Recommended Reiki Master?

[Ollie]

...

I have emailed about the reiki attunement, I think it will be totally worth the money :)

You make like to 'talk' to your trainer to find out what actually happens, how long it is, the steps to the next stages, etc, getting a feel for whether this person is the right trainer for you. I wish you good fortune on your journey.

 

[Mrs. Peel]

I have sustained a pretty bad back injury and have had chronic pain in both my wrists for about 3 years now, which has only mildly gone down with diet changes. So I want to try Reiki to see if it can heal them.

Well, I seem to have better results when others do Reiki on me, than when I try and do it on myself. FWIW

 

[Foxx]

I got Reiki from Ellen Sokolow (_http://www.ellensokolow.org/) in January and I think it's worth noting that she said that in order to keep the Reiki powers active, one has to do Reiki on oneself (actually, I'm not sure if it was on oneself or simply on anyone) for at least 20 minutes a day.

I'm also very suspicious of anyone who's gotten their attunement through William Rand (who "developed" Karuna Reiki®), who seems to be another corrupter of the teachings.

FWIW.

 

[Carl]

I got Reiki from Ellen Sokolow (_http://www.ellensokolow.org/) in January and I think it's worth noting that she said that in order to keep the Reiki powers active, one has to do Reiki on oneself (actually, I'm not sure if it was on oneself or simply on anyone) for at least 20 minutes a day.

I'm also very suspicious of anyone who's gotten their attunement through William Rand (who "developed" Karuna Reiki®), who seems to be another corrupter of the teachings.

FWIW.

When you say 'got reiki' do you mean you received a treatment or an initiation?

I would have no problem practicing for more than 20 minutes, I'd probably be at it all the time. Couldn't really think of a more fun and useful skill to practice than healing with one's own hands :P .

Yes I've read negative things about this Rand guy, but I'm having real trouble finding a local master who does not have him somewhere in his/her lineage. The masters that I have looked at all seem to talk a lot about angels or being a channel for a higher force of good etc, very new-agey stuff. This is slightly off-putting, but could that be a warning sign to stay away? Even if I don't listen to all that and just turn up for the practicalities of learning reiki?

Do you mind briefly sharing your experience with reiki so far? I find it very interesting, but the whole thing kind of smells like a "free lunch" to me.

I also feel a very childlike eagerness to jump in and get attuned, especially since this pain is causing me some difficulties. I'm not sure how to interpret this, but I think I will wait and read a little longer, lest I become said lunch.

 

[Foxx]

When you say 'got reiki' do you mean you received a treatment or an initiation?

Sorry, I should have been more clear--I received a treatment from her.

Yes I've read negative things about this Rand guy, but I'm having real trouble finding a local master who does not have him somewhere in his/her lineage. The masters that I have looked at all seem to talk a lot about angels or being a channel for a higher force of good etc, very new-agey stuff. This is slightly off-putting, but could that be a warning sign to stay away? Even if I don't listen to all that and just turn up for the practicalities of learning reiki?

I personally wouldn't get a treatment or attuned by anyone with a questionable linage. I think Laura wrote about this in The Wave and asked the Cs about it and they said it was possible to reverse the polarities of the Reiki channeler such that they would be absorbing energy instead of sending it. I'm not sure if this is the case in all "false" practitioners, but for them I think the best possibility is to have no power whatsoever (the worst being they eat yours).

Do you mind briefly sharing your experience with reiki so far? I find it very interesting, but the whole thing kind of smells like a "free lunch" to me.

Sure! I felt very relaxed while receiving it (I only had one session) and could feel the heat from the energy transfer between us and felt like a knot I had in my heart was loosening a bit (not sure about the story with this knot, just kind of what I saw). I don't think it's as powerful as EE or proper diet for healing, though I wonder what a practitioner would be like who was on the diet, doing The Work and EE, and using the annuki symbol would be like. I also only did one session.

I also feel a very childlike eagerness to jump in and get attuned, especially since this pain is causing me some difficulties. I'm not sure how to interpret this, but I think I will wait and read a little longer, lest I become said lunch.

I think proceeding with caution would be very wise. There may only be charlatan Reiki people by you, though it also may be that finding good ones is hard (like a needle in a haystack). I searched google maps to find Ellen. I zoomed out to the area I wanted to search (about the whole state) and then entered the terms:

usui reiki -karuna

(the -karuna meaning don't include results which mention karuna, as there were many practitioners in my state saying they were attuned in it). I also emailed practitioners and inquired about their lineage--most didn't respond! I then researched who the people in their lineage were to see if they looked genuine. So those things might help you to find someone genuine.

As well, have you looked into acupuncture instead?

 

[aragorn]

I have sustained a pretty bad back injury and have had chronic pain in both my wrists for about 3 years now, which has only mildly gone down with diet changes. So I want to try Reiki to see if it can heal them.

I can get a 1 hour reiki session for £45: http://www.clarealbinson.co.uk/index.html

Or I can get level 1 reiki training for £100, with all the right symbols and a good lineage as far as I'm aware:
http://www.reikiann.com/Reiki-Symbols-their-purpose-within-Reiki-and-how-they-are-used.html

Which would you reccomend? Is the training more worth the investment, or will the healing be more effective from a master?

