Reiki Strengthens Connection to God

by John Curtin

Firstly let me say thank you for taking the time to create your website, which I think is tremendously important to further the cause of helping people understand the nature of healing energies and Reiki.

I am a British Reiki Master in Madrid, Spain and founder of “Fundación Sauce” (Willow Foundation) which is a non profit making foundation aimed at promoting the use of complementary natural therapies. I would like to share with you my experience of how Reiki combines perfectly with
Christian beliefs.

Almost all my students are Spanish Catholics and many of them are practising Catholics. Over the years, I have had to answer many questions about how Reiki fits into their beliefs.

Since I started running Reiki courses I have had the honour to initiate over one thousand students and without exception, none of them have ever had any problems on a personal level integrating their faith into their practice of Reiki. In fact, I would say that the opposite is true, those who have strong beliefs have had them re-enforced by practising Reiki. In the words on one student “Reiki brings you closer to God.”

The following are some examples of this fact, as told to me by my students:

Theologian and Psychologist M. Angeles is a lecturer on theology at Madrid University. She is also a practising psychologist treating abused children at a Catholic Charity institution. She is Reiki level II and uses Reiki with her children, sending them group healing during therapy sessions. She states that Reiki has strengthened her faith in God, as she has witnessed healing with her children using Reiki that restored her belief in the unlimited
power of God’s love.

Lay preachers
Javier and M. Angeles is a lay preaching couple who work for their local parish, preparing adolescents for their Confirmation. They hold weekend spiritual retreats for their pupils where they pray and study the scriptures in preparation for the Sacrament.

Since they started practising Reiki, they now include meditations and exercises aimed at helping their students “find God’s Love in their hearts” using breathing techniques which they learnt on my Reiki course and group Reiki sessions. They also use my Reiki music which I produced with my students during their prayers and meditations.

Guardia Civil and crisis of Faith Fernando is a Guardia Civil (Spanish paramilitary police) who was stationed with the anti-terrorist division. A devoted Catholic, he suffered a crisis of faith from seeing so much senseless hate and violence in his work. He actually sought Reiki initially thinking it was an alternative religious practice, as he could find no answers to his questions through the Catholic Church.

He did Reiki I with me 3 years ago, despite me pointing out that he´d come to the wrong place for what he was looking for! Over the years, he is now Reiki III and will shortly become a Master. He has returned to his faith, as he says that he no longer needs to “believe” in anything, because he can now “feel” God when he channels Reiki.

Sor Margarita and Sor Mari Carmen Both are Catholic nuns at the nearby convent here in Madrid, La Milagrosa. They both practice Reiki and use it actively helping the South American immigrants who come to the convent seeking food and clothing. Sor Margarita has been my student for 4 years, is Reiki II and will be doing Reiki III, when she finds the time! Sor Mari Carmen started last year and will shortly do Reiki II. They start every session by praying a Rosary and asking their patients to pray with them as they do the healing. They have never found any incompatibility with their
faith and Sor Mari Carmen feels that Jesus Christ channels through her when she heals.

Warmest regards,
John Curtin,
Fundación Sauce
Terapias Integrales y Crecimiento Personal

God Guides Christian to Reiki

by Robin Littlefeather Hannon

Hello everyone,

I would like to share this with you. Perhaps this story might be of some help to others like myself.

I am a Reiki professional who also happens to have a degree in Divinity. I was a lay minister, healer, and deliverance minister in the born again circles from 1980-1992. As well I also was involved in the music ministry for the same number of years. In 1992 I developed a crippling herniation in my back. This went on for several years before it was found because the herniation had gone into the spinal canal. During that time my church basically went on a rampage against me. I was not healed no matter how positive my confession, nor how many times hands were laid on me. Eventually the church questioned the quality of my faith and commitment. I was shamed, blamed for my illness, and eventually stripped of my ministry and asked to step down.

This was a devastating blow as you can imagine. I was incredibly wounded and spent many years hermitiizing after that. My life had fallen into pieces. I’d lost my identity, my friends, my faith, and it appeared as if the Savior I’d served had deserted me. Yet in this desert time of affliction and pain I kept praying to Jesus, and to God to open up new doors and show me the path to take.

I began several years ago once more by reaching out online in various Christian chats. For me this was a new beginning and a safe one. I did not have to physically interact; there was the safety of a computer between me and another person, yet I was making a big difference in the quality of people’s lives. During this time a friend of mine suggested Reiki to me because physically I was a mess, and mentally and spiritually I wasn’t in much better shape. I read up on it, and of course my initial reaction of ignorance was, this is New Age, and not a door I care to open. Yet from that day on, the idea of Reiki kept coming up in various unexpected ways. It seemed as if Reiki people were popping up out of the woodwork at me. It became a running gag. I’d go to a store and meet someone who did Reiki, get on the net and meet someone who did Reiki, go to a restroom and what else…find a woman who did Reiki. Finally I threw my hands up in exasperation and said OK Jesus I get the hint. I finally made an appointment with David Gleekel of the Reiki Center of Greater Washington.

Now this is where God has the best sense of humor. I am Native on my father’s side and Jewish on my mother’s side. Technically this makes me Jewish, but my Native roots are strong. In any event I got to talking to David Gleekel and find out what else…he’s Jewish and very drawn to Shamanism and Native studies. I had to chuckle at God’s humor in the situation. When I met David I explained my fears of Reiki coming from the born again perspective, yet I also explained all the ‘happenstance” surrounding my decision to come there. After some discussion instead of a Reiki session we ended up doing a Native drumming session. This was so endearing, and he was such a lovely person I decided to make an appointment for a Reiki session for the next visit. One visit led to another, and I began to see emotional, spiritual, and physical healing. I decided that I wanted to pursue a Master in Reiki and I now have several modalities of Reiki including Sekhem-Seichim, Lightarian, and Usui Shinpiden Ryoho. The interesting and amusing thing is that Jesus always comes to attend and help with my sessions.

Since then Jesus and I work together in Reiki for the purpose of promoting healing through Reiki. My relationship with Jesus is closer than it’s ever been, and perhaps more profound. I’ve learned that there is a difference between a religion vs. a real relationship with Jesus. As well Jesus is not just my Reiki buddy, he’s my Savior, my life, and my best friend. It is in this dedication to the renewal of my life that I write this to you.

May God bless and keep you, may He cause His face to shine on you and bring you Shalom

Reiki Helped Me Understand Christianity Better

by Murielle Marchand

I often refer to your website when I have to explain Reiki to friends or people around me (I still find it very difficult to explain what it is myself…). And after consulting your website many times, I thought I’d like to share my own experience with you.

