Last week a new Reiki client called me out of the blue to schedule a session. The result of that session left me with the notion that I really need to focus more on what is working in my professional life rather than on what is not. I guess you could call this writing a continuation of my previous post entitled "The 'Other' Calling," in which I describe how being autistic leads to a natural flair for being a minister. The one thing that my menus of health care services and ministerial services have in common is Reiki healing. Thus, it is the Reiki that will be my primary focus for promotion and advertisement from now on.
While many people reading this article may wonder what Reiki is, I will explain it in a nutshell for now. Hawayo Takata explained that Reiki means Universal Life Energy, and we are all composed of this energy. It is that force behind the flow of everything – healing of wounds, the circulating of blood, the flowing of water, the blowing of wind, etc. This energy can be used for healing. During a Reiki session, hands are placed in various areas on or over the body, front and back. There is no manipulation. The Universal Life Energy simply flows on its own accord to the areas where healing is needed. We all have this ability to some degree. With Reiki attunement and training, this ability is magnified immensely to where the results can actually be quantified and measured.
My deep appreciation and excitement for Reiki healing goes far beyond what can be experienced in the purely physical sense. Because of that connection that exists with the Universe, I feel obligated to be true to the original methods, teachings, and practices of what Reiki really is. Unfortunately, there are too many people out there, including Reiki practitioners themselves, that DON'T know what it is, just like that new Reiki client who came to see me last week who said that he was a trained practitioner himself. The "knowing" isn't based on ideas about techniques and teachings -- it is based on the experience of what Reiki can do for you. Those who abide by the founding principles and teachings are not only more knowledgeable, they are also more respectful of the energy and of the Reiki Masters (teachers) who originally developed this great healing art. The true Reiki healer does not let his/her ego get in the way. A high degree of respect automatically takes ego out of the equation. Lastly, and most importantly to the client or patient, the one receiving the Reiki healing will experience something far greater than anything they've ever felt before. The Reiki session ends up being an unforgettable, life-changing experience!
To continue, I need to make it clear that I am not a Reiki Master at this point in time. I hope to be someday. There are three different “levels” of Reiki practice. The 1st Degree practitioner performs hands-on healing for physical illness and injury, and the 2nd Degree practitioner is able to use Reiki for psychological and spiritual healing as well as being able to perform in-absentia healing and other metaphysical/paranormal applications. As far as being a healer goes, one is complete in their abilities at the 2nd Degree level. The Master is one who is trained to attune and teach other practitioners. In the traditional method of Reiki, there are no other levels. The 2nd Degree practitioner is given three symbols, or “keys”, to work with in their healing practice. The Master is given a fourth symbol which empowers them to empower others. In the traditional method of Reiki, there are no other symbols, and these symbols are NEVER revealed, never shared, and never discussed. To do otherwise, such as posting the symbols on a website or displaying them blatantly during a session, is an abomination to the tradition. Reverence for the energy is paramount.
I’ve been writing “the traditional method” quite a bit in this article. That is so that I can set it apart from the non-traditional, and often less effective, methods that have been, rather egoistically, developed since Reiki came to the United States. In that light, one who practices and respects the traditional method will be intimately knowledgeable of Reiki’s history. I am not going to tell the entire history here. That is for a true Master to teach. Reiki is NOT an ancient healing art that was “invented” more than 2,000 years ago. It was discovered, and gifted to, a monk named Mikao Usui in Japan in April of 1921. Because of the great work of developing and perfecting it, done by Chujiro Hayashi and Hawayo Takata, the original Usui System Of Natural Healing According To Hawayo Takata was born. It was not originally called “Reiki”. “Leiki”, later called “Reiki”, is the word that Usui used to refer to the actual energy. When Takata brought the teachings to the West in 1970, much to the dismay of the traditionalists in Japan, she trained 22 Reiki Masters in this traditional system of healing. Unfortunately, not all 22 of them kept true to the original teachings. They instilled their own egoistic ideas, creating their own methods, and mixed Reiki with other healing arts. THIS is what exists in grossly large amounts in this day and age. I once talked to a Reiki “Master” here in Minnesota who said to me that she “heard of” Hawayo Takata. I was appalled at the lack of knowledge and respect, which translates into less effective ability as well. I consider myself blessed to have been taught by the student of one of those original 22 Masters of the West who kept the teachings pure, unwavering from their origins. Because of the utmost degree of respect that I have for Reiki, I follow in their footsteps with great honor.
