RESPONSE TO MARCH 25, 2009 BISHOPS STATEMENT ON REIKI

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.

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.

Pavng it Forward

This past week my guest on Energy Awareness was Elisabeth Fayt, author, international speaker, law of attraction coach, Reiki Master and entrepreneur. We talked about her book, Paving it Forward and how each and every thought creates your life and what you need to do to consciously create the life you want, a life of passion and purpose.

There was so much information on how you can create the life you want, starting right now, at this very moment by what are called pre-paves, it would not be fair for me to write about them. I would not do Elisabeth justice and I really believe you need to hear it straight from her, the passion and the power of her beliefs as well as the easy way she describes what we all need to do to accomplish our goals easily cannot be described well enough by me in a blog.

The lively discussion, which is loaded with information and received by listeners so very positively, can still be heard on the podcast. If you missed this show – don’t hesitate to click on the blogtalkradio widget to the right of this blog. You’ll be glad you did!

Copyright 2009. T Love. All Rights Reserved.

Living in The Land of If Only

If you didn’t catch the live show this week, you really need to download it and listen to it.

Author, comedian and motivational speaker, Kelly Swanson, joined me in a lively discussion about “Living in The Land of If Only” which is an excerpt from her book, “Who Hijacked My Fairytale”.

I think the name alone gives us a very good idea as to where this book is headed. I would venture to say women ‘get it’, more so than men. We were brought up reading the fairytales and then we bought into them and then, to make matters worse, we actually believed those written words. Alas, we find out life is not a fairy tale, it doesn’t happen that way at all and there is no “happily ever after” – well not in the way it was told to us anyway. We find ourselves saying; “Hey, what happened?” but Kelly Swanson’s words say it best – “Who Hijacked My Fairytale”. This is a must read for anyone whose wondering why things are not going as they should. Of course, we really do know that things are going exactly as they should, we made these choices, we're just not really pleased with our selections some of the time. I guess it would be a bit fairer to say this book is for anyone who is, well, ALIVE. You need to read this book if you don't want to live the horror of the hijack that pretty much takes you by complete surprise. This book will gie you a heads up on that which most of us don’t see coming.

This book is funny. It’s both entertaining and encouraging and Kelly motivates with her own truths and shows us how they apply to each of our own lives. Every “chapter” is a myth that’s debunked by her clever storytelling of real life events. Myth #2: I’m entitled to a Happy Ending (No, actually you’re not), Myth #14: Just Wish Upon A Star (and then get to work ‘cause it ain’t that easy), Myth #16: Life is Simple (Hello Internet), Myth #18: The One With The Most Castles Wins (More stuff will not make you happy) and my personal favorite: Myth # 21: The Story Ends At The Last Page (It’s never too late to rewrite your ending).

The poem “If Only” can be found at the end of the book. It is very touching. It makes you laugh, nod in agreement and it even brings a tear to your eye. After reading the poem myself I realized that I have been a visitor to “If Only” on many occasions and I would even dare to say, I have taken extended vacation time there. But then, I think most of us have gone there. If only ?????? then life would be…..happier? easier? fun? more fulfilling? purposeful? less intense? more peaceful? calm? joy-filled? – and on and on.

Pick up the book, I just know you’ll smile and laugh knowingly, If Only for a moment. It truly is well worth the read. You’ll find “Who Hijacked My Fairytale” on her website: http://www.kellyswanson.net along with her other books and CD’s. It’s a quick read too.

In the meantime, while you’re waiting for the post to drop off the book, listen to the podcast – look to the right, if you click on it right now, it will immediately start streaming. Give yourself a laugh or two – go ahead, click on the play button.

Copyright 2009. T Love. All Rights Reserved.

QUARTZ CRYSTAL BOWLS

As I said before, I have incorporated Quartz Crystal Bowls into my Reiki practice.

So what’s with those crystal bowls?

Well, each of the bowls is made up of 99.992% silicon quartz.

The pure tones the bowls emit vibrate the body. The reason they vibrate the body is because our bodies have a natural affinity to quartz. You see, the human body is composed of many crystalline substances – the bones, blood, muscle and DNA are crystalline in structure – this includes the liquid crystal colloidal structure of the brain. Every single cell in the body contains silica at a molecular level. The silica balances our electro-magnetic energy and it has the same formula as natural quartz crystal. That’s why quartz crystal bowls are used for sound therapy treatments – they resonate to your body almost perfectly.

Each bowl is tuned to resonate to a note on the diatonic scale (the musical scale, a-g). Each of the 7 main chakras also corresponds to a note on the diatonic scale as well as to a different area and system of the body: endocrine system, lymph system, skeletal, circulatory and muscular systems, etc. Knowing that, the sound therapist plays the bowl that corresponds to the specific area of the body that is diseased or out of harmony or balance.

