Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
140
first initiation. One by one they are called into a separate room
and asked to keep their eyes closed while the master opens their
Reiki channel i.e., attunes the aspirants energy field so that it
can access and then channel the Reiki energy in the universe. The
ceremony concludes with the master blowing air onto the top of the
head and the area of the heart. The student is then asked to
immediately practice Reiki on another student undergoing initiation.
The second degree, also taught in a weekend, goes into more detail.
Students learn how to perform distance healings and mental
healings (affirmations given to change negative habits, attitudes,
etc.).
Once again, symbols are used to establish contact and summon the
healing forces, and a ceremony is performed during which the
student is asked to keep the eyes closed.
A third degree, also taught in a weekend, gives the training to
become a Reiki master. Students learn how to initiate others.
There are charges for all levels of training, but the fees for the third
degree are quite high. Reiki holds that money is a basic life force; in
justification for the fees, Reiki master candidates are told that they
will quickly acquire money once they start performing initiations.
How it is practiced
There are three ways of practicing:
Direct treatment of oneself involves placing ones hands on the
body (or at a small distance from it) in a prescribed manner.
Direct treatment of another person again involves placing hands
on or near the body. The treatment lasts up to one and a half
hours.
Distance healing involves visualizing the person and sending
Reiki, making prescribed motions in the air.
A variant is mental healing, which involves visualizing a symbol and
quietly reciting a mantra in order to achieve direct contact with the
mind of the person being treated. Mental healing can be a feature of
direct as well as distance treatments.
When sending Reiki it is common also to send light, love and energy.
Members of a group of Reiki practitioners often take turns sending
each other Reiki. For example, if a person is unwell, he/she can ask
for a week of Reiki from other members.
142
144
***
Form Letter # 2 (to old students who indicate involvement in
energy-based healing techniques]
Dear [Name]:
Thank you for your interest in joining a Vipassana meditation course.
Your application mentions an energy-based healing technique,
namely, _____________________________, which poses a potential
conflict for your participation in this course. We make no judgment
about the technique that you have been practicing; however, our
experience has shown us that it is incompatible with Vipassana
meditation.
Our overriding concern is the welfare of our students. For this
reason, we cannot accept persons for more than one course if they
are practicing conflicting techniques. We regret that we must refuse
your application.
We will be happy to welcome you to a Vipassana course (either now
or in the future) when you have completely discontinued the
conflicting practice.
With best wishes,
[Name]
for Vipassana Meditation Centre
***
Form letter No. 3 (for new/old student applicants with
potential practice in conflict)
Dear [Name]:
Thank you for applying to join a ten-day Vipassana meditation
course.
You have indicated that you have some experience with energybased healing, namely, ________________. To help us evaluate your
application, would you please answer the following questions
146
***
Direct contact by assistant teachers may be the best way to deal
with the applicants who indicate a background in energetic healing
techniques. The AT has a chance to explain more fully, with mett,
the reasons for concern. Sometimes this is not feasible and the
following letters are examples of possible ways to explain our
position via letter.
Sample letter 1
From Goenkaji to a serious old student who is asking about Reiki and
also about acupuncture
Dear
I have received your letter about Reiki and Vipassana.
The intention behind some psychic healing practices is good.
However all such practices attempt to alter reality by means of
calling on some external force or auto-suggestion. This prevents the
practitioner from observing the truth as it is. Therefore they are
fundamentally at odds with the objective observation of reality that
is Vipassana.
The purpose of Dhamma is to make one strong and independent.
When one depends on an external force, he/she gets weakened. So
an energy healer may actually be harming the recipient or patient by
making him or her addicted to a pleasant sensation of which he has
no awareness. One makes subtle but strong sakhras (karma) of
craving.
Since you are a serious Vipassana meditator, you will appreciate that
the practice of mett is corrupted and the main aim of purification of
mind is lost in these practices. Please understand that this restriction
is not based on speculative reasoning alone but on actual experience
all over the world. I had to take this strong step reluctantly because
of experience of many cases around the world where mixing Reiki
148
150
If yes: At the end of your course, you are free to evaluate and
compare the benefits of Vipassana for yourself. We are happy
to invite students and practitioners of Reiki (or other energy
healing techniques) to attend one of our courses. However,
because of the incompatibility of the two, students who want
to return to our centers for a subsequent course must make a
decision to completely discontinue their Reiki practice. Please
understand that the restriction on Reiki practitioners is not
based on speculative reasoning alone but on actual experience
from all over the world. While it may be difficult to understand
this now, prior to attending your course, we trust that once
you learn Vipassana from your ten-day course you will
understand that Reiki and Vipassana are fundamentally
incompatible. Do you have any questions? Thanks so much for
being willing to speak with me about this. I will inform the
registration committee that you have approval for the course
and, depending if you are waitlisted for this course, you will
know that you are accepted when you receive a confirmation
letter detailing what to bring and what time to arrive.
If student does not agree, then inform him/her that we are sorry
but we cannot accept him/her into the course at this time for the
above reasons. Explain reasons again but do not argue or debate
with student.