People usually say, “You do not go to Reiki, Reiki comes to you” and this is something I find particularly true. I heard about Reiki three times at various periods of my life before eventually deciding to join the Reiki I initiation in October 2003. I then became Reiki II in October 2004.

To me Reiki is gift I received in a particularly difficult period of my life. I don’t know where I might have ended without it but ever since I’ve been attuned many things have changed. I can honestly say that the last two years have been a period of growth and evolution for me, sometimes at a very slow pace but a constant one.

I never considered Reiki to be incompatible with my Christian faith; on the contrary, the practice of Reiki has given to me a much more meaningful understanding of Christianity & spirituality and as a result I have returned to Christianity with greater faith and conviction than ever before. Praying, going to church or making the sign of the cross is nowadays a very different experience and a much more meaningful one. Now I constantly use both Reiki and the Christian faith hand in hand in what I believe is a meaningful whole.

As a child I was of course taught about Jesus’ miracles or the descending of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples, but nothing made sense to me as I could not understand how all this was possible. I just learn t to accept this as a part of my own culture and faith but I was enormously disappointed to feel so distant from it. I have always been very spiritual but at some point I became very distant from Christianity which just seemed to me a series of “legends” and rituals that were not making me feel closer to God. I never stopped believing in God but I kept saying that I was spiritual and not religious. Something I have also always despised in so many Christians around me is what I call the “praise of suffering”. As a child I heard too often that this or that person was a Saint because (s)he was suffering so much in this life, no doubt (s)he would certainly end up in paradise (there was an instance when I heard that about a woman who was beaten by her husband and nonetheless stayed with him her whole life). I have always rebelled very hard against such conceptions. To me it was not positive. It’s not because Jesus suffered on the cross that it meant we all had to suffer and let things go in our life. My own conception of life was more in terms of a battle to fight or an evolution to make to reach serenity, happiness and wisdom, and of course help others. In those terms, I felt much closer to Buddhism.

Now, I have come back to Christianity with very different eyes and great respect. At first, I felt that practicing Reiki on others (or on me) was very rewarding because I could concretely act when somebody (or I) was in need. Laying hands to channel Reiki energy on my grand-mother when she was ill at least gave me the impression I could concretely act to help, something praying could not do because it was too abstract to me. Reiki was also much more concrete because not only could I feel the energy flow in my hands, but I could also sense the flow change in intensity depending on the situation. It is when I turned Reiki II and learnt about the symbols that my understanding of the Christian faith drastically began to change. It started with the sign of the cross. I had always kept using it, e.g. when I got in a car or a plane, or when saying goodbye to a family member, we used to make the sign on each other’s forehead for protection. I did it more out of superstition that anything else. But when I started using the Reiki protection sign almost everyday it suddenly occurred to me that the cross was the Christians’ protection sign (in one of its use of course) and that each faith had just simply developed its own symbols. The power of symbols in Reiki is so obvious (and it works so well) that I started understanding that the cross must be much more than just a sign. It then suddenly appeared meaningful that my family had been using it as a protection symbol for generations! With this first breach in my vis ion of Christianity, it is the whole veil that eventually went away. Of course once you start Reiki, Jesus’ ability to heal through the placing of hands starts making sense as well – even tough it remains a miracle. But at least you know that all human being have the capacity to heal and use energy; some have just greater capacities than others, but it’s all a question of spiritual evolution and faith. One day, as we were discussing distance Reiki in a Reiki exchange, some people (including myself) expressed skepticism as whether Reiki could really work in space and time (meaning you could send it to dead people or to someone who was far away from you). Someone then said that it was like thoughts. Thoughts are energy as well. And when you think about someone, even if that person is far away from you or dead, you send energy to that person. I then realized that prayers must have been energy as well. Something that was not lost in emptiness but some form of energy addressed to God or someone you were praying for. And with that, I realized why it made sense that Christians were holding mass for their dead or praying for them. Similarly, just like you can work on a situation in the present and the future using Reiki, Christians light candles or pray for someone to recover from an illness or pass an exam in the future. Or I also came to understand that blessed water is water energized by the highest form of energy you can find: God’s (the same way you can energize food or drink or anything using Reiki).

I must say that it has been wonderful to discover little by little that all those things I felt so distant from when I was a child just make sense! Today, I pray a lot and practice Reiki a lot. But I would not use one or the other, I think both marvelously complete each other. Praying and going to Church has become very important to me. It gives me daily guidance & serenity and helps me in difficult times. For the moment, I use Reiki for more practical things, like when I have a headache or feel tired or stressed, when I want to work to improve a particular situation or help relieve others of physical pain. It’s like a gift you grant your body and mind. And Reiki contains that idea of evolution that I like: that you have to go on working on yourself, that you have to evolve because if you want to improve the world you have to start by improving and loving yourself. And it just works!

A Catholic Values Reiki

Hello everyone,

I am a practicing Catholic and have felt the need to heal and to change people’s lives for the better for a very long time, in fact most of my life if I stop to think about it.

My career choice is that I am a Personal Fitness Trainer and in that regard have helped people get their bodies and minds into shape and have loved each and every experience. But I felt the calling to do more.

Through a chain of events, I was drawn to my Reiki Master who trained and attuned me. I must say that although I experienced my gift of Reiki II only two weeks ago, with her love and guidance, I have spread the word of the healing of Reiki to each person I see. Most, if not all, have heard of Reiki but had never experienced it first hand. I feel honored that I can do this with them.

The feelings that go with giving Reiki are indeed hard to explain, but my soul is soaring. I have been practicing Reiki each day for various people and am so grateful that they are being healed through the Divine Light of Reiki.

As far as my belief system goes, I attended church the next day after my attunements. The entire spiritual experience of the Mass was 10 fold over what it was only the week before. I was awestruck at this and thank the Almighty as well as the Reiki guides for leading me to this wonderful point where my life seems to finally be coming together. The faces and the spirits of the people I have touched through the Reiki healing experience is something that I cannot explain, but I have strived for my entire life. The result is just the way that it is to be. I feel a closeness with God that I thought I had before, but that feeliing was not even close to my experience since I have been given this opportunity to help people.

If someone of the Catholic faith choses not to accept Reiki, that is his/her choice. But for me, I feel that I am doing God’s work at a time when a greater sense of the spirit is needed to balance all the technology. Reiki seems to be the guiding light in this time of our existence, and I consider myself fortunate that I am able to be a small part of it. Thank you.

