Last week at work I was given information on a "Back to Work" type course for people recovering from addiction. It was organised by a government agency. Each week of the 8-week course incuded a 2 -3 hr slot for Reiki healing. As I feel that Reiki is a "not-sourced-by-God" form of healing, I said that I would not want to recommend this to clients. Within this I was struggling with the whole question over whether I was denying the clients their right to choice by not notifying them of the option. However, what I did not realise was that my comments were also to stir up really hot feelings among my co-workers. The issue was not over the client's choice, but over my labelling of Reiki as "wrong". Other workers, who are also Christians, had used Reiki in the past and saw no problem with it. As I discussed their reaction to Reiki, and questioned their consistency I actually presented quite a condemning voice.
Afterwards, I apologised for having made them feel condemned (although I maintained that I also had a right not to recommend Reiki as a matter of conscience).
So how does a person deal with this situation?
I like the story in Acts 19:11-20, where many Corinthians who appear to be believers are continuing to practice forms of magic with a Christian veneer to them. But at some point the magic backfires, and the power of Jesus-centred, Jesus-sourced healing is recognised as something different from what they were doing. Confronted with this power, they reject their magic. I believe there is something in praying for believers to experience the true power of God at work. It is only in this way that other forms of power that seem good can pale into insignificance. To preach of evil when something like Reiki seems only to cause good, particularly in light of a normal church experience being devoid of God's healing power, is possibly a poor response. Rather, pray for a change in church experience.
Another thought. I was preparing a sermon on Ezekiel 47:1-12 (the River of God) this week, and also reflecting on how my work colleague had felt after I had tried to persuade her that Reiki was wrong. The River of God produced purity in polluted water. If John 4:14; 7:38-39 can be seen to be a continuation of the theme, the River is sourced in us through the Spirit. So when people are truly encountering the Kingdom of God through us, should they be going away feeling dirty, or thirsty for the life-empowering presence of God?
Afterwards, I apologised for having made them feel condemned (although I maintained that I also had a right not to recommend Reiki as a matter of conscience).
So how does a person deal with this situation?
I like the story in Acts 19:11-20, where many Corinthians who appear to be believers are continuing to practice forms of magic with a Christian veneer to them. But at some point the magic backfires, and the power of Jesus-centred, Jesus-sourced healing is recognised as something different from what they were doing. Confronted with this power, they reject their magic. I believe there is something in praying for believers to experience the true power of God at work. It is only in this way that other forms of power that seem good can pale into insignificance. To preach of evil when something like Reiki seems only to cause good, particularly in light of a normal church experience being devoid of God's healing power, is possibly a poor response. Rather, pray for a change in church experience.
Another thought. I was preparing a sermon on Ezekiel 47:1-12 (the River of God) this week, and also reflecting on how my work colleague had felt after I had tried to persuade her that Reiki was wrong. The River of God produced purity in polluted water. If John 4:14; 7:38-39 can be seen to be a continuation of the theme, the River is sourced in us through the Spirit. So when people are truly encountering the Kingdom of God through us, should they be going away feeling dirty, or thirsty for the life-empowering presence of God?
8 comments:
Just a brief comment on reiki. I don't have any problem with the idea that human physical capacities - and remember that reiki does not claim to be calling upon other powers - are more diverse than we recognise. When we look at what humans have achieved in history, without technology as we know it (pyramids, stonehenge etc.) then it could be that, of yore, people could do stuff that seems supernatural to us. And if we look at the Old Testament and see these guys living for nearly 1000 years, we shouldn't be surprised if they could do other tricks as well. I have a hunch - just a hunch - that our technology and built ecology contribute to making many of these capacities redundant. Maybe in other cultures, these have been preserved precisely because of less ambient clutter.
According to Wikipedia Reiki is the channelling of an intelligent energy, or in some cases, Spirit Guides. It could be that natural energy discovered of old, but forgotten through the course of modernity, exists and in some cases is interpreted as spirit guides. It could be that Reiki is manipulation of this energy in the same way that laser eye treatment is manipulation of light energy. However, because "ki" is seen in general as an alternative to the power of the God of the Bible, rather than sourced by him, I am wary. (Altho the same argument could be given against penicillin!)