Fwiw, I read through the pages of Reikiann and from what I can tell she seems pretty okay. I was happy to see that she even talks about the differences between the western Reiki and the traditional (Gakkai) Reiki, this is quite rare. In short, the western Reiki has omitted the procedure of meditation and some extra techniques.

Just stay away from the "enhanced" Reiki-courses that is offered (Karuna, The Raku Kei Reiki, The Tera Mai or Tera Mei Seichem, The Usui or Tibetan Reiki). I would suggest that you stress the point that you want training in the traditional Japanese Reiki.

Since you mentioned the narcissistic aspect in Reiki, I want to say that I think that this is one of the more important - or even the most important thing to think about when you start doing reiki on others. It's like STO-STS, at some point you'll have to choose, and as Laura says, the choice has to be unweighted. The way I see it, is that the energy of Reiki only comes and goes through me, I'm just an (well tuned) instrument. ;)

 

[Carl]

...
I personally wouldn't get a treatment or attuned by anyone with a questionable linage. I think Laura wrote about this in The Wave and asked the Cs about it and they said it was possible to reverse the polarities of the Reiki channeler such that they would be absorbing energy instead of sending it. I'm not sure if this is the case in all "false" practitioners, but for them I think the best possibility is to have no power whatsoever (the worst being they eat yours).

Sure! I felt very relaxed while receiving it (I only had one session) and could feel the heat from the energy transfer between us and felt like a knot I had in my heart was loosening a bit (not sure about the story with this knot, just kind of what I saw). I don't think it's as powerful as EE or proper diet for healing, though I wonder what a practitioner would be like who was on the diet, doing The Work and EE, and using the annuki symbol would be like. I also only did one session.

I think proceeding with caution would be very wise. There may only be charlatan Reiki people by you, though it also may be that finding good ones is hard (like a needle in a haystack). I searched google maps to find Ellen. I zoomed out to the area I wanted to search (about the whole state) and then entered the terms:

As well, have you looked into acupuncture instead?

I am becoming more weary of these false practitioners the more I read. Though it makes me wonder how they all stay in business if their healing doesn't work, and can actually produce the opposite effect? Must have something to do with 'feel good' chemicals.

That's what I'm thinking, most of these people arent seriously into spiritual work, don't do EE (though they may practice something similar) and most probably do not know all that we do about diet. I am not sure if this would negatively affect the initiation process, or if the fact that I do all of those things would negate those problems? I don't know enough to speculate really.

I've been using google maps, furthering my search each time, it is very useful. However ReikiAnn is the only one that I'd even consider so far. Needle in a haystack indeed.

I've never looked into accupuncture in any detail, but I will do some research on it. Personally I am attracted to reiki as it could be a great boost to my current practices, and I may be able to use it wisely now that my machine is getting a little cleaner. Plus I have to admit I still find the idea of healing with just one's hands to be really impressive and 'cool', to to speak.

Fwiw, I read through the pages of Reikiann and from what I can tell she seems pretty okay. I was happy to see that she even talks about the differences between the western Reiki and the traditional (Gakkai) Reiki, this is quite rare. In short, the western Reiki has omitted the procedure of meditation and some extra techniques.

Just stay away from the "enhanced" Reiki-courses that is offered (Karuna, The Raku Kei Reiki, The Tera Mai or Tera Mei Seichem, The Usui or Tibetan Reiki). I would suggest that you stress the point that you want training in the traditional Japanese Reiki.

Since you mentioned the narcissistic aspect in Reiki, I want to say that I think that this is one of the more important - or even the most important thing to think about when you start doing reiki on others. It's like STO-STS, at some point you'll have to choose, and as Laura says, the choice has to be unweighted. The way I see it, is that the energy of Reiki only comes and goes through me, I'm just an (well tuned) instrument. ;)

Thank you for checking it out, I will stay away from the more distorted versions.

Her site goes into much more detail than many others that I have seen, and she is transparent about her lineage and symbols etc. This is still the best I have found so far, will keep looking for a while longer though as the level 1 class is not for another month yet.

I am starting to let go of the narcissistic aspect now, it only seems to creep back in when I get lazy with EE or don't get enough sleep. I will certainly be very careful to make sure I'm not doing it for the wrong reasons :)

 

[Mrs. Peel]

Just stay away from the "enhanced" Reiki-courses that is offered (Karuna, The Raku Kei Reiki, The Tera Mai or Tera Mei Seichem, The Usui or Tibetan Reiki). I would suggest that you stress the point that you want training in the traditional Japanese Reiki.

I thought Usui is the "gold standard" for Reiki. The rest are all knock-offs people come up with in order to teach somebody something "new" in order to make more money off them.

I was all gung-ho after I got attuned also. Alas, in my area, hardly anyone has ever heard of it and I couldn't even give it away. Nowadays, I mostly do Reiki on my elderly cat, who has always had health problems. Seems to be keeping him stable.