Patrice

The Experience of a Roman Catholic Reiki Master

by Jasper T. Suquila

Hello everyone,

Hi I am Jasper T. Suquila, age 29, from Caloocan City, Metro Manila, the Philippines. I am interested to join your group and I thank the Lord Jesus that I am not alone as a Christian who practices Reiki.

I am a Reiki Master from the traditional Usui Reiki Ryoho stream, and am practicing Reiki actively for the past three years already. I am a Roman Catholic, (and I still am), temporary professed Dominican Third Order, graduated AB Theology from a Dominican school and currently finishing my MA Applied Theology (with concentration in Religious and Values Education) from De La Salle University – Manila as a scholar. I am a Christian Living/Values Education teacher in the High School for more than seven years already, and I do give reiki to my co-faculty teachers and students alike when they ask for it. I also use Reiki when I give counselling to my students who have family problems and behavioral problems.

I am so glad to know and find that there are a lot of people who worship and serve the Lord Jesus and yet are practitioners of Reiki. I thought that I am the only one in this predicament/situation. I have encountered a lot of “conservative” (read: narrow-minded) Catholics who think that I am practicing superstition and “pagan” methods of healing. There are also other Christian sisters and brothers from other denominations who profess to “love” Christ and yet are the first one to “cast stones” to Christians who are Reiki practitioners whom they deem as “followers of Satan” and are considered as “damned” or lost.

I have been a member of a Catholic Charismatic renewal community and I praise God for giving me the gifts of healing and teaching. When I came to a Reiki introduction talk, I am amazed and at the same time critical of Reiki, because it seems to me that Mikao Usui received also the gift of healing from God. As I attended my Level I Reiki, I am still cautious of it and I prayed very hard to Jesus to protect me from any “harmful spirits” who may be going around and enter my body. During my first attunement, I asked the Lord Jesus to cover me with His Precious Blood, and invoked the Holy Spirit to protect me from any spirit from entering me. I have a personal relationship with Jesus, and I told Him: “Lord Jesus, if Reiki comes from you, let its power flow through me, if not, I ask you to cover me with Your precious Blood and seal me with Your holy Light. Send forth your angels to! surround this place in Your Name.” I prayed intensely while my Reiki Master was attuning me.

Guess what? The power of Reiki flowed through me and I felt the tangible presence of God. I thought to myself “This is the Shekinah of YHWH!”. The sweet presence of God filled me, and the experience is akin to my Baptism of the Holy Spirit during my Catholic Life in the Spirit Seminar, which I attended years ago, and I felt the loving touch of the Holy Spirit surrounding me and filling me, just like my experience during the Sacrament of Confirmation when I was a child. While in gassho position I began praising Jesus for this wonderful gift of Reiki.

My life has never been the same again with Reiki. For me, Reiki brought me closer to Jesus, and also, was more in touch with Jesus’ mission on earth, which is to heal the sick and proclaim the Reign of God in our midst. My hands are very hot whenever I “pray over” the sick using Reiki.

As a Reiki Master, I define Reiki as “God-directed life force energy”. I even equate Reiki to a manifestation of the healing presence of God in Christ Jesus. I believe that Reiki is the gift of the Holy Spirit. Reiki is indeed one of the charismatic gifts of healing (as mentioned in 1st Corinthians chapter 12). I believe in the sacramental and incarnational dimensions of Reiki to others. Let me elaborate it theologically.

Leonardo Boff, a Franciscan theologian, in his book, “Sacraments of Life, Life of the Sacraments” expresses his view that any object or person can be a “sacrament”, if that thing or person leads you to God, and that person or object becomes for you a dynamic and visible symbol of the invisible presence of God. We encounter God in the midst of ordinary human experiences. The utter transparency of the invisible healing presence of God is made visible through Reiki. When we touch others to give Reiki, we are making visible the invisible healing presence of God in our midst. Touching is a human action where we make others feel that they are loved and cared for. Touching is a universal human action of affection. When we give Reiki to others by touching others, we make them feel the healing presence and power of God, who is Love Itself (1st John 4:18) and let us remember that&! nbsp;the love of God has been poured out through the Spirit (Romans 5:5). In Scripture we read in First Corinthians 12 we the phrase: “gifts of healing” (NRSV) . The word “gifts” is in plural form. It means to say that there are a variety of “gifts” of healing, not just the traditional method of laying of hands found in the New Testament. Remember that Jesus of Nazareth healed in a variety of ways. We do not see a “uniform or standard way” of healing the sick. I believe that Reiki is one of them.

As St. Irenaeus of Lyons said: “The glory of God is a human fully alive!” I believe that Reiki is part and parcel of the healing tradition that has just been recovered by Mikao Usui. We must recall that Reiki only seeks the highest healing good of a human person, and that brings a person’s frequency or auric field and state of being into balance and perfect health which we call homeostasis. We cannot use Reiki to harm others or do evil. It will not simply work. When we give Reiki, we give glory to God, whose perfect Will and mission for human beings is wholeness and perfect balance in health, “fully alive!” as I have mentioned above.

For those who think Reiki cannot be reconciled to Christianity, just remember that first, Reiki is not a religion. It is a charismatic gift from the Spirit. In the Charismatic tradition, one receives the gifts of the Spirit through the laying of the hands, just like Reiki is received and open us up to the reservoir of God’s manifold healing virtue through attunements (done through laying of hands also.) We are Christians who just happen to be Reiki practitioners and not the other way around. Second, God is the source and origin of Reiki, not Mikao Usui, or the Reiki Masters. Reiki Masters do not own Reiki, they are just channels of Reiki. Reiki Masters only open the uninitiated to the power of Reiki, but is not the source of Reiki. Third, The Principles of Usui is very much Christian and more closer to the spirit and intention of the Christian Scriptures.

Always remember the theological principle regarding the primacy of God’s unconditional love for all human beings and all creation. God reveals Himself in many different ways through different people (Hebrews 1:1), and I do believe that Reiki is a manifestation of His healing presence to others. We cannot put God in a box or put Him nicely in our own limited human perceptions of reality. God is more than what we say or think of Him. You cannot say that: “God can only do this or do that” or say: “God cannot be the source of Reiki”. God is more than who we think He is. In the book of Isaiah we read about God:” For My ways are not your ways and My thoughts are above your thoughts….”

I have a lot to share. But this is all for now.

With all my love and respect,

Jasper T. Suquila
A Roman Catholic who happens to be a Reiki Master

Christian Reiki

by Judith White

Every Reiki healer brings her own beliefs with her to the Reiki table, and in my case those beliefs are Christian and Biblical. There is no contradictionin this because Reiki is not a religion, and there is nothing in pure Reiki which conflicts with the truths taught in scripture. Usui Reiki advocates only a simple set of principles for moral behavior which are compatible with any spiritual belief.

