Essential Reiki: A Complete Guide to an Ancient Healing Art
by Diane Stein
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Book Summary Information
Author: Diane SteinEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1995-04-01
ISBN: 0895947366
Number of pages: 168
Publisher: Crossing Press
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- Airborne Effervescent Health Formula, Original Orange, 10 Tablets (Pack of 3)
- RESPeRATE Blood Pressure Lowering Device
Book Reviews of Essential Reiki: A Complete Guide to an Ancient Healing Art
Book Review: Disappointing
Summary: 1 Stars
I was sorely disappointed in Essential Reiki by Diane Stein. While the book does contain a substantial and interesting body of information about Ms. Stein's variation of the practice of this wonderful healing process, the reader is forced to wade through a sea of feminist ideology and Wiccan philosophy to get to it. So much is this the case, that I was often unsure where Reiki started and her other views ended. She explains how she developed a modern form of Reiki out of her extensive study of the subject melded with her personal experiences and experimentation. She admits that certified teachers refused to certify her as a qualified practitioner for a variety of reasons, not the least of which was her decision to pass along the information in an altered form and, often, free of charge. She justifies her actions by saying that knowledge of the subject of Reiki without the "attunements" received at each level, will not enable a person to use Reiki. Furthermore, Ms. Stein states that, "...any cost which puts the information out of reach is immoral." Perhaps so, but Misao Usui, the founder of Reiki, found early in his practice that such a gift, freely given, is perceived as being of little value. Moreover, Reiki is taught with the understanding that students will restrict the teaching of the system to those who are willing to demonstrate a commitment - especially through a financial investment in their education. There is, however, no requirement to charge high fees for a healing session, and it is this point that brings Ms. Stein's position into question. One can practice Reiki, i.e. enable healing, to her/his heart's content for minimal fees. It is in the area of teaching Reiki for free, or at minimal cost, that Ms. Stein runs afoul of tradition practitioners. While some of her students view her decision to reveal private matters as "courageous," I do not, but I do understand why so many of her teachers refused to certify her. Nonetheless, even without certification, she is, by her own claim, a Reiki Master/Teacher, who now certifies others. I found Ms. Stein's almost exclusive and labored use of the female idiom to be not only awkward but tiresome. Rarely have I felt as if I were reading something not intended for me, but Ms. Stein's exclusionary wording left me with just that feeling. If her choice of words is a reaction to "male" dominated language, as some believe, I would suggest that she has adopted a ponderous way of expressing her dissatisfaction. For example, in describing the meaning of a Japanese word, she says, It was defined for me as "God and man coming together," which somewhat offends my feminism. Why not "Goddess and woman coming together" or "Divinity and people"? Another definition might be "As Above, So Below." Indeed, it might, but why the apparent unwillingness to deal with gender-neutral words? For example, and speaking of no one in particular, she says, "To begin the healing, do the head positions standing or sitting behind the person receiving the session...The woman receiving the healing may be restless through it..." and, "With her hands placed on a Reiki position..." and, "The receiver of a healing takes her shoes off and her eyeglasses...." Ms. Stein, a self-proclaimed Wiccan, opens her story with a revisionist history of Christianity and the place of Jesus as a healer and supports her comments by citing some sources which offer highly unusual and often suspect views of history - Holger Kersten's book, Jesus Lived in India, being a notable example. She also demonstrates little fear in making questionable claims: one example being, "One out of three women in America has been raped and probably half to three quarters have been incested (sic) or otherwise violated." Experts will certainly agree that there is a disparity between reported and non-reported sexual assaults, but I cannot imagine where she arrived at her statistics. Even questionable statistics, however, pale in comparison to her Wiccan? view about the very valid use of Reiki in the healing of animals. Cats are particularly aware of Reiki energy, but they have an attitude about it. They feel that cats invented it, and they want to keep it. They may not be pleased to share it with a human. If they need healing, however, they will accept it and probably criticize your technique. I was uncomfortable throughout my reading of her book with examples of her willingness to discount "traditional" Reiki teaching and substitute her own forms in their place. I was equally uncomfortable with her undisciplined thought processes. For example, Reiki uses certain sign and symbols, drawn in a certain way, as part of the healing process. Ms. Stein explains that traditional Reiki teaches that a certain sign should be drawn in a counterclockwise direction, but that she and her students found that drawing it in reverse is more beneficial. She says, "In any metaphysical work, including Wicca, clockwise motion...is the direction of...increase, and counterclockwise motion is the direction of decrease. Counterclockwise (drawing) does not (cause increase)." On the following page, however, she says, "In using symbols, intent is extremely important; if your will is for increase, the symbol will give you increase, whichever direction it is drawn in." I am not opposed to Wicca, and I am certainly nor opposed to women's issues or women's rights. I am, however, opposed to sloppy thinking and self-serving writing. Ms. Stein may have exceptional healing abilities, I don't know, but if she does, I suspect that they demonstrates the strength of Reiki to survive and prosper even when shrouded in silly mysticism and "magick" (sic). In the early stages of her book, when she discussed her teachers' refusal to certify her, she said that people would probably use her lack of certification to discredit her. I disagree; I believe that they will use this book to do that.
Summary of Essential Reiki: A Complete Guide to an Ancient Healing Art
Reiki is an ancient and profoundly simple system of ?laying on of hands? healing derived from Tibetan Buddhism. In the West, Reiki has been kept highly secret for many years. ESSENTIAL REIKI presents full information on all three degrees of this healing system, most of it in print for the first time. Teaching from the perspective that Reiki healing belongs to all people, Diane Stein breaks new ground in her classic guide to this ancient practice. While no book can replace the directly received Reiki ?attunements,? ESSENTIAL REIKI provides everything else that the healer, practitioner, and teacher of this system needs.Alternative Medicine Books
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