The Reiki Cafe 

posylady,

/*\ Namaste :-}}

- I do not know what you mean when you assert that "we all have Reiki to begin with".

Reiki All Around,

All Blessings,

Firekeeper

I understand a lot more than you think I do. My original Reiki training included some of these add on techniques, phychic surgery and the like. I don’t use them and don’t teach them because they are not Reiki techniques but are practices developed by others for their own reasons.

I’ve learned the procedure, though I think that it has again been altered to include more pseudo-psychological mumbo jumbo. I have tried to find a current explanation of the procedure but it seems it has become proprietary information and isn’t revealed without paying a fee for a class so I can’t tell how it has been further altered. Regardless, it is an add on technique originally developed by William Rand for the Tibetan Reiki schools. It isn’t an original Reiki practice but something Rand developed and has incorporated into his practice of what he calls Reiki.

So all that is required is that the practitioner stir up the emotional baggage of whomever is being worked on and listen to what they have to say? Then they wait until the persons accepts what ever it is or ‘gets a grip’ on it before proceeding with the treatment. No responsibility there for anything stirred up and the person is left to deal with the fallout themselves. What is done with someone who, for examples sake, has deep seated issues regarding sexual molestation by a family member. Stir the pot and wait for them to get a grip? That isn’t going to happen in 5 minutes or even likely in 5 months. Stop meddling where you aren’t qualified to meddle. Deep seated issues are better left to professionals with years of training and a strict code of professional and legal ethics. So what if you’ve never heard of a liability suit being brought, it doesn’t mean one hasn’t or shouldn’t have been filed. It also doesn’t mean that there aren’t people who have been left hanging without a clue as to how to deal with the things they’ve been asked to dig up. The potential for abuse, misconduct, carelessness, and incompetence here boggles the mind.

Where does the 'attunement' part figure in?

My Reiki Masters teacher was also taught by William Rand. So what. Unless her credentials are in a clinical therapy they don’t mean much when it comes to working at these emotional levels. (and if they were in a clinical therapy I am sure she wouldn’t be teaching this)

Witch hunt? I don’t recall having started this thread, engaging you in conversation, or doing more than responding to someone else's question with an opinion that was different than yours. (an opinion based in some experience, mine, as well as others)

I think I will incorporate a little brain surgery into my Reiki practice. Any takers? ;-)

Walk in beauty,
Rebecca

Otoharo!

Posylady, I read your posts about reiki nnd I know I would not choose to ask you for a reiki treatment. If I want a reiki treatment, I do not ask for other things being through into the pot. Just reiki, please.

finality

Diosa, I listen to neighboors complaining about their husbands, I listen to kids that come to my home and their troubles, I listen to my families trouble. All this is done over my kitchen table. Always has been.
Are you saying people need special training to listen?

What a neat and fun debate!

firecracker anyone can be attuned to reiki it is there. Some don't even need to be attune To the energy it is just there. I have seen this a few times in small children and adults. This is my belief! My opinion which isn't to popular today but still it is my opinion. l.o.l

You say you learned and were trained in this process. Why would you have to look it up again. I wouldn't imagine it has changed that much.
I imagine you were taught like me in your first class that we are not to replace Dr's and professions only complement them. To be a Complementary service.Were you told different? Were you told you could replace a professonal? It was explained in detail never to do this.

You say this is not Reiki? What is Reiki then? What is it's purpose?

We don't just do this treatment without their knowledge this would be impossible. They have a choice and they can either answer out loud or not at all. They also have the choice to go threw this process at all. All i do is listen to them if they care to talk, If not that is fine too. I never give advice that is not my place. Sometimes letting someone talk and just listening is soothing and healing.

You choose not to use these types of things you say. That is fine. I choose to use anything that can help people. This is my choice.

The attunement in this process I am not sure where it came from I didn't name it and really don't know why it is called that at all.

Like you I read the original post and thought i could shine some light onto the original question. I tried to answer the question without going into to much details that was a mistake. You can't explain something like this on a board and expect people to understand it.

Is it wrong to add things onto reiki you are trained in?
If you are say a Shaman and are trained and reiki master and you are trained should you only use reiki or shaman and not combine them to help and heal, when they are available to you to use?

I am a Usui Reiki Teacher and also am a Karuna Reiki Teacher I also amd ordained not by some online service either. Should I not use all the tools available to me to help? or should i seperate them and use one at a time?
The people that come to me know what I am trained in and have been taught. It is on my business cards and plaques and documents that hang on my reiki room walls. To me it is an extension of Reiki.