Reiki energy comes from God as an expression of His unconditional love.My Christian clients have reported intense experiences of the Holy Spiritrevealing God’s presence and Love during their Reiki sessions.

When I give Reiki, I pray for the person who is receiving it. I do not presume to tell God what you need, because He sees you so much more completely than I can and He knows exactly where your true needs are.
Whatever your beliefs, you can know that I am praying for your highest good. Whatever your circumstances, Reiki can do no harm.

Reiki is a gift and a blessing from God. If you are unsure of this, I hope your questions are answered below.

Should Christians Practice Reiki?
First let me say that the only reliable authority on this subject is the Holy Spirit. A Christian has an obligation to settle this question through prayer. I came to my own sense of peace about Reiki over a four-and-a-half-year period during which I took time off from Reiki and gave scripture and the Lord a chance to get through whenever I had questions about what I was learning. If you genuinely want to please the Lord, He can certainly reach your mind and your heart with the truth.

Reikis Critics
So far, the critics I have read fall into three categories. One is people who dont believe ki and the human energy system exist at all. Another is people who have misunderstood Reiki before and now reject it. A third is people who do not see how Reiki fits with scripture.

The first group could learn more if they wished by reading some recent science and learning more about healing energy. The second group does real harm to Reikis reputation by their inability to separate their individual experiences from simple Reiki. For example, one persons experience was strongly colored by associating Reiki with massage and his own lust for the woman who introduced him to Reiki.

The third group is right in saying Reiki is never mentioned in the Bible per se, but then neither are penicillin and many things we use today. Healing is listed as a spiritual gift (I Cor. 12:9), and Jesus tells us that anyone who has faith in Him can have the power to heal like He did (John 14:12), so the main issue is whether Reiki healing comes from God and can be used by God. We can tell that Reiki does come from God because it can only help, heal and comfort; it can only do good and not harm. All good gifts come from God (James 1:17).

The Christian Research Institute, a conservative Christian watchdog group, has written that Reiki cannot be good because it is associated with world views that are in opposition to Christianity and practices that are forbidden in scripture, specifically channeling which I discuss below. The only teaching beyond the how-tos which is part of the original Usui Reiki are these Reiki Principles: Just for today, I will feel gratitude. Just for today, I will let go of anger. Just for today, I will let go of worry. Just for today, I will do my work honestly. Just for today, I will be kind to my neighbor and every living thing. To me, this sounds more like a healthy AA meeting than a dangerous philosophy. There is nothing here to mislead or undermine any spiritual convictions. If people with world views other than Christian ones practice Reiki, that does not make it evil.

One question I wrestled with repeatedly was why, if Reiki is a gift from God, anyone can practice it regardless of their beliefs. Each time I came to the same conclusions. God is generous with many gifts, such as intelligence, artistic ability, strength, and beauty, regardless of beliefs. We all have the ability to love, to communicate, and to care for others. Since Reiki is available to anyone, it is clearly a general ability to do good for one another that God built into His creation. The section on ki explains this. It is impossible to do harm with Reiki, but what any individual teaches in addition to simple Reiki is something that individual will be held accountable for. We are all called to walk in obedience to God’s Word and His will.

“No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognized by its own fruit” (Luke 6:43-44).

Does Ki (or Chi or Prana) Exist?
This question can lead to the intersection of ancient spirituality with modern physics. (If you enjoy learning, find physics books that are written for your level of knowledge. You may be pleased to see how science is tending in a philosophical and spiritual direction, unlike the anti-spiritual direction of the 19th and early 20th centuries.) Physics has clearly proven that the entire universe is composed of energy and physical matter is a concentration of energy. Your own energy field can be perceived by scientific instruments.
(Editors Note: to read a scientific description of Reiki and energy medicine please download this file Science and the Human Energy Field.)

As people who believe that “all things were created by Christ and for Christ and in him all things hold together” (Col. 1:16-17), it’s not hard to believe in a universal life force (ki, chi, prana) that comes from God and animates all living things. This is the energy which science is learning to perceive. This is the energy with which Reiki heals.

Reiki practitioners treat the human energy system
Many people who do not have Reiki can feel the human energy field and some can also see it. This is easy to learn and does not require any spiritual activity of any sort. Since this field does exist and has always existed, it only makes sense that people have perceived it in all centuries and cultures, especially those that have not been raised to believe that nothing exists besides what we can sense with our five senses. Except for our faith in an unseen God, Christians are as affected by the science-oriented culture we are raised in as everyone else.

Does Reiki Involve Channeling?
I am a Usui Reiki Master and a Karuna Reiki® Master, and I believe I am a gifted healer and teacher of Reiki . . . but I do not channel any spirit guides or angels or ascended Reiki masters. My only guide is the Lord Jesus Christ through the working of the Holy Spirit. However, I am only an authority on my own experience, and I cannot speak with certainty on what happens with non-Christians. By most peoples definition of the word “channel” Christians channel the Holy Spirit and the prophets all channeled God. We dont use the word because of its connotations of spiritism and mediumship, but the word itself doesnt denote evil. In the same way, our receiving guidance from God could be called a psychic experience because it comes through supernatural means. When we try to sort through these issues, its good to separate the actual meaning of a word from some of the ways it is used in other contexts.

That being said, it is still true that Reiki practitioners are encouraged to ask for spiritual guides to guide our Reiki sessions so that we are able to intuit where a client needs to receive Reiki. I was already a Christian when I began to use Reiki, so I already knew that my spiritual guide is the Holy Spirit and believed it would be wrong to ask about anyone else. Besides, the energy which comes from God and which we can feel with our hands is really enough to tell us where Reiki is needed without asking for additional guidance.

It seems possible that God does send angels to help us practice Reiki — in fact, I am quite sure I have experienced their help — but here again I have felt it is wrong to ask to know more about them. All that a true angel desires is to glorify God, not to receive any attention itself. I simply pray that theLord will give my client what He knows they need and ask the Holy Spirit to guide me. How Gods will is accomplished through Reiki isnt necessarily for me to know.

Many Christians’ fear about spirit guides is that they are actually demons disguising themselves as the Buddha or angels or whomever. I think this is unlikely, due to my experience of the great good that Reiki does and how impossible it is to think of any way to misuse Reiki. I’m not sure evil beings would even be capable of healing. It seems more likely that people who don’t have the Holy Spirit to enable them to recognize the work of the Lord can be deceived into believing the power of Reiki comes from some otherspiritual source. If all good gifts come from the Lord, then Reiki comes fromthe Lord, but Satan tries to steal His glory in the same way he does with anything that is created by God.

