Here follows a summation and a portion of the approved report by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Administrative Committee entitled: “Guidelines for Evaluating Reiki as Alternative Therapy”.
In it’s entirety it can be found at http://www.usccb.org/about/doctrine/publications/upload/evaluation-guidelines-finaltext-2009-03.pdf – by the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Doctrine, March 26, 2009 (please note that this negatively critical piece was not concocted in the dark ages!).

Here follow the most important excerpts:

• “Reiki therapy, an alternative medicine originating in Japan, is unscientific and inappropriate for use by Catholic hospitals, clinics and retreat centers and people representing the Church,
• “For a Catholic to believe in Reiki therapy presents insoluble problems,” the committee’s guidelines said. “In terms of caring for one’s physical health or the physical health of others, to employ a technique that has no scientific support (or even plausibility) is generally not prudent.”

The bishops said the technique — which involves but is not limited to a Reiki practitioner laying their hands on a client – also is encouraged as a “spiritual” kind of healing, but that for Christians “access to divine healing” comes through prayer to God.
A Catholic who puts his or her trust in Reiki “would be operating in the realm of superstition,” they claim.

So a bit more on comparing bananas to bicycles:

The bishops’ guidelines noted that “Reiki is frequently described as a ‘spiritual’ kind of healing as opposed to the common medical procedures of healing using physical means.”
However, there is a radical difference between Reiki therapy and the healing by divine power in which Christians believe, the guidelines said.

• “For Christians the access to divine healing is by prayer to Christ as lord and savior, while the essence of Reiki is not a prayer but a technique that is passed down from the ‘Reiki master’ to the pupil. In sum, Reiki therapy “finds no support either in the findings of natural science or in Christian belief,” and they warned that “there are important dangers” in using Reiki for one’s spiritual health.” …”To use Reiki one would have to accept at least in an implicit way, central elements of the worldview that undergirds Reiki theory, elements that belong neither to Christian faith nor to natural science,” …”Without justification either from Christian faith or natural science, however, a Catholic who puts his or her trust in Reiki would be operating in the realm of superstition, the no man’s land that is neither faith nor science,” they continued.
  (hmmm… the sceptic in me wonders how different that would be to praying for healing and hoping the holy spirit will find me amongst a sea of other devout members of the congregation…)
   
• “Since Reiki therapy is not compatible with either Christian teaching or scientific evidence, it would be inappropriate for Catholic institutions, such as Catholic health care facilities and retreat centers, or persons representing the church, such as Catholic chaplains, to promote or to provide support for Reiki therapy,” the guidelines said
  (hmmm… beg to differ… as the energy that created us, including these Bishops, is so infinitly divine, wise, all-powerful, beyond our mere human understanding (including the Bishops’) and as the energy that surrounds us and all of nature is permeated in every molecule of our existence… we can at least pay homage to it, appreciate it, draw it to ourselves, use it within and benefit…prayer?…)

So, my thoughts on this…
My goodness! 
Such politically motivated gibberish from people who are to be dedicated to care about us / for us and who feel they are in a position to spiritually guide us!
So the Reiki information perused was gathered from the Internet and Reiki books. Were the experts considefed redundant? Not so smart for making a valuable, guiding, insightful, internationally read statement to guide one’s flock! If I were to try and understand witchcraft, I’d do more than read about it – I’d possibly try and meet at least one or two witches for an in-depth chat or a session (with ambulance standing by???)
It was concluded that this form of hands-on-healing has a Buddhist, religious basis whereby the practitioner directs healing energy by way of human thought (not really) and will (nope – but this even casts dispersions on intention!); and that Reiki is not scientifically validated (wrong part of the internet was consulted for that too!); and that the medical community has not accepted Reiki (so what, no patents – no millions). Mainstream medicine doesn’t accept a lot of things – 43 vaccinations in early childhood being too much,for example, is not even remotely correct science, either).
Energy can be measured and calibrated and has been shown and documented on numerous occasionas by credible groups and institutions – the bishops would have enjoyed reading The Secret Life of Plants, The Secret Life of Cells, tests carried out at HeartMath would have been a good start, just to name a few non-outlandish books, people, concepts and equipment).