Some reiki practioners see auras, some don't, some feel heat,cool some don't, some have other gifts. I don't think we all fully understand reiki and why this is. But they are gifts and should be used to help. Why else would they come to us after being attuned to Reiki? Why not use them if they help?

Reiki Attunement it taught apparently not to as many reiki teachers as i originally thought. I thought it was common knowledge. It is in Rands books and is explained. It is practiced by reiki practitioners and has some good results. I have seen some with my own eyes. I know I loved it when i experience it when it was done to me. It is hard to explain just felt more connected, more grounded and just good!

Hi Posylady,

Namaste :)

I have read the whole discussion with interest and can appreciate the points that both you and Rebecca are making. I understand that you feel it is right for you to use every available tool at your disposal to facilitate healing in another because you have taken your training properly. I also agree that many an informal counselling service happens over the kitchen table although personally I have faced some of these talks where I have felt deeply 'unqualified' on how to respond :) So I can also see that Rebecca has a very valid point when she mentions the possible 'fallout' and the importance of taking the responsibilty of being able to deal with any fallout that may occur. The problem is that sometimes and I am not pointing fingers at anyone here, some people get attuned to all these different things very quickly via shortcuts, very little training and experience by some not very ethical Reiki Masters. If one of these for instance was carry out a healing attunement without really understanding the procedure and the possible implications, then they probably would not have the ability to deal with possible consequences either which could be pretty frightening for someone going through a healing crisis.

I think when we work with Reiki we often reach a point where we each have to make a personal decision about whether to keep it simple and as close to the system that Usui practiced or whether to go with systems that have been developed on from that system by other people like Rand and kathleen Milner. I guess it all comes down to whether you believe that the additions make your work with Reiki more effective or not and that of course will be unique to each of us :)

Gentle Blessings
Helen

Hi Rebecca,

Namaste :)

Thanks, good to see you too :)

Ah yes I see what you mean about the intention being there on both sides. Do you ever feel though that some people who receive Reiki seem to be more tuned in to it than others? Maybe it's just that their intention to utilise the energy is more focused.

Gentle Blessings
Helen

Firekeeper,

Namaste :)

I have met a few people over the years that started with Tai-Chi or yoga before finding Reiki :)

I see what you are saying about being 'in tune' with the energy. So presumably we cannot carry Reiki from one lifetime to another then but must rediscover it (or not) the next time around?

Gentle Blessings
Helen

helen,

/*\ Namaste :-}}

- if you mean carry an Attunement from one life to the next?

- I do not think so (though one will benefit in the next life from the Reiki one has done for others in this life

>:-}}

- also, I should clarify that I was taught that Reiki is the 'system' we practice - it is what we are taught and practice and Teach

- ULE is the energy with which one connects during Reiki practices

- thus, when I do distance Reiki I am sending ULE, not Reiki

>:-}}

Reiki All Around,

All Blessings,

Firekeeper

Firekeeper,

Namaste :)

>- also, I should clarify that I was taught that Reiki is the 'system' we practice - it is what we are taught and practice and Teach
>
>- ULE is the energy with which one connects during Reiki practices
>
>- thus, when I do distance Reiki I am sending ULE, not Reiki
>

I never actually realised that! Even though I knew that it is ULE that we connect to and channel, I always refer to the energy as Reiki! I have just had one of those lightbulb moments, so please excuse me while I re-adjust my eyes to the unaccustomed brightness in the dim recesses of my mind :))) Okay so now that's brought up a different question. So if we refer to 'being Reiki' is it the system of Reiki we are referring to or the ULE?

Gentle Blessings
Helen

helen,

/*\ Namaste :-))

- since Reiki is a system that allows for compassionate action, then 'being Reiki' might simply mean doing the practices and in so doing be compassionate (or being compassionate in other ways as well)

>:-}}

- since ULE has no inherent intelligence or intentions of its own, to say "be ULE" would not mean much to me

Reiki All Around,

All Blessings,

Firekeeper

I was recently chatting with a mate and in trying to explain reiki to him, I was clarifing things for myself in the same vein.
I asked him if he knew what reiki meant, and he said no.
So I explained to him that my understanding is that reiki is a japanese word roughly translated to mean universal life force(energy).
Also that reiki was the name given to the system to which we as reiki practioners are able to channel this energy.
So even though I said to him that I channel reiki, what I'm channeling is the ulf(e), But I said that I was channeling reiki. Its all one and the same, though, I think its just perception of language and language differences that make each of us see it differently.
or something like that, bagl...

