A statement issued by The Committee on Doctrine, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops titled: “Guidelines for Evaluating Reiki as Alternative Therapy” advises against the use of Reiki at Catholic hospitals, health care facilities, and by Catholic chaplains.
I found the report both very interesting and the research extremely inaccurate.
But before I get into that let me tell you I was brought up Catholic. In my 20’s I chose not to continue to follow the Catholic religion for sooooo many reasons. I know I am not alone. There are many “recovering” Catholics out there. My main reason was, in order to be a Catholic, you have to ACCEPT all of the rules, without doubt or question, or you may be excommunicated. That’s fine. I don’t choose to belong to a group where my opinion does not matter and where I have no voice at all. I have a brain that I use to make up my own mind and I have opinions and beliefs about certain things that go against those of the Catholic Church. Now, I’m not really sure what an excommunication ceremony is like, or if there even is one, I just knew I wanted no part of this religion that clearly was not going to work for me, so I left on my own.
Now, I know a whole lot of people who are “Catholic”. With that said however, I also know a whole lot who choose those parts that they believe in and leave the rest behind. This is where I have a problem. Religion is not like insurance. There is no cafeteria plan. You take it all, or you leave it. Personally, I don’t believe if you are taking birth control or you are Pro-Choice, as I am, you can really call yourself a Catholic when you know, full well, the Catholic Church is adamantly against birth control, other than the rhythm method and they are most definitely Pro-Life. That’s a real biggie in Catholicism. It’s not negotiable. If you don’t buy into that “rule” how can you say you are a Catholic? You can’t. I should say, I can’t, many do.
Now you know where I stand. I’m not a Catholic, even though I received 5 of the 7 sacraments, because I don’t agree with all the rules and I made a conscious choice not to be a religious hypocrite. It was pretty clear cut for me.
Now, in this, the 21st century, the U.S. Catholic Bishops got together and issued a statement against the use of Reiki. After several months of research, via the internet and some Reiki books they read, they concluded it has a religious basis because the information came from Buddhist texts. They also stated that Reiki healing energy is directed by human thought and will, that there are no scientific studies or scientific explanation to support the efficacy of Reiki and that Reiki is not accepted by the medical community.
If you’ve visited my site, www.tlovereiki.com you can imagine how shocking it was for me to read their statement.
Let’s take this one issue at a time, this will mean more than one blog, so bear with me.
I found the report both very interesting and the research extremely inaccurate.
But before I get into that let me tell you I was brought up Catholic. In my 20’s I chose not to continue to follow the Catholic religion for sooooo many reasons. I know I am not alone. There are many “recovering” Catholics out there. My main reason was, in order to be a Catholic, you have to ACCEPT all of the rules, without doubt or question, or you may be excommunicated. That’s fine. I don’t choose to belong to a group where my opinion does not matter and where I have no voice at all. I have a brain that I use to make up my own mind and I have opinions and beliefs about certain things that go against those of the Catholic Church. Now, I’m not really sure what an excommunication ceremony is like, or if there even is one, I just knew I wanted no part of this religion that clearly was not going to work for me, so I left on my own.
Now, I know a whole lot of people who are “Catholic”. With that said however, I also know a whole lot who choose those parts that they believe in and leave the rest behind. This is where I have a problem. Religion is not like insurance. There is no cafeteria plan. You take it all, or you leave it. Personally, I don’t believe if you are taking birth control or you are Pro-Choice, as I am, you can really call yourself a Catholic when you know, full well, the Catholic Church is adamantly against birth control, other than the rhythm method and they are most definitely Pro-Life. That’s a real biggie in Catholicism. It’s not negotiable. If you don’t buy into that “rule” how can you say you are a Catholic? You can’t. I should say, I can’t, many do.
Now you know where I stand. I’m not a Catholic, even though I received 5 of the 7 sacraments, because I don’t agree with all the rules and I made a conscious choice not to be a religious hypocrite. It was pretty clear cut for me.
