Reiki Masters, and all level practitioners, all disciplines....This
is a message to you...
This is not a belittling article....hardly. It
is gently given from the heart....PLEASE READ ON! Adonea and I have
been in energy work/healing/teaching for many years and only in Reiki
for 6 years. We have seen Reiki grow at an amazing rate...it seems
that there is little reverence for the way the system is taught: we
learned that this is not something that could be learned over a
weekend; that indeed to truly understand the fullness of Reiki would
take a lifetime of practice, experience, and commitment. The lack of
work towards earning the right to be called a "Master" saddens us, but
we none the less will continue to work Reiki on ourselves, with the
intent of moving ever closer toward spiritual enlightenment. As we
continue in our use of Reiki, we have become aware of the depth of the
knowledge contained within Reiki's teachings. This knowledge is
available to every seeker; but to approach it, we must give up the
egotistic attitude that we 'know-it-all'. We know nothing! It took
spiritual aspirants lifetimes of seclusion and focused mindfulness to
gain the knowledge contained within their religion's foundation of
beliefs. Only when one level of understanding was demonstrated
unwaveringly, and the student showed reverence and responsibility in
thought, word and action toward the teaching, would the seeker then be
offered higher teachings. The right to receive more information had
to be earned, through commitment, practice, discipline and work. We
hardly see that in the system of Reiki today. It seems that when a
person wants to learn Reiki, it is seen as a vehicle by which many
teachers can make money; as if one's readiness for spiritual teachings
hinges on their ability to pay...how sad. In fact, we have seen
instructors take a person who knew nothing of
energy/healing/spirituality all the way to Reiki "Mastership" in one
weekend and even one day. How is this "instant" elightenment helpful
to anyone? And the saddest part is that the method by which one learns
Reiki is most often the same method used to teach others. We ask that
a moratorium on this form of teaching Reiki be voluntarily
instituted, allowing each of us who are Masters to go "within" and to
ask if we are truly giving our students our best; or if we are just
teaching to make a living. We urge each "Master" to look long and hard
into their Truth; and to voluntarily refrain from this quick,
shot-gun approach to teaching.
But I have digressed, and will move on
to the main reason for writing this. We have followed Reiki mailing
lists, Reiki newsgroups, Reiki chats, and the burgeoning numbers of
websites on the internet about Reiki, and it is quite apparent that
there is lot of repetitive information, misinformation and often a "
holier-than-thou" attitude toward other "Masters/Teachers" who express
their opinions/understanding, and style of teaching.. This has to
stop! When a person is given a certificate of Reiki Mastership, it
does not mean one has mastered Reiki, but rather that he/she has made
the commitment to integrate Reiki into every aspect of their life; to
eat, breathe, sleep and "be" Reiki. Perhaps after many years, one "
may" begin to be sensitive enough to receive information directly from
the intelligence of Reiki. Then one can begin to call themselves a "
Master". We meet, participate in energy exchanges, internet chat, and
email with Masters that say that they have done Reiki long enough to
earn the right not to have to do any more hands-on... What? "Hands-on"
is the foundation of all Reiki techniques...whether it is an
'in-person' or absentee treatment, a personal or absentee initiatory
attunement....all are based on using the hands to transmit energy into
the auric fields of the person receiving the Reiki. While on the
subject of attunements, we have found that there are as many
variations of the initiatory attunements as there are "Masters"
teaching. Even the students from one class will adopt their individual
perceptions of the method for passing an attunement according to
their understanding, beliefs, and filters. We often hear "Masters"
saying that they have the correct method, judging others as doing the
attunements wrong; such audacity and ego. We have come to know that it
is not the "Master" that does the 'real attunement' but rather the
previous lineage holders and the spiritual Masters on higher
dimensional planes who are performing the ceremonial ritual. We "
Masters" actually have no concept of what is happening during an
initiatory attunement; so why do we think we know "how" to do one
correctly? We have met few "Masters" who can adequately define "Reiki"
, let alone tell people how it works; so why do they bash others who
don't use just the right words or who stumble in trying to pick words
that describe esoteric terms/concepts. And we do see a lot of bashing.
