by William Lee Rand
Reiki is a sacred practice that requires reverence and our greatest respect if we are to experience its most wonderful value. The benefits of Reiki can be all encompassing, not only giving us the ability to heal ourselves and others, which by itself is deeply meaningful, but also bringing guidance for our lives. Its unlimited nature can create opportunities for continual growth, unfoldment and the awakening of our own boundless potential. The ever increasing joy, peace and abundance that await those who sincerely pursue the path of Reiki are not only a blessing to be enjoyed, but also contain the healing that the planet so dearly needs. Those who have been initiated into Reiki often feel this greater potential and aspire to continue on to the Advanced and Master levels.
The desire to grow is inherent in simply being alive. As we look around ourselves and observe living things, we can clearly see that the one activity that all living things share is growth.
Everything that is alive grows. Because this is what living things do, one could even say that the purpose of life is to grow. Therefore, the desire to grow in ones Reiki potential is a natural expression of ones core essence and of life itself. If you feel this desire in your heart, honor and respect it. Doing so, will fulfill an innate need.
The joys of becoming a Reiki Master are many and you don't necessarily have to teach in order for the Master training to be useful. The additional healing energy, symbols, techniques and knowledge will add value to your healing abilities. Treating yourself, giving yourself and others healing attunements and treating others in person and at a distance will all be noticeably improved. The fact that you can pass Reiki on to friends and family is also a definite plus. Many take the Master training with just this in mind. However, if you ever decide to formally teach, you will be able to do so. As each person takes the Reiki Master training, and increases their personal vibration, this adds to the vibration of the whole planet!
One of the greatest joys of Reiki Mastership is teaching Reiki to others. Imagine the thrill of witnessing the members of your Reiki class receiving Reiki energy during the attunement. Then, as you guide them in its use, sharing in their joy and amazement as they experience it's gentle power flowing though them for the first time. As your students use Reiki to help family, friends and clients, a wonderful sense of spiritual connection will develop between all of you. Feelings of compassion and love for everyone will be strengthened as you merge with the Reiki Consciousness and know more deeply that we come from God and that we are all one in God.
All information about Reiki has come to us through Mrs. Takata who learned the system of Reiki in Japan in 1935. According to Mrs. Takata, the definition of a Reiki Master is anyone who has received the Master attunement and Master symbol, understands how to give all the attunements and has actually taught a Reiki class thus passing Reiki on to others. Those who have taken Reiki Master training and not taught at least one person would not qualify as Reiki Masters and should call themselves Reiki Master practitioners until they do teach. If you have taught a friend or family member, then you qualify as a Reiki Master.
After Mrs. Takata passed on in December, 1980, the twenty-two Masters she had initiated continued to teach and eventually began initiating other Masters. At first they taught in the same way Mrs. Takata had done, teaching the complete system in three degrees. Eventually some Masters began making changes to the system, adding knowledge and healing skills they had acquired from experience and inner guidance. Some took the third degree that originally contained the complete Master training and broke it up into two or more parts. Some actually broke the Master degree up into as many as five parts, calling each part a new degree.
When seeking a Reiki Master to take the Master training from, it is important to ask her/him exactly what you will be able to do after you take the Master training from them. Will you receive the complete training and be able to initiate others into all the degrees including full Reiki Master or will something be left out, requiring you to take additional sub-levels or degrees and pay additional fees? Because of the changes some have made to the system of Reiki, this is a very important question.
Becoming a Reiki Master is a serious step that must be preceded by necessary preparation. One must first take Reiki I&II and Advanced Reiki training. It is also necessary to meditate on your life purpose and decide if Reiki Mastership is in harmony with it. Then, it is important to find a Reiki Master to study with who is competent and who you feel attuned to and will support you after you become a Reiki Master.
Becoming a Reiki Master implies that you will be able to initiate others into Reiki. Therefore, it is important to find a teacher who will spend time in class helping you practice the attunement process. Ask your teacher how much time is spent in class practicing the attunements as some teachers spend little or none.
