Our Lineage

Mrs. Takata was a Japanese-American woman from Hawaii who had numerous health problems, including a tumor, gallstones, and appendicitis. Her husband had died unexpectedly, and she was struggling to raise her two young children. As her health was deteriorating, Mrs. Takata went to Japan seeking medical help, and through a twist of circumstances, became a patient at one of Hayashi’s clinics. After several months of treatment, Mrs. Takata's ailments healed, and she spent the following year as a student of Hayashi's with the intention of treating herself and her family. When she returned to Hawaii in 1936, Takata began to practice Reiki and was soon visited by Mr. Hayashi and his daughter. Hayashi lectured in Hawaii, and when he left in 1938, he made Mrs. Takata a Reiki Master.

In the 1970s, Takata was frequently invited to the mainland to lecture on and teach Reiki in the United States and Canada. One such trip was to the Trinity Metaphyscial Center in Redwood City, CA led by the Reverend Beth Gray. Beth and her husband John Harvey Gray both studied Reiki under Takata, and in 1976 John became the first Reiki Master initiated by Takata in California, and the third of her masters worldwide. In the 1990s, John often visited New York City, teaching Reiki in Manhattan at the studio of one of his students.

John Harvey Gray taught more than 900 Reiki classes to over 15,000 students and gave over 10,000 private Reiki sessions in his lifetime. He was the longest-practicing Reiki Master in the Western Hemisphere. Until his death at age 93 in January 2011, John and his wife Lourdes Gray together operated The John Harvey Gray Center For Reiki Healing in Rindge, NH.

It was at the huge New York City studio of Elaine Abrams and her photographer husband, Joel Gordon, where Brian attended the first and second degree Reiki classes with John. Between John’s regular visits to New York City, Elaine held “Reiki Group” twice a month, a time for students of Reiki to come together, practice treatments, share experience, and build a fun community of practitioners. In 2005, after more than  ten years of Reiki practice, John told Brian he was ready to start his Reiki Master Instructor training, but he would have to commute to New Hampshire for classes. Living in New York City and without a car, this seemed difficult. So Brian asked Elaine if he could work at her office as her apprentice, as she was a Reiki Master Teacher trained directly by John Gray. After 3.5 years of work, on April 6, 2010, Elaine finally initiated Brian as a Reiki Master. After almost four decades of practicing Reiki, Elaine retired in 2018 and she died five years later in 2023. She was 84 years old.

Brian Brunius, founder and director of the NYC Reiki Center, is a Reiki Master Instructor who sees clients in his Manhattan office and provides consultation by phone to those outside of the NYC area. He travels extensively, sharing the energy of Reiki all over the world.

Brian began his study of Reiki in 1995 when he took the first -degree course with John Harvey Gray in New York City. In 1997 he participated in second degree Reiki with John. In 2010 Brian completed a master apprenticeship to enable him to teach Reiki courses as a Master recognized by The Reiki Alliance, an international community of Reiki Masters dedicated to the practice of Usui Shiki Ryoho, the Usui System of Natural Healing.