Do you have to believe in God

RE: Do you have to believe in God

I do reiki and I don't believe in God. I dont go to church or worship in the traditional sense and I dont think I ever will but I have faith in something, not quite sure what it is yet but as I said, not God as we know it.

Pauline

RE: Do you have to believe in God

Hi Pathfinder (again)

As I said in the other thread, I was an Atheist, but now I'm not so sure. I totally agree with Pauline, there is no 'God' as we know it (white robes flowing beard). I ammore drawn towards Mother Nature, the Earth & seasons. Things that are tangible. Whether this is Paganism/Wicca I don't know. I would need to find out more, and I intend to do so. There is something, but I personally don't know what.

Reiki has been the catalyst for my spiritual journey. I'm 30 years old now, and my journey has just begun. I wonder if I'll find the answers...

best wishes, love & light

Matt

RE: Do you have to believe in God

I do Reiki, do believe in god but no you dont have to!

RE: Do you have to believe in God

God is a very Western concept and as most of us here are Westerners I think it is a concept we find hard to shake off - especially the big man in the sky type idea. Buddhists don't have the idea of a creator God, neither do Shintoists (I think they're called that). If you are interested in how the idea of God developed then Karen Armstrong's The History of God is a good book to read.
I suppose that God is a way of explaining the transcendent in our lives that we all experience. So being an atheist or an agnostic in its strictest judeo-Christian terms should in no way impede anyones spiritual development.

RE: Do you have to believe in God

Hi all, my own personal experience is that there is an ultimate source or place/state of being where everything just is and where nothing seems to exist, yet you know everything without knowing but have no need to know anything.

Words cannot describe it, and I feel this is the source of everything. Some would say that this is God and if that is what God is, then that is fine by me. I do not believe God to be a person or being though.

So no, I didn't (and don't) believe in God in the Biblical sense, but I do know there is a ultimate state of being.

Reiki doesn't require belief in God though. Although practicing reiki does leave you open to more possibilities and definately shows us that we all possess this state of being that some may call God.

Darren

RE: Do you have to believe in God

I too do not perceive God in a religious sense. Although I would use the term God as I can find no other adequate one I see God as a creative, intelligent,loving energy that holds the Universe together. We are all a part of God but depending on our frequency depends on how close to the source of the creative energy we are. The less enlightened someone is the further they are away from the source and the closer they are to the darkness.

RE: Do you have to believe in God

Hi All,

God is not something outside of ourselfs.

Jesus taught, You don't have to follow me to get to God for the Kingdom of Heaven is within You.

Personal Responsibility is clearing the inner junk so that we may establish this truth for ourselfs.

When I was coming home once from Edinburgh, where I trained with The Diana Cooper School of Angels and Ascension, I called to see a very magical Being - Buddha Maitreya, a Zen Monk, who runs Purelands in Notts. Like always, He saw straight through me and without knowing where I had come from said "Ah, they are teaching You that God is outside of You, and that Buddha is another". He then indicated to me the truth.

Maitreya, incidentally, translates as "teacher".

There are a handful of people on the planet at present who can raise their vibration to God.

More can reach their Monad. The Monad has a family of 12 Higher-Self's.

More can reach their Higher-Self. Some mistake this for being God.

Naturally the Higher-Self is the individuals God and is connected to God via the Monad and "the bridge".

As far as "religion" is concerned. Religion translates as "belief system". Therefore we all have a religion. The days of "collective belief systems",doctrines, and collective religions are numbered. We all have the capacity to know "the truth". Collective religions, when there is more than one, creates separation. All fear is a sense or perception in separteness.

The primary chakra that is developing for humanity and the planet is the sacral chakra. This is the inner-feeling one, as opposed to the solar-plexus which is outer-showing.

Mostof humanity is not in touch with their feelings sufficiently to have healed the negative emotions of fear to "know".

Love is a feeling, not an intellectual concept or pursuit. This is why healing is so important.

The highest level of meditation is "Be still and know I AM God".