What about the Reiki symbols?
Reiki practitioners who achieve Level II and above use Japanese-looking symbols with Japanese names to focus different aspects of Reiki energy. The symbols have no meaning in themselves and the names are descriptive and harmless. The symbols represent different frequencies of healing energy which the practitioner receives through a laying-on of hands so that s/he can access that energy when it is needed. The symbols are neutral and the energy is good.

It may help to remember that no symbol, no matter how strong its associations, is good or evil in itself. The swastika and even the pentagram have been used in past centuries simply as decorative designs. Today people cannot use them without raising the idea of great evil, but that is because of the groups which have used the symbols, not because of any actual power in the symbols themselves. The same is true for a symbol of great good like the cross. It is just two lines, just a pattern without any power to do good in and of itself, yet it reminds us of the greatest love that was ever shown to humankind.

Why not just use prayer instead of Reiki?
We could just as well ask Why not use prayer instead of medical care? or instead of anything else we turn to for help with a problem. Hopefully, most Christians use prayer AND medicine (or whatever) and remember to thank God for the answer to their prayers. I use prayer AND Reiki, and I think it is much more obvious that God is doing the work with Reiki than with medicine. (I am not implying that Reiki should ever be a substitute for medical care, though it is true that it can heal people.) If a person objects to Reiki because
the practitioner or Reiki receive all the glory instead of the Lord, it is the practitioner who has the problem. In humility, any Reiki practitioner of any belief system should know that they are not the source of Reiki energy and that they cannot truly make Reiki do anything. Reiki comes from God and He determines how it will help the person who receives it in the same way He does when we pray for someone.

Personally, I have found that Reiki greatly benefits my prayer life in the peace that I have myself and in the confidence I have in the Lord to hear my prayers for others. Something about the fact that I cannot control Reiki and make it do what I want it to do for a person has deepened my ability to let go and let God. Less and less do I tell God what I think He should do and how He should do it. More and more I simply take a person or situation before Him in prayer and trust that He knows far better than I what is best.

If you would like to experience Reiki for yourself, please email me at areikihealer@reiki4healing.com or call me at Phone 610-626-6647 – to make an appointment or ask any questions you may have.

Judith White
Reiki Master
Karuna Reiki® Master

* This article was copied with permission from Judith’s web site at http://areikihealer.tripod.com/christianreiki.html

My Christian Faith & Reiki

by Margaret Lee Lyles, L.M.T

The word Reiki first entered my life in 1987 when, at age fifty-five, I found myself a student in the local massage school. The teacher, a staunch Christian and diligent teacher, in the vocational-technical school where I studied, dissuaded us from exploring Reiki, concentrating strictly on Swedish massage protocol, and anatomy/physiology as prescribed in the state-approved curriculum. The teacher’s attitude towards Reiki furthered my own wariness of this then strange-sounding modality.

Fellow student, Pat Conroy, became my best friend and partner in class, helping me study the material for our Florida State Board Exams. Soon, I noticed Pat had the hottest hands of all the class. Upon query, she merely shrugged saying, “I’ve just always had healing hands” I felt strong admiration, mixed surprisingly with a twinge of envy. However, several weeks into the class when her hands were giving me maximum comfort for my oft-times creaking-aching bones and muscles, I pushed for more information. Finally, she said the heat really came from a force outside of her and that it could operate for me too, if I wanted. I was intrigued, yet filled with fear and wonderment. “Why would God allow us mere mortals to share in the Creator’s gift of healing?” I pondered. Today, sixteen years later, imbued with faithful confidence, I answer that question with another, simply: “Why wouldn’t God?”

On that day in 1987, however, my early religious education clicked on the “caution” button until, with further pressing, Pat revealed her own “source” for this empowerment was Jesus Christ! This began to clear the slate of anxiety and apprehension about Reiki in my mind. If it really is “of the Lord” then maybe, just maybe, it would be all right for me to do this too? (Obviously, Thomas is not the only doubter in Christian history!)

For the next six years I practiced massage therapy and occasionally saw Pat for massage, mixed with Reiki treatments, getting more used to the idea. Eventually, I hoped to study Reiki for the continuing education units required by Florida for licensure. But, at age sixty-one, in 1992, I found a malignant tumor and set about seeking natural healing, rather than chemotherapy and/or radiation. In the second year of my cancer battle, the opportunity came for six credit hours in Reiki Level One. In a three-month period of doing self-Reiki three times daily, my body was cleared of inhaled toxins that had caused serious lung congestion. Because my osteopathic physician had suggested Reiki initiation, my mood was high, and I felt so empowered by the Lord that I completed all the Reiki Levels as soon as possible in order to teach and share Reiki with others. The jump from wary skepticism to totally embracing Reiki took eight years! This was not exactly a cannon-ball leap, but considering my age, nature, background, and the amount of information available in the United States in that timeframe, I applaud myself for getting there at all. What a change Reiki has made in my life since then, especially my faith-walk.

How deeply Reiki enhanced my faith and trust in God can best be explained by describing the dark days of depression that were evident throughout my life prior to the cancer. It must be noted, that since I became a Reiki practitioner, depression has gradually been banished, even in times of crisis, because of the ability to meditatively do Reiki for myself as well as for others.

As a “cradle Catholic” educated by Franciscan Sisters and raised in the countryside of Maryland’s farming region, my love for God and nature was evident from the beginning of my life on earth. In retrospect, at age seventy-two, I see that while always obediently professing my love of God openly, secretly I was never sure God reciprocated my love. With the false concept of humility taught in those pre-Vatican II days, how could I possibly be found worthy of much? While there are many psychological explanations for my misconception of God’s great love for us, suffice it to say that I was one of two “middles” in a family of six. I was the puny, sickly one, struck with serious illness one year following the sudden death of our father. His funeral was the day before my thirteenth birthday. Instead of rejoicing at a milestone in my life, acute anxiety and chronic depression fell upon my aura, triggered by our father’s untimely death.

The following year, in ninth grade, rheumatic fever rendered me unconscious for about six weeks and I missed three months of school in recovery. For many years I puzzled over why I was always so easily fatigued and lacking in the athletic abilities or stamina that my siblings enjoyed. Not until I was in my fifties did I learn from my dentist, that having rheumatic fever left one with a permanently damaged immune system, accounting for my life-long physical lethargy. With this knowledge began the lifting of the cloudy veil of apprehension which enshrouded my life and denigrated my self-worth. I then consciously set upon a determined path to become wholistically well.

