-in-the-air.
 * I would therefore urge you to set all Buddhist claims aside. It's a home of monstruous egotism, shown in the expectation that Reiki practitioners should charge what the market will bear, because they - and only they - have the skill. It's likewise inappropriate to claim Christian appropriation: this too is cultural acquisition. At the same time, individual adherence to the practice, if demonstrated in delivery, is not. It is simply recognition that it is a human trait, not natal, but accessible to those of an ascetic disposition.
 * There must surely be some records (NPOV, not from within the practice) setting a background. Find these, and you may have some foundations to discipline editing. But right now, you'd be better off deleting the page completely. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.213.9.109 (talk) 11:02, 21 August 2020 (UTC)

Shugendō?
What's the Shugendō connection with Usui-san? Kortoso (talk) 18:19, 13 April 2016 (UTC)

 * I have the same question. I'm going to search around a bit, but my inclination is to remove it . --Ronz (talk) 15:46, 5 January 2018 (UTC)
 * Added in this rewrite. --Ronz (talk) 15:50, 5 January 2018 (UTC)
 * Removed here as the sole edits of a new editor. Revert? --Ronz (talk) 15:59, 5 January 2018 (UTC)
 * Oh my this article really needs some work. Not sure how Shugendō fits. In or out I yield to editors who have done some research. In general this article needs some sources that are not in universe and provide some level of clarity. 08:29, 6 January 2018 (UTC)
 * The reference likely comes from the Stiene book titled "The Japanese Art of Reiki". I'm still not a pro at Wikipedia etiquette, but is that reference (or lack of any further supporting evidence) the reason Shugendo was removed? I have three of the arguably most researched books on Reiki sitting right here beside me. Tassit (talk) 03:29, 13 December 2019 (UTC)
 * The reference to Shugendō is not connected to any other statements in the article, it needs to be either removed or some reference found that connects it to Reiki.Chuangzu (talk) 04:41, 27 February 2020 (UTC)

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title: Talk:Mikao Usui


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Matronymic

A matronymic is a personal name or a parental name based on the given name of one's mother, grandmother, or any female ancestor. It is the female equivalent of a patronymic. Around the world, matronymic surnames are far less common than patronymic surnames. In some cultures in the past, matronymic last names were often given to children of unwed mothers. Or if a woman was especially well known or powerful, her descendants might adopt a matronym based on her name. A matronymic is a derived name, as compared to a matriname, which is an inherited name from a mother's side of the family, and which is unchanged.

Terminology of English
The word matronymic is first attested in English in 1794 and originates in the Greek μήτηρ mētēr "mother" ( GEN μητρός mētros whence the combining form μητρo- mētro-), ὄνυμα onyma, a variant form of ὄνομα onoma "name", and the suffix -ικός -ikos, which was originally used to form adjectives with the sense "pertaining to" (thus "pertaining to the mother's name"). The Greek word μητρωνυμικός mētrōnymikos was then borrowed into Latin in a partially Latinised form (Greek mētēr, dialectally mātēr, corresponds to Latin mater), as matronomicus. These words were a source for coining the English matronymic as the female counterpart to patronymic (first attested in English in 1612). Whereas the Oxford English Dictionary records an English noun patronym in free variation with the noun patronymic, it does not, however, record a corresponding noun matronym.

More rarely, English writers use forms based wholly on Greek: the noun metronym (first attested in 1904); and the noun and adjective metronymic (first attested in 1868). These are, for example, the forms used in the 2016 The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland. Speakers are in practice likely to use female-line name, or name of "his/her mother" to be both specific and avoid use of technical terms.

India
The matrilineal communities in South and North-East India, like the Nairs, Bunts and Khasi, have family names which are inherited from their mother. Matronymic names are common in Kerala. Daughters take the names of their mothers as the second part of their name.

Indonesia
The Minangkabau of Indonesia are the largest group of people who use this naming system. People of Enggano Island also use a matronymic system. They also have family name/surname (marga).

Kyrgyzstan
In July 2023, the Constitutional Court of Kyrgyzstan decided that adults may have the right to use a matronymic instead of the traditional patronymic on their official documents. After pushback from conservative groups, the court reversed its decision in November.

Arabia
An example of an Arabic matronymic is the name of Jesus "Yeshua ibn Maryam", which means "Jesus, the son of Mary". The book Kitāb man nusiba ilá ummihi min al-shu‘arā’ (the book of poets who are named with the lineage of their mothers) by the 9th-century author Muḥammad ibn Ḥabīb is a study of the matronymics of Arabic poets. There exist other examples of matronymics in historical Arabic.

Mongolia
While most Mongolian names today are patronymic, some Mongolians are known to be matronymic. This could be due to, for example, an absence of the father such as in the case of Punsalmaagiin Ochirbat, the first elected president of Mongolia.

Philippines
Filipino names legally have the maiden name of the child's mother as a middle name as opposed to Anglo-American use of secondary or tertiary given names. Filipino children born to unwed mothers, if not claimed by the father nor adopted by anyone else, automatically bear their mother's maiden name and sometimes middle name.

Taiwan
Amis people's daughter names are followed by the mother's name, while a son's name is followed by his father's name. Seediqs often get to choose which of their parents’ name to go after their own.

Vietnam
Some Vietnamese names also function this way, as less of a "tradition" than a style or trend, in which the mother's maiden name is the child's middle name.