Also ask them how much support they are willing to give you to begin teaching your own classes. This is important. Some Reiki Masters will have little interest in helping you get started as they are afraid you will take student away from them. If you are serious about becoming a successful teaching Reiki Master, find a teacher who will openly support you in achieving your goal.
Before teaching your first class, additional practice doing the attunements is a good idea. This can be done on friends who already have Reiki. Ask them if they would like to be an "attunement model" and let them know that the additional attunements will be beneficial for them and will refine and strengthen their Reiki energies. Most will gladly agree. If you can't find someone to practice on, you can use a teddy bear or a pillow to represent a person.
It will also be necessary to practice the talks, lectures and meditations you will be leading in class. Make outlines of your talks and practice into a tape recorder. Listen to your tapes and take notes on ways you can improve your talks. Then continue to practice until you are confident. Don't be afraid to use your outline in class. When teaching, relax and let the Reiki energy do the work.
If you have a sincere desire to help others and have taken the time to prepare to teach, you should have no trouble attracting students. It is your attitude that creates the results you receive so, assume success and you will create success. (See the the previous two articles for ideas on promoting your practice)
As a teaching Reiki Master it is important to treat your students with the greatest respect. Know that each has the spark of God within them. Never use subtle threats or the withholding of information to cause your students to be dependent on you. Openly encourage each student to be connected to her/his own power and freedom of choice. What you create for others comes back to you. As you truly empower others, so will you be empowered. Trust in the abundance of the Universe and you will receive abundance and you will also be blessed with peace and joy.
When teaching Reiki to others, it is important to set a good example by being an authentic representative of Reiki energy. People cannot be so easily fooled by surface spirituality now. They want and need a real teacher who comes from experience and is working on her/his own deep healing. This requires one to meditate on the nature of Reiki energy and surrender to it. It is a continual process of working with all aspects of ones being that are out of step with Reiki energy and allowing those aspects to be healed by Reiki energy. We must seek to develop and express the qualities of love, compassion, wisdom, justice, cooperation, humility, persistence, kindness, courage, strength, and abundance as Reiki energy is all of these and more. It may seem paradoxical, but it is true that a true Reiki Master is one who is always becoming a Reiki Master. Like life itself, it is a process of continual growth.
As you do this, you will realize sooner or later that there is more to Reiki than using it to heal yourself and others of specific problems. Reiki has a deeper purpose. In the same way that Reiki is able to guide healing energy when you are giving a treatment, Reiki can guide your life.
There is a perfect plan for your life that has always been present and has been waiting for you. This plan is exactly what is good and right and healthy for you. This plan is not based on what your parents want for you, or what the culture says you need to be accepted, but on what will really make you happy. This plan is inside you and comes from your core essence. Reiki can guide you to this plan and help you follow it. This plan is your true spiritual path.
By treating yourself and others and meditating on the essence of Reiki, you will be guided more and more by Reiki in making important decisions. Sometimes you will find yourself doing things that don't make sense or conform to what you think you should be doing and sometimes you will be guided to do things that you have vowed you would never do. However, by trusting more and more in the guidance of Reiki, by letting go of what your ego thinks it needs to be happy and by humbly surrendering to Reiki's loving power, you will find your life changing in ways that bring greater harmony and feelings of real happiness.
Over time, you will learn from experience that the guidance of Reiki is worthy of your trust. Once you have surrendered completely, you will have entered the Way of Reiki. When you do this, you will be at peace with the past and have complete faith in the future and know that there never was anything to worry about. Your life will work with ever greater harmony and you will feel that you have reached your goal of wholeness even as you continue to move toward it!
In the end, we must consider that a Reiki Master is not one who has mastered Reiki, but one who has been mastered by Reiki. This requires that we surrender completely to the spirit of Reiki, allowing it to guide every area of our lives and become our only focus and source of nurturing and sustenance. As we proceed toward the end of the millinium, the Way of Reiki offers itself as a solution to our problems and a path of unlimited potiential. May all who would benefit from this path be guided to it.