Now, in this, the 21st century, the U.S. Catholic Bishops got together and issued a statement against the use of Reiki. After several months of research, via the internet and some Reiki books they read, they concluded it has a religious basis because the information came from Buddhist texts. They also stated that Reiki healing energy is directed by human thought and will, that there are no scientific studies or scientific explanation to support the efficacy of Reiki and that Reiki is not accepted by the medical community.
If you’ve visited my site, www.tlovereiki.com you can imagine how shocking it was for me to read their statement.
Let’s take this one issue at a time, this will mean more than one blog, so bear with me.
Today I’ll deal with the first two issues only.
First of all, it took several MONTHS of research?
I’m thinking it should have taken a lot longer, and it would have had they used reliable sources. You can’t believe everything you read on the internet. Anyone can build a website and fill it with whatever information they want. You really need to be sure your selection criteria is from reliable and reputable sources. Particularly with Reiki websites which have consistently been full of inaccurate information that has then been used as the basis for books. Sad but true. Every industry has its problems. Reiki is no exception. The quality of the information disseminated is crucial in any study or research that is conducted, particularly since it is then to be used as “gospel” – pun intended. It’s best to go to those sources that are known for their reliability such as the International Association of Reiki Practitioners,The International Center for Reiki Training or The Reiki Alliance.
Better yet, if the Bishops had gone to Japan, where Reiki originated, and interviewed those experts who have researched the history and practice of Reiki professionally, by conducting research in Japan, reading original documents, and interviewing members of the founding Reiki organization in Japan they would have learned that there is an immense amount of inaccurate information published on Reiki. Then they would have discovered they had actually obtained both accurate and verifiable information on which to base their conclusions. This would have been a much better, solid, more accurate way to go.
Second – Reiki is Buddhist based. WOW!
Nothing could be further from the truth.
There is a story told by Mrs. Takata, who brought Reiki to the West, stating that Mikao Usui, founder of Reiki, discovered the secret of Reiki in some Buddhist texts. This is not true. Unfortunately it’s been told so many times on-line, in Reiki classes and books that it's become what some consider the facts. At the time, Mrs. Takata was the only source for information and since she was bringing it here to pass it along, everything she said was accepted, no questions asked. Due to language, cultural and political barriers in Japan, it was difficult to do any research at the source for anyone who wanted to further investigate where Reiki originated from and how. It’s only been recently that a handful of researchers were able to break the barriers and learn more about the origin of Reiki.
By translating the story of Reiki that is inscribed on Mikao Usui’s grave stone, and discovering an original document that he wrote himself about the origin of Reiki, researchers got to the truth about the origin of Reiki. Dr. Usui was not looking for a new way to heal at all, the ability to heal came to him, spontaneously, during a spiritual experience on a sacred mountain. He wrote a book called Reiki Ryoho Hikkei (Reiki Healing Art Handbook) and in it he states that “My Usui Reiki Ryoho (healing art) is original, never before explored, and incomparable in the world.” Clearly, Reiki did not come from Buddhist texts and it is NOT tied to any religion at all. There are also Japanese Reiki Masters who are quite familiar with Buddhism and they also find nothing about Reiki withhin the Buddhist religion. They have also gone so far as to say Reiki is religiously neutral. They are not taking credit, if you will, for Reiki being based on Buddhism, because it is not and they do not see any other religious basis in Reiki either. As a side note, I know a lot of Reiki Practitioners, from so many different religions, some of whom are devout in their religious beliefs and have strong faith in the ability of Reiki. If Reiki did have a religious base, someone would be claiming “the rights” to being the origin of the practice I’m quite sure.
I’ll deal with the scientific basis of Reiki as well as the clinical trials that support its efficacy in the next blog.
In the meantime, know that Reiki never harms or hurts, and it only works toward the highest healing good of the client or patient.
Copyright 2009. T Love. All Rights Reserved.
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