jaguar,

/*\ Namaste :-}}

- frame of reference and conventional definitions are key to effective communication

- so, if you take Reiki to mean the energy and the system then at least I know this now

>:-}}

- but the practices and the energy are not one and the same

- the practices are (hopefully) a set of Mindful intentions applied to the energy by fallible creatures (us)

- the energy has no intentions of its own

- thus, for myself, to 'be Reiki' is to do the practices as mindfully as I may and with proper intentions and thereby do something compassionate

Reiki All Around,

All Blessings,

Firekeeper

Firekeeper,

Namaste :))

firekeeper said >
>- but the practices and the energy are not one and the same
>
>- the practices are (hopefully) a set of Mindful intentions applied to the energy by fallible creatures (us)
>
>- the energy has no intentions of its own
>
>- thus, for myself, to 'be Reiki' is to do the practices as mindfully as I may and with proper intentions and thereby do something compassionate
>
I think that is quite possibly the best and most beautifully put explanation of Reiki that I have seen so far. I wish that I had come across an explanation as clear and well put as that when starting out with Reiki. Would you mind if I keep a copy and refer people/students to it by way of explanation? I would of course give full credit to you the author :)

Gentle Blessings
Helen

Helen,

/*\ Namaste :-}}

- you are most kind!

>:-}}

- I do manage to shake out the cobwebs now and again!

bagl, bagl

- and, by all means share it when you are so inclined

>:-}}

- take care,

Reiki All Around,

All Blessings,

Firekeeper

Firekeeper,

Namaste :)

Thank you :)

Gentle Blessings
Helen

Otoharo!

I agree with what Diosa says. When I taught school in Waco Texas, we were required to have a parent consultation four times a year for each child inthe class. this was so facinating to me, that I wnated more training in how to be effective, and helpful. I enrolled in the University, found that Social Work training was what I wanted and followed the two year training including field placements and two years of supervision after graduation. Four years. How can a little dab of this and that possibly accomplish all that?

finality

Firekeeper,

Namaste...

I have often read that Usui named the practice and teaching of Reiki as "Usui Shiki Reiki Ryoho" translated, The Usui System of Reiki Healing.

The name indicates Reiki as descriptive of the healing practice.

Perhaps over the years it has been shortened for simplicity's sake, so it could mean both ULE (which is what I have always read it to be, never having it mentioned to be the "practice" thereof).

But it is certainly how we use the term, both in saying we practice Reiki, (which is how I say it) but also understanding that Reiki = ULE.

Just sharing what I've read...

Happy day!
Mammabear

I wasn’t going to respond to this at all once I realized that what you were calling a Healing Attunement has absolutely no relationship to what I understand one to be (or an attunement process) so we have two completely different frames of reference to begin with, also this whole conversation has little chance of becoming more than an endless rhetoric on semantics and personal opinion. I do, however, want to respond to your question. What is Reiki.

There is and will likely always be some confusion over the semantics of Reiki. Many people don’t differentiate between the energy, which is universal life force energy (ULE), and the system called Reiki, which is a construct designed to access that energy. Both of these are commonly called Reiki by many. Also to make things even more confusing, the term Reiki itself has morphed into a generic term used by many to refer to any number of similar energy systems. Much like Kleenex, with a lower case k, can mean any tissue for blowing the nose reiki has been construed to mean any of a variety of systems that utilize energy practices for wellbeing.

Reiki is a system of personal awareness and energy healing developed in Japan by Mikao Usui. It employs elements derived from Japanese Buddhism, as well as Chinese and Japanese medicine and energy practices. It is a subtle energy therapy generally facilitated by light touch, which balances the energy field (biofield) and strengthens the body’s ability to heal itself. Its primary purpose is to develop self-awareness and mindfullness in the practitioner.

Reiki wasn’t designed to be glamorous, intellectually stimulating, or a discourse in new age philosophy or metaphysics. Reiki is a construct. A construct devised by Mikao Usui to access energy for the purposes of self awareness and healing. It is not the energy. It is not compiled from ancient teachings of any long dead civilization. Nor is it, as it is often used, a generic term to encompass systems whose only commonality with it is that they access ULE or have symbols borrowed from the original system. To quote Mikao Usui, “My Usui Reiki Ryoho is an original, it's nothing like this in the world. . . .”

