Reiki Manual - create your own or copy the one you received

I found writing my own to be of tremendous benefit to my learning and understanding of Reiki. I also had a great sense of achievement when it was finished. Having your own also alows for updating or adding to your manual when you wish.

Linda xx

Thank you for your response.

I've been gathering various bits of information that interest me in relation to Reiki and I have been pondering putting them together into the manual for my future students.

I currently feel I should create my own, adding in areas of interest to me in order to help cement my own knowledge of Reiki in preparation for attuning and teaching others in this method of healing.

Absolutely agree you should create your own in style and layout. Ensure you include the content from your own masters manual that you know is reiki and feel free to remove anything that you know is 'add ons' that your reiki master (or those masters before him/her) have introduced.

I've come across masters who just produce, literally, a photocopy of their own master's manual for their students. To me that's just unprofessional and doesn't show any indication that they understand what they are teaching.

All Love and Reiki Hugs

I based my first one on the manual my teacher prepared for me - but I have developed it in my own style . I have almost totally re-written my manual since I taught my first student - and my second student who I am teaching tomorrow is going to have a very different manual !!

I give students copies of my manuals on CD to print and use for their courses. I expect them to use the manuals as provided as much as possible to keep continuity in the system of Reiki I teach and they teach so that the teachings stay in tact and keep their integrity from me to my students to their students to their students... etc

I know that individual teachers have their own way of teaching, so I allow students to re-word the manual should they wish to, as long as they keep the teachings and syllabus of the system in tact.

I also advise students that if they want to add anything extra or non-Reiki to the manual they do so as an appendix so students know where Reiki stops and other useful information starts.

I find this works well and helps to maintain the teachings and standards of the system of Reiki I teach.

I give students copies of my manuals on CD to print and use for their courses. .

one of the things i had to do to get my masters certificate was prepare my own manual

To my understanding, the Reiki modality was and is complete within itself, it works the way that Usui defined it to work and if people utilise what he gave and taught in the prescribed way that he taught it, then they are practising healing through the teachings and practice of the Reiki modality.

Every time something is changed or the emphasis is shifted, things are added or taken away, then the original intention that drives the modality is replaced with someone else's intention, so instead of teaching people to heal the way that Usui prescribed it to be, they are now teaching Reiki the way that they think it should be practised and taught.

This is like Chinese whispers, where a short sentence is pass around a circle of people, what comes back to the original person who said whatever started the circle, is usually completely different to what they said in the first place.

As I have said many times, if people want to do their own thing then that is fine, but they should not classify it as the Reiki healing modality, because that is both misleading and simply not true.

one of the things i had to do to get my masters certificate was prepare my own manual

I think that while this does help the student get a deeper understanding of the teachings, it does also mean the teacher loses control of the teachings and what will be taught and passed on in their lineage. Also, not everyone that takes e Reiki teaching course has the skills or confidence to write their own manuals and may feel overly pressured to do so.

Great responses, thank you so much for your input.

I certainly hope to retain the information as taught by my Reiki Master. The other elements I've collected and have thought to add in are additional "nice to haves" and been part of gaining a deeper understanding.

Much to think about.

To my understanding, the Reiki modality was and is complete within itself, it works the way that Usui defined it to work and if people utilise what he gave and taught in the prescribed way that he taught it, then they are practising healing through the teachings and practice of the Reiki modality.

Every time something is changed or the emphasis is shifted, things are added or taken away, then the original intention that drives the modality is replaced with someone else's intention, so instead of teaching people to heal the way that Usui prescribed it to be, they are now teaching Reiki the way that they think it should be practised and taught.

This is like Chinese whispers, where a short sentence is pass around a circle of people, what comes back to the original person who said whatever started the circle, is usually completely different to what they said in the first place.

As I have said many times, if people want to do their own thing then that is fine, but they should not classify it as the Reiki healing modality, because that is both misleading and simply not true.

But don't forger we can all trace our lineage back to Hayashi - who was asked to leave by Usui's other students because they felt what he was teaching was not in line with Usui's teachings. Reiki has been evolving from the day it started - as all healing modalities do..Modern medicine has come a long way since the days of leeches thank goodness. New does not automatically mean 'good' but tradition can stifle development

But don't forger we can all trace our lineage back to Hayashi - who was asked to leave by Usui's other students because they felt what he was teaching was not in line with Usui's teachings. Reiki has been evolving from the day it started - as all healing modalities do..Modern medicine has come a long way since the days of leeches thank goodness. New does not automatically mean 'good' but tradition can stifle development

Imv, Reiki is a simple healing kit. In the most basic terms: Attunements. Symbols activated through attunements. There is nothing to develop. The complicated overlay is there through casting a proprietorial net over universal phenomena which 'develop' and occur as a by product of self-healing (new symbols, new-found communication with Spirit Guides etc). I'm not making a judgement about whether this should or should not happen - it happens.....

However, going by many of the posts about Reiki teaching and Reiki Manuals, the issues are about what each person feels is 'socially acceptable' (using the term loosely) with regards to charging money to teach Reiki.

You said over on the [url]Christianity > Reiki [/url]thread that you're not quite sure what you beleive, you just trust that when you give reiki the energy will work it's magic:

All the reiki texts I have seen DO mention spirit guides. In fact as I said my mediumship ability is at best patchy so I don;t feel I have a strong communication with any guide (spirit or angel) but I trust my intuition. I DO believe my intuition can be guided by spirit (or angel)

Christinas believe in angels - but not that they can take an active role in the world today.