.. especially on chats, email lists, and newsgroups. Whenever one
practitioner bashes another, it shows that one's belief system is
limited, closed to expansion, and perhaps worse, fearful that someone
else has the Truth. One's definition of Reiki may show that little is
really understood about this spiritual growth technique.
Reiki is not
(in our growing understanding) limited to being a 'healing
technique', but more a path that opens one's perceptions to higher
planes of consciousness and awareness. It is in that openness that we
can truly begin to know what 'healing' is and how it works. There are
many "Masters" that make the claim that they are healers; when
actually few can truly heal. We can only heal ourselves. As Reiki
practitioners, we can however assist an imbalanced person to store
enough energy in their body to 'push' the imbalance into and through
further stages of purification that will ultimately lead back to a
healthy state. There are a lot of issues that have to be addressed
before one will allow the innate "code of perfection" contained within
the cellular makeup of a person's body before that person can again
regain health and wholeness. And this is a process that may and
usually does takes a considerable time. Healing does not happen with
only one treatment, or even several treatments; healing is not about 5
minutes per position. It may actually take months or years of
treatments to regain health. Other factors to consider are diet and
environment, attitude and mindset, repressed memories and emotions,
support of friends and family, and the help/direction from medical and
complimentary health professionals. So how is it possible for Reiki
practitioners and "Masters" to claim that they are healers? And then
these 'Masters' teaching others how to heal using Reiki. No wonder
there are so many "healers" out there competing for clients, unable to
affect much more than a temporary relief of symptoms or at the very
least, starting a purification cycle or healing crisis that only adds
to one's discomfort. If you as a Reiki practitioner believe yourself
to be a healer, then I challenge each of you to take on the really
seriously ill/imbalanced in the world; heal them - those who have
birth defects, muscular dystrophy, cancer, A.I.D.S.,
sexually-transmitted diseases, mental/emotional imbalances, those with
physically disabling conditions. Do a treatment on these people and
make the lame walk, the blind see, the deaf hear. Do it, or stop the
egotistic claims of being a 'healer'. We see ourselves as
practitioners of an energy system; ultimately we know that
enlightenment (increased awareness) and wholeness ('illusion of
separation' healed) is the ultimate goal of all 'healing modalities',
but while here in physical bodies, we have come to honor the 'sick,
infirmed, disabled' for allowing us the opportunity to share our love
with them, to move beyond our mental projections of limitation, to lay
down our swords of righteousness, and to become one within the
community of mankind. We hope that if you haven't come to this
understanding that you will at some point. And the way to do that is
to give yourself daily treatments of Reiki..... for whatever time your
inner guidance requires. When you have a true sense of the changes
that you will have gone through and others begin to ask for similar
help for themselves, and every aspect of your life begins to flow
abundantly with ease, and when you begin to detach from the gross
over-materialism so apparent today, then you can begin to call
yourself "Masters". Until then, do all in your power to be an empty
vessel, open to the gifts from the Universe. When you can demonstrate
perfect abundance and flow in all areas of your life, please don't let
your egos block the Spirit of the Creator from manifesting and
directing each moment of your physical experience.
In India, there is
a greeting that is used when meeting or departing another's company..
.. it is "Namaste'". This loosely, but eloquently translates as "I
honor the place in you which the entire Universe dwells. I honor the
place in you which is of love, of truth, of light, and of peace. When
you are in that place in you, and I am in that place in me, We are
One". Let us each strive to be in that consciousness each moment. Let
us honor each other's lessons, learning, paths.... let us walk
together on the Reiki path in re-discovering who we are in the mind of
the All That Is. Namaste' and Blessings to each of you.
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