What Makes Reiki Work? A question of intention..
Reiki is inextricably linked to our will.
You will hear seasoned Reiki therapists say that Reiki is guided by your intention. At first that can be a little mis-leading.. because it sounds like Reiki does what we want it to. That is certainly true, to an extent. I for one have asked for Reiki healing in just about all areas of my life. Work, relationships, health.. but, the trick is understanding what is really meant by “guided by your intention”.
As a Reiki therapist we are the conduit for Reiki healing. If we did not put our hands on the person the process would not happen. So, in that sense we guide Reiki healing.
But, the best Reiki person, in truth, is guided, themselves, by Reiki.
There was a great comment left on the previous post does your state of mind affect Reiki healing, by Kevin. About intention in Reiki versus intention in QiGong. Very interesting.
Basically, the point for Reiki people is that what we are in fact trying to do is let go. We are trying to get out of the way of the energy and just let the healing happen. We are not *doing* the healing, we are moreover witnessing the healing. Being a light observing presence, that is responsive to the process, and hopefully down-to-earth and supportive, just as another human being, to the client.
I said before that having a clear intention, and a strong will (disciplined by meditating on the reiki ideals?), makes for better Reiki healing. This is absolutely true. But, only in the sense that these things more easily allow us to get out of the way.
A secure person, secure in themselves, is generally more content and settled than a discontented soul. If we have refined our intention and make our will strong, then we will much more easily be able to see what is personal stuff, and what is not. What is personal energy (ours and others) and what is Reiki energy. And, we will not lose our identity and our natural style, and therefore be a much more comforting and stable presence for our client.
I have some more tips and thoughts on this stuff, which I will post up next time.
TC — A little story that might shed further light. Recently at a summer party a friends child crashed off of a swing. I was called over since my energy healing is known among my friends. This being a summer afternoon picnic I was somewhat concerned with my abilities because I had enjoyed a couple of adult beverages (I don’t indulge often, but I’m also not a puritan). As I approached the child I started drawing reiki symbols on my hands and did a quick internal prayer of welcome and thanks for reiki I also apologized to reiki for not being in best shape as a conduit. The energy flowed from my hands so strongly that it hurt, the child stopped crying, looked at his mother and said “I’m better now mommy”, and then ran off.
This amazed me because I did not expect the energy to flow well through me. After analysis I think the key is that at this moment my ego was completely outside of the process. There was no “me” doing anything.
Your point about getting out of the way is an excellent way of describing exactly what I learned in my experience. One of the methods I now use is meditating on the vowel sounds of the power symbol as I work on people to get my ego out of the way.
Thanks for sharing Kevin! I am very interested to hear about people’s experiences like this.. For me, it was not alcohol, but cigarettes that were the thing that came up from time to time.. and I always found that the energy would not flow.. but, I also think this was connected to my own personal heart wish to be free and clear from the chains of that particular habit. The thing is, I think it is always going to be about growth, and ultimate growth at that. If you grow as a result of the energy flowing in the situation you described then that is what will happen, if you grow by the energy not flowing (like in my example) then it will not flow. I find the energy is purely alturistic, but will always seem to lean toward ultimate healing over relative (but not at the expense of the relative necessarily..).
Any one else want to jump in? Don’t think for a second I know what I am talking about.. just sharing my thoughts.. would love to hear yours..
btw, now it is coffee! lol
TC,
Interesting. I’ve never noticed a difference in Reiki flow with coffee. That could be because I have it every day, but it may also effect folks differently. I’ve noticed that with diet as well. Many folks recommend a vegetarian diet in the Qigong world but that doesn’t work at all for me.
I have taught Reiki for over 10 years now and to me, it is the pure essence of love that make Reiki work. Love breaks down all resistance and when that happens (and with Reiki we know it is quite often) healing occurs very naturally.