When we breathe and BE, what is not Love surfaces for attention and healing. The rest is simply the journey HOME, to the truth, to the Omnipresence known as God. Oneness. Wholeness.

Back to basics: Love does not hurt!

Simple.

With Angel Love,

David x

RE: Do you have to believe in God

You do not need any belief in God to do Reiki, in fact you do not need to believe in Reiki either, all you have to do is be a willing instrument for the intelligent energy to work through you. So the key words are surrender, trust and let it BE!

God and thought the word was Dog backwards yet she was a Reiki healer.

Well universal love comes to mind and of course Reiki is a love vibration, to people who have an issue with the word God, I explain that God is light and light is love and so do we embrace the light of love? If we do not then what are we doing giving healing to others? What is the motivation and intent?

I actually quite like the term 'Dog' because dogs are mans best friend, they are angels and our healers, they also love us unconditonally.

Reiki is all about unconditional love. 😉

People who have an serious issue with the word God usually have a past life religious issue to resolve. Hence, why their soul in this life chose another incarnation to bring the issue to the fore. If the issue is not resolved this life time that it is an initiation that has not been completed and the person will come back again to resolve it.

A Reiki Master Teacher with extreme issues of this nature does not bode well.

God is in the purity of your own heart, your Godself is the inner chamber of your own heart of conscience and intelligence.

As Jesus said 'did I not Ye, Ye are Gods.

There is no doubt about it Reiki certainly does bring one home to Godself if we allow it to.

I love the Sufi saying and is certainly true of my own journey, 'I was looking for the self and I found God, when I found God I found the self.'

Divine Love

RE: Do you have to believe in God

Yep,

That resonates with me Divine Love.

The word God is very emotive.

Think of poor old Akhenaton who many years ago displaced the numerous gods with the One God. That went down like a brick in a pool with the masses. Or at least their "leaders".

Dogs are certainly part of God as all is.

We are all One.

As we heal the fears that separate us from ourself's and others, only Love remains.

We can only heal with the high vibrations of Love, whether that be in the form of Reiki, Seichem or any other energy powered by intent as high as the individual can muster.

Thats my view anyway.

Dx

RE: Do you have to believe in God

PS... and incidental.

Divine Love, Kim,

I love Your website!

Best wishes to You and all that You do.

With Angel Love,

Dx

RE: Do you have to believe in God

J.B. Phillips, in a book entitled Your God is Too Small, (paperback published 1961) describes more than twelve concepts of God that limit how we think of him/her/it. Some of the "forms” of God that he mentions are the Grand Old Man, Projected Image, Absolute Perfection, and Managing Director. He does a wonderful job of explaining how these concepts are insufficient to give us adequate understanding.

The second half of the book helps to construct a larger view of a possible God. Of any book I have ever read, this one was most helpful in enlarging my openness to the concept of God as reality rather than collective myth.

As you try to look closely at the facets of a diamond you can only see one at a time, face on. You are aware of those that are next to the one you can see fully, yet you cannot examine them in just the same way. You can, however, change the position from which you view to get a different perspective.

In this same way, we can view the energy called reiki and see it as one aspect of all that is. What you believe has no effect on the reality, only on your ability to accept.

RE: Do you have to believe in God

Thanks Holos. That was really interesting.

RE: Do you have to believe in God

An interesting and thought provoking thread, thank you!
When I am talking to someone who asks what Reiki is I tell them what it ISN'T! It's not faith healing or spiritual healing and belongs to no religion (and neither do I!). Once that is 'out of the way' then people seem to relax and be more interested.

I posted a year or so ago about my interesting conversation with the local Vicar and thought it might be appropriate to recall some of it here.

