The Reiki Lineage, Student and Teacher

ReikiDharma Newsletter Volume 18 January 2, 2006

Dear Friends!
Hello again and welcome to the 18th Reiki Dharma Newsletter.

I wish you a wonderfully creative, happy and healthy New Year 2006 and beyond. May every moment of life be lived, loved and celebrated fully... What could be better than writing to you today? Writing to you, is like writing to my Self. You have been my mirror, my dance partner and my friend. You and Me are just a concept of a mind caught up in the web of duality. In reality there is only consciousness: indivisible, whole- and complete in itself. And this is what Reiki leads us to: straight from Mount Kurama into your heart.

A few personal words

What a year 2005 has been. It began with the birth of my daughter, Christina; Before this I was not a human being. Next came the death of my father; Before that I was not a son. Then came the divorce from my long time partner. Before that I was not aware of what love is. These three situations that may happen in every oneﾕs life, have taught me unconditional love- regardless of time, space and the feelings or the whereabouts of the other. As you can see, I have been through the grinder this year, and I am sure that some of you have been, too. But whatever happens, you remain the same. Your essence never, ever changes. Do you remember when you were a little child? I suppose that you felt just like you do now. Remember it for a moment- and get in touch with your essence.

The Reiki Lineage

Today I would like to talk about an important and much discussed issue: the Reiki Lineage- your Reiki family tree. The Reiki- Lineage has many aspects. One may think that it is not very important, because all that it is has happened in the past, and you are Here and Now, in this eternal present moment. But the fact is that time is an invention of man, and in terms of our Reiki Lineage it does not exist. Your teacher is always here with you. Through him you are connected to the source- so- hold him dear. Remember your teachers for a moment. Are they not here with you right now right now? Do you feel them? Do you bow down to them, or is there some unfinished business in between you two? If there is, finish it before the year grows too old...

Modern Megalomania

Modern technology has many advantages and disadvantages. One advantage/ disadvantage is that we can communicate at unbelievable speed and in a way that transcends space completely. In Reiki this has created a problem. Many of us have begun to teach distant attunements. A distant attunement is one executed between two people who potentially donﾕt know each other, and who have no serious relationship with one another. What can I learn from my teacher if I am not even ready to meet him? Of course in an emergency situation this would be a good option for a start. Then after the emergency you can continue the training in person.

The relationship between student and Teacher

In the oriental way this relationship is more of a commitment than marriage, because there is no possibility of divorce. Once you have chosen your teacher, you have chosen him for life. What is being taught becomes in a sense, less important. You learn in your teacherﾕs presence. You learn from the way he touches you, he looks at you and the way he speaks to you. You learn from the way he solves his daily challenges and from the way he acts with his family...

The importance of the Lineage

The Lineage connects you and your teacher and, most importantly, it connects you and Usui Sensei- through the medium of your teacher. And for Reiki to be a spiritual path, your connection to Usui Sensei must be as solid as anything can be. Especially when the going gets rough, your connection to Usui Sensei can save your sanity- and your life.

What is important?

Your root teacher is the one with whom you studied the teacherﾕs class. He is the one who gave you the permission to teach in his lineage. So, this is the teacher whose name will appear in your Reiki lineage. When I teach in my Western Reiki lineage, my lineage goes: Usui- Hayashi-Takata-Furumoto- Helbling- Gilgen- Popat- Petter. When I teach in my Japanese Reiki lineage it goes Usui ﾐ Hayashi- Sugano-Yamaguchi- Petter. It is important not mix your different lineages, to keep things straight. Having received an attunement from someone does not make him part of your teaching lineage. Over the years I have received countless attunements from others- but they donﾕt appear in my lineage. I have received spiritual attunements from Osho and from others, but they have nothing to do with Reiki and my Reiki teaching lineage. Please make sure that we keep these things clear.

The emailed Attunement process

Imagine you see the Dalai Lama perform an attunement on TV. Would you go ahead and perform this ritual with your students the next day? The same goes for an attunement process that you have not been taught and given permission to practice or teach by your teacher.

The permission of your teacher

In this sense the most valuable gift your teacher may give you is the permission to teach. If he has not given that to you, you are not able to teach in his lineage, however capable you may think you are. It may even point to a personal problem of the teacher, but nevertheless...You must then go to another teacher who is ready to certify you. My Japanese teacher, Chiyoko Yamaguchi had a good way of letting her students know whether they were ready to teach or not. Of course her students received a certificate with the title " Shihan Kaku (assistant teacher) or Shihan (teacher) on it. Those who completed the Shihan Kaku course were permitted to teach Reiki One. Those who completed the Shihan level (teacherﾕs level) with her, were granted the great honor to buy a scroll from her, as a sign of their Shihan status. This was not a business...This scroll has the Reiki principles written on it in Hayashi Senseiﾕs hand- writing. Please check the Hayashi Reiki Manual to take a look at it- it is truly beautiful and has tremendous energy. The Shihan who trained with her (or her son) has to have the scroll to be able to teach the first two levels- and he must hang it in the place that he teaches in.... This way you will always recognize who has and has not received her teaching permission. Additionally, in her lineage only she herself was allowed to train another teacher. After her death this honor has been given to her son, Tadao Yamaguchi exclusively. If you would like to come to the source, I suggest you study with him. He is as far as I know the only person in the Reiki world who has the permission to teach teachers and he does it, too! In the Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai only the president, Mr. Kondo, is allowed to teach another teacher. If you hear of anyone else teaching Teachers the "original Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkaiﾓ style ﾐ or in their lineage, you know that it is not true...

Checking your Reiki Lineage

It may be important to make sure that your teacher has really trained with someone. An example from my own experience: My first Reiki Teacher was my brother. After a while I found out that his Reiki Lineage always stopped with him. There seemed to be no way of finding out whom he had learned from. Feeling uncomfortable with this, I went ahead and trained again with a dear friend, Agehanand Popat, in Hamburg. For this reason it is helpful to pass on the names of your teacher, your teacherﾕs teacher and so on, back to Mrs. Takata., to your master/teacher students. I have heard of so many people who allegedly studied with me, but the fact is that not many people have. In one book on Reiki it is said that I taught 30.000 people in Japan. But the real number is about 300(in 9 years).

Publishing the names of your certified students

Tadao Yamaguchi solved this problem by posting the names of the people who hold the Shihan (Teacher) level in his lineage, on his website. If anyone says that he learned form him or his mother, you can easily check whether this is so or not by looking at his website. Currently there is someone Japanese teaching in Mrs. Yamaguchiﾕs name, who does not have her permission to teach. If in doubt, please check it at the (Japanese) Jikiden Reiki.com website. To avoid problems I suggest that you always issue a certificate, and that you publish your studentﾕs names on your website. This way we can avoid all sorts of complications.

Wishing you all the best, from heart to heart, your friend Frank Arjava Petter

Book News I just finished a new book, titled (in German) "Reiki Ganz Klar" (Reiki Clear and Simple). It will be available in the end of February or early March in German. Whether an English edition will be forth coming I donﾕt know yet- I certainly hope so. This book is the culmination of my Reiki work- peeling away all the myths and reducing Reiki to the Essence that Dr. Usui has placed into our hearts. Also, my friend Tadao Yamaguchi has written a lovely book titled "Jikiden Reiki". This too will be published in February or March, in German. Hopefully foreign editions will follow soon...

Copyright © 2006 by Frank Arjava Petter