Reiki and the Rhetoric of Reiki
The unfortunate consequence of Reiki having no intrinsic philosophy or rhetoric is it opens the doors to immense misunderstanding. When it goes into a culture of a country teachers add their rhetoric to suit the country. This gives Reiki enormous reach as it makes Reiki assessable to anyone. This is a great advantage, but the disadvantage is that the essence is easily lost under all the local flavour. Like any belief system, the key to deepening our own understanding of the system is to explore our own experience and go within.
Throughout history we have ‘tweaked’ facts to make it acceptable. The first known ‘tweak’ with Reiki came from Hawayo Takata herself, the first Reiki Master to introduce Reiki outside of Japan. When she introduced Reiki to America in the 1970’s she taught that Usui was Christian. Would people have come to learn Reiki if they had known Usui was Buddhist? We don’t know, but obviously Takata thought not, and I respect her choice. Does Reiki work any less because of this slight of hand? The explosion of Reiki since Takata’s time would suggest not. I, for one, am eternally grateful the practice of Reiki made it out of Japan. The fact that Takata altered the history was a powerful learning right at the beginning of my Reiki journey — Reiki is not the Reiki Master. Reiki is Reiki, Reiki Masters are just human beings trying to make a difference. If altering the history allowed Reiki to penetrate the American market, then I understand her reasoning.
We see variations all over the globe. In Thailand — where it is taboo to touch the head of another person– the Reiki positions have been adapted to miss out the crown altogether. Some teachers in India avoid the naval area as it is seen to be sacred. These rules and regulations help to ease Reiki into a culture that would not otherwise be open to another way of teaching, and in this respect, I am happy to see these variations flourish if it means Reiki also flourishes.
What I take issue with is the fearful or fantastical messages being taught, which paints Reiki as some kind of mystical therapy based on spirit worship, or delusion. In March 2009 guidelines issued by the committee on doctrine at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops warned healthcare workers and chaplains that Reiki “lacks scientific credibility” and could expose people to “malevolent forces”. Apart from the “lacks scientific credibility” irony, what on earth has Reiki got to do with malevolent forces?https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/mar/31/us-catholic-bishops-reiki
Reading the article, it is easy to spot so many misunderstandings that it doesn’t even bear defending, but it does show how badly misinterpreted Reiki is in many parts of the world. Many of these misunderstandings are propagated by Reiki Masters themselves.
In America it is common for the New Age movement and Reiki to coincide. The sacred attunements that bring alignment with our energy to Reiki and opens our hands to funnel Reiki has been elaborated with all sorts of “additions”. Spirit guides, kissing of cheeks, fluffing of auras. I find it hard to imagine Usui in the 1920’s partaking of these kinds of non-Japanese rituals. The essence of the attunement is lost within an avalanche of woowoo. It is no wonder a logical scientist would find this hard to stomach. I find it hard to stomach and I’m a Reiki Master!
In India we have a whole host of deluded practices including using Reiki to change your destiny (whilst you sit on your couch doing nothing), treating your Reiki teacher as a Guru, and expecting Reiki to remove your karma. With the deepest respect, these are incorrect and misguided interpretations of Reiki as we know it.
The only spiritual aspect of Reiki worth investigating is the balancing and harmonising effect it has on you as an individual. Reiki is universal life force, and so are you. When we work with Reiki it brings us back into true alignment with our inner path. We each walk an individual life path and it is unique. We each get to express and explore life as a unique being. No-one else can tell you what that looks like.
As Reiki practitioners and teachers when we come across such tall tales it is our duty to speak our own truth, but that can only come from our own authentic experience of Reiki. When you treat yourself with Reiki there is an opportunity for you to deepen your understanding — not through reading or talking to others, but in the actual experience itself. Where does Reiki take you? How deep can you go? You are not your thoughts, your beliefs, your shoulds and shouldn’ts, you are much deeper and vaster than that.
When you drop all stories, beliefs, rhetoric you begin to see that universal life force and you are the same essence. You come from the same source, which of course makes perfect sense — how can we be outside of universal source? But often in the noisiness of our thoughts and grasping mind we miss the obvious and get sucked up in the rhetoric which breeds delusion or fear.
Whenever you hear or read something that makes you contract inside, this contraction is a sense of mistruth. Reiki expands; it does not contract. Rules and regulations contract. Small minds contract. Delusions and lies contract. Dos and Don’ts contract. Go on your own inner journey and encourage your Reiki family to do the same.
Release yourself from whatever rhetoric you have been taught and see what your truth really is. The true adaptability of Reiki is not that it can be moulded into any belief system and culture, but that it is the deep inner truth itself. Reiki is inner harmony, inner truth. It adapts to all cultures because it is beyond or before beliefs. This is its true gift and strength. Universal life force.