He wanted to know what it was I was doing at a local festival as he had seen lots of people coming and going from my gazebo. I told him I was giving Reiki 'tasters' but that a lot of the people had been past clients popping in tosay hello and catching up with how they were now.
He then asked me to explain Reiki and how did it feel when I was 'working'? I explained about the white light running through me etc and he looked in amazement and said that was exactly what he felt when healing by the laying on of hands and prayer at the Church's healing sessions.
He asked me where did I think this energy came from and I said I believed it came from the Source of all things but went under lots of other names to make it more acceptable to as many people as possible. He was very interested and I found it wonderful that we could be having this conversation without him trying to convince me it wasGod!
Since that chat he has been very supportive and has endorsed me on a few occasions with some of his 'flock'.
So, no, I don't believe in God as in the Bible but it hasn't stopped me from being in awe of this wonderful energy!!

Love and light

reikiangel

xxx

RE: Do you have to believe in God

Thank you everybody for taking the time to answer my question. It has certainly made me think.

I have been so scathing of the thought of the word 'God' and how can there be this omnipotent person out there somewhere with all the terrible things going on in the world. I'd convinced myself that the bible was just fiction or at least stories that had just got exaggerated of maybe a Billy Graham of their time.

I think I am beginning to turn the corner but obviously have a lot to learn. I am wondering if I should wait a bit longer before I do my Reiki - just don't feel worthy enough yetsomehow????

RE: Do you have to believe in God

Dear Lesley,

When I was about 7, I was wandering through the woods in my school with my arms crossed and proper frustrated.

I remember getting home for tea and saying to my Mum - "Mum, there must be a God?!"

She replied - "I don't see how there can be David, because of the Jews that died in the war".

That stumped me for about another 25 years.

Then I realised, through learning and experience, and re-membering, that this is a "free-will" zone.

There are very few in all the galaxies of the Universe, which makes Earth one of the best "Mystery Schools" there is.

And, it is the fundamental basis why we are not judged from "above".

It will all become "clear" Dear One. Keep the faith.

Much Love,

David x

RE: Do you have to believe in God

Somewhere in these threads, RMc says:

God is a very Western concept

but I just don't think that's true. As a concept I think God is pretty universal - and if I were being pedantic I'd point out that Islam, Judaism and even Christianity all have their origins in the East!

But when it comes down to it, God - G-O-D - is only a word. You could replace the word with many others (Source, Supreme Being, Intelligent Creator) or you can transpose God with Goddess and posit the idea of a Supreme Feminine Deity - whatever. Ultimately it matters not what one believes but that one should allow others the freedom to their own beliefs without trying to change them. There are many paths. If we all just live our lives without harming others, in fact if we treat others the way we would wish to be treated, if we try to fill our hearts with love....then who cares what we all 'believe'.

Love
Sunanda xxx

RE: Do you have to believe in God

Sananda I have explained myself rather badly.
I do think when people refer to themselves as atheists or agnostics they are refering to a very Westernised concept of God. Yes non-monotheistic cultures do have God but it isn't nearly the same as a Judeo-Christian-Islamic concept. Even then I think being an agnostic from an Islamic culture is declaring youself to be disbelieving of quite different concepts to be a "Christian agnostic' if you know what I mean. And Islamic ideas about God as are close to Christian ones as you can get in the greater scheme of things.
I think when people reject notions about God they are generally speaking (here at least) from a Christian perspective and they are often rejecting the Sunday School 'big man in the sky' notion. When I rejected the notion of God I rejected the evangelical idea of 'what we say is from God and what every one else says is from the devil' fundamentalism that was my main experience of God. So at least to me, when people declare themselves to be agnostic or atheists within Christian traditions they are not rejecting notions of the divine or the transcendent but specific concepts from our Western culture.
I hope I have explained myself a bit better.

RE: Do you have to believe in God

Hi RMc

Yes, I understand w here you're coming from now and quite agree with the validity of that point of view. If we start from a Christian perspective, then you're absolutely right that most people in this country and in Europe and US have a preconceived notion of an old man with a long white beard sitting on a cloud looking pretty much like Gandalf! And that Christian-Judaeo notion of a vengeful God, a God of wrath (am I right in thinking this would describe the Islamic concept of Allah also?) is what most people are thinking of when they describe themselves as 'not believing in God'. Many people though do have an inherent sense of there being 'something', some greater power that is out there looking after us. My own belief is that this Supreme Being is full of love and that we are taken care of, in spite of all the evidence to the contrary.

