Catholic Bishops Say No to Reiki as "Superstition"

What we make of it, is that the Church dislikes having Her franchise encroached on.

But this is hardly surprising.

The Church has no problem embracing Newt, even tho' he dumped his wife who was dying of cancer for a better healed woman...so why should they be troubled by silly little things like statistical evidence.

My respect for the Church is grows less and less with each passing week this month. Unbelievable, truly, unbelievable. I can only imagine what they will do to top this one next week...

It's a control issue with the RCC. If they can't throw anything"divine" into something, then is certainly isn't worth pursuing! Never mind that it can help someone.

The RCC used to have a banned movie list, which, IMO, would make the movie more attractive! So now, Reiki is "bad". Makes it even more attractive! OH, it could comprise one's "spiritual" health?? Whatever the heck that means! The RCC just likes control, which IMO it is beginning to lose...fortunately.

Perhaps a splinter of the True Cross found its way into the hands of a Reiki priest and they have secretly appropriated our magic? Alas, my own parish, Saint Helen has a piece of this magic wood in its possession. They won't let anyone touch it though, lest some undeserving sinner profanes it by being cured while not in a state of grace. We could save a lot of people if we wished, after all we have the power to bind and loose. But we prefer to bind...

We should put Reiki and Catholic approaches up against the hard, cold, empirical (and sadly modernist) modern medicine. The one true Church consistently produces more cures and miracles than all the others put together. I reckon Reiki would score a distant second. Any one who favors science needs to reread the Syllabus of Errors again or ponder on Archbishop Schonborn's wise remarks about evolution.

Whaddya know? When I took a Reiki class back in the 80s, we were told that Dr. Usui was a Christian praying for the healing power of Christ.

I don't know of anyone who had any actual physical healing from it. Most a form of psychological support.

Things work when a person believes hard enough that it will work, so no one can correctly say "Reiki doesn't work".

Well, the RCC thinks that healing is 'not subject to the manipulation of human mind/effort'.

Hmmm.

Seems that a really great scientific experiment was performed. A number of very ill patients in a hospital were divided into two groups. A large number of people from different faiths were gathered together as well. The 'faithful' people were told to pray for healing for one of the groups of patients. They had not met these people, didn't know their names etc. They did so for 30 days.

After the experiment, the conclusion was that the people in the prayed-for group mostly recovered, and did so uneventfully with no complications. The non-prayed-for group did not do well at all. A large number of them died, and the ones who did recover had a difficult recovery.

The prayer group was obviously manipulating something - could it just be this 'Universal Life Energy'?

And no, the majority of this prayer group was not RCC. Some of them were not even Christian. But they all believe in the power of 'prayer' to whatever deity they choose. And the power was given.

Science doesn't know everything. Just because it hasn't been 'proved beyond a shadow of a doubt' doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Scientists used to believe that objects were solid. We know now they are mostly made up of empty space. 50 years ago, the theories of quantum physics were unknown. Now, we have actually demonstrated 5 of the 6 particles predicted by that theory. Dark matter? Yup - it's true. Who knew? I am sure there is more stuff in the Universe we know nothing about. That does not mean it does not exist.

If you have a good Reiki practitioner and think it helps you - well, the placebo effect is as good an explanation as any. And does the RCC deny the placebo effect? That is not a 'spiritual' nor a 'natural' healing technique.

==Seems that a really great scientific experiment was performed.==

So, you dreamt it was performed?

My God, was it, or wasn't it???? Did it seem like it was, or was it???? GEEZ!

Don't knock something you've never tried, "I" Dude.

I've tried "Christianity", but decided it is a great fairy tale. You've never tried Reiki, so how do YOU know it doesn't work? You don't. A god doesn't have to be connected to everything to make it work. A failure can then be excused as "a lesson" or not "God's will". God's will? Allowing wars, death of children, starvation, droughts, etc.? Don't feed me the "free will thing". N.A. Sorry Charlie! Not for me. Reiki however? Makes a heck of a lot more sense.

