I once wrote a blog-post here entitled, “A Healing Balm”, wherein I described my agonizing experience of recovering from spinal-cord surgery. I would like to further add to that unhappy chapter by sharing a further story about that time which carries a word of caution. During those agonizing weeks of recovery there would occur literally every evening, approximately at 9:30PM, a very severe pounding-like pain that coursed through my upper torso resulting in excruciating pain—it was like someone with enormous strength was punching me in that extremity—pounding away again and again unceasingly for hours. Now, this would occur exactly in the same way, time and fashion for many weeks. Well, about five-weeks into this I received a get-well-note from an acquaintance. The note explained how, at every evening after 9PM, she was “sending me Reiki” in hopes of alleviating my situation. That sent a chord of alarm shrieking through me—I immediately called her and asked her to please refrain from “sending me that reiki!!!”
I had been trained in the Original Reiki system of Mikao Usui back in 2003, so I was very aware of the nature of this healing technique; in fact, in 2004 I had developed my own Reiki system—a hybrid between Usui’s system and the Principles of Unborn Mind Zen. Well, after 2006 (and even up to this day) I had put aside all-things-reiki due to my pressing schedule in the ol’ saha realm. This person who was “sending me that reiki” apparently learned the system through a local “new age” instructor and was just learning how to send out what is known as “distance-healing”. Unfortunately in the world of Reiki today that are so many variables out there of Usui’s original system—a system that was based on a combination of Tendai-Buddhist (Usui had been a practicing Tendai Buddhist) Empowerments and Shinto mantras. Incorporated into his system were other “esoteric symbols” from sundry spiritual systems. Herein is that note of caution. If you don’t know what you’re doing with this stuff you can cause untold harm—my own case being a livid description of just how harmful it can be. These are ancient practices that actually employ and interact with the “elementals”, especially through those Shinto intonations. Many just say that reiki is completely safe—really just “Universal Life Energy”—yeah, right—energy that if not properly directed can cause untold harm. Sure enough, after I asked her to stop sending me the reiki, those occurrences of “pounding-pain” every night after 9PM subsided. So, just a little cautionary note here; especially in this hodgepodge era of New Age crud that can truly wreck havoc if one is ill-informed.
Many people claim that life energy and all that is just the placebo effect … I must say it sounds more than reasonable, but the word “just” doesn’t do it justice because it makes it no less mysterious. The placebo effect in itself is mysterious!
That may be true…yet it must be noted that the Reikian energies (and not just some basic “laying on of hands” effect) in themselves emanate from most high quarters indeed within that energy-field spectrum.