What is the Future of Reiki?
Published in the March 2001 issue of "
The Messenger"
To say that a lot is changing within the Reiki
community is an understatement! To try and ascertain what result these
changes will have on Reiki is anyone's guess. We will give our
intuitive/logical impressions of what we see on the horizon for Reiki.
There seems to be two 'camps of thought' on what Reiki is... the
first see it as a healing technique, and the second see it as a
spiritual discipline. I think that it is important to actually look at
both premises, so we can better project the direction that Reiki
might take in the coming times.
To the idea that Reiki can be healing
for those who receive it, I say that this first needs solid research.
Is Reiki permanently healing a condition, or temporarily masking the
condition(s) of an imbalance/disease, giving a patient a sense of
well-being... a placebo effect of sorts? Time, good record keeping by
practitioners, and viable medical research might be able to determine
whether Reiki is a demonstrable and effective technique that can be of
benefit to people with otherwise incurable diseases. This would
indeed be exciting, for there would be an acceptable category of
alternative therapy practitioner recognized and utilized by modern
medical professionals. Practitioners of Reiki need to keep good
records of their clients... analogous to the patient records kept by a
doctor. We need to become involved politically with our country
and/or state lawmaking processes, teaching political policy-makers
about Reiki, and what it can do for the health of the people and hence
the positive growth of the political machine. This will also ensure
that Reiki practitioners will be reimbursed for their education,
experience and treatments given, instead of being on a purely
voluntary basis.
To the thought that Reiki is a spiritual discipline
for accumulating higher vibrational energies into the body, I do think
that this view needs to be taught also. Usui, the founder of the
Reiki system, said that Reiki was the highest level of energy, next to
God/Creator, that could be accessed by humans. This means that when
Reiki is received through self-treatment, or by treatment from a
practitioner, the recipient brings more of his/her
Soul/Spirit/God-Self into the physical body. This would have the
effect of being more in touch with the Truth of Who We Are (Spirit
having a physical experience) and that we would be more closely in
tune with Creator's Divine Purpose as we experience our daily lives.
This would have the effect of reducing our mind-conceived thought of
being stressed over not knowing 'who we are and why we are here'. And
this would mean that we would release our false ego-sense of power and
control over others... so life would be more joyful. This would lead
to better quality of health for each human being, and fewer thoughts
of worldly attachments - accumulation of riches and material objects,
fear of judgement, illness and death, and a myriad of mind projected
ideas. We would be more at-one-ment with Creator and every lifeform on
Earth as a Divine Expression of the One. We would therefore be in joy
during our brief physical experience, looking forward to other
dimensional experiences of Who We Are as aspects of the Creator,
living on other planes of consciousness. We would be healthy because
we would be living in tune with Creator... in the flow of abundance,
support, and unconditional love poured on us from above and through
other expressions of Creator in all forms of matter. This is the "
heaven on Earth"... the 'Garden of Eden' that we seek deep within our
cellular memory. We will find it when we bring more of Who We Really
Are into our physical vehicles. And Reiki can be the catalyst for this
awareness and shift in consciousness.
What of the 'extra
branches/lineages' of Reiki that are being created, channeled, and
otherwise changed from the original teachings of Usui? It is true that
Usui sensei only taught one kind of Reiki to his students. Then, are
the more contemporary lineages wrong, or without useful information?
Absolutely not! My thought on this is that for the human mind to
understand something, the mind seems to have a need to de-construct a
concept to its smallest common denominator, examining every minute
detail until the mind can grasp the fullness of that concept. So with
Reiki... and when practitioners have researched various
foundations/religions/philosophies for similar techniques, these often
added by a teacher as a refined assist for personal understanding as
well as helping their students grasp information more succinctly. So
are the contemporary lineages refined to assist students to possibly
understand what Usui knew as a result of his 'satori/enlightenment'
that he received after years of disciplined, spiritual practice. Are
these later teachings true representations of the teachings as Usui
gave. Probably not, but then wisdom speaks of information that is
received and given through the brain, as being only a perception of
Truth... and everyone's perception is different. This can only help
each person who thinks they need deeper understanding to jump feet
first into the 'pool' of information, to practice the techniques, the
theories, and to come to the level of knowing that will make it
possible to pass on orally to others. To that end, everything that is
called Reiki can be of benefit to those who delve deeper into the
study and practice of Reiki.
So, will Reiki continue to exist as Usui
taught it? Will any of the Reiki information continue to be around in
the future of humanity? I say "yes"... it will continue to remain
accessible to those who want or need its teachings. It has been given
to humanity in other epochs of time, and it will surely be given by
Creator again whenever humanity moves away from it's spiritual
connection, and experiences imbalance and chaos.
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