Gossamer of the Mind
I am often asked about my opinion, both personally and from a Reiki perspective on the practice of "channeling". I should emphasize however at the outset, as this is often a controversial issue that this blog is ‘A Personal Journey’ and in no way represents an official view of the lineage on the matter. Reiki Jin Kei Do does not include any channeled material of course and for me this is one of its strengths (or at least, the absence of a weakness). Individual Masters however have their own views on the issue and there are many Reiki Masters and practitioners who see the practice of channeling as an entirely helpful method.
Reiki is a complete system in and of itself and does not need any extraneous material - channeled or otherwise to improve it or enhance it. When all the tools for the practice of Reiki are present, as they are within Reiki Jin Kei Do, then what is achieved or what is benefited in any way by a reliance on or use of channeling? The answer is that nothing is benefitted at all.
As to channeling in a wider context; one has to ask the question "Why channel?" The answer seems to be to help oneself and others on their spiritual journey through life. A laudable aim for sure. But this then begs the question; "What is a spiritual journey?" Very difficult to define simply, but one could say from a Christian perspective that it would be to realise one's connection to God; one's own innate Christ Consciousness if you will, or from a Buddhist perspective, to achieve Enlightenment, or realize your Buddha Nature. Realization of Cosmic Consciousness would be another, non-religious way of describing it. How does channeling spirit guides, ascended masters, Reiki guides, devas and the like help in this? I can't see that it does. If a Reiki practitioner engages fully with the Reiki method and is patient with themselves, over time the goal of practice can be achieved. There are no short cuts and no lessons can be avoided.
Assuming that channelers are indeed talking or listening to entities, and following their guidance, is this not a total abdication of responsibility for one's own spiritual journey? It becomes very easy to lay blame elsewhere, when things don't go according to plan or expectation. This happens quite a lot it seems. Once people can take responsibility for their own journey without having to rely on advice from spiritual guides they will then I feel start to make some real progress.
I would also question the wisdom of following advice obtained in this way purely from the point of accuracy regardless of where this advice might lead you. If these entities are, as is frequently claimed, speaking from the perspective of their connection to the Infinite, why is it that they so often say things in direct contradiction of the words of entities "channeled" by others? This happens so often. To give one example in the context of Reiki:
This is a quote from Diane Stein taken from ‘Essential Reiki’:
"Suzanne Wagners channeling tape claims that all the versions of the …………. (Distant symbol) we have in the West are incorrect. When asked how to find the correct symbol, the Reiki guides...said it didn't matter. When asked what to do, the answer was to 'pick one - we fix".
(Stein 1996, pp108)
This is a quote from Kathleen Milner taken from ‘Reiki and Other Rays of Touch Healing:
"When I was shown the Seichem symbols, I saw that they were identical to the Reiki symbols, only slanted... What really caught my eye was a symbol that Sai Baba had told me that Takata had made up. Sai Baba told me that ……. (Distant symbol) was a combination of Hawaiian shamanism and Buddhism."
(Milner, 1995, pp17)
Here is the problem with this particular example: Firstly, how can Mrs. Takata have made up a symbol that is also available in other Reiki lineages other than her own and was used by her own Reiki Master and his before him? Secondly, Diane Stein's Reiki guides acknowledge the existence of the Distant symbol as a genuine Reiki symbol, but say that it is being drawn the wrong way...whilst Milner’s guides claim that it is made up from, or out of a combination of two very different spiritual traditions – so who's advice from the inner planes is correct? The answer is of course, neither. The symbol was not made up by Mrs Takata and it is not being drawn the wrong way.
Reiki is a complete system in and of itself and does not need any extraneous material - channeled or otherwise to improve it or enhance it. When all the tools for the practice of Reiki are present, as they are within Reiki Jin Kei Do, then what is achieved or what is benefited in any way by a reliance on or use of channeling? The answer is that nothing is benefitted at all.
