“What a Reiki teacher says, those specific words and the place where they come from, make all the difference in the world. Let me repeat it: they make all the difference in the world.” Jaime Kim Libowitz, written after her First Degree Reiki class
I had a note from Pamela Miles—a friend and the author of Reiki: A Comprehensive Guide—on Saturday morning asking me to read her most recent blog about Jaime Libowitz’ reflections on her First Degree teacher. Pamela asked if I’d add a post about how I was affected by the words of my own First Degree teacher.
Reading Jaime’s experience and the comments of readers, I was touched by the impact of our Reiki teachers’ words and example.
Here’s a part of my story:
In 1978, my husband Paul was taking a class at San Francisco State University called Holistic Health and Self-Regulation. A potpourri of practitioners involved in this new field spoke about their particular modalities. Paul came home one afternoon beside himself with excitement. He started telling me about that day’s speaker, an elderly Japanese lady from Hawaii. She recounted story after story of her forty-three years of experience with Reiki.
One of the things she said was, “When you do Reiki, you don’t pick up things from other people.” The moment I heard that, I knew in my core that it was true—irrevocably true. I felt this lady, whom I’d never met, was speaking directly to me, slicing through the assumptions and fear I had about myself, how things are, how my life could be. Those words inspired me to learn Reiki.
Throughout my First Degree class, Hawayo Takata said things that left a deep imprint in my mind and heart. Despite the endless doubts I had about my capacity to do Reiki, she lit a fire in me that kept me practicing. And I never set that practice down.
Reading everyone’s stories, I saw a tapestry of gratitude forming for all the teachers who’ve enabled us to carry Reiki in our hands and hearts.