Love
Sunanda xxx

RE: Do you have to believe in God

Well, I was brought up a Catholic and still attend church, but my personal understanding has become broader than the original God that I was brought up to know, as I've read a fair few spiritual/new age books (which are influenced by traditional religions when you examine the detail and what they are saying).

I know there is something out there guiding me along my path, helping me when I'm in trouble and teaching me via experiences. It's not just my "higher self" because it's subtly controlling other people over whom I have no control, bringing them into my life either to test me, to teach me something, to guide me in the right direction and to provide when I want. I call this entity God, but you can call it Universal Energy, the Universal Mind, Allah, Brahman etc... Well, if there isn't a god, then looking back over my life, I've been an extremely lucky person, even with the terrible, dark times in my life (I have been close to the edge twice for two entirely different reasons), but I don't think it is about luck as I've never won the lottery.:D

Oh, and religions aren't as bad as people say. The snag with religion is that it gets ruined by man (or woman) taking the information and twisting it to their own end. Take any holy book - it's full of answers that can help you when you're stuck or just can't understand why something bad has happened.

A nice example is St Francis of Assisi's prayer:
Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace
where there is hatred, let me sow love
where there is injury, pardon
where there is doubt, faith
where there is despair, hope
where there is darkness, light
and where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console
to be understood, as to understand
to be loved, as to love
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life. Amen.

If we all applied this to any conflicts in our lives, how would they turn out now?

RE: Do you have to believe in God

Darren
I 100% agree with you. If your experience of religion has been compassion, loving, caring living spirituality as exemplified by mystics in all traditions throughout the ages then you will have a great experience of the the Divine and the Christian idea of God will seem wonderful. Unfortunately that's not been a lot of people's experience of religion.
Exactly the same could be said of the New Age movement or Reiki. I have a friend who has sold jewellery at a couple of 'New Age' fairs and found the stallholders to be some of the most uncompassionate people she has met in her life and wants nothing to do with New Agers ever again and barely tolerates me 😉 .
Sometimes my experience of New Agers makes me feel that the last time I met such an ignorant arrogant bunch was in the extreme examples of exploitative money grabbing African evangelical ministers - and no we are not all like that but a lot of us are, and all of us make mistakes.

RE: Do you have to believe in God

Well the thing is, we are all individuals. I come from a family of Scottish presbyterians and my mum went to church till she was 17 and circumstances dictated that she didnt go any longer.
She married a Roman Catholic and my fathers dad would not speak to her because she would not convert.
My mum doesnt practice any faith, neither does my gran these days and her family were steeped in the church.
My mum always said that her kids, ie me and my brother, when we grew up we would make our own mind up, neither of us worship or believe in God but I think we are both caring people.
I have a strong sense of self and humanity to other people and I have always had that.
In my teens I was given a terrible time at school because I admitted to someone that I was not religious and I have never forgotten that.
I have also worked for a number of Christian based charities. In one job which I had to leave for my own health's sake, I was receiving hate mail from a staff member junior to me, she was a ministers wife. Another member of staff conducted and led what I can only describe as a hate campaign against me. He was and is a church elder.
The point that I am making is that people, good and bad come in all shapes and sizes and faiths.
The people who were most vindictive to me in that job were the people who ran around wearing their faith asa badge to show they were good people.
I have also met people who have faith and get on with it quietly and are decent people. I am still surprised by the reaction I get from some people when I tell them that I dont go to church and I dont believe in God.
I think that we live in a very faith based society, however as I have already said, I think people should live and let live, the people I like accept me for me and I them and a decent person is a decent person full stop no matter their faith or indeed in my case lack of it.

Pauline

RE: Do you have to believe in God

ORIGINAL: I am wondering if I should wait a bit longer before I do my Reiki - just don't feel worthy enough yet somehow????