As human beings we make things as complicated as we need them to be. We tinker with and modify everything we get our hands on and reiki is no exception. Many things work well with and are complimentary to reiki. Techniques from many sources have been incorporated into the Reiki System and people have included various personal beliefs and interests in their practices and teaching. While these things may be effective for, and appealing to, those who use them they are not part of the system. They are additions to the system. I’m not saying that any of these additions won’t work with the energy, simply that none of them are Reiki and shouldn’t be called Reiki nor should the systems that rely so heavily upon them. Reiki is a simple, elegant, and uncomplicated system which doesn’t include

Aliens
Ascended Beings
Spirit Guides, Reiki or otherwise
Channeled material from any source
Crystals or grids
Manifestation
Psychic Surgery
Healing Attunements
Any number of other techniques rooted in Wicca, new age concepts, etc., etc., etc..

Much of the proliferation in Reiki styles and techniques have their roots in either a misunderstanding of the system or in greed.

The following is an excerpt from an interview with Frank Arjava Petter (I refer to this because many consider F. Petter to be a modern authority on the subject of Reiki)

""Question: What is the importance in original Japanese Reiki? How do you think about evolution, changes that different Reiki-Masters have made in Western world?

Arjava: Once you know the source, the original Japanese way, and you understand the inner space of love, compassion and silence that it is born out of, you can find your own way. Only then can you create your own Reiki-cocktail. Evolution is natural and I am happy that Reiki has entered so many new aspects of life.

Yet many changes have been made for the wrong reasons. They have been made to improve upon the system, and to differentiate "your Reiki” from the other teachers. Those consideration are materialistic, not spiritual. Energy can not be improved upon.

Question: There are well over 100 different systems today carrying
"Reiki" as part of their name. Do you have an opinion on this?

Arjava: Out of the 100 system carrying the name Reiki, 90 percent or more don’t deserve it.""

To create additional practices/material requires intimate understanding of the system, and the energy source, which most people aren't likely to develop in a few short years. I would submit that of all the practices developed by others and associated with Reiki, none or nearly none were added by those with sufficient understanding; of the system itself, the disciplines these practices are based upon, or energy work in general. In the interest of fair labeling practices only those practices originally built into the system should be called Reiki practices. Anything that has been added should be clearly labeled as such and not taught as Reiki.

If you have other questions on original practices or Reiki in general I would refer you to James Deacon's website. Simply google his name and his site will be at, or near, the top of the list.

Walk in beauty,
Rebecca

Sorry I never heard of James Deacon. I have no question for him why would? He most likely has and teaches his reiki.
Like
Firecracker said: We are all taught reiki by our teacher. I say We use and pass on what we are comfortable with. Sure it changes and sways but is it still Reiki?
Who is to judge what real reiki is? I didn't discover it. Wasn't there when it was discovered. Who knows if it should advance or not for sure?

To me this is my reiki that I was taught. My Reiki. No one apparently teaches Reiki the same. Reiki is different to all of us anyway. I accept this. This is my view.
Again is actually listening to someone talk about their troubles with no comment terrible?
What about taking people off the street and attuning them to reiki and then leaving them to deal with the after effects alone looking for answer? Like the lady that posted here a few messages ago. That is good? There problems come to the surface to help them deal with them. Should we be allowed to do this? Is it much differnt?
Even giving as you call it the original reiki to soomeone. People still can break down and cry and become emotional. Problems surface.

I was in Central America in February. Their reiki was strange to me. Their lineage was different and took on its own life. To the people there my Reiki probably would scare them. Make them stand back and say what is this, This is not our Reiki? I knew this so I didn't intrude on their Reiki, their beliefs.
It is sacred to them and it is what they know and are comfortable with. It wasn't up to me to judge them and their Reiki or push my Reiki on them. They are comfortable with what they know as Reiki and it works for them.

ahhhhh, Helen, thank you, thank you, thank you, for asking the questions that you have.....for I know I've thought about this, too. I've known people who are healers without having ever realized it (or accepted it)....who's hands are hot the second they touch you.....thanks for spicing the stew! I love it!

Hi ponderings,

Namaste :)

I've known people like that too and who are also so empathic that they can be feeling another person's pain after having been around them and yet they are not Reiki! Now I'm left wondering whether those natural healers are subconsciously using their own energy to heal or whether they have another way to access ULE that isn't Reiki or Spiritual healing :)

The stew is getting spicier! ;))

Gentle Blessings
Helen