What is Reiki

[Bastemhet]

I was taught by both teachers that I went to that Usui was not a Christian but a Buddhist monk. The idea of him being Christian was perpetuated by Hawayo Takata when she brought reiki to the west and was trying to make it more palatable to a western audience.

Perhaps I'll have to check my sources. But it seems odd that a Christian would come up with the five principles of reiki when they sound very Buddhist to me.  

[TeaDidikai]

Sophist

I was taught by both teachers that I went to that Usui was not a Christian but a Buddhist monk. The idea of him being Christian was perpetuated by Hawayo Takata when she brought reiki to the west and was trying to make it more palatable to a western audience.

Perhaps I'll have to check my sources. But it seems odd that a Christian would come up with the five principles of reiki when they sound very Buddhist to me.

Given his time at the temple and the foundation of Agape, it doesn't strike me as odd at all.

But then, I've received this from two different traditions.

What did you say your lineage was again?  

[Shearaha]

Question. Is reiki a technique that can be used on pets too? Providing the practitioner knows basic pet biology.  

[too2sweet]

Sophist

I was taught by both teachers that I went to that Usui was not a Christian but a Buddhist monk. The idea of him being Christian was perpetuated by Hawayo Takata when she brought reiki to the west and was trying to make it more palatable to a western audience.

Perhaps I'll have to check my sources. But it seems odd that a Christian would come up with the five principles of reiki when they sound very Buddhist to me.

That is what I learned as well. Though I think a lot depends on who your teacher is, as to what version they subscribe to. The lineages that descend directly from the Takata and the current Grandmaster's line, tend to hold the "he was Christian" view. Where as those who have studied under Rand tend to follow his version of the history. I've had teachers under both lineaged, but his makes more sense (to me anyways). I think when you've believed one thing for so long it is hard to change, especially when the Christianity link is a big thing for some people. Many people who are ok with Reiki, as long as they can say it was created by a Christian, but if you change that fact - it becomes something that is "evil". I've had people who have backed out of taking classes at the last minute because of that.

Shearaha

Question. Is reiki a technique that can be used on pets too? Providing the practitioner knows basic pet biology.

Yes, it can be used on pets/animals. I've known people who used it on "inanimate" objects as well (like their cars). Not too sure about that...but whatever works for them. blaugh  

[Bastemhet]

TeaDidikai

Sophist

I was taught by both teachers that I went to that Usui was not a Christian but a Buddhist monk. The idea of him being Christian was perpetuated by Hawayo Takata when she brought reiki to the west and was trying to make it more palatable to a western audience.

Perhaps I'll have to check my sources. But it seems odd that a Christian would come up with the five principles of reiki when they sound very Buddhist to me.

Given his time at the temple and the foundation of Agape, it doesn't strike me as odd at all.

But then, I've received this from two different traditions.

What did you say your lineage was again?

My first teacher said she was a mix of different ones when I saw her years ago. I asked her to send me the certificate that I never got and she also said she could tell me what lineage if it wasn't in the handbook she gave me. I forgot to check it. I'll have to email her. sweatdrop

On the other hand, my latest 2nd degree attunement was to Usui Shiki Ryoho. And that is odd because that's supposed to be the one Takata taught. question  

[Bastemhet]

too2sweet

Sophist

I was taught by both teachers that I went to that Usui was not a Christian but a Buddhist monk. The idea of him being Christian was perpetuated by Hawayo Takata when she brought reiki to the west and was trying to make it more palatable to a western audience.

Perhaps I'll have to check my sources. But it seems odd that a Christian would come up with the five principles of reiki when they sound very Buddhist to me.

That is what I learned as well. Though I think a lot depends on who your teacher is, as to what version they subscribe to. The lineages that descend directly from the Takata and the current Grandmaster's line, tend to hold the "he was Christian" view. Where as those who have studied under Rand tend to follow his version of the history. I've had teachers under both lineaged, but his makes more sense (to me anyways). I think when you've believed one thing for so long it is hard to change, especially when the Christianity link is a big thing for some people. Many people who are ok with Reiki, as long as they can say it was created by a Christian, but if you change that fact - it becomes something that is "evil". I've had people who have backed out of taking classes at the last minute because of that.

I'm kinda annoyed right now because I was given a lineage tree that had the names of my teacher to those who taught him tracing back to Usui and I specifically set that and my certificate apart from my handbook so it wouldn't get bent and dirty. Now I've forgotten where it is. If I find it I'll check if Rand is on that list. I honestly don't care if he was Christian or not, they breath the same air we do and there's nothing wrong with that.  

[TeaDidikai]

too2sweet

The lineages that descend directly from the Takata and the current Grandmaster's line, tend to hold the "he was Christian" view.

Other lineages as well.

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Where as those who have studied under Rand tend to follow his version of the history.

Rand. That explains a lot.

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I've had teachers under both lineaged, but his makes more sense (to me anyways).

Oh? Why is that?

Shearaha

Question. Is reiki a technique that can be used on pets too? Providing the practitioner knows basic pet biology.

Yep. Though, treatment durations should be observed differently.

Sophist

My first teacher said she was a mix of different ones when I saw her years ago. I asked her to send me the certificate that I never got and she also said she could tell me what lineage if it wasn't in the handbook she gave me. I forgot to check it. I'll have to email her. sweatdrop

I look forward to reading it.

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On the other hand, my latest 2nd degree attunement was to Usui Shiki Ryoho. And that is odd because that's supposed to be the one Takata taught. question

And was taught (retroactively). So you'll end up getting different lineages that don't always go through Takata.  

