„Reiki gains recognition as Complementary Therapy.” Sounds good? Why, really? Because it meets Reiki-aficionados‘ personal longing for appreciation? Or because Medical Aid companies would pay for treatments and seminars? Is it about money? Or is it a matter of the heart?
Last Saturday my colleagues from ibH and I have organised to present to the German speaking Reiki community in Switzerland the status quo of the recognition process of Reiki as a profession.
Respect !
in-best-hands (ibH) is a Center of Competence which includes in particular knowledge relating to professional activities with Reiki. As such I am most grateful for the experience and am proud of ibH’s role in the event in Zurich.
There were 53 people in the Glockenhof Hotel. Organisation, presentations and content were of high, professional standard. The participants accordingly, i.e. mostly engaged Reiki-practitioners or -teachers. An audience really interested in the recognition of Reiki.
SwissReiki as a French-speaking association stood in the centre of the event for their efforts to find official recognition of Reiki. They were very happy about the event. It was the biggest stage for them so far, even more special because it is in the German speaking part of the country.
The publisher of the German Reiki Magazin had sent his best wishes and will release a reportage about the event in one of the upcoming issues.
I guess that about a third of the people present was very pleased and support the efforts as they are unfolding. A little more than a third approves of how things are progressing, keeps on observing what happens next. Among the rest there were critical voices, some expressed quite forcefully.
Whatever one thinks of these efforts, SwissReiki as well as their partner APTN deserve greatest respect for their yearlong and resources consuming work.
6 years ago Mischa and I have met the president of SwissReiki, Francis Vendrell, and got to know him as a most committed and authentic man. It was this acquaintance from which this Zurich event eventually grew. Francis’ efforts for recognition of Reiki are beyond any doubt very close to his heart and purely intended for the good of Reiki.
Organised future ?
Thus far this is pretty much a straight translation from the German original of this article. The German original of this paragraph summarizes the efforts presented in Zurich by SwissReiki. I refrain from translating these technicalities because our English site serves mostly visitors from abroad who are not specifically interested in the nitty-gritty details in Switzerland. If anyone wants to understand them I recommend you visit SwissReikis Homepage directly or contact me for a direct communication.
A quintessential opinion, however, which many express says that sooner or later Reiki-practitioners have to have a recognised Swiss diploma or else they are not allowed to practice. With practice we mean the treatment of others against a financial compensation.
What our heart tells us
At this point Mischa and I, as Reiki teachers and -practitioners, distance ourselves from the above efforts. Neither do we believe that it will come to that point nor would we consider it a healthy development if it ever got there.
At this juncture now, there are (work-ethical) values and a comprehension of Reiki forcing themselves to the foreground so that a further support of the path taken by SwissReiki is no longer possible for us.
- We are committed to serve people so that they can unfold their self-responsible actions and holistic healing process.
- The beauty of Reiki is its simplicity. Every person can treat other people after initiation and instructions from the first Reiki level. The practitioner should ask for an energy exchange (including money) and be permitted to receive it. Without further training or advanced education (as the 2004 federal court’s decision in Germany makes it possible).
- Our comprehension of Reiki includes “characteristics” such as: Reiki is not invasive, non-manipulative. Reiki supports living organisms in their effort to reach a stage of harmony (ie the self-healing forces). This in natural and automatic resonance to existing disharmonies, which neither practitioner nor client need to be aware of. Reiki does neither necessitate diagnosis nor analysis of symptoms or their cause.
- In Reiki there is not only the phenomena itself, often named “energy” and its application, generally called “treatment”. Central in Reiki there is the initiation. It is often referred to as “atonement” or “activation”. These expressions point primarily at the “enabling” of the flow of the Reiki-energy. But initiation is more than that. For simplicity’s sake we call this more here “energy-flied enhancer” (more poetically one could say it is a “spiritual gift of karmic significance”). Initiation is the heart of Reiki, the Alpha and Omega and stands above and beyond anything that has to do with a formal recognition. It is central to the Master-student relationship.
These points we see endangered, respectively not duly taken into account by the current development. We realise that these may be primarily meta-physical considerations, partially philosophical and psychological, even abstract or mystical, and that as such they go beyond the scope of the Certification of Reiki, break its mould. Nonetheless, for Mischa and me they are of such significance, we feel so committed to them, that they dictate this decision.
It is in this last paragraph where our heart’s blood flows. And in the Namaste-character of the following.
We honour and respect the endeavours of others, whether we understand them or not, whether we agree or not.
Mischa Vögtli-Egloff andRené Vögtli (Author of this article)
full-time Reiki-Teachers and -practitioners since 1992