If the Catholic Church is uncomfortable with energy that could include energy work that could be “willed” or “passed along”, then that implies that working with visualizations are also tabu!
If the Catholic Church is uncomfortable with Reiki, then also Therapeutic Touch and Healing Touch are out the door. It follows, then that Touch for Health, muscle testing, when done properly, would become the work of the devil, too!
Things don’t bode well if we need the healing practices mentioned above to be understood, sanctioned and recognised by orthodox (big pharma) medicine, first, so that then the catholic church can also give their approval… who owns who?
As a friend of mine mentioned (a shocked devout Catholic Reiki practitioner): “it seems almost that they think we’re competing with God, rather than that we are extending a mere small human helping “hand” or must I now just sit and wait for divine intervention while praying? What happened to the beautiful advice: “This you can do and more”?

I have never violated copyright laws or copyright codes of honour, but I’m so annoyed and frustrated and plain tired of employing the principle of “Just for today, do not be angry” in regards to all this nonsense, that I’m going to end this article with a huge wonderful piece from James Oschman, Ph.D.’s book: Science and the Human Energy Field.
Dr. Oshman is a scientist with a conventional background and an unconventional mind who became interested in the practice of energy medicine. Through research, he discovered a number of important scientific studies that point to a scientific basis for energy medicine based on the laws of physics and biology.
The interview with Dr Oschman and William Rand on the Catholic Bishops’ findings are discussed here: “Science and the Human Energy Field” at https://www.reiki.org/articles/science-and-human-energy-field published in William Rand’s 2002 Winter Reiki News Magazine.

And William Rand’s point of view to the Bishops’ Statement on Reiki: https://www.reiki.org/articles/response-bishops-statement-reiki

“Scientific Explanation for Reiki

“The electrical currents that run through every part of the human body provide the basis for Dr. Oschman’s hypothesis. These currents are present in the nervous system, organs, and cells of the body. For instance, the electrical signals that trigger the heartbeat travel throughout all the tissues of the body and can be detected anywhere on the body.

“Ampere’s law indicates that when an electrical current flows through a conductor, an electromagnetic field is produced that reflects the nature of the current that created it. Tests with scientific instruments indicate that electromagnetic fields exist around the body and around each of the organs of the body, including the brain, heart, kidneys, liver, stomach, etc. The heart has the strongest field, which has been measured at a distance of 15 feet from the body.

“The fields around each of the organs pulse at different frequencies and stay within a specific frequency range when they are healthy, but move out of this range when they are unhealthy. The hands of healers produce pulsing electromagnetic fields when they are in the process of healing, whereas the hands of non-healer do not produce these fields. When a healer places his or her hands on or near a person in need of healing, the electromagnetic field of the healer’s hands sweeps through a range of frequencies based on the needs of the part of the body being treated. Faraday’s law indicates that one electromagnetic field can induce currents into a nearby conductor and through this process, induce a similar field around it. In this way, a healer induces a healthy electromagnetic field around an unhealthy organ, thus inducing a healthy state in the organ. A detailed explanation of this hypothesis, including descriptions of the scientific studies, diagrams, and references is presented in the interview mentioned above.

“Acceptance by the Medical Community

“Although Reiki is not universally accepted within the medical community, many medical professionals, hospitals, and healthcare facilities recognize its benefits and accept it as an adjunct therapy. In Holistic Nursing, A Handbook for Practice, Chapter 2 “Scope and Standards of Practice,” the American Holistic Nursing Association (AHNA) lists Reiki as an accepted form of treatment.