This decision came through an awakening that I believe was spurred by my receiving Reiki for those six years from Pat Conroy. The enlightenment of how father’s untimely death enveloped me with self-pity over losing him, at a crucial age, before establishing an adult relationship was catalytic. There was nothing Pat said to trigger this, but in her compassionate listening and deft deliverance of God’s energy to me, I began to cast off the deep feelings of brooding over my lost first-love. I recall consciously asking God to help me surrender a lifetime of ill-health which, besides the effects of rheumatic fever, included twenty years of TMJ and migraines; long months of coping with a heel spur and more long months of severe sciatica. While these ailments were not life threatening, they severely retarded my contributions to family and community, thus preventing me from truly living life joyfully to the fullest.

My prayer for deliverance from personal illness was undoubtedly the first serious prayer ever uttered for myself. Prior to then, my prayers for others were frequent, fervent and unrequited; but I could never pray for myself with any confidence. I unconsciously rationalized, why would God listen to one whom He had seemingly abandoned? I believe the advent of Pat’s Reiki treatments came as God’s gift to prepare me for the biggest crisis of health, cancer and hepatitis-A, which appeared simultaneously eighteen months before my actual initiation into Reiki. In those months I used herbal formulas, enzymes, acupuncture, macrobiotics and various other means including a lumpectomy once the hepatitis manifested. All of these things helped to overcome the two diseases. However, it was after the Reiki initiation and its diligent practice that my healing came to feel secure. Reiki and its direct relationship to the guidance of the Holy Spirit is credited for my wellness of today, now having twelve years of remission from breast cancer.

Recently, I stood in our living room before a huge landscape of Jesus with two disciples walking on The Road to Emmaus and reminisced. I was reminded of the Lord’s words from scripture, which came to mind as I taught my first Reiki class to eight local parish friends standing in that very spot. The voice within had then encouraged: “Tell them what I said in John-you remember- ‘everything I have done you will do and more because I go to the Father.’ ”

Not being a scripture scholar, I was rather astonished that the words and chapter came so readily to me. Obediently, I read John 14:12-13 to them directly from the bible. I saw some startled eyes grow bigger as I inferred our participation in this scripture’s prophecy of the Lord by asking, ” And what did Jesus do? He laid hands on people and healed them; but, are we doing it?” Heads slowly swiveled back and forth as I answered for them, “No, with a few exceptions, we are not meeting that challenge from the Lord simply because we do not know how.”

I have come to believe we are all born with this innate gift of healing, but soon forget because of the society in which we live. Reiki gives us directions and a platform on which to stand to exercise this God-given empowerment.

I find with my students and myself that often Reiki leads us to other things that are an essential part in our healing process, such as Tai Chi or Qi Gong, yoga exercises, acupuncture, and different forms of meditation. One special thing Reiki reminds me to do in conjunction with my faith is that after receiving Holy Communion, while still kneeling in the pew, I invite Jesus, in the form of the Communion Bread Host, to especially linger in the area of my body most needing healing that week. This might include dental work, a strained muscle, a burned finger, and other minor or major health impairments. My faith in the triune God trusts this prayer is heard and healing comes quickly, sometimes by direction to the “right” practitioner.

Daily, I wake up and go to sleep peacefully and prayerfully doing Reiki for my family and myself. Throughout each month, I take time to send distant Reiki to all who have asked and to some that inspiration brings to mind after ascertaining their permission. Indeed, rather than stealing my faith and trust in God and my religion, as some might fear, Reiki has strengthened the beliefs I’ve always held. Without proselytizing, Reiki enables me to live my testimony to the greatness of God with the element of JOY that has become a permeating ingredient in my daily life.

Since 1999, despite my still sometimes physical fragility, I have practiced and taught Reiki at Within Wellness Center in South Miami. Students from as far as Denmark, El Salvador and Canada have found their way to my door for Reiki. Besides Miami, I have presented classes in northern Florida and in the states of Minnesota, Maryland, North Carolina, and Georgia.

Writing my first book, Reiki and You: Awakening the Healer Within (An Ecumenical Guide to Energy Healing) was a six-year labor of love. Through this project, Reiki has given me the fulfillment of two long, lost (so I thought!) dreams-teaching and writing. Through these achievements I finally found my true self and came to realize that I, too, am among God’s greatest created loves. With this discovery the measure of my faith and trust in God deepened in intimacy and arose with great clarity. Reiki shed light into my darkened corners enabling faith to replace fear.

As a teaching master, Reiki has enabled me to share the healing empowerment of the Lord with individuals of all denominations of Christianity along with many non-Christians. The spirit of Reiki is very ecumenical which suits my temperament well for I believe the gift of free will is perhaps the greatest God-given gift to humanity. Sharing Reiki with others is a very faith-filling, energizing vocation which daily adds to my pleasure in these, my ‘golden years.’ With the Reiki energy in my sails, and “Blessed Assurance” in my soul, who knows what may come with the next shift in the wind of the Spirit?

Gratefully, I wish you peace, love and joy! ~~Marge Lyles

You can contact Marge directly at email: louandmarge@msn.com

Note: A portion of the profits from the sale of Reiki & You are being donated to the non-profit, ecumenical organization, Food for the Poor, and will be used to build a house in Haiti, with the further dream that this will be a “Reiki House” of healing.

Reiki at a Catholic Hospital

by Sister Mary Mebane, O.S.F.

I am a Board Certified Chaplain-certified by The National Association of Catholic Bishops and I have worked here at Marian Medical Center for nearly 10 years. I learned Reiki from two of our nurses, Jeanette McDaniel, RN, who works in the ER, and Joyce B. Benedetti, RN, Manager of the Education Department at Marian. I have been a practitioner/teacher since 1997.

At the present time, I am primarily the Second Floor Chaplain, although I also see ER patients in the early morning and am frequently called to the ER. I begin my patient rounds a little before 7 AM in the OR Holding area (the room just before the Operating Rooms), then work my way back through the Same Day Surgery Care Unit, CCU (Critical Care Unit which includes Intensive Care and Cardiac Care Units), and then head for 2 North.