The frosted bowls are always played on the floor and they are like the white keys or flat notes on a piano key board. The clear crystal bowls are much lighter in weight and have a crisper tone than the frosted bowls, they are like the black keys or the sharp notes on a piano keyboard. The clear bowls are played either on the clients’ solar plexus or in the palm of the practitioners’ hand. It’s best to play them on the client but sometimes that’s not possible and they must be played in the hand of the practitioner just above the clients solar plexus.

Some therapists use the brass or Tibetan bowls in their practice. Now brass is composed of zinc and copper. Yellow brass, the more readily available Tibetan bowls, is 90% zinc and 10% copper. Red brass is 70% zinc and 30% copper. We don’t have brass in our bodies per se. We do have copper and zinc, but only as trace minerals. You don’t find these minerals at a molecular level in every single cell in your body therefore the brass bowls do not resonate as well to the body.

When I chose which bowls I would incorporate into my Reiki practice, I opted for the crystal because, hey, it’s only .008% or 8/1000’s off of perfect resonation to our bodies. Will the Tibetan bowls work? Absolutely, they will, over time. I wanted my clients to realize the benefits sooner rather than later which is also why I chose the quartz bowls.

These bowls are powerful healing instruments and they are used specifically for healing purposes. I’ll explain just exactly how they work in the next blog.

Copyright 2009. T Love. All Rights Reserved.

Energy Awareness on Blog Talk Radio

Did you tune in Wednesday night to Energy Awareness Radio? We had such a good time!

My guest for the evening: Tammy Mastroberte, Founder, Editorial Director and Publisher of Elevated Existence Magazine. A spiritual based e-zine, though still in its infancy, is doing phenomenally well.

To decide to publish a magazine, in the economy such as it is, well, that’s no easy task, to say the least. It’s not only a huge undertaking, which is an understatement, but it also takes gut, and she’s got guts.

Tammy has what it takes to make things work. She pays attention to the signs the Universe sends out to her. By the way, this is something we all should aspire to do – pay attention to those signs. It is not just by hearing, seeing and acknowledging signs that are sent to her that she is a success. It is because she follows through by acting upon those signs given. That is why Tammy is able to be so successful in her work.

The hour long broadcast touched on subjects ranging from what prompted her to begin her Journey to Spirituality, the name of the segment, to meditation, activities offered at the Deepak Chopra Center, the reasons we’re here on this planet, having joy in our own lives, highly regarded blogs and concluded with the fact that her magazine will be celebrating it’s one year anniversary in two months, June, 2009. Kudos to you, Tammy, for a job well done!

As you can see, the show was chock full of really good information, which is true of her magazine as well. Go to elevatedexistence.com and download the first issue, June, 2008. It’s the one with Deepak Chopra on the cover. That issue is free. Yes, you read that correctly, it is indeed FREE.

After you’ve read it, and loved it – oh yes you will! Subscribe. I can’t recommend this magazine enough. It’s a terrific value at only $10 a year. Where else can you get this kind of information for only $10 year? (Which, by the way, if we reduce this to the absolute ridiculous is .83 a month, .19 a week or ~.03 a day.) You can’t! You can buy all the books you want – or – you can subscribe to a magazine that is succinct in its telling of the many different ways to improve yourself, your relationships, your health and the planet. It’s all in the magazine – everything. Helpful information for each and every one of us for less than the cost of, hmmmm, well, everything! Even penny candy isn’t a penny any more. You get my point. Good value for little money. That’s really unheard of in these times isn’t it? Very refreshing I’d say.

Tammy has a blog which you can access from her web-site as well. She was invited to be an expert blogger at intent.com only two months ago and has already, just one week ago as a matter of fact, become a featured blogger with her question: Do you connect to source?

So much information from one source? Absolutely! Give it a try. You’ll love it a lot.

If you didn’t tune in to the live broadcast and you’d like to hear the show go to www.blogtalkradio.com/energyawareness and click on the play button in the blue box at the center of your screen. You can listen while you work on your PC or you can download the podcast and listen to it later. Whatever works for you!

Next weeks’ show: Living in the World of If Only with Kelly Swanson, author, comedian and motivational speaker. Tune in on Wednesday evening, April 15th, at 6:00pm eastern standard time. www.blogtalkradio.com/energyawareness Go ahead and tune in, it’s tax day and I’m just betting you’ll need a mood booster after you file your taxes, won’t you?

Be sure to tune in to www.blogtalkradio.com/energyawareness I know you’ll find it to be both entertaining and informative.

Copyright 2009. T Love. All Rights Reserved.

Evolution of Western Medicine

When we look at the history of Western medicine, we see both the modalities and belief systems are divided into three chronological phases.