[too2sweet]

Wouldn't all US lines come though Takata, since she's the one who brought it here? I know Rand has several lineages, including two that are not of Takata's line, but I think he went to Japan for those (which answers my question, since others could have done the same sweatdrop )

I tend to believe his version of the history because it seems better researched, and if I'm not mistake he had documentation of some sort backing it up (it's been awhile though, so I could be wrong). I'm bound to be at least somewhat biased, since I trained under him, of course this was before he made it into the big :commercial" mess that it is today. gonk

The Reiki.org website has this listed in the FAQ...

Quote:

There has been a lot of speculation about where Reiki came from, but there has been little confirmation of most of these ideas. Some say that Reiki originated from Buddhism or that it contains Buddhist concepts or techniques. I spoke with a Japanese Reiki master who is also a Buddhist and has done historical research into Reiki in Japan. He said that he could see no connection between Reiki and Buddhism and that he felt that Reiki is religiously neutral. While Dr. Usui may have been a Buddhist, he had also studied Christianity and had lived with a Christian family for a time. It is clear he had a very broad background in many religious teachings and philosophies

The clearest and most authentic understanding we have been able to discover is that Dr. Usui originated the system of healing he taught and practiced based first on his mystical experience on Mt. Kurama and then later by making use of his studies in many different areas of knowledge. Usui Reiki has no connection to Buddhism, nor is it connected to Tibetan Buddhism or Tibetan shamanism or any other religion. One of the stories says Dr. Usui discovered the Reiki symbols in a Tibetan sutra, but even though people have carefully looked, no one has been able to find a Tibetan sutra with Reiki symbols in it. This is further validated by Dr. Usui’s own writing in which he says, "Our Reiki Ryoho is something absolutely original and cannot be compared with any other (spiritual) path in the world." (Taken from his Reiki Ryoho Handbook)

Then there is also this section... The True History of Reiki which is where they have tried to document certain things. To be fair though it looks like a lot of it has been written by him, so I'm not sure how much of it is valid, or just his opinions based on whatever research he has done.  

[TeaDidikai]

Rand. That explains a lot of this.

See, Rand is to Reiki as Buckland is to Wica. Properly initiated, but doesn't have enough good sense to act in an honorable way, resorting to whoring sacred things to turn a buck while publishing a lot of unsupported personal opinion as objective fact.  

[too2sweet]

That is sad. I really enjoyed working with him and at the time felt that he wsa an excellent teacher. I trained with him back in 2002, and at that point he didn't seem quite as "commercial", though I can see now that he was already headed in that direction. I do know that not too long after he was diagnosed with cancer, so that may have had a big influence on his decision to turn more towards making the $$$ (especially if he had a lot of medical bills to pay). Not that that is a good excuse, or anything.

It might be interesting to re-take my last 2 levels at some point, just to get a different perspective on it. Though I'm not likely to be able to afford it anytime soon. gonk  

[TeaDidikai]

too2sweet

That is sad. I really enjoyed working with him and at the time felt that he wsa an excellent teacher. I trained with him back in 2002, and at that point he didn't seem quite as "commercial", though I can see now that he was already headed in that direction. I do know that not too long after he was diagnosed with cancer, so that may have had a big influence on his decision to turn more towards making the $$$ (especially if he had a lot of medical bills to pay). Not that that is a good excuse, or anything.

I don't mind people publishing stuff on Reiki and making a profit. I mind what he published. He published symbols that are intended for second and third degrees. He also presented his personal opinions about Reiki as objective fact. See, every Master is going to end up developing opinions about how Reiki works beyond what is actually taught. That's because the information at it's inception was limited, which was fine. It worked- that is what mattered. You really can't fill a book with the basics of what Reiki is.

You can however fill a book with personal experiences and opinions based on observations. But presenting that information as Reiki is fallacious at best, intellectually dishonest at worst.

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It might be interesting to re-take my last 2 levels at some point, just to get a different perspective on it. Though I'm not likely to be able to afford it anytime soon. gonk

My personal recommendation would be to find someone from Emerald Dragon to work through all three attunements. It's a tradition that doesn't charge, so cost isn't the issue. And I have personal misgivings about switching Master's midstream, but that's because within Emerald Dragon it was explained that to ensure proper attunements you want to be able to verify that the correct procedures for the attunements are being followed.  

[Recursive Paradox]

TeaDidikai

My personal recommendation would be to find someone from Emerald Dragon to work through all three attunements. It's a tradition that doesn't charge, so cost isn't the issue. And I have personal misgivings about switching Master's midstream, but that's because within Emerald Dragon it was explained that to ensure proper attunements you want to be able to verify that the correct procedures for the attunements are being followed.

I have a question actually. Do you think that obtaining a Reiki attunement could have any unusual effects on the functionality of Aspect and Essence channeling? Based on what I've described of it and your knowledge of Reiki  

[TeaDidikai]

Recursive Paradox

I have a question actually. Do you think that obtaining a Reiki attunement could have any unusual effects on the functionality of Aspect and Essence channeling? Based on what I've described of it and your knowledge of Reiki

My personal opinion is that it would depend on the tradition of Reiki.

Emerald Dragon could be useful. But most of the other traditions strike me as being incompatible beyond the general benefits that Reiki has- none of which apply directly to your tradition.  

[too2sweet]

Thanks Tea!! I'll have to look into that.

I wasn't thrilled about switching Masters, but unfortunately there wasn't any way around it. We were very close for several years, but she turned out to be a very self-destructive person, and was doing her best to drag the rest of us down with her. It's sad because she was very gifted, but she let her ego take over and it went downhill from there.  

[TeaDidikai]

too2sweet

Thanks Tea!! I'll have to look into that.

Welcome. Always happy to help.