Question:
Some Reiki schools such as the Holistics Academy (http://www.holisticsacademy.com) have an astronomical cost for training. Is it worth it?
Answer:
I’m not professionally or personally (such as through friendship or forum correspondence) associated with or connected to the owner of that website in any way, but strongly support the direction its creator is taking Reiki, including the cost.
Over the years, especially since Instant Distance Reiki Master Teacher attunements became available through free online forms requiring only one’s e-mail address, people who are outside of the Reiki community have grown to discriminate against those within it.
That discrimination is not because some Reiki person is giving away a Reiki attunement and/or certificate, or even because another Reiki person is charging for Reiki attunements and/or treatments over the internet, but because of the way many Reiki practitioners treat others because of their “Master” certification. The discrimination is present because Reiki practitioners have earned it.
One time when I was volunteering through hospice at a clients home, the family had brought in a friend who talked about Reiki just like Born Again Christians talk about their religion. The discussion continued (led by the Reiki person) who, quite humbly in the conversation, admitted they were a Reiki Master. I believe the polite “ohhhh!, is that so” comments by the family were received as pleasant flattery by the Reiki person, but to me their faces and eye motions said something expressing more concern than anything else. During the conversation, the Reiki person eventually educated the client with the life threatening illness and her family that they wanted this to happen.
While that concept may be true in the circles that believe in the Law of Attraction, I know through common sense that all of the agencies that I have ever volunteered through would find telling the family that they want their loved one to suffer this slow, painful dying process is completely inappropriate.
The family, along with the hospice patient, were stunned with absolute disbelief at what they heard from this Reiki person, and it was no surprise to me when they immediately invited this Reiki Master out of the room.
The family was polite while that person remained in their home, but my God, once that Reiki person was out of the house they opened up and were furious, and sickened by the statements.
My role as the volunteer was to simply listen, and I learned a lot about the way Reiki practitioners were becoming perceived by others.
Now, why would this Reiki Master say something like that? In the new age Law of Attraction communities, which may sometimes include forums like this, it’s easy to say something like that without experiencing the actual repercussions of those words.
Using this forum here as an immediate example simply because we are here reading it, how many of the contributions from new and experienced practitioners can be considered something that can be found in many of the Reiki books on the market today? In contrast to that question, how many of the contributions here make the attempt to provide a creative contribution, that although may ultimately say much of the same that is present in many Reiki books (and any other popular book about spirituality or religion), appears to be original or at least attempts to be original?
In response to the first question, to me the answer is most. In response to the second question, not nearly enough.
Another example I wish to make is with many, not all, but many of the Reiki books today, in my opinion, can be summarized like this: “I’m special because I’m a Reiki Master… blah, blah, blah, These are the Reiki Precepts given to us by DOCTOR Mikao Usui blah blah blah and it’s Reiki and I’m a Master and that’s why I’m special.”
From my perspective, in spite of the high degree of Reiki Master many Reiki practitioners profess, their actions demonstrate a very limited amount of original creativity.
I do not believe or feel that those negatives, the lack of original, creative contributions in Reiki forums, or the embarrassing lack of original creative Reiki thought expressed through books is a direct fault of the practitioner, but rather the training (well, specifically, the lack thereof of the training).
The website offering the two year program appears to offer a bit more than a few “secret” Reiki manual pages and hocus-pocus-booga-booga instant Reiki Master Attunement certifications to appeal to those with low self esteem. To me, based on what I read, it offers a program that not only provides information (presumably spiritual information about Reiki), but it provides ongoing support over a two year period of time, support that includes up to a 90 minute phone call with the Reiki Tutor each month. They also require their student base to attend retreats, which creates a sense of community.
Why is that important?
The Instant Reiki Attunements and no-responsibility to the Reiki student once they are a Reiki Master has created an undesirable reputation for Reiki practitioners, because the attunements alone did not give the receiver any new social skills.
Regular, ongoing live conversations between student and teacher, in my opinion, are essential to helping a person change into someone new.
Now, for some, reading a Reiki book and either receiving the instant Reiki Master Teacher attunement certificate, or performing a solitaire self Reiki Master attunement is enough to allow them to preach Reiki to others, but whether or not those they preach it to are honest with them about such views in their presence is another matter altogether.
To me, that website seeks to create, grow, and nurture a solid community of people who sincerely want to help others using Reiki.
Cost is another matter.
Throughout the 80′s, if you wanted to be a Reiki Master, the ATTUNEMENT cost $10,000, and there were quite a few who wanted to keep it just that way. Big cost, no support, and that eventually led to lower prices and ultimately instant internet Reiki Master Teacher attunement certificates.
In modern times, many Reiki attunements today happen during single day or weekend workshops, and the support after those workshops isn’t always enough for those who need it.
I believe that one of the reasons the support doesn’t seem to be there is because a lot of people have to work for a living, which includes putting food on the table and paying rent. Is it right for a Reiki teacher that, just because they provide a Reiki attunement to someone, is obligated to be present 24/7 for that student?
One of my Reiki students the day after the attunement began to send me text messages the next day. One hour that day I received eight text messages, there was a pause of about thirty minutes, followed by six text messages during the next hour, a pause of two hours, followed by eight text messages during the hour, a pause of 45 minutes, followed by six text messages in the hour, and then a pause until 11:30 p.m. my time when I received the final text of the day which said “Good night!”
I’m not only among those who work to eat, pay rent, and what have you, but my mobile phone is also a business tool… and I simply could not productively work with that quantity of personal text messages coming through throughout the day.
The fee this training course prescribes combined with the terms not only defines boundaries between tutor and student, but it also serves to attract those financially well-balanced enough to be able to afford it. I suppose that the least politically correct way to say that is that it will help lessen the amount of crazies in the community… but rephrasing that, the cost helps attract those that are right for that community.
I don’t feel that that website and its resources are a rip-off at all, quite the opposite in fact. I think it begins to offer the general Reiki community a lot organized structure and much needed community support, all of which will help all involved heal.
I respect what they are doing, and wish them the best of success as a business, and in the way of providing Reiki healing to others.
Copyright © Kiyoshi Takahashi
Read the rest of this entry →