The first phase is Physical Medicine which was practiced by western medicine during the 19th and into the early 20th centuries. A good example of this type of medicine is when a person would go to the doctor with a foot or hand infection and the doctor quite simply, cut off the infected limb. There you go, you’re all better! Now you may not have a foot or hand, but hey, you’re alive. During this time, surgery was regarded as an heroic procedure, which, quite frankly, it still is today. Disease, as it was understood at the time, was caused by a physical malfunctioning of the physical body or body part.

With the discovery of Penicillin, Chemical Medicine emerged. This is when it became clear that certain chemicals, prescription drugs or antibiotics, could actually seek out those areas of the body that were infected and rid the body of the infection with little or no side effects, or so it seemed at the time, to other body parts. We have utilized this technology and have been somewhat brainwashed to believe this is the only medicine that works for nearly a century.

Thankfully, our beliefs are changing. Slow as it may be, we do find ourselves on the leading edge of what will be the medicine of tomorrow: it is the science of Cymatics or to put it more simply, Vibrational or Energetic Medicine.

The medical mainstream is just starting to explore these approaches to medicine. Well, that would be in the United States. Other countries have been using various forms of Vibrational Medicine for centuries.

Vibrational Medicine recognizes the patient as a whole being rather than just concentrating on specific body parts the way Physical Medicine does. Vibrational Medicine also believes that the human body is not a chemical dump site and that the underlying causes of disease go far deeper than their mere symptoms alone. It recognizes the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual parts of the body as well, bringing everything into balance so the body is fully calibrated on all levels.

Reiki and Sound Therapy are two of the modalities found in Vibrational Medicine that have recently been recognized as integrative and complementary forms of treatment to conventional medicine.

In my private Reiki practice I use Quartz Crystal Singing Bowls as part of my treatment program allowing my clients to realize results sooner rather than later. Each person reacts differently to Reiki and to crystal bowl therapy, but all my clients feel the effects of their treatment immediately and leave with a renewed sense of self. The effects are long lasting as well.

There’s no question that Mainstream Medicine will increasingly rely on Vibrational Medicine as time goes by. The various modalities used in Vibrational Medicine provide a much more advanced perspective on the true causes of disease, and health, without any side effects whatsoever.

Today, there are thousands of professionals working in the field of Vibrational Medicine in all types of health care settings around the world: hospitals, hospices, clinics, private practice, etc.

Vibrational Medicine is not going away. More and more, people are turning to alternative therapies to meet their health care needs. Using Vibrational Medicine as a preventive measure is becoming very popular indeed. A Reiki treatment does wonders for the body, mind and soul and rids your body of all the pollution and toxins that you’ve been accumulating on a daily basis.

To find a Reiki practitioner or sound therapist near you go to: IARP.ORG, the International Association of Reiki Professionals and begin your journey to a healthier you today.

Copyright 2009. T Love. All Rights Reserved.

Vibrational Medicine

Sound therapy, or music, however you wish to refer to it, has really been used in medicine for thousands of years by various different cultures.

Ancient Greek philosophers believed that sound could heal both their physical body as well as their soul; Egyptian priests cleared their chakras (energy centers) using vowel sounds and Native Americans chanted and sang as part of their rituals for healing.

Here, in the United States, a more formal approach to sound therapy began in World War II when United States Veterans Administration hospitals started to incorporate music as part of their treatment program to help treat soldiers suffering from shell shock.

It was toward the end of World War II, 1944, when Michigan State University established the first music therapy degree program in the world. This validated the fact that sound therapy, so often used in the past, was a possible form of treatment for all kinds of diseases and issues: PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder).

Sound, as a form of healing, has been an intimate part of almost every culture on earth and is actually considered the oldest form of healing. It wasn’t until recently though that sound began to be used at Universities, within the field of Vibrational Medicine, in research medical programs. Of course, we have only recently learned, or rather come to accept, that Vibrational Medicine is indeed the next phase in Western Medicine.

Sound therapy is not new, it has been around for decades, years, millennia – probably since time began – even Mom’s hum to their babies to ease pain and distress. Mom’s just know that inherently – and it seems to work.

Sound Therapy is an option that has both been proven to have a helpful effect on patients and is considered a safe Complementary treatment to all conventional and holistic therapies by the American Cancer Society.

Doesn’t that speak loudly?

I think it does.

I’ve provided sound therapy presentations and demonstrations for many groups, clubs, and organizations, including the American Cancer Society. To me, this is a huge endorsement.

It’s good to know that research continues and is supported for such a promising area of Vibrational Medicine by such a highly regarding and reputable organization as the American Cancer Society.

Copyright 2009. T Love. All Rights Reserved.