As to channeling in a wider context; one has to ask the question "Why channel?" The answer seems to be to help oneself and others on their spiritual journey through life. A laudable aim for sure. But this then begs the question; "What is a spiritual journey?" Very difficult to define simply, but one could say from a Christian perspective that it would be to realise one's connection to God; one's own innate Christ Consciousness if you will, or from a Buddhist perspective, to achieve Enlightenment, or realize your Buddha Nature. Realization of Cosmic Consciousness would be another, non-religious way of describing it. How does channeling spirit guides, ascended masters, Reiki guides, devas and the like help in this? I can't see that it does. If a Reiki practitioner engages fully with the Reiki method and is patient with themselves, over time the goal of practice can be achieved. There are no short cuts and no lessons can be avoided.
Assuming that channelers are indeed talking or listening to entities, and following their guidance, is this not a total abdication of responsibility for one's own spiritual journey? It becomes very easy to lay blame elsewhere, when things don't go according to plan or expectation. This happens quite a lot it seems. Once people can take responsibility for their own journey without having to rely on advice from spiritual guides they will then I feel start to make some real progress.
I would also question the wisdom of following advice obtained in this way purely from the point of accuracy regardless of where this advice might lead you. If these entities are, as is frequently claimed, speaking from the perspective of their connection to the Infinite, why is it that they so often say things in direct contradiction of the words of entities "channeled" by others? This happens so often. To give one example in the context of Reiki:
This is a quote from Diane Stein taken from ‘Essential Reiki’:
"Suzanne Wagners channeling tape claims that all the versions of the …………. (Distant symbol) we have in the West are incorrect. When asked how to find the correct symbol, the Reiki guides...said it didn't matter. When asked what to do, the answer was to 'pick one - we fix".
(Stein 1996, pp108)
This is a quote from Kathleen Milner taken from ‘Reiki and Other Rays of Touch Healing:
"When I was shown the Seichem symbols, I saw that they were identical to the Reiki symbols, only slanted... What really caught my eye was a symbol that Sai Baba had told me that Takata had made up. Sai Baba told me that ……. (Distant symbol) was a combination of Hawaiian shamanism and Buddhism."
(Milner, 1995, pp17)
Here is the problem with this particular example: Firstly, how can Mrs. Takata have made up a symbol that is also available in other Reiki lineages other than her own and was used by her own Reiki Master and his before him? Secondly, Diane Stein's Reiki guides acknowledge the existence of the Distant symbol as a genuine Reiki symbol, but say that it is being drawn the wrong way...whilst Milner’s guides claim that it is made up from, or out of a combination of two very different spiritual traditions – so who's advice from the inner planes is correct? The answer is of course, neither. The symbol was not made up by Mrs Takata and it is not being drawn the wrong way.
...and why don't all those houses fall down, volcanoes erupt, earthquakes happen, dark haired men walk into the person's life? The usual all purpose get-out used by channelers is generally of the "The energies of the Earth/Cosmos/surrounding this event changed and so the (insert) didn't need to happen." It's all very convenient I'm afraid. But the upshot is that channelers get things wrong so often.
I don't dispute the presence of spiritual guides or spiritual energies in all of our lives, what I dispute are whether channelers are actually channeling anything other than their own imaginations. There is a tendency in the West to assume that something like channeling is fairly easy and that anyone can do it. From some non-Western spiritual traditions it is acknowledged that the art of hearing guides or tapping into spiritual energies to guide us is possible, but there are few that can do it. It takes a highly realized being to do this in any pure or certain way. Channeling is not like listening to one's own 'inner knowing' or intuition either. Intuition comes from within whilst the claimed source for channelers is from without (though I suspect that it is actually largely from within also, but the confusion over source suggests a possible confusion over content also).
To illustrate this further; I recently came across a book called "Working with Your Chakras". The author had "channeled" information about several "new" chakras. If in reality these "new" chakras do indeed exist, why is it that all of the New Age press is not filled with excited discussion about these "new" chakras by those sensitive to the energies of the chakras, of which there are many? The answer is simple: no-one is picking up on their energies because they don't exist. I don’t doubt the integrity of the author in presenting this information, what I doubt is the veracity of the material.
Sorry to those readers of this blog who might be into channeling! But that is my penny’s worth on this particular subject…
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