@Kevin, i think the substance stuff is more likely to be to do with personal energy. which i think is part of the whole reiki path. but, that the reiki energy can and will flow purely because the attunements have been given. to be completely open, i have given reiki after more than a couple of drinks, to the same effect as without, and after smoking, same same. but, i think they are more like once offs. i think if you are treating people everyday, and drinking everyday, you will not give as good treatments. this is a big debate in the reiki community. lots of people i know think reiki is independent of personal energy. and others think the opposite. yet, all seem to agree that some people give better/more powerful treatments. and i would go as far as to suggest the power has little to do with whether they have good personal energy specifically, but generally it does seem to follow that the deeper the soul, the cleaner the personal energy aswell. but, having said that, there are universally recognized great spiritual masters like Chogyam Trungpa (tibetan buddhism, mahasiddhi) that were womanizing, chronically depressed, alcoholics (self described). The reason i say that your intention, attitude and personal energy have a bearing on your reiki treatments, is because the level we are at in terms of our soul depth is both nature and nuture (so to speak). We come in with a certain natural level, and then what we do has a bearing aswell. If you want to give the best treatments possible, you should be thinking about deepening your spirit. Through things like diet, qigong, meditation, and absolutely DAILY reiki self treatment (try starting with 1 minute per day.. then add one minute per day after a week.. you will see how easy it is..)
oh, and also daily contemplation of the reiki ideals. (these are not just things i have made up, these are things, according to Frank Petter’s research of Usui, that were recommended as supports to Reiki Healing by the man (Usui) himself)..
I also just want to point out that from my perspective there is really no “wrong” way to go about your reiki path. just the same as i dont teach my kids that there is such a thing as hard. just some things take a little longer..
TC — I concur. Reiki develops us as well as being channeled through us. I suspect that someone who struggles with substance abuse would find that applying Reiki to oneself would reduce the interest in substances.
The most interesting thing I find about Reiki as opposed to Chi is that the intent for Reiki is “ALLOWING”. I contrast that with Chi which is “DIRECTING”. There is probably a better way to express this fundamental difference, but I can’t think of it at the moment.
I quite agree that there is no wrong way. Only different ways. As R says above the essence is genuine love/concern/understanding and also respect/recognition/honor which definitely allow Reiki to flow and heal (or not heal) as the divine/infinite/eternal being your working on needs.
As to the Reiki ideals. I don’t focus on them I focus on their opposites in many ways. Where is says “do not anger” I think “I choose peace”, etc. My brain just works that way.
Hey Kevin,
Another interested and raging debate in the wider Reiki community: how to contemplate the Reiki Ideals. But, yet another of the many things that can be simple or hard, depending on how fanatical we want to get about finding the “right” way. The best advice for people is to test it out and see what works best for yourself. Take on board other people’s suggestions, but make the final commitment based on your own logic and reason (and experience). Personally, I sit and maintain a presence (energy) that naturally keeps the ideals. I guess you could say I contemplate the spirit of the ideals. Because, to me, what you want to be developing is the wisdom energy that the ideals produce and vice versa. You need wisdom. So, then you can be flexible and natural in your application of the ideals to the situations and clients that you encounter.
I often consider that the contemplation part of reiki training, is the bridge between universal and personal energy. Or, for want of a better way to say it, making a very personal connection with Reiki. Transforming your personal energy, into wisdom energy. Which, hopefully, and eventually, will be of the same essence, but completely unique, to Reiki.
TC — Yeah I’ve noticed the debate on the ideals. I figure like you that it’s the spirit or essence rather then dry recitation that’s important. Since different people’s minds work in different ways it’s only normal that different people should approach them their own way. It’s like meditation, I always do standing meditation (using Qigong positions), whereas many people do sitting meditation. Doesn’t make one way better then the other, just different and individually appropriate.
–I like your thought on how contemplation works.
Great discussion!
My experience is somewhere between Intention, Love and Grace is where Reiki seems to flow best. I am not as successful when i am stiff being “A Reiki Master”; Intention and getting out of the way seem to be most effective for me.
Peace,
michael
Great website Tupten Choepl! Keep up the good writing,
Markus-
powerofreikihealing.com
Great reiki training info. Will be looking forward to more post about reiki.