What is Catholicism's problem with Reiki anyway?

Question

I was just reading up on reiki cause I used to be into it but haven't for a while. I got my first degree a few years back and can remember how it felt to be attuned to whatever the energy reiki uses quite well. Anyway in my travels I came across this little blog entry:

http://amazingcatechists.com/2012/05/reiki-not-for-catholics-not-now-not-ever/

I found it interesting that this bunch of bishops thought that reiki isn't scientific and is therefore banned to any catholic. The problem I have is that science doesn't say anything about reiki itself, just that it hasn't demonstrated any medical benefit. The energy used by reiki is still hypothetical according to scientific research, it hasn't been disproved.

I think it is important to clarify this.

My "attunement" felt like a strange trickle of something (could have been cold or hot, hard to tell) in the top of my brain that seemed to expand and spread out to all of my brain and then tried to push itself back out the way it came and, because there was now so much more than before, got blocked up until it forced a wider "hole", kind of like a broken dam. What I'm saying is that I'm absolutely certain this energy exists and I'm sure that others will attest to this as well. I've never really tried to heal myself with it because just feeling this energy was enough for me.

I'm not interested in the healing aspects of reiki for this argument anyway, whether it is a good healing practice or not doesn't factor into my train of thought at the moment; I'm more interested in the source of the energy. If you've ever had reiki done on you and you felt the heat, the tingling sensation and the buzz from it afterwards then you will know what I mean. From a scientific perspective a thing needs to fill in a few parameters to be hypothetical: it must be predictable, repeatable and confirmable. There is quite a lot of evidence that these parameters being met by many people around the world. The only real stumbling block is there are no experiments designed to test this hypothesis, how could we? Where would we even start? The thing is that while people keeping feeling these sensations from this practice then the energy will remain hypothetical.

Many practitioners say that the power comes from God, I don't cause that would make me a theist, which I'm not. I need something a little more than that: a better explanation. Maybe something more primal.

In any case the church is out to sink reiki completely. It seems they are really worried about this and rightly so: it could mean that literally anyone could be in contact with this energy.

Thanks for reading this.

Answer 1

To answer your main question, I have noticed the Abrahamic faiths have a "problem" with anything that doesn't agree with their dogmatic thinking.



The practitioners of Reiki probably have a different definition of God. What they're trying to say, is that the energy comes from within. The true self, which is divine in nature. Buddhist concepts of God are very very different from the theistic western concepts of God.



EDIT: I see, my mistake then. I don't have much knowledge related to Reiki. You would know better.

Answer 2

From what I have read about reiki, apparently you are tuned to channel a concentrated form of universal energy. Which actually is all-pervasive, but with the specific symbols and 'rituals' becomes more concentrated and can be deliberately directed. Reiki assumes that disease is a manifestation of energy blockage and hence concentrated energy is directed to 'heal' it. In that context the whole universe is god, as everything is energy. I suppose the basic presumptions of an energetic universe and us being energy beings is something that does not fit into the religious understanding. Hence they oppose it. Also the clause of defined 'evil' which is a broad category for virtually everything that contradicts the mainstream religious views makes anything new , a gift from satan. Reiki seems interesting. Many hospitals dealing with integrated and wholistic health now employ reiki practioners too.

Answer 3

1. Controlled, scientific studies of Reiki and other energy healing modalities have been done and they consistently show that, at best, they produce a relaxation response that can accelerate healing. Also, considering that 75% of illnesses are somatizing or psychosomatic and caused by the effects of stress and anxiety--energy healing works as a kind of hypnosis that convinces folks that they are being healed of their troubles (that their stress and minds are inflicting on their bodies).



2. The history of Reiki is questionable and it simply is a trademarked, institutionalized and questionably mysticized version of the Christian concept of laying on of the hands. Energy healing is found in many spiritual and shamanic traditions. Reiki is not that unique. I think the Church, however, is concerned about how many people are more interested in New Age magic than straightforward Christianity. Since early medieval times the Churches official stance on magic (although people are completely ignorant about this) is that it is superstition--not "demonic" or "pagan" --and superstition was considered to be ignorance. Magic was considered to be anything related to superstition and love, lust, healing, and money spells.



3. Human beings give off bioelectromagnetic waves and warmth and, though subtle, these waves can be sensed and, in very rare cases, can cause things otherwise considered supernatural to occur. The body is also pulsing with different rhythms and entraining with rhythms. This and elements of suggestibility can cause shifts in brain wave function and electrochemistry so that you can have feelings of "energy" and that something unique is happening during, for instance, initiatory experiences. At best, the body's natural rhythms are being better aligned and balanced because they are synching with another persons who are both powerfully generating the relaxation response and hypnotic shifts in consciousness toward healthier neurochemical responses.

Answer 4

Something to Think about A catholic Bishop invented the word christian The catholic Bishop who followed him invented the word catholic The Catholic Church Compiled the Bible the Bible came from the Church, and that the Church did not come from the Bible. The Catholic Church is the Mother of the Bible, not the Daughter. THE BIBLE IS A CATHOLIC BOOK. Compiled by Catholic’s For Catholics The Word Bible is also a Catholic Word. The Holy Scriptures were first called the Bible by St. Chrysostom, the Catholic Archbishop of Constantinople, in the 4th century. For those who deny that the Bible is a Catholic Book, the founder of Protestantism, Martin Luther, concurred that the Bible is indeed a Catholic Book. He had this to say: "We are compelled to concede to the Papists that they have the Word of GOD, that we received it from them, and that without them, we should have no knowledge of it at all." Martin Luther, commentary on St. John. Protestantism, in all essential elements, merely borrows wholesale from Catholic Tradition, or distorts the same. All doctrines upon which Catholics and Protestants agree, are clearly Catholic in origin (Holy Trinity, virgin birth, Jesus' Resurrection, second coming, canon of the Bible, heaven, hell, etc.). Those where Protestantism differs are usually distortions of Catholic forerunners. For example, Quakerism is a variant of Catholic Quietism. Calvinism is an over-obsession with the Catholic idea of the sovereignty of God, but taken to lengths beyond what Catholicism ever taught (denial of free will, total depravity, double predestination, etc.). Protestant dichotomies such as faith vs. works, come from the nominalism of the late Middle Ages, which was itself a corrupt form of Scholasticism, never dogmatically sanctioned by the Catholic Church. Whatever life or truth is present in each Protestant idea, always is derived from Catholicism, which is the fulfillment of the deepest and best aspirations within Protestantism. One of Protestantism's foundational principles is sola Scriptura, which is neither biblical (see below), historical (nonexistent until the 16th century), nor logical (it's self-defeating) idea

Answer 5

I would also love to know. Catholicism shouldn't have a problem with reiki as they have something in common: they're both fake.

Answer 6

Catholics have always feared people getting their superstition from another source. It's like when drug dealers get pissed at their clients for getting off the drugs.

Answer 7

Anything you trust in that deminishes the will of God is wrong

Answer 8

It involves belief in, and belief in the ability to use occult forces.

Answer 9

This debate is the religious equivalent of the pot calling the kettle black.

Answer 10

Reiki is not from God...it's that simple