“In addition, according to the American Hospital Association, in 2007 Reiki was offered as a standard part of patient care in 15% or over 800 hospitals across the US. Doctors have recommended Reiki to their patients for amelioration of various health-related conditions. Surgeons make use of Reiki practitioners prior to, during, and following surgery. As an example, Dr. Mehmet Oz, one of the most respected cardiovascular surgeons in the US, uses Reiki during open-heart surgeries and heart transplants. According to Dr. Oz, “Reiki has become a sought-after healing art among patients and mainstream medical professionals.”

“Ethical Implications

“To refuse Reiki treatment to patients that request it creates an ethical issue. According to the AHNA statement https://www.ahna.org/Portals/4/docs/News/Response_to_Bishops_Guidelines_for_Reiki.pdf in response to the bishops’ statement, the practice of holistic nursing is not subject to regulation by the Catholic church and it would be an ethical violation for a member of the AHNA to withhold Reiki treatment from a patient who requests it; this includes those working in Catholic hospitals.

“Scientific Studies

“There are a number of reputable scientific studies that provide evidence that Reiki is therapeutic. These studies can be found by using one of the professional medical databases such as PubMed or Cochrane Collection. (4) Studies meeting medical and scientific standards are usually published in peer-reviewed journals. There are over 20 such studies on the therapeutic value of Reiki. A review of some of these studies, “An Integrative Review of Reiki Touch Therapy Research” by Anne Vitale, Ph. D., can be found at http://www.nursingcenter.com/pdf.asp?AID=732068. While the Reiki studies conducted to date are preliminary in nature, they do provide support for additional studies.

“One well-designed Reiki study is “Autonomic Nervous-System-Changes During Reiki Treatment: A Preliminary Study. Forty-five subjects were assigned randomly to three groups. One group received no treatment, another received Reiki treatment by experienced Reiki practitioners, and the third group received sham treatment by a person with no Reiki training who used the same hand positions as those receiving real Reiki.

“Measurements were made of heart rate, cardiac vagal tone, blood pressure, cardiac sensitivity to baroreflex, and breathing. Heart rate and diastolic blood pressure decreased significantly for those receiving Reiki, but not for those receiving sham Reiki, or no treatment. This study indicates that the body does respond to Reiki energy and that this response isn’t purely psychological. It also indicates a potential therapeutic effect for Reiki.

“Reiki Improves Heart Rate Homeostasis in Laboratory Rats” (6) is another valuable study. The value of using animals in this type of study is that they are not affected by belief or skepticism regarding Reiki. In addition, highly accurate telemetric implants were used to transmit the biometric data. White noise was used to increase the heart rate of three implanted laboratory rats. The rats were treated by a Reiki practitioner and by a sham Reiki practitioner prior to being exposed to white noise and after exposure. The procedure involved the practitioner directing their hands toward the caged rat at a distance of four feet. The rats that received Reiki experienced a significant reduction in heart rate, both before having their heart rates elevated by white noise and after, whereas those treated with sham Reiki did not. This is one of the most rigorous Reiki studies to date and demonstrates that Reiki reduces the heart rate in both stressed and unstressed animals and promotes homeostasis, both of which promote healthy heart function.

“Reiki is practiced by followers of many religious traditions. Although some practitioners integrate Reiki into their existing religious beliefs, Reiki is not a religion, doctrine, or dogma. Reiki is grounded in the principle of compassionate action, which is common to all religious traditions. While each religion has the right to create its own rules, it’s within the nature of human dignity and free will for each person to decide which path to follow and what activities are appropriate for them.

The above quoted from James Oschman, Ph.D.’s book: Science and the Human Energy Field.

This rebuttal inspired by William Rand and his rebuttal.

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#the original Aramaic Lord’s prayer #Reiki – at what price? #human energy fields / the earthpulse #1928 Reiki article #differences – past traditional / present-day
#certification #the five Tibetan rites #Japanese Reiki words / phrases
#Reiki Level One class #Reiki Level Two class #classes calendar #q & a’s – Reiki
#Reiki distance healing #Reiki meditation #practitioner’s exchange #the science behind Reiki #origins of Reiki #what is Reiki #rebuttal to the bishops