Lesley if 'worthiness' was a pre-requesite for learning Reiki then none of us would ever learn it!
Humility is thing to be appluaded, as is a questioning mind - especially having an ability (as you appear to have) to alter your world view as you learn. You may wish to wait until you learn Reiki because you want to take your time to find the right teacher to learn the best techniques and practices for you, but please don't wait until you are 'worthy' - none of us are!
Rachel

RE: Do you have to believe in God

This an article that I've come across via a Guardian blog about a vehement anti-monotheist who also meditates and believes firmly in mysticism
[DLMURL] http://www.salon.com/books/int/2006/07/07/harris/index_np.html [/DLMURL]

RE: Do you have to believe in God

Oh thank you Rachel. You brought tears to my eyes then.

I spoke with a Reiki Master the other day and her course is one whole day for all 3 courses.:eek:

But, today whilst out shopping with a friend, I happened to pop into a shop I rarely go into and somebody was manning the shop for a friend and her daughter was there. We got chatting about all sorts and menopause bla bla bla and I recommended something to her for hot flushes and then happened to mention something about wanting to do Reiki and Kinesiology.

Well, she is a Reiki Master and we got on sooooooo well. We are meeting for a chat next week and I hope to learn more from her. We also talked about GOD and she too used to have a problem with saying the word. She advised me to do the course gradually because I need the time to self heal - I am digressing again - spose this should be a new thread.[&:]

This is the 4th Reiki person I have met in 4 weeks. Think somebody is trying to tell me something?????

RE: Do you have to believe in God

That's how it works, Lesley!!!:) Isn't it great?

I wish you every happiness in your path, except when happiness isn't the way for you to go forward! Sometimes we learn most from the hardest and most painful times but once we're on a path, the only way - ultimately - is up.

Rachel is absolutely right - you don't have to wait until you're worthy. Because you already are!

Much love - great to have you as part of the hp family
Sunanda xxx

RE: Do you have to believe in God

Hi,

I just wanted to add my views on this; I am agnostic & a RM - you definately do not need to believe in God in order to practice Reiki. To me, they are pretty much seperate things. (I mean in the way religions see God)I used to class myself as athiest but I have learnt that so many other *things* are true & my perception of them have changed over the years so I don't discount anything as impossible now.
I do like to have personal proof on things before I willl believe in them -but the existence of a God as religion depicts, doesn't come under that description for me.
I have to say though that the first time I really fully experienced the Reiki energy, I realised how some people believe the energy is from God as it is so beautiful, loving & pure, & for me, it's the closest *case* I have ever experienced which supports the idea of there being a God, & the energy coming from it.
Anyway, just thought I'd add my bit - sorry if I have repeated something some else has said - I'm in a bit of a hurry & haven't read all the replies!

Love & Light,
SS

RE: Do you have to believe in God

I would think that you wouldnt have to believe in God but you would have to accept that the energy coming through you is of a divine nature. I asked my Reiki Master the other day...how much of reiki is me and how much of it is the divine? she said that since we are all part of the universe than all your doing is channeling the energy from all around you through your hands to heal others. she goes by the belief that god is within us. I think I still see God as outside or at least in the sense that when you are attuned you are opened up to a source that you were not opened up to before. That is a mystery and its interesting why it wasnt there before. But I believe there is a Source, spirit whatever you call it out there but im open to what it is.

RE: Do you have to believe in God

ORIGINAL: perfectcusp
I would think that you wouldnt have to believe in God but you would have to accept that the energy coming through you is of a divine nature.

I would say it depends how you define "divine". The word itself means Being God or Goddess or, Of God or a god; which is implying a belief in God. Reiki does not require a belief in God. Reiki is not attached to any religion. If you (a general "you", not you specifically perfectcusp ;)) wish to believe the source of Reiki is God then it is fine to believe that; if you wish to believe that it is simply the energy of the whole universe then that is also fine. Reiki fits with all beliefs and that is why it is suitable to all people.

Love and Reiki Hugs

RE: Do you have to believe in God

I certainly wasnt trying to be pompous in my previous post. i think its where I feel like i have felt that its very spiritual and it gets to me so much that its hard to be general. I think its great people can use it anyway regardless of what they believe.