 

[aragorn]

Just stay away from the "enhanced" Reiki-courses that is offered (Karuna, The Raku Kei Reiki, The Tera Mai or Tera Mei Seichem, The Usui or Tibetan Reiki). I would suggest that you stress the point that you want training in the traditional Japanese Reiki.

I thought Usui is the "gold standard" for Reiki. The rest are all knock-offs people come up with in order to teach somebody something "new" in order to make more money off them.

I was all gung-ho after I got attuned also. Alas, in my area, hardly anyone has ever heard of it and I couldn't even give it away. Nowadays, I mostly do Reiki on my elderly cat, who has always had health problems. Seems to be keeping him stable.

Sorry, my mistake. I copy pasted those from the Reikiann site and the Usui reiki got included. Whoever has a clean lineage tracing back to Usui is clean in my books! :)

 

[Carl]

I have had some quite weird experiences when emailing people about their lineage and symbols. Some don't reply at all, and some have just completely avoided the question and given me a seemingly pre-written paragraph about what reiki is all about .

Guess I can remove all those sites from my bookmarks then.

Anyway, one person did reply with her lineage, although she would not give me the symbols (despite them being freely available all over the internet) because of them being so 'sacred' they cannot be seen until the time is right.

The lineage is:
1870’s
Dr. Makao Usui
1900’s
Dr. Chujiro Hayashi
1939
Mrs. Hawayo Takata
1937 - 1980
Iris Ishikuro (one of 21 Masters trained by Takata)
1982
Arthur Robertson
1989
Jeanine Sande
1992
Judith Tripp Chasin
1995
Mary Ann McCamley
1997
Eamonn Sean O’Brien
2004
Elizabeth Anna Hunt

Fromwhat I understand Arthur Robertson and Iris Ishikuro grafted some extra stuff onto reiki but I'm not aware of any big distortions. But hey at least William Rand doesn't pop up for once. She also charges £40 more than reikiAnn.

Could the fact that she will not be transparent about her symbols be a warning sign? I'm sure she has good intentions (we all know what that's worth) and just wants to preserve the 'sacredness' of her art, but it does set off some small alarm bell in me.

 

[lake_george]

Anyway, one person did reply with her lineage, although she would not give me the symbols (despite them being freely available all over the internet) because of them being so 'sacred' they cannot be seen until the time is right.


Could the fact that she will not be transparent about her symbols be a warning sign? I'm sure she has good intentions (we all know what that's worth) and just wants to preserve the 'sacredness' of her art, but it does set off some small alarm bell in me.

Of course I cannot know what her reasons are but it could be that she is protective of her relationship to the symbols, which are sacred to her. Yes, you can find them on the internet, but you did not get them from her. It would be on >her< if she gave them to you. It is on >you< if you look them up on the internet rather than wait until the right time, and it could take away some power from the symbols if you treat them like this.

Just a theory.

 

[Foxx]

Anyway, one person did reply with her lineage, although she would not give me the symbols (despite them being freely available all over the internet) because of them being so 'sacred' they cannot be seen until the time is right.

Could the fact that she will not be transparent about her symbols be a warning sign? I'm sure she has good intentions (we all know what that's worth) and just wants to preserve the 'sacredness' of her art, but it does set off some small alarm bell in me.

I'm not sure that her not giving out the symbols is necessarily a warning sign. I would suggest researching all of the masters from Arthur Robertson on and see if anything suspicious pops up. Even some of the original 22 looked questionable to me, though.

Here's a page I found with some Bios on them:

_http://www.robertfueston.com/reiki/articles/reiki_people.html

 

[aragorn]

The reiki symbols are traditionally taught to the students at level 2. So in this perspective I don't think it's unusual for a reiki teacher not to give them, just because someone sends an email. I'm not sure what I'd do as a teacher, knowing that the symbols are ineffective (or not working properly) if you don't have the attunements, or if you draw them the wrong way. I guess I could/would show the first symbols, if there was a good reason to do so. As my own teacher points out, there are no secrets in reiki, but tradition has shown that things should be learned in a specific order and at a appropriate pace.

Did you tell her why you're asking for these (to check the validity)? If I'd be you, I would just simply ask if she teaches reiki according to Usui's traditions, does she use the traditional symbols.

 

[Carl]

Did you tell her why you're asking for these (to check the validity)? If I'd be you, I would just simply ask if she teaches reiki according to Usui's traditions, does she use the traditional symbols.

This is an obvious thing I somehow overlooked at first, and I was not being considerate just asking for symbols. I've emailed back explaining why I asked, and if she uses the traditional symbols. Thanks for pointing it out.

I'm not sure that her not giving out the symbols is necessarily a warning sign. I would suggest researching all of the masters from Arthur Robertson on and see if anything suspicious pops up. Even some of the original 22 looked questionable to me, though.

Here's a page I found with some Bios on them:

_http://www.robertfueston.com/reiki/articles/reiki_people.html

Cheers for the link I will check it out. Man the PTB really know how to corrupt and screw up a good thing don't they.

Well at least a long hard search for a true master will negate my concerns about reiki being a free lunch :)

 

[Esote]

One thing I wonder, reading this thread and others about Reiki, is :

Who attuned Usui ?