Dr. Mikao Usui

The story according to Mrs. Hawayo Takata is:
Some of the students asked him one day, in the 1870's, if he believed in the miracles Jesus did (raising dead, etc.). Being a Christian Monk he answered "Yes". They asked if he knew how Jesus had done this, "No" he said. He realized that he must find out how Jesus healed. This immediately set him on a journey of many years. Studying, first at Christian schools in the US with no results. Someone suggested Buddhist writings since the Buddha had also healed. This meant more years at monasteries in the Orient. Nowhere could he find the answers. In Japan he toured all the monasteries there asking about how Jesus or the Buddha had healed. In one small monastery, he found some ancient Sanskrit writings. After a few more years of study, he felt he had come to an understanding and that to go further required serious meditation. He went to a nearby mountain declaring his intention to fast and meditate for 21 days and that if he did not come back they should come and get his body.

He went to the mountain and settled in with 21 stones with which to count the days. On the 21st day nothing had come as yet, and he turned over the last stone saying "Well, this is it, either I get the answer today or I do not". At that moment on the horizon he could see a ball of light coming towards him. The first instinct was to get out of the way, but he realized this might just be what he was waiting for, so allowed it to hit him right in the face. As it struck him he was taken on a journey and shown bubbles of all the colors of the rainbow in which were the symbols of Reiki, the very same symbols in the writings he was studying but had been unable to understand. Now as he looked at them again, there was total understanding.
After returning from this experience he began back down the mountain and was, from this moment on, able to heal. This first day alone he healed an injured toe, his own starvation, an ailing tooth and the Abbots sickness, which was keeping him bedridden. These are known as the first four miracles.
He spent the next seven years in the beggar section of Kyoto, healing the poor and sick people there, assisting them with finding employment, and elevating them out of poverty. However after some time he noticed familiar faces, those of people whom he'd healed long ago who were back again. Asking them, they complained that life outside beggartown was too hard and that it was much simpler to beg for a living.
This threw Usui into a quandary and he returned to the monastery. From this he realized he hadn't taught gratitude along with the healing. That he'd focused on the physical ailments without dealing with the spiritual matters. The people had not understood the value of the gift he gave them. At this point, he developed the Reiki Principles.
Dr. Usui returned to the monastery for further reflection and planning. After some time in the monastery he came to a different strategy. In this new plan he would travel around the countryside from village to village. In each one he would stand in a public place during the day holding aloft a lit torch. When people would ask him why he's doing such a crazy thing, his answer was he was looking for the few who are interested in improving themselves. In this way he traveled around teaching and healing, working both with the spiritual healing as well as physical healing. In following with the Japanese norms of supporting their Master or teacher, they made a personal investment towards their improvement, instead of just accepting some healing.