My perspective is that the Old Testament describes God as progressively revealing how he will interact with humanity. Abraham is therefore allowed to consider special trees an appropriate place of worship, Jacob is allowed to set up standing stones to attribute spiritual significance to a place where God met with him, but the later Israelites are not. I am reminded of a passage in That Hideous Strength by CS Lewis. Merlin the druid/magician has come back to life in pre-war Britain and is being sought by two opposing groups who wish to control the power Merlin wields. (next sentence gives away a lot of the plot if you've not read it...) The "Good" guy finds him first and discovers that Merlin actually only ever used his power for good, and even more so after his conversion to the newly arrived Christianity, so would never have allowed the "Evil" guys to abuse his power. The "Good" guy's advice to Merlin is that Christianity has been around in Britain for some time now and over the years it has become clear that God does not intend for us to use Druidical powers any more, even for good, and, he suspects, and implies Merlin has probably also always suspected, that it had never been right to use these powers, even for good. However, God is gracious and gives us the time to work these things out. (Its a lonnng time since I read it so I may be a bit sketchy on details but that's my interpretation of my memory of the passage.)
I consider myself and my work colleague as being on different stages in a our journey following Jesus, however I realise that I present my stage as being more aligned to God's self-revelation. It could well be that I am wrong, and as, through the work of the Spirit, I grow closer to Jesus I will discover that my colleague is actually more in tune with accepting the gifts God has given us. However, my present perspective only allows this to be a possibility and does not allow me to accept it as reality.
Fair enough - I had never understood Reiki as relating to external intelligence. Rather, I thought it had to do with energy and chakras and all that. Mind you, I don't really know anything about them either so I'm best to shut up!
I admit I am probably even more ignorant on the technicalities, but I don't know when to shut up ... Seems the Reiki energy goes into practitioner through the first or seventh Chakra, out through the Fourth Chakra, to whatever Chakra most needs it most in the healee. The fourth Chakra is the heart, so its strange that the hands are required at all. So what about Chakras. It seems they are Hindu originated (but similar ideas found in various forms in the Far East). They might be seen as a series of holistic centres in our bodies, each having a varying balance in their interaction with the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual environments of the human person. (The chakra wouldn't be seen as a balance of distinct categories but as a balance of hues in a single colour) Not physically proven, yet we in the modern West are happy to consider the heart as the one holistic centre, if we have one at all. We are more likely to split and categorise the environments to interact separately with Mind, Soul, Body and Heart rather than balance/colour them. Ancient Hebrews preferred Kidney/Liver to Heart, but they did have a centre which is variously Spiritual, Physical and Emotional, perhaps in a holistic balance. Modern medicine struggles to deal with the holistic nature of illness. So it makes sense to look at different pictures of how we function. Chakras are interesting because they seem to tie up with a lot of the mysteries in modern medicine, and could explain some things like the adverse affect of emotional stress on physical glands. However, modern medicine, chakras, they are different branches in the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Without redemption by God they lead to the idea we don't need God, or that we can manipulate God. So what about Reiki. The teaching seems to suggest that the practitioner can be trained to manipulate the energy. There is no need for God, or faith. If healing is a form of salvation, then I also wonder about the need to acquire secret knowledge to be a dispenser of healing. I personally think the disciples were as surprised by God healing through them as the people who were healed were. I don't believe they acquired secret knowledge then healed. I believe that lot should be full enough of holes to give folks something to say ...
I am not an expert on Reiki either (just joining the club!), but I do know that the word "reiki" is Japanese. It's made up of 2 characters - 霊 and 気 which mean "spirit" and "energy / life-force".
The churches in Japan have, for the (very) most part, completely rejected Reiki as compatible with Christianity, treating it unambiguously as a *religion*.
The character for "spirit" is the same as that used for the Holy Spirit: this is just too close for comfort for many Japanese Christians who have just come out of the type of worldview that Reiki espouses.
I don't know quite how this informs our treatment of Reiki in the West, but we should at least be sensitive to the understandings of brothers and sisters elsewhere. If we are suspicious about Reiki (and I am) then perhaps this way of looking at the question ("weaker brother" kind of thinking) could be a helpful way into dialogue with other Christians like your friend at work who are not yet convinced..?
I had the feeling that our Practical Theology lecturer was quite comfortable with Reiki vis-a-vis Christianity, a half-remembered conversation seems to come back to me that it was to do with where the energy was coming from (within or without the body). On typing this, however, perhaps it was Reiki he wasn't happy with, and acu-remedies that were more 'sound'. Hmmm - have you thought of asking him? My testimony is obviously not trustworthy (on this matter!).
