From The Reiki Magazine International
November, 2003

In my first job after graduating from college, I was a nurse’s aid at a state-run, residential, mental health center in Iowa.  During my employment there, I witnessed the medical staff treating people according to their diagnoses rather than seeing them as individuals.  Many people suffered from this treatment.  Some years later, as I was contemplating my life’s work, I realized that I wanted to be with people and treat their individual needs rather than their diagnoses.  Later on, I realized that I wished the same for myself.

Shortly after this I was introduced to my grandmother’s practice of Reiki.  Little did I know at the time that my wish had been granted.  I had in my own hands the possibility of exploring my personal needs and healing, as well as the possibility for others to do the same.

As I committed my life to the practice of Reiki, people asked me questions.  What about Reiki and cancer?  What about Reiki and epilepsy?  What about Reiki and mental illnesses like manic depressive syndrome?  I didn’t know how to respond.  Everything I heard became confusing.

From my grandmother I heard many amazing stories of her "successes" and very few about what to do when Reiki seemed not to work.  I heard some miracle stories from Reiki students too, but I also heard frustration about symptoms remaining the same.  In some cases, the person’s condition deteriorated and some people died.  What were the answers to these questions?  How could I treat people without knowing what would happen?  How could I respond to people’s questions about the effectiveness of Reiki?  What were the limits of Reiki and the practice?

After many years of debate inside myself and lots of unsatisfying conversations, I had an insight!  The questions about Reiki and any specific condition (cancer, epilepsy, or mental illness) did not address the way Reiki seemed to work.  Instead of addressing a diagnosis, the energy of Reiki seemed to go to the deeper causes of the symptoms and encouraged the person to meet the challenges of whatever state of mind and body were present at that time.  The personal development aspect of this practice means working through the personal issues that are brought to light by a focus on healing.  The outcome of this process is not always what is expected or desired.

As I began to view my own and others’ processes in this light, my dream of wishing for people to be treated as individuals without being captured by their diagnoses was granted.  (I want to make it clear here that I do not advocate avoiding diagnosis.  A diagnosis can be helpful on many levels, but giving it too much power can lead to misunderstanding within a folk art such as Reiki, Chinese herbology, acupuncture, and so forth.)

Reiki treats the person complete with symptoms—patterns of living that produce the symptoms, the body that carries its physical cycle of death and rebirth, and the non-physical aspects of the human being that produce "affect" without consciously understanding why.  The energy seems to go where it is most needed and begins to "fill" the need.  In doing this, it produces what I might call “side effects,” such as memories of where patterns of eating started or a clear insight into the origin of a certain behavior.  The person being treated then has the opportunity to be conscious of the pattern and shift it to a healthier behavior—a healthier one being one that will promote the next step of development for that person.  That step could be a miracle healing of cancer or a peaceful death.

Which bring us to the next list of questions: What is the role of death in personal development?  What are the risks of being treated with Reiki?  Are there physical limitations in treatment?  What does the person who is treating others do in these cases?  Is the person who is treating liable for the outcome?  

Which leads to the next list of questions: What is the purpose of receiving Reiki?  What is health?  What is a desired outcome?  Is this a way to perfection?  What is perfection?  What should I expect from Reiki and the practice?

I have my own responses to these questions, but it seems to me that the purpose of having any practice like Reiki is to answer these questions for ourselves.  

If we human beings were able to learn from others, we would not repeat the same patterns.  And we do repeat!  (Much to my own frustration.)  My explanation for this situation is that as a human being, it is my path to meet and resolve my own patterns.  There are many systems to support me in this endeavor.  The one that has become foremost in my life is the practice of Reiki.

Sometimes I am frustrated by my seeming lack of progress.  Is that due to Reiki or my own unwillingness to explore and shift my patterns?  Sometimes it seems like nothing is happening.  Is that really true, or is the pace of the shift so subtle that I only see progress after many years?  Sometimes it seems that death is not far off, and I don’t have time to be who I want to be.  Perhaps I need to simply be able to accept who I am in the present and know that this me is lovable, alive, and full of possibilities.

In the story of Mikao Usui, he was told to treat the body and spirit as one, so each person could be whole.  Is this the same as being perfect?  In the meaning of being perfect for someone else, I would say no.  In the way of seeing each moment and each being as perfect, I would say, yes.  Can a person be whole and still have disease?  In my experience, yes.  Can a person have mental illness and be whole?  In my experience, yes.  Is there more to experience in life?  Yes, there is always a next step . . . not towards perfection from imperfection, but to another perfect moment.

© Phyllis Lei Furumoto 2003