Perhaps the greatest myth that exists today about Reiki is that you can learn all levels in one weekend for only about a hundred dollars. This is far from the truth. It cost me $650 and more than three months of apprenticeship under my Master, Rev. Betty McKeon, to learn the intimacies of how Reiki works. You get what you pay for, and you receive what you are capable of handling. True Masters will have spent at least $10,000 and several years of apprenticeship under their Masters before becoming Masters themselves. True traditionalists will also know what their Reiki lineage is. Mine is posted on my website.
Shortly after I was trained in the 2nd Degree, I had performed a successful spiritual cleansing of someone’s home which was haunted. When I was talking to a fellow member of a healing circle about the experience, she asked me how on earth I did it. Another person who was listening in on the conversation advised me that the person I was talking to was a Reiki “Master”. I figured that if she really WAS a Reiki Master she would have no need to ask. That just showed me that my Master was right about most people out there not practicing, and not even knowing about, the traditional method of Reiki, even though they staunchly think that they do. As for the new client that I performed a session on last week, his ego quickly disappeared when he experienced something profound during his session – a session that his own Reiki “Master” was never able to give him. He learned the depth and intensity of my respect for traditional Reiki. As I found out later from the person who had taken over the practice of my Reiki Master’s Master (Rev. Fran Brown) after her passing in 2009, my client’s “Master” was one of Takata’s 22 Masters that did NOT keep the teachings pure and destroyed what she was given with her own ego-driven ideas.
Another myth is that since all energy is the same one should not charge for their healing services. One of my Spiritual Teachers, Swami Muktananda, once said that it is not a bad thing if one’s healing practice is their livelihood as long as they are honest in their work. Yes, there are those like me who do this as a profession. In addition, those who are WILLING to pay for the service are the ones who know the true VALUE of what they are receiving. Therefore, they will certainly gain more from it. For people who have never experienced real Reiki before, and to give people a sample of my style, I will certainly offer a five-minute session at no charge. It is interesting to observe that people quite often experience something profound just during the sample! It is even more amazing what they walk away with after a full session. With me, a full session lasts an average of 75 minutes. On numerous occasions during the 13 years I’ve been practicing Reiki, I’ve had people say to me that even though they’ve had Reiki done to them before, they never felt the magnitude of powerful energy that they felt with me. That usually leads to a discussion about the difference between the nontraditional “Westernized” methods and the pure, unadulterated, traditional method, “the way it was taught and practiced in Japan,” that I use. There definitely IS a difference!
Two other myths about Reiki that make it out to be some kind of New Age hokey pokey game are the ideas that the practitioner is “clearing” the client’s chakras and that Spirit Guides are communicating with them and guiding them. The energy actually flows on its own accord, and its effects cannot be directed or predicted. Intuitive information does arise, unattributable to any kind of angelic or garish entities. On that note, I will share a personal view. It’s not just that the traditional teachings are more pure and potent. My Reiki Master told me that I was so connected to the energy that I was a natural. People who are autistic do seem to have a natural ability to be connected to the universe, the inspiration, that surrounds them. This is what I attribute my “natural” ability to. There is something transcendental about placing my hands on someone and experiencing the flow of energy. During the course of the 75-minute (average) session, intuition itself “speaks”, and I share the information with my client. Oftentimes it ends up being an Edgar Cayce-like experience. They learn something about themselves that helps them along in their quest for healing and positive life change. They walk away with something tangible they can use.
For more information about my Reiki healing services, please see my website at http://www.DrPatSuglia.com/reiki .