England
Although many English matronyms were given to children of unwed mothers, it was not unusual for children of married women to also use a matronymic surname. For instance, it was traditional during the Middle Ages for children whose fathers died before their births to use a matronym, and it was not unheard of for children to be given a matronym if the father's name was foreign, difficult to pronounce, or had an unfortunate meaning. A child of a strong-minded woman might also take a matronym, as might a child whose name would otherwise be confused with that of a cousin or neighbour. There are even instances where royal houses used matronymics to strengthen claims to the English throne – for example, Empress Matilda's eldest son was known as Henry FitzEmpress (-fitz meaning "son of" from Latin filius). Common English matronyms include Madison, Beaton, Custer, Tiffany, Parnell, Hilliard, Marriott, Ibbetson, Babbs, and Megson.

Finland
In the old Finnish system, women were standardly given matronyms, while men were given patronyms, for example, Ainontytär (female) or Pekanpoika (male). Since the 19th century the system of inherited family names has been used, however, and today nearly all Finns have inherited surnames.

France
Family names derived from matronyms are found in France, especially in Normandy: Catherine, Marie, Jeanne, Adeline. In medieval Normandy (Duchy of Normandy), a matronym might be used when the mother was of greater prominence than the father or the basis for a claim of inheritance, such as in the cases of Henry FitzEmpress and Robert FitzWimarc.

Iceland
Some Icelandic people, like Heiðar Helguson, have matronyms. A particularity by the Norse name of the trickster among the revered of Åsgard is that Loki got a matronymic, Loki Laufeyjarson. His father Fárbauti is associated with Wild Fire, and his mother, the leaves of the trees, the mother of all figs and birches, as in Askr and Embla.

Ireland and Wales
Matronymics appear in medieval Celtic tales such as Cath Maige Tuired and the Fourth Branch of the Mabinogi (the children of Dôn). For instance the famous mythological King of Ulster, Conchobar mac Nessa is named after his mother Ness.

Netherlands
Matronymics are accepted in the Netherlands but are generally written as given names on identity cards.

Romania
Family names derived from matronyms are also found in Romania, especially in the region of Moldavia. Examples include: Aioanei, Ababei, Acatrinei, Ailincăi.

Serbia
Although far less common than patronymic surnames, matronymic surnames are widespread both in Serbia and in neighboring countries. Examples include surnames such as Katić, Sinđelić, Nedić, Marić, Višnjić, Janjić, Sarić, Miličić, Milenić, Natalić, Zorić, Smiljić, Anđelić and many others. Sometimes it is difficult to ascertain if name of a specific family is patronymic or matronymic considering many Serbian names have both male and female version (for example, surname Miljanić could come from both m.- Miljan and f.- Miljana). Cases where widows had to become heads of households were not uncommon during 18th and 19th century and when surnames were first standardized in Serbia in 1851 it was decided they would be based on the names of eldest living heads of households which in some cases were women. People who didn't know their father well would also take matronymic surnames, with notable cases being hero of the First Serbian Uprising Stevan Sinđelić, who took that surname in honor of his mother Sinđelija.

Ukraine
In Ukraine, the suffix czak interprets as "daughter of" implying an original history of matronyms (similar to American last names ending in 'son' [Davidson, Williamson]). In Ukraine all last names ending with -czak, such as Ratajczak, Katerczak, Alberczak, Bartczak, Szchak, etc... are matronyms. The practice of taking a mothers name ended in the mid 19th century, but the matriarch lines are still traced. Other historical examples of matronyms in Ukraine include: Olenych, Katerynchuk, Khyvrych. Oleg Yaroslavich, 12th century prince of Halych, was known as Oleg Nastasyich during his life to distinguish his claim from that of his half-brother Volodymyr.

Jewish traditions
Most characters in the Bible are referred to with a patronymic. However, Abishai, Joab, and Asahel – the sons of Zeruiah, sister or stepsister of King David – are invariably referred to as "Sons of Zeruiah" and the name of their father remains unknown. Also the Biblical Judge Shamgar is referred to with the matronymic "Son of Anat".

There are indications of a Jewish history of matronymic names. Specifically, in East European Jewish society, there appeared various matronymic family names such as Rivlin (from Rivka/Rebecca), Sorkin (from Sarah), Zeitlin (from Zeitl), Rochlin (from Rachel), Feiglin (from Feige), Dworkin (from Dvora), and others. In certain Jewish prayers and blessings, matronyms are used, e.g., "Joseph ben (son of) Miriam". Specifically, when people are asked to pray urgently for the recovery of a person whose life is in danger, the endangered person's mother is named, the normal formula being "We call upon you to pray for the recovery of "[person's name], son/daughter of [mother's name]".

In the 18th century, numerous European nations, such as the Holy Roman Empire, passed laws and issued decrees which mandated that Jews adopt consistent, legal surnames. While this applied to all Jews regardless of gender, for many, their surname came from their mothers, and not their fathers. As a result, a large number of today's surviving Ashkenazi surnames can be traced to a matrilineal ancestor rather than the more globally common trend of surnames being passed between male ancestors and their male descendants. Nevertheless, these surnames weren't matronymic in a strict sense. They are what is known as a matriname, since these particular cases don't derive family names from a mother's forename, instead opting to do so from their surnames. The pattern even precluded instances where a wife would legally adopt the surname of her husband; children would still retain their mother's maiden name as their own surname. The trend was in decline by the early 20th century, however; the 1910 Austro-Hungarian Jewish Census of Tarnopol recorded around 2,000 Jewish families, only 13 of whom possessed a mark of recte indicating a legal surname adopted from a mother's maiden name.

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title: Matronymic