Johannes was born in October 1977 in Linz, Austria and grew up in a little village nearby. 

Later the age of 17 he learned first degree Reiki and felt, what many of us feel when learning Reiki: “I am home”. He continued to practice Reiki and a year later he took second degree. Another few years later he got in touch with the more global Reiki Community when he went to “The Way to Harmony – Ki-Aikido”-Workshops with Paul Mitchell in Wettenbostel, Germany. There he got to know Phyllis Furumoto during a Reiki Summer camp. Not knowing what to study and what professional career he wanted to choose he got inspired by Phyllis request to work as an interpreter for her. Through this experience he decided to study to become a sign language interpreter at home in Austria. After a few years of studies, he ever since was working as a sign language interpreter for many years and later taught at the University and other forms of professional training for sign language interpreters students in Austria.

Sometimes when some are asking: “Why did you wait so long to become a master?” he replies: “I did not wait, I was practicing.” Looking back, he sees that the time of being of service and working in the background as interpreter, organizer and helping hand at events offered by the OGM and at other Reiki events, was part of his preparation for mastery as well as learning the joy of being at service for others.

After many years of practice of Reiki in October 2013 he asked Phyllis to become her student and to prepare with her for mastery. After 4 years of preparation, he was initiated in Kyoto, Japan as a Reiki Master by Phyllis Furumoto. During the time of preparation for mastery he was also part of the succession core team, the group which prepared with Phyllis for the process of succession.

When in February 2019 Phyllis called him to ask if he could come to Arizona to serve as an interpreter for French he had no idea that in March 2019 Phyllis would recognize him as her successor as Lineage Bearer. To accept this recognition and to step into this role and to continue the work of his predecessors in the Spiritual Lineage had been, and still is, a profound change and turning point in his life. To accept this honor and to grow in this he holds in what he had learned in his first degree class: “Reiki will support you in your path and Reiki will call you and in times when you might think “this is too much for me” Reiki will make you grow and go beyond what you might hold true for you.”