Blessed Be

Religion itself is no science. It is a sum up of beleifs and ethics.
Probing the concept of God itself is an esoteric science, where religion takes its birth.
The concept of God verbatim is comprehended as Creator and supreme ruler of the Universe----from which science this was derived.
BUT THIS WORD IS WELL ACCEPTED AS NATURAL AND SUPERNATURAL.
Again Science talks of various energy physical and metaphysical, and every invention and discovery is again from the human being which was once imagination and fantasy, but still manifested as reality.
All this cannot happen without God's will, with his energy of life put into every creation of HIS.
If this energy is accepted by every religion on Earth, then REIKI IS AS WELL ACCEPTED FROM THE TIME GOD CREATED HUMAN BEINGS.
Every Human is a BEING, this can be realised only in his true form being ENERGY.
REIKI JUST VALIDATES THIS TRUTH.

==... Reiki with only the concept of Universal energy---NOT A RELIGION.==

It IS a religion. A false religion.

==The lack of being able to answer with anything but a god related answer leads me to believe you have stopped thinking for yourself.==

Quite the contrary. You'd have to think that to justify yourself.

== Fiction is fine...==

As you have shown in your posts.

==... but it isn't an answer to every blasted comment someone makes.==

Then, stop doing it.

== The bible [sic] is a work of fiction. ==

You'd have to think that, too. That's part of the trick you play on your mind.

==Mind tricks comment from one who is an expert==

I was blind, and God, through Christ, made me see. Before faith, my mind played tricks on me. Before the Word, my mind played tricks on me. Now we have to work on people like you, so that you can realize your unrighteous condition before God.

Pagansister,
I envy you your patience and willingness to learn and share.

The more time I spend here, the more difficult I find it to velvet my claws.

With each passing day, it becomes easier to understand why Jesus found the company of prostitutes and tax collectors preferable to that of the rigidly unbending religious.

There is no god. When my 12 year old son was diagnosed with his severe, chronic, incurable, eventually disabling and then fatal illness, I prayed hard. And no one answered, because no one is there. This world, with all its pain and misery and agony, is all that there is. If you find comfort in believing in a fairy tale like "god," then I'm happy for you, but you're just delusional.

Karly, what a dreadful experience to live through. I have two sons, who so far, are in good health...

It isn't that your prayers weren't heard, or that they weren't answered. They just weren't answered with the miracle you were hoping for (whether that was a miracle through faith, or a scientific solution found "just in time", or some other possibility).

This may sound trite to you - I am not trying to be that way. I remember praying like anything when I was young for a father who was very ill. My prayer was answered - Dad died, so my answer was "not this time." It was Dad's time to go, even though he was still young. It was 3 weeks before my 6th b'day, and 3 days before my mother's 44th b 'day.

Interestingly, I saw Dad in my room a few days after the funeral, looking healthy, and smiling at me. This made me realise that while we cease to exist physically, part of us is beyond that physical death.

Your son is now beyond that.

My hope for you is that as time passes, you regain a sense of joy for whatever happy times you shared with your son, and that one day, you will be reunited.

I won't say my prayers are with you - you might find that somewhat presumptuous given your current state of mind - but I will say my thoughts are with you...

Well put John. I was going to reply to Mr. I's rattlings but in light of what you have said I shall send him love and light instead.

I feel neither called nor qualified to be an apologist for Reiki, but I will share my personal feelings about the Conference of Bishop's regretful decision. When I first studied and was attuned to Reiki more than 16 years ago, several tenets were impressed upon me and my fellow initiates by our Master Teacher. The first was that Reiki is not a religion, can be practiced by anyone of anyfaith, and does not require a "belief system" to work. The second was that Reiki energy comes from the "universal source" and comes through us and not from us. The third, and for me the most important, was that channeling Reiki with the purest and highest intention is an act of love. Therein lies my disappointment with the Bishop's decree. They seem to have forgotten about love.

To deny the ability to share love and compassion through the laying on of hands and relegate it only to divine inercession through prayer is forgetting the foundation of Christian healing as described in Luke 9:1-2: (1) "When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, (2) and he sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick."

According to their own canon, Jesus empowered the disciples to heal and charged them with the responsibility to minister to the sick. To deny Reiki, is to deny all forms of spiriutal and energy healing and to forget the loving foundation of all healing. It also serves to disempower the wonderful nuns and priests I have had the privilege to study with and attune over the years.

Reiki for me was a spiritual accelerant. It brought me closer to God and opened my heart. May those with closed hearts look deeply inside and may God move them from egoism to altruism, from dogma to open-mindedness and from fear to love.