"Know thyself"

Reiki spread in the West under the category of a “healing technique”. And surely, it made its proof in this field : it became one of the most practiced “alternative healing”. But was it really what Usui Sensei had in his heart ? In the light of the researches and discoveries made over the last 10 years, it seems that we can answer : no. What he developed was a method for self-realization that he himself called a method to achieve “personal perfection”. And self-realization can only come through self-knowledge. So the whole method was oriented towards that goal and not in making someone a “healer” after receiving an initiation. Sure this prospect must appeal to a large number of people that claim they want to “help others”. But this claim of “helping others” is highly questionable. “Who” really wants to help others ? I mean, what aspect of yourself ? And what kind of help do you believe you can offer ? Does it come from the fact that you think you know what is good for others ? Or does it come from your agreement with one particular “truth” ? I know, these are tricky and disturbing questions to our "natural" self-righteousness, but these questions if genuinely asked to oneself could be the real beginning of self-knowledge. You might argue that your desire to “help” is coming from your goodwill. But don’t we know that “Hell is paved with goodwill” ? And besides, how can we help someone when for the most part we fail to help ourselves ? Remember, the first goal of all spiritual teaching is : “Know thyself”.