A large number of nurses, a few physicians and a number of employees from others sections of the Medical Center have received Reiki Training. This includes persons working in the ER, Physical Therapy, Environmental Services, CCU, Medical and Surgical Services Chaplaincy, Home Care, Hospice, and ministry to Persons With Aids. I am enclosing flyers from our Hospital sponsored Reiki programs. We have an on-going program at the Marian Cancer Center for cancer patients and their families and an annual “Cherishing Yourself Day” held during our yearly City-wide Peace Week Celebration. Both are very well attended by the public. Over 40 people come to receive Reiki on “Cherishing Yourself Day” this year.

In my work as a Chaplain, I see people of all denominations, people who have no religious preference, people who have no religion and those who would just like a “social visit.” I am not “the Catholic Chaplain”, but minister to all who welcome such visits.

There is still a certain amount of fear/restraint on the part of some people in administration that keeps them from endorsing Reiki as a part of the Integrative Medical Services: a misunderstanding of what Reiki is and there are some persons who threaten to withdraw their contributions/donations to the Medical Center because they feel Reiki violates their personal belief system in one way or another. Hopefully these misconceptions will change over time.

An increasing number of people know that I use Reiki and ask for me personally (or for one of the others who use Reiki), and some ask for the “nun who does laying on of hands.” For the most part when I ask people if they would like me to pray will them, they stretch out one or both hands and they know I am praying for healing for them or their loved one. I get many comments from people telling me how much better they feel/felt.

I would like to share some stories with you. In the stories in which I use people’s names, I use them with their permission.

The OR nurses frequently direct me to patients who are very anxious/fearful before surgery and tell me later that the patient has told them how much better they felt after my visit, or how the patient was suddenly so much calmer/more at peace. A few patients have told me they don’t want to let go of my hand because “holding it makes me feel better.”

One of the anesthesiologists later asked me for information on Reiki. I gave him the book: REIKI, ENERGY MEDICINE, which details the use of Reiki by physicians/nurses at Massachusetts General. On another occasion another anesthesiologist looked me up after a surgery and said, “I don’t know what you did, but whatever it was it worked–the mass (tumor) wasn’t there any more–that was a real surprise!”

On my regular rounds I went to see a new patient and the RN and Physical Therapist had just gotten her up. I started to leave with the intention of coming back when they had finished, when the patient, holding tightly to the walker said she “felt funny,” but refused to sit back down when requested to do so by the RN. The RN took her blood pressure as she was standing there and said it was “sky high.” While she consulted with the Physical Therapist, I quietly asked the woman if she would like me to pray for her and she said it “couldn’t hurt.” I placed my hands over hers (she was still clutching the walker with both hands) and prayed a brief prayer for healing and left. In about 5 minutes the Physical Therapist rushed out, found me and told me that the woman’s blood pressure had dropped 40 points and that she was feeling great.

One of the patients told her Nurse that after I put my hands on her head the severe headache she had as a result of her IV medication “lifted up like a cloud” and did not come back. I had had only a minute or two with her before her family came in laughing and talking to visit her.

I had major abdominal surgery myself in March of 1999 and my friends did Reiki on me before and after the surgery and at intervals afterwards. When I saw my surgeon 3 weeks after the surgery, he did a double take and said, “This is amazing! I can’t believe how fast you are healing!” He just shook his head and looked up the date of the surgery. At my discharge visit he again remarked on the rapidity of the healing and said he wished all his patients would heal that rapidly.

I have found Reiki to be a great comfort to patients on our Compassionate Care Program (patients with a prognosis of approximately a week or less to live). They tell me they feel “so relaxed” or feel “so much more at peace.” On occasion, I have taught Reiki to their families at the bedside.

I have referred some patients/families to the Third Thursday Reiki Sessions at The Unity Church for a continuation of the healing process and people who attend these sessions from the community at large often ask for Reiki when they are admitted to the Medical Center.

Jeanette McDaniel, RN, who works in the Emergency Room, uses Reiki daily, sometimes at the ER Doctor’s request-they don’t always call it Reiki, they sometimes referred to it as “that thing you do,” or “that massage you do.” She uses it with patients, Doctors, Nurses and other employees at their request. She has seen blood flows lessen or stop, and healings of many kinds, including making the passage from this life to the next more peaceful for some.

Jacqueline Miller, CCRN, from the Critical Care Unit has had the same experience as above, using Reiki/massage with her patients, families, co-workers, and physicians with very good results.

Donna Matthews, RN, who works Med/Surg shared with me that she uses Reiki often and finds it often helps calm patients with dementia and Alzheimer’s as well as emotionally stressed patients and their families as well as terminally ill patients and those on the Compassionate Care Program.

There are many wonderful healing stories from Doris Oakes and others who work at the Marian Cancer Center-stories of physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual healing/improvement. Doris and a fairly large number of others volunteer at the monthly Reiki Sessions at the Cancer Center–hopefully to soon be bi-monthly if all goes well. Some of the Rns at the Cancer Center also have Reiki training.

I have contacted people at various hospitals in the area and while Reiki is sometimes offered at the Cancer Centers, and a class is sponsored by Sierra Vista Medical Center, Reiki is practiced primarily by individual nurses and others in their work situations and is not fully accepted by the medical community at large. It is my hope and prayer that this will change.

It is my opinion that the value of Reiki and its very simplicity of use especially in a medical setting are inestimable. I have seen the results of its use on the physical, mental emotional and spiritual levels and, again, it is my fervent hope that it will soon be accepted fully in the medical field.

Thank you so much for all that you have done to make this wonderful healing modality available to all.

Peace,

Sister Mary Mebane, O.S.F.
Chaplin
Marian Medical Center
A Member of Catholic Healthcare West
P.O. Box 1238
Santa Maria, CA 93805

Reiki in the Name of Christ

by Warren L. Kurtze

Many of my Christian friends have refused to accept the spiritual gift of Reiki. They often claim Reiki will not work in the name of Christ and/or is contrary to scriptures. The intent of this article is to share some joyful experiences involving Reiki and a Born-Again-Christian. Hopefully, these experiences will help others in sharing Reiki with their Christian friends.

It was November 27, 2003, when I was in the Colorado Mountains enjoying the holidays and providing Reiki treatments. During this time a strong Born-Again-Christian was visiting our home. I invited her to my healing room. There I provided some basic Reiki information using wall charts of auras and etc. To my surprise she was cautiously receptive. At one time she had practiced massage and believed in a healing touch, but not healing energies.

The next morning she woke with a level 8-sinus pain and a running nose. With her permission she was treated with Reiki. To her amazement she was healed within minutes. Her joy and excitement led to tears and praising the Lord.

