Rei-ki Teacher Selection Criteria
Barbara McGregor,
Rei-ki Training Academy
Back in the early 1980's when Beth Gray first informed me I was meant to teach Rei-ki I was incredulous and doubtful. On a number of occasions I had mystical experiences which seemed to confirm the eventuality, and I took the step to manage and promote Beth's Australian seminar tours. I travelled with her for many months of each year, which took a progressively higher level of commitment and a reordering of priorities in my personal, professional and financial circumstances.
However, in over 100 seminars I was given insights into human nature, the healing and spiritually evolving aspects of Rei-ki, and the opportunity to experience a very wide range of responses to the attunement process. I ran a Rei-ki group in my home for some five years, forming wonderful supportive friendships, and I practised Rei-ki voluntarily from 1984 onwards. During that decade I also studied natural therapies, nutrition and aspects of personal and spiritual development as part of my role as editor of WellBeing Magazine. I have come to understand all this was preparing me for the next step.Having reached critical mass in the development of the Usui Rei-ki Network, following Beth's retirement in 1992, further progress is now subject to the training of teachers in the original Usui tradition of Rei-ki, to serve with the Network around the world, honouring the metaphysical context I have committed to preserve.
Those drawn to serve out of real commitment (and not simply ambition) are usually presented with tests and challenges to let go of past self-destructive patterns, clearing the way for a strong "observer self" to be present in the forefront of seminars. It is not an easy path to tread.Rei-ki creates an intense healing environment and all those involved are affected. This is particularly so at seminar time and it is a fact of life for seminar presenters (not just in Rei-ki but in many self-development courses) that one can become a projection and a mirror for unresolved "stuff" for participants and supporters.
Maintaining one's equilibrium in a snowstorm of emotional cross currents is an art form requiring considerable intestinal fortitude, patience and objectivity. Compassion and distance are required in equal proportion. Here are nine other criteria, in no particular order.
- A priority commitment to Rei-ki as
the primary modality.
- Willingness to serve as a teacher within
the Usui Rei-ki Network for at least five years.
- Willingness to take direction during
training regarding areas for further self-development as well as a commitment
to adhere to the form of instruction in Rei-ki without "signature" variations.
- Professional freedom to invest time
in seminar participation, debriefing and, where necessary, extended
travel to gain experience in differing social and cultural contexts.
- Experience in Rei-ki - at least three
and preferably five years extensive experience in hands-on practice,
absent healing, psychic development and seminar and post-seminar support.
Logistics experience in the seminars is especially valuable.
- Credibility: Extensive study, research
or training in health care from a holistic perspective with qualifications
acceptable to authorities in the various countries in which one is called
to teach and membership or eligibility to join professional associations
that provide access to professional liability insurance etc*.
- The natural charisma to develop rapport
and respect with seminar participants, supporters, coordinators and
to enable personality promotion and publicity.
- Presentation skills: Experience in
public speaking and/or teaching, with the ability to hold audience attention
for extended periods and to bring home telling points of insight during
free lectures and seminars, even in the face of a hostile reception.
- Strength of character: Integrity, honesty,
loyalty, courage, unconditional love in all its phases including 'tough
love' (ie: whatever it takes to serve the highest good of others, not
just to win popularity).
It is likely, as governments around the world close the regulatory net around the practice of natural therapies of all kinds, that Rei-ki will come under scrutiny and teaching standards will need to be regularised accordingly. The days of "quickie initiation" for self-styled teachers, without any in-depth training to teach, are short-lived.
I made many commitments to Dr Usui and to Rev. Beth Gray on my inauguration as a teacher in 1990 after seven years of preparation. These included preservation of the non-aligned philosophy, the metaphysics and the original traditions of practice of Rei-ki and such would be required of those drawn to serve within the international network.
Usually the master teacher is given at least three clear signs that a prospective teacher is suited and ready to teach and similarly the teacher also both tested and given their own signs of readiness. Hierarchical ambition has very little to do with it - in fact, as in my own case, I had to overcome reluctance and uncertainty before I crossed the threshold to teach Rei-ki. I am grateful for the constant encouragement and support as well as for the demands of a hard task master in my mentor, Beth Gray.
The Usui Rei-ki Network around Australia and overseas has now become a viable model for a professional training program in Rei-ki for both qualified health practitioners and lay participants, with year-round support services. Keeping the standard pure and the commitment to excellence will be the calling of the next generation of teachers.
Beth used to say "many are called but few are chosen", and in this I think she was referring to the mystical and spiritual bond which forms with one's predecessors in rei-ki, going back to the first teacher in this line, Dr Usui, via Dr Hayashi, Hawayo Takata and Rev. Beth Gray - a bond I am privileged to forge with those who accept the rigours of training with humility and awe which the experience ultimately engenders.
How do you find your teacher?
Training to teach rei-ki is not a question of gaining more healing power or psychic giftedness, but rather a preparation by many life challenges and metaphysical insights under the guidance of the master by whom one is selected and trained over several years.Rei-ki was brought to the western world in the 1970s via Hawaii by Dr Hayashi's number one apprentice, Mrs Hawayo Takata. The first Caucasian rei-ki master teacher was Rev Beth Gray from California, who introduced the ancient art to Australia in 1983. Barbara McGregor accompanied Beth Gray during her seminar tours of Australia for many years and has been teaching Rei-ki full time since 1990 in Australia, London, Hong Kong and Singapore. During that time she has taught over 10,000 rei-ki graduates and has trained master teacher, American Keven Duff, a medical anthropologist and biochemist with an extensive background in natural therapies.
Free lectures with demonstrations
In advance of each seminar program, a two hour introductory talk with demonstrations of Rei-ki by practitioners is given, so prospective students can determine for themselves how Rei-ki works for them.If you have any queries regarding these observations on training, please write to me at:
The Rei-ki Training Academy,
Private Bag 1563,
Neutral Bay, NSW 2089, Australia,
or via e-mail at:
reiki@reiki.com.au and please allow time for a reply given my current schedule.*Note: Hawayo Takata undertook Naturopathic training in Chicago for these reasons. Barbara McGregor is a member of the Australian Traditional Medicine Society (ATMS) and the Orthomolecular Medical Association (OMA).
