Recently, on Twitter, I received this tweet in my mentions column:
@ReikiAwakening Reiki is just faith healing without the faith. Witchcraft in other words. We foremost promote REAL alternative medicine.
I don’t follow (on Twitter) the person who challenged me in this way, nor have I had any previous interaction with him. When I receive tweets like this, my first instinct is to try to explain that Reiki is real. I did send two tweets back in response, and then my dear rational friend Sophie Lhoste told me to block him. I did. Sophie reminded me that what we put our attention on increases, and what we ignore decreases. It was wise advice.
This came on the heels of two days of being challenged by another Twitter member who is a scientist and kept tweeting at me to explain what I do in scientific terms. I tried, unsuccessfully, to put a logical, rational explanation out there of what Reiki is, how it works, what I experience, and so forth. Eventually, after this person kept asking me repeatedly more probing questions, I found it impossible to explain. I’m not a scientist. I’m not a faith healer. I’m not a witch. I am a Reiki practitioner and a teacher. (I feel like I’m in a Star Trek episode, “Dammit, Jim, I’m a Reiki teacher, not a scientist!” Bones said that once, didn’t he? ha).
It brought me to a realization and a little source of frustration that Reiki is not something that always has predictable or measurable results. I can intend for the energy to do a certain thing (relieve a headache, remove emotional blockages), and it may do that. The only way of knowing that it did is by getting the feedback from the recipient that he feels better. I can often get energetic “dings” when I scan a person’s energy, alerting me to imbalances in a certain area when I’m giving a Reiki healing. I respond to those “dings” by directing the energy there as I am giving the healing. But the only way I know for sure if it worked is when I hear back that the person feels better. I don’t always know what the outcome will be, although I nearly always get a response that there is relief of some kind after a healing session. That consistent validation keeps me confident that Reiki helps. But it’s not an exact science, like pinpointing an issue with a laser beam and watching the changes occur through a microscope. It’s not visible. It’s subjective. And different results happen for different people, because needs are very individual. So it’s hard to explain that to someone who wants a concrete explanation.
My mother-in-law was recently discovered to have a 5-cm tumor on her left lung. It was discovered accidentally. She underwent a battery of tests, both external and invasive. Yes, it’s what you’re thinking it is. And it may have spread. I’m not saying the word here. That’s because I don’t want to put more energy into the word or make it a self-fulfilling prophesy. As Sophie said, what we put attention on increases. That isn’t to say I’m ignoring this, not at all. But I’m also doing all I can not to feed it.
Which brings me to the next point, regarding the vagueness of Reiki. I mobilized all of my Reiki friends and put in a request with the Distance Healing Network to send my mother-in-law healing energy. Another Reiki friend and I did a combined healing session for her, visualizing wrapping that tumor in healing energy and shrinking it. We sent light to her immune system. We worked together, feeling the energy flowing strongly.
Scans showed there was no change in the size of the mass. It did not grow, it did not shrink. Still there. Weirdly, biopsies came back inconclusive but the doctors feel the need to do more invasive biopsies because the scans showed the cells are active and spreading. I have no idea if or how all of this Reiki is helping. That’s my frustration. She is still anxious and having trouble sleeping. The mass is still there. More tests and forthcoming treatments are planned. It’s as if nothing made a difference.
Am I expecting miracles? Well I’d like to think that I could do SOMETHING to help. Yes, of course I’m there, taking her to appointments, offering support, love, presence, reassurance. But I’m blessed with the ability to do Reiki for a reason, and I want to use this gift to help someone I love so dearly! She wants to fight this, to live to watch her grandchildren grow and enjoy them. The doctor’s words “stage 4….no cure….radiation….” echo off the walls and deflate hope with each bounce. I don’t want those words to have energy that feed this diagnosis. I want positive thinking to prove a miracle can happen.
Abraham-Hicks is bold enough to say that positive thinking is all one needs to turn one towards complete health from any condition, nearly immediately. That sounds so bold, and I want to believe it, and yet it seems to fly in the face of reality. And yet….and yet….friends tell me of surprising results when doctors suddenly couldn’t find a tumor when they were ready to operate. All that changed is the person remained positive and didn’t get discouraged by the doctor’s diagnosis. Miracles happen and I’m really hoping this can be one of those miracle stories. I also know it’s not all up to me, even though I’d like to be able to do something that will help make a difference.
There are those who say Reiki goes towards a person’s highest good, whatever that may be. It’s so vague. And then there’s the aspect of setting intention to drive the energy toward a specific goal. That’s the opposite. Which is true? I’m not sure. Probably both. And I also don’t have knowledge of what a person’s highest good is. Sometimes this is challenging. I often ask for “the healing that is needed” and add that “any lessons attached to this healing be gently received.” I trust in the higher powers to translate this intention into reality for the recipient. This leaves the challenge of explaining or reconciling what the outcome is to the goal of the healing. Is it really in one’s highest good to remain sick or get worse? I don’t know. I hope not. There are those who say that one has lessons to learn in this lifetime, or karmic debts to pay that are lived out through one’s experiences. I don’t know lots about this personally, so I listen to those ideas and take them in, weighing them against my own gut feelings. Suffering can be so hard to understand.
I’ve felt that it’s my path to continue to offer and teach Reiki healing. It is a niche that I’ve fallen into and it’s fit me so well that I’m merged with it. I receive emails from students and clients about how much the Reiki has helped them feel better. This is my validation. This is my signal to keep doing what it is I do. I can’t give the scientists and skeptics who challenge me more of a concrete answer than that. There are literally hundreds of people who I’ve shared energy with that are grateful and received relief from receiving or learning Reiki. This keeps me going. This renews my faith every single day.
So despite not knowing what the energy will do, where or how it may specifically help a person, or knowing if it will or won’t trigger a miracle, I keep on sharing it. I keep on believing in the power of Reiki.
The combination of trust and intention are keys to the process.
Thanks for reading.