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* editors note. June 2003. I wrote the article below more than 2 years ago. While I have not changed my views substantially, I have in the meantime, taken the plunge and stepped into mastership myself. As well Frank Petter, in discovering and publishing Usui's actual handbook, and more recently, the publication of Hayashi's notebook, has dropped something of bombshell on the western Reiki Community. It seems, there is an argument to be made for a transformed version of Reiki, which we may loosely call 'Western Reiki.' Western Reiki is wide ranging and in my view very different from the original practices of Drs. Usui and Hayashi. It does not seem to me worthwhile to continue to rail against the impurity of Western Reiki. Since it is here and obviously flourishing. Reiki, it seems to me has made the journey out into the world and embraced it in a way I would suggest, not contemplated by its founders.... even Mrs. Takata. It has embraced a great many wierd and wonderful things. Many teachers have channeled, invented, or otherwise added to the original premise. It has become a bridge of sorts across the gulf that separates spirit and science, east and west, modern and ancient, in much the same way that we humans bridge the distance between earth and heaven. Reiki is no longer the secret, sacred, preserve of an individual or group of individuals and their students and accolytes. It has made a quantum leap into the consciousness of all humankind and is available to any who would step up and claim the gift. Reiki has become something more than just another healing modality. It has become an empowering energy, that encourages us all to consciously walk the path of Grace, seeking enlightenment. There is only one thing going on. DNA, though, requires that each and every one of us perceives it differently. Reiki is one of those frequencies that allows us to overcome our DNA, and begin to see the oneness of healing expressed in a thousand wierd and wonderful ways. My teacher died in July 2002. She never proclaimed a successor. She died as Mrs. Takata died, challenging and empowering all her students to seek their own path. She taught us to value highly the gift of Reiki, to honour it, and to become, in our lives its living expression. She taught us to be personally responsible and at the same time to have complete trust in the power of Reiki. I will continue to honour my teacher, Reiki, as well as the Master within and the Master without. It is a journey. As I have said, I am one of those who believes that one should have some sort of committment to mastery of the practice before proclaiming one a master of it. There is more to be said on this topic, to be sure. As my teacher often said, more to give, more to receive. Reiki has taken the journey outward. With the publication of the Usui and Hayashi materials, Reiki, takes the journey back to its roots, back to its beginnings, back to the centre, from which to gain a deeper insight into the nature of Reiki and where it fits into the scheme of things. The ancient Taoists thought that our time on this earth is to be spent gathering knowledge and experience. The more knowledge and experience one gathers, the closer one comes to wisdom. The 'Superior Man' is one who studies the laws of Nature, abides by those laws, and who does so with a specific purpose in mind. He relies as much on his own innate understanding and wisdom as he does on 'messages from the universe.' He consults the oracle, he studies the scriptures, he understands that his earthly actions are reflected in heaven. My teacher often said that the superior human is one who has the tools, knows they work, and uses them. Reiki is decidedly a superior tool. It can and does adapt itself to whatever level the practioner brings to it. There is the tendency to view Reiki as some sort of superhuman intelligence that requires little from us. To many, the practioner is little more than a passive bystander. The journey 'home' tells us that there is a great deal more to Reiki for the practitioner, than just channeling intelligent energy. In my view, Reiki has already made the leap in consciousness to the next level. It is up to us the make the leap in our own personal consciousness, and practice. Peace.
July; 2001 I am not a master/teacher yet, but I do have some things to say on the relevence of this level in Reiki practice. Generally speaking, a Master/Teacher has the knowledge
to pass on the symbols that tune Reiki channels and other Master/Teachers.
On the one hand there are those who believe that becoming a Master
is a sacred calling that requires one's absolute devotion, Mind/Body
& soul for life. One does the practice 24 hours a day, 7 days
a week, 365 days a year, with no time off, no diversions, no hobbies.