I will be honest and say I am not sure WHAT I believe!!! I just trust that when I give reiki , the energy will work its 'magic'

And as to why spirit should not be communicating with us from heaven - well if that can happen then the person receiving the message is acting as a 'medium' and the old testament specifically warns against consorting with mediums - so BEING one would be very unchristian.

It is only a minority who hold these sorts of views - and like I said I have given reiki to devout christians. But my sister who is way more devout than I am is clearly taken aback about the turn my life has taken and doesn't know WHAT to make of it.

...I challenge you to stand infront of a Reiki Class, charge whatever it is that you charge and say the words highlighted here. Because to me, that's all there is to it. Any questions that arise from persons involved come from fear-based doubt and attachment to the outcome. Which to me is going in the reverse direction to what Reiki is truly about - a system of Enlightenment. Again, I'm not saying this should or shouldn't be happening....

Really its simple, when you write your own manual you should begin to gain a far deeper understanding. But if you are simply copying what another has done then the understanding can be limited by the words of others. Yes i wrote mine or lets just say somebody did, and it was fun to do and all part of what i began to understand

The talk goes on about sticking to what Usui taught but Paul i think it was you that said none were actually able to do what he actually DID. Why i wonder? Well what about Usui the man and his personal level of development/insight...some things simply happen and will never be explained. How do you teach what is beyond words and knowledge..the level of openness that can come into being is beyond any course manual..

Sure the purists have a different approach and that will work to a degree..but if i have learnt anything over the last 30 years of using energy its that one size does not fit all.:)

Nobody will ever do what Usui did..why? because they are not him. In all honesty i very much doubt that he wished to create copycats.

Thank you that makes a lot of sense.

I've been reading this evening that the western version of Reiki has changed considerably since it was first rediscovered by Usui, through the process of "chinese whispers".

I have started my Reiki manual and slotting various bits into sections. I've also been looking into Shingon Buddhuism that Usui was practicing at the time. Will probably include a section in my manual regarding the sources of my learning, all helps in creating discussion. I plan to learn from my students as much as they learn from me.

Hi Tasanie

But don't forger we can all trace our lineage back to Hayashi - who was asked to leave by Usui's other students because they felt what he was teaching was not in line with Usui's teachings. Reiki has been evolving from the day it started - as all healing modalities do..Modern medicine has come a long way since the days of leeches thank goodness. New does not automatically mean 'good' but tradition can stifle development

Are you confusing a person's ability to develop themselves after the foundations that a healing modality provides them with, with their ability to change a healing modality that someone else has created?

The Reiki modality itself cannot develop as its creator is not here to further develop it, but the people who choose to personally develop themselves and learn to heal through utilising the foundations that the Reiki modality provides to them can.

What is happening here is that people are teaching their own conceptual understandings, that form through their own personal development after they have received their Reiki attunement and instructions, as the Reiki modality. That creates a problem, for the Reiki modality only works through Usui's personal conceptual understandings, nobody else's.

The foundations that a healing modality provides someone with so that they can build and develop themselves upon them, must remain the same if the modality is to remain effective. The attunement and instructions that Usui provided do what they were designed to do by Usui when given in the way that he created them. The buildings that people choose to build upon the foundations are something else and each person will build a building upon the foundation to suit them. The buildings are not the Reiki modality, the foundations that the buildings rest upon are.

Yes, people have linages that go back to Usui, but are they still receiving the same foundations to build their personal development and healing skills upon that Usui created for them, or are they receiving someone else's thoughts that are being presented as the Reiki modality?

Hi energyatwork

The talk goes on about sticking to what Usui taught but Paul i think it was you that said none were actually able to do what he actually DID. Why i wonder? Well what about Usui the man and his personal level of development/insight...some things simply happen and will never be explained.

There is a difference between what Usui could personally do outside of what the modality that he created was designed to do, it is impossible to to give someone else a life time of information that goes into creating the conceptual understanding that is used to create healing, but it is possible to package some of the concepts together to form a healing modality that others can make us of to heal in the way that it is conceived to work.

You asked in your post:

How do you teach what is beyond words and knowledge..the level of openness that can come into being is beyond any course manual

This is what is not understood about the attunements, empowerments or other connection methods that are employed to enable people to receive and utilise a modality, for that is exactly what they do, they contain the conceptual understanding of how the person who creates the modality uses to perform healing.

Once a person has received their connection to the modality, they do not need to understand how to heal, for when they activate the modality in whatever way it is designed to work, hey presto, they create a healing flow as an automatic process based upon the person's understanding who created the modality. If they then wish to learn to become a healer then that can come later on, depending upon if the teaching is up to scratch and if they choose to take the necessary time to develop themselves into a healer.

Nobody will ever do what Usui did..why? because they are not him. In all honesty i very much doubt that he wished to create copycats

I agree that it was not Usui's intention to create copycats and everyone is free to develop themselves beyond the foundations that the modality lays for them or not as they choose, but all healing modalities work through the conceptual understanding of the person who creates them and that together with their teachings need to be employed by everyone who uses or teaches the modality.

Paul
Thanks for the reply. i do understand what the Reiki system is about and have for many years that was why i moved on.

My post was simply trying to make the point that using the words of others rather than allowing your own growth to point the way can be restrictive. People learn the system and they copy what another is believed to have done; it often depends on the innate awareness that a person already possesses as to the choices they then make.:)