Politics In Reiki
by Rev. Serena Lumiere
March 1998
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Politics In Reiki
by Rev. Serena Lumiere
March 1998
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Q.
Date: Tue, 03 Mar 1998 14:14:27 +0000
From: seeker
To: serena at seedreiki.reiki.com
Subject: Another REIKI in Chicago
Hi, I like your web page. I am glad there are so many
wonderful practitioners. Do you have any comments
regarding the regulation of Reiki, the ownership or
trademarking of Reiki by Phyllis Furomoto? Please share. I
can be e-mailed at seeker.
Seeker
A.
Dear Seeker,
Thank you for your email. I'm glad you enjoyed the page. Your question is certainly interesting. The situation with the current politics in the Reiki community has presented a challenge to me for quite some time now.
It seems that Ms. Furumoto is trying to do exactly what Mrs. Takata said should not be done to Reiki. to control and regulate it. My personal opinion is that there are others, close to Ms. Furumoto, who seem hungry for power and are encouraging her to take this position. But whatever the reason, she is responsible and accountable for her actions. I've given the situation a tremendous amount of thought, seeking to understand what seems to be happening. The Reiki Masters who hold my esteem teach acceptance: If you seek a Master who teaches levels 1 & 2 in one weekend they (and I) would support you in your quest. There are those who teach that way, and although I would not, I don't judge it. To me, Reiki is not a single path, but rather a way of life.
I've been facilitating a study group on "Conversations With God" for many months now. As I agonized over the things Ms. Furumoto is doing, I suddenly saw it in a different perspective:
We are seeing a repeat of the beginning of the Christian church. A movement of organizing, controlling - and ultimately contorting the principles and lessons a great Teacher gave to the world - for the purpose of supporting the controlling organization. And when I look at the things that have been done over the years "in the name of Christianity," I feel anxious for the Reiki community.
What she (Ms. Furumoto) is doing does not negate the principles and philosophies of Dr. Usui, Dr. Hayashi, or Mrs. Takata. Nor will it silence those whose ideas differ from hers. From reading her pages, it seems to me that her path is control of Reiki and the pursuit and accumulation of money. On the web page at http://www.furumoto.org/candidat.htm (a page which no longer exists), she said:
"Address issues around money and have the $10,000.00 U.S. ready for the master who initiates you at the time of initiation. The Reiki Community has created a false and deficient economy because of masters who have been initiated for less than $10,000 US and because many masters who are paying with time payments. Payment schedules take energy, time and more money to track the payments and people especially if they do not meet their own agreements. Together with the belief that full payment will serve you as a master because full empowerment then happens at the time of initiation."
Is Reiki about money? This looks like the dollar is more important than the person is. I don't know about her prosperity, but I do know that Reiki has added prosperity and abundance in my life FAR beyond money.
If you go to http://www.reiki.org/CurrentTopics/grmaster.html you will see a perspective of what she is doing from one of her own students. I think it's certainly worth looking at, as it gives some insight to her apparant focus on money.
Reiki belongs to the world. Look at one of the other leaders in the Reiki community. Read William Rand's pages at http://www.reiki.org. He teaches love and acceptance. Judgement is not part of his curriculum - and he demonstrates the difference between discipline and control in the way he presents his information. His focus seems to be sharing and increasing Reiki on the planet - and money comes behind that. But it is not the objective. Furthermore, when money DOES come behind what he does, he gives it away to improve the planet! To me, THAT is living in Reiki.
So, understand that we are being given a view of a human being demonstrating a human need. And that there are many of us who find other values more dear than the dollar. There are many of us who are working to develop Universal peace and who recognize that we are all beings of love.
Just as the Christian church does not "own" the teachings and examples of Jesus, she will never "own" Reiki. And don't let her need to control or attempts to regulate Reiki detract you from your path.
With love and light, Serena