DIAMONDS
ARE...?
Copyright
© 2007 James Deacon
Diamonds are forever
[No,
that's not it
What I meant to say was]
Reiki
Initiations are
Forever?
In
my opinion, the frequently-repeated notion that "once Reiki
initiation is given, it can't be undone" came about partly
as a misunderstanding of something Takata-sensei used to tell
her students.
In
response to voiced concerns (arising out of quite common and understandable
insecurity on the part of many fledgling students), she frequently
had to reassure people that once they had received Reiki (initiation)
from her, it would stay with them always - they would never lose
it - it would not disappear (- accidentally, as it were)*
[Though,
in saying that Reiki would stay with them always, she did warn
her students, they would never lose it as long as they did not
attempt to pass the Reiki ability on to another person without
having been trained in the proper method of doing so.]
Over the years the belief that Reiki would stay with students
was reinforced by each new generation of Reiki masters
However,
the inference grew beyond Takata-sensei's meaning, to also
mean that the initiation was something that could not be intentionally
undone - could never be reversed. Period.
Yet
this unsubstantiated belief in itself may well have been born
out of yet a deeper insecurity
Afterall,
what if an initiation could actually be intentionally reversed/undone/negated?
Could someone (a Reiki Master, with the necessary understanding)
possibly 'de-initiate' a student
- against
their wishes?
There
have, for example, been cases of Masters 'disowning' students
for various reasons, e.g. where a student has chosen to modify
the way they present/practice/teach Reiki or perhaps the student
is acting in ways considered unethical by the Master etc. In such
instances, the Master might deny the student permission to cite
the given Master in their lineage.
But what if the Master could reverse the initiation - actually
neutralise the Reiki ability within the student?
And
beyond such (whether seen as 'legitimate' or otherwise) punitive
use of 'de-initiation' - what about possible unethical
use..?
If
followed, this line of thought could open up a whole new can-of-worms...
And so the very idea that, once having been initiated, an individual
could possibly (willingly or otherwise) be 'de-initiated', was
made anathema.
It just didn't bear thinking about
Yet,
while Takata-sensei had assuaged her students' insecurities -
re-affirming that they would not lose their Reiki ability
- as far as I can be certain, she never actually said anything
about not being able to intentionally 'undo' the initiation
- particularly if the student wanted it to be undone...
Wanted
it
?
But
why on earth
Well,
for one thing, how about simple freedom of choice: the
right to change our minds; the right to evolve, or even ( - if
as many do, we see Reiki initiation as an upward step - small
or otherwise - in our 'personal evolution' -) our right to 'devolve'
again, if we so choose.
In
our life journey there are things that we are drawn to / things
that are drawn to us - come to us for specific purpose - are necessary
in our lives for a time - then, having helped us in a certain
way, must be released, enabling us to progress, develop, evolve
into new dimensions of our journey.
Is
it not conceivable that Reiki can be such a thing - that (much
as it may now be hard to imagine) there may come a point in our
individual journey that Reiki is no longer meant to be part
of that journey - that we are no longer meant to be part of Reiki's
journey
Must not there be the option to release the 'connection', the
initiation?
Of course there must.
Anything
else would be less than in keeping with the spirit of Reiki....
_________
*She
almost certainly wasn't allowing for the scenario of people 'tinkering'
with the initiation process, or playing around with other practices
from other disciplines - practices which might interfere with
the specific 'energetic patterns' - the adjustments/realignments
made in the students energetic system (or, to use an I.T. analogy,
the 'program' downloaded to their system) via the Reiki initiation
process