Was the founder of the system of Reiki a Tendai or Shingon practitioner?
Due to a current lack of evidence there is a controversy as to whether Mikao Usui, the founder of the system of Reiki, was either a Tendai practitioner or a Shingon practitioner. Both of these practices are Buddhist in origin, yet there are differences and similarities.
By looking back into the history of these practices at who founded them perhaps we can see what Mikao Usui practiced?
Tendai and Shingon where brought to Japan from China by Saicho and Kukai respectively at around the same historical period.
Below is an interesting link to an article which discuses the differences between these two founders, giving an interesting historical insight into the establishment of Tendai and Shingon.
Excerpt from the article: Saichõ and Kukai: A Conflict of Interpretations
This article reappraises the interaction between Saichõ (767–822) and Kukai (774–835), founders, respectively, of the Japanese Tendai and Shingon schools of Buddhism. This new appraisal is based on the historical conditions in which these two men sought to introduce new types of Buddhism at the close of the age of Nara Buddhism, rather than on the conventional, idealized characterizations of the two figures as the founding fathers of their respective schools. What emerges is the unbridgeable difference between Saichõ and Kukai in their interpretive strategies for delineating the role of esoteric Buddhism (Mikkyõ) in establishing a new order in the early Heian Buddhist community, a difference that presented itself as a persistent tension that underlay Saichõ’s alliance with Kukai from the very outset of their relationship.
http://www.nanzan-u.ac.jp/SHUBUNKEN/publications/jjrs/pdf/438.pdf
Information on Saicho http://www.answers.com/topic/saicho” rel=“nofollow” title=“http://www.answers.com/topic/saicho”>http://www.answers.com/topic/saicho
Information on Kukai http://www.answers.com/topic/k-kai-1