One's life is the living expression of the practice. Becoming
a Master takes years of study, practice and discipline and not
everyone who does the work becomes a Master. That designation
is reserved for a precious few who make that Commitment. On the other hand, there are those who believe that being a Master/Teacher of Reiki is no big deal and you can become one in an afternoon in someone's front room for about $60.00, or even for free on the internet. Everyone should become a Master. These are two very real extremes. I have met examples of both. In between, at various levels are the rest of us. There is one Master who charges $10,000.00 to attune to to Mastership. She requires only a one year commitment to practice Reiki full time and that you belong to her association. There is another Master who charges significantly less, about $1,000.00. This one doesn't require that you commit your life to Reiki, only that you study with her for 1 year and initiate 1 channel at level I. There are no requirements to teach or do anything else. I am sure if you look around you will find different Masters who have varying levels of commitment to the practice. Some make a good living at it.Others see it as a way to make a few extra bucks every so often. Many even shun the idea that money ought to be involved at all. My teacher, Denise Crundall is an example of the first category. Reiki is who she is, not what she does. She does Reiki, every day, even in her sleep. She teaches and practices pretty much every waking moment. She believes in the oriental view of what constitutes a Master. She believes that mastery of a practice comes before one calls one's self a Master. She does not believe that everyone should become a Master, only a select one or two who are willing to commit to the practice and becomes its living expression. She believes in the concept of an aural tradition. That is one that is verbal, handed down from generation to generation and committed to memory by a select few, or even one in each generation, whose job it is to 'remember.' In fact, this is the short definition of 'Master' in many traditions; 'One who remembers.' Aural traditions are usually based on 'secret', (particularly healing) knowledge and often knowledge that is considered sacred. For this reason, only those with specific training are allowed to know the secrets. Usually, this kind of secret and/or sacred knowledge is considered to have considerable power and not for everyone to be fooling around with. While aural traditions tend to appear hierarchical and feudal in nature, they are not static, but constantly changing. Not because the various individuals add anything to or subtract anything from the knowledge (although this undoubtedly happens), but because the individuals who hold the resonance and keep the secrets of a practice are constantly changing, as those who learn them. One uses the symbols and words, these do not change, (or ought not to), but the persons using them change, perspective change and the Universe changes. A Master may or may not make changes to what he/she has been taught. In fact, if one commits to a particular lineage, one does NOT usually make changes. In the case of Reiki, we are not just talking about the words and symbols and concepts, but the also the frequency of the teaching. Frequency is the particular vibration that exists at the energetic level that manifests as the symbols and the words. My teacher often referred to this process as 'giving pattern to frequency.' In other words, particular frequencies produce particular patterns in manifestation. On the physical plane, specific frequencies may be invoked by drawing specific patterns. Human history is full of symbols, shapes and patterns that have religious or sacred signficance because they can invoke higher frequencies. One of the most popular is the pyramid. Others are the cross, the pentacle, the mandala, and the labyrinth. In Reiki, we use specific symbols to invoke the frequency of healing. In a sense it is not the symbols themselves that are the basis for the secrecy surrounding these practices, but the knowledge of how to use them effectively. The symbols themselves are often 'hidden' in plain site. I was taught that Reiki symbols are sacred and secret. We ritually burned all the practice drawings at the end of each class. In the meantime they have been written down and published books and on the internet. They are apparantly seen in public view in Japan in many shrines and temples. They are quite literally 'hidden in public view.' Just about anyone can become a Reiki Master and it seems just about anyone is. I even know a couple who claim to be 'self-tuned' to mastership. Does this tend to diminish the title of Master? As far as Reiki is concerned, you bet! Does it really matter? I don't know for sure. There may well be something in the North American psyche that innately rejects the feudalistic, hierarchical and aural traditions of the East, while simultaneously wanting and even needing the spiritual/healing content. Both Usui and Hayashi, in their Japanese tradition, treated Reiki as a 'secret' society, open only to a chosen few. It was Hawayo Takata, and her American ideas (although she was of Japanese descent) who gave the gift freely to all who sought it. Those of us who have chosen healing as a profession, and there are more and more of us everyday, will continue to practice as we have been taught, which is in Reiki, just do it. I have been tempted and have chosen not to embellish what I do with anything. In North America today there are hundreds if not thousands of Reiki Masters teaching or not teaching. In Japan there are only 8 Masters qualified to teach Reiki, which is a little tidbit of information I find quite compelling. I do Reiki, daily. I do meditations. I do healings. Sometimes I charge for a treatment. Sometimes I do it for no charge. I do Reiki II or distance healings at least as often
as I do Reiki I. After all, as Hawayo Takata often said, a little Reiki is better than no Reiki at all.
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