Reiki appears to be channeling of external energy into the body using skilled practitioner hands. I'm guessing then that acu- stuff is manipulation of internal healing energy by external pressure. This sounds more acceptable to me.But I haven't read up on it. I may ask the esteemed aforementioned. although since I'm no longer a fee-paying student, would I have to pay for an answer? Perhaps an insider can "scope" him!
not to be rude. but as a reiki student, and a worker for god, i can confidently tell you that reiki is guided and controlled by god. not the practitioner. reiki, (ray-ee-kee)translates as "higher spiritually guided life force energy. our universe is a direct expression of the highest power, and we are a part of this. the human being is not the energy source, we are the channel for the energy to flow through. i mean not to give darkness on your beliefs, but to try to condemn reiki shows only your own ignorance and the darkness you have fallen into yourself, jesus saves... an old proverb, mara himself can be held responsible, an idle system of belifs is one thing, but to walk in the light of god is another, to truly know.... reiki is not a human physical capacity, it is a non physical transferrence of the very life force that animates all things . without the life force we would die, god guides the life force through the body of the practitioner and out through the hands into the subject where it attends to the place where it is required the most... i repeat and make straight for you, the practitioner has no control over where the reiki goes and because of its infinate loving nature, then it can do no wrong... in a world in which man is falling away further and further, there is an increasing demand for man to draw within the light of god, and to be healed by it.... the second coming is already upon us, you must utilize your own intelligence, and your own faith, and see that the second comming is not an external event. it occurs within the hearts of you, you may give your life to god, and he will give you new light, it is a conscious transformation, but interestingly enough, when christ first came to this plane, many people disregarded his message, it was only after he passed away that the deciples spread the word.. so it is only natural for you all to defend the belief system you have been told to follow. i can tell you happily that there is no eternal damnation, our father would not suffer to bring into this world his children, let them make hidious mistakes and then suffer them into infinate punishment. there is always a time to repent, there is always a time to be saved, for to look upon infinate goodness shall smite the darkness from within, and thou shall awaken, eventually reborn...
stop spreading dark words about reiki, in the times we now live in, there is an increasing demand for the help of the absolute. the more people work for the higher purpose the better. reiki is holistic, it heals on all levels, as did your saviour jesus. spiritually, mentally, emotionally, and physically, potentially you have the chance to face your own darkness from reiki...
there is a truth beyond the truth of men, a truth beyond words and phrases, teachings, a truth that must be experienced to be known, no matter how much you learn, how much you pray, until experienced the void and what is on the other side you cannot truly know... the absolute truth can be found within, god saves, he is not the father from without, an external being, he dwells in a realm beyond comprehension, for only a pure heart and a tamed mind may enter, the virtuous one may look upon his glory and behold the deities of ages, but until you begin to question your own learnings and beliefs, you will never really know. i was once of christian faith, but now my faith has surpassed all teachings, no standard earthly teaching could possibly bring me closer, now zen is in my life.
but i have the feeling that most of you are quite ready for this truth, and thus will hate on my entire existance, telling me i am blaspheming, which is fine, because in my heart i already know that this message will be read by some who shall start to question, and thus will eventually hear the word for themself. take not literally your teachings, and they will save you, but believe them in literal context and you shall continue to fall.... i am sorry if i offended any of you, but the question of reiki being evil is a foolishly guided one, anyone can understand, now is the time of evolution... some of us are being called upon by god to do his work, many shall not be saved. get up and do something, do not just believe. take on board a higher purpose...
thank you for reading this, i understand it may conflict with some of your belief systems but to be any less blunt you would not hear the words.. there are changes which must be made which do not want to be done, but whence they are complete the lives affected will be much happier...
there is a key... a key within you, somewhere that unlocks the gates to the kingdom, the kingdom should be entered while you are alive, not when you die... for when the time of death comes, you may not enter, for god will say, i did not know you. and you will say "but i rejoiced and praised your name, i did good things and followed your teachings" but he will turn and say "i am sorry child, but because you did not walk with me in life, i cannot know you now" and the gates remain closed...
in the society we live in today, the gates are left battered and decrepit, they must be fixed, so that we can once again enter the kingdom... find the key,
seek beyond, the philosopher's stone............
yours.. love diciple
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