An hour later I invited her to morning meditation. During meditation she was lead through a forest with the sounds of birds and the smell of flowers. We came to an opening with a blue pond being filled by a waterfall. I asked her to sit beside the water and talk with her Lord. Once again, to her amazement, she actually had a conversation with Christ. Several minutes later we returned to the present. Her joy was overwhelming. She broke down into sobbing tears mixed with laughter. Without exaggeration she was unable to walk for several minutes. She was completely paralyzed with joy. Frankly we both began to sob and laugh. The joy, the compassion and the experience with her Lord were truly beautiful.

Two hours later I received a call from a client in serious pain. This person’s pain was so great that assistance into the house and the healing room was required. I asked my Christian friend to help in the healing process. She was taught basic Reiki techniques and was asked to use Jesus as her guide. During the healing treatment her hands became red hot. She began picking up the clients pain and releasing it. The client even commented on the Christian’s hands being so hot. Now my Christian friend does not understand it, but she heard a voice of her Lord telling her to place her hands on the client’s hip where the pain was centered. Please remember that the client-needed assistance to enter the house. This is important because after the treatment the client “danced” out of the house, requiring no assistance. Clearly, a Christian who used her faith in the scriptures called upon her Lord as a guide and then used the basic principles of Reiki to heal with tremendous results.

In concluding this article, I wish to share the view that REIKI is a tool for anyone to use, regardless of theology.

With Love and Compassion
Warren L. Kurtze

Usui/Tibetan Reiki Master/Teacher. ICRT Registered Karuna Master, Levels
I and II. Reiki practice in the Colorado Mountains and Kansas City.
Kansas City Telephone 913-897-7257; Cell 913-530-7807; Mountain Practice (when there) 719-942-4577

Similarities between the Healing of Jesus and Reiki

by William Lee Rand

John 14-12: “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me, can do the same miracles I have done, and even greater things than these will you do.”

One of the outstanding aspects of Jesus’ life was the miracles he worked. According to the Bible, Jesus walked on water, fed five thousand people with five loaves of bread and two fishes, changed water to wine and raised people from the dead. However, the most meaningful of his miracles were the healings he performed. These healings include: paralysis, lameness, fever, catalepsy, hemorrhage, skin disease, mental disorders, spirit possession, deafness and blindness. Many of these healings were accomplished by the laying on of hands. This is indicated frequently in the New Testament, Luke 4:40 states: “When the Sun was setting, the people brought to Jesus all who had various kinds of sickness, and laying his hand on each one, he healed them.”

In Matthew 8:14-15, Jesus uses touch to heal Peter’s mother-in-law of a fever. In Mark 1:40-42 Jesus uses his hands to heal a man with leprosy. This is also mentioned in Luke 5:12-13. Matthew 20:29-34 describes how Jesus healed two blind men by touching their eyes and in Mark 8:22-25 Jesus uses his hands to heal another blind man. In Mark 7:32 35 he uses touch to heal a man who is deaf and can’t speak. In Luke 7:12-15, Jesus raises a dead man by touching his coffin and in Luke 8:49-55 Jesus uses touch to return a dead girl to life.

There are many similarities between the laying on of hands healing Jesus did and the practice of Reiki. One important similarity is the fact that Jesus could pass the power to heal on to others which is similar to the Reiki attunement process. We read in Luke 9:1-2 that Jesus gave his twelve disciples power to drive out all demons and to cure diseases. We do not know by what process Jesus gave healing power to his disciples, but the fact that he was able to pass it on to them indicates an important similarity with Reiki.

Another aspect of Jesus’ healing practice that is similar to Reiki relates to faith. While faith was required for many of the healings he performed, it appears that the healings Jesus did with his hands did not require faith. Mark 6:5-6 states: “He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. And he was amazed at their lack of faith.” So, in spite of the fact that they did not believe, Jesus was still able to use laying on of hands to heal. This is one of the important aspects of Reiki: It does not require faith on the part of those receiving a treatment in order for the Reiki to work.

The fact that Jesus had secret teachings he gave only to those who he had given healing power is clearly indicated in Matthew 13:10-11 and Mark 4:10-12 & 34. Secret knowledge is also part of the Reiki teachings in that the symbols as well as the process of doing attunements are traditionally kept secret and only made available to those who take a Reiki class.

It is not known whether Jesus was born with the ability to heal through touch or if this was something he acquired. His activities between age twelve and thirty are not mentioned in the Bible. It has been suggested by several researchers that during this time Jesus traveled to the East and was schooled in many of the mystical teachings of India, Tibet and China. If this is so, it is possible that Jesus was initiated into a healing technique, during this time.

On the other hand, it is possible that Jesus was taught directly by God or the Holy Spirit or simply had these abilities from birth. There is some good information indicating that the healing methods of Jesus were preserved by the Church of the East and passed on by it’s missionaries who traveled along the Silk Road and other trade routes to India, Tibet and China. It is possible that this information on healing could have been incorporated into the religious teachings of the East and therefore could have been the original source of the Reiki techniques that were used by Dr. Usui.

The early followers of Jesus’ teachings were made up of several groups including the Docetists, the Marcionites, the Ebionites, the Thomasines, the Carpocratians and the Gnostics. The Gnostics and some of the other groups practiced laying on of hands and professed to have a secret knowledge that had been passed on to them by Jesus and his disciples. They were united by their core beliefs which included: a personal experience of Jesus or the “kingdom of heaven within,” their freedom and lack of rules, guidelines or creeds and their reliance on inspiration and inner guidance. Their existence is attested to by the Gnostic gospels which are part of the Nag Hammadi Library which was discovered in Egypt in 1945. The fact that Jesus had additional teachings not recorded in the Bible is attested to in a letter written in the second century AD by the early Church father, Clement of Alexandria. In Clement’s letter, he spoke of a secret gospel of Mark which was based on the normal canonical one but with additions for special followers of Jesus, referred to as “those who were being perfected” and “those who are being initiated into the great mysteries.”

When Christianity became organized after the second century, its teachings were centered around faith and the official teachings of the church, rather than healing or “good works” and inner guidance as practiced by the Gnostics. At this time, those promoting the organization of the church began subduing and banishing those Gnostics and others who would not conform to the authority of the newly developing Church. In addition they tried to destroy the Gnostic gospels. With the elimination of the Gnostics and the establishment of the Official Christian Church, the practice of laying on hands by lay Christians was mostly forgotten.

Jesus possessed great confidence in his ability and was able to heal in an instantaneous way with spectacular results. It is clear that he had perfected many skills and used them in conjunction to get the results he created. Clearly the Bible indicates that he did healing by laying on hands and also indicated that we could do the same. The teachings of Jesus, as well as the example he set are a great inspiration for us.