Date: Wed Sep 22 2021 00:00:00 GMT+0300 (Eastern European Summer Time)
Why are some of the Reiki schools a big business? The energy that powers Reiki is free, why do some make it into a big business?
By David Herron
One might also ask this question of some of the religions such as Catholicism which managed, over a thousand years ago, to convert a similar free thing (spiritual experiences) into a big business. Within Christianity the debate over opulence or modesty in churches and religions has raged for hundreds of years. The grand opulence of Roman Catholic cathedrals, especially in Europe, are a turn-off for some people, since it seems to be a distraction from proper spiritual experience.
Having visited some of those cathedrals, I have to agree. A grandly opulent cathedral in Rome with the ceilings and walls painted by medieval masters is beautiful, but what moved me was the small simple chapel at the side. What moved me even more was the San Damiano Church near Assisi, Italy. That is a simple plain church which is where St. Francis of Assisi had the visions leading him to start the Franciscan Order, and in that church I had many profound experiences.
There is a tendency in human society to convert everything into "big business". "Big is Better" is one of society's memes for a reason. This is as true in spiritual pursuits as in anything else.
Since Reiki is at its heart a spiritual practice, should it be surrounded by a large business structure? Or should it be a more humble enterprise taught by individual Reiki Masters?
I've never experienced a "big business" form of Reiki. What might that look like? A group of Reiki Master's working together? Maybe one of them acts as the CEO of the business and the others are employees? Several business locations, each of which are open every day of the week?
The Reiki Masters I've interacted with operate small scale businesses. Typically the operation is themselves, perhaps a family member, and perhaps one or two volunteer helpers.
But, there are schools of energy healing which do operate as big businesses. I trained with The Barbara Brennan School of Healing, graduating in 2001. At the time there were over 500 active students in the North America school, and plans to expand into Europe and Japan. That required a staff of a few dozen teachers, and a support staff to handle things like setting up chairs or taking care of paperwork. BBSH was at the time a sizable business, in other words, with several thousand students graduating from BBSH.
People being as they are, I'm sure there are some larger businesses focused on Reiki services.
There are a large number of people who have not been trained with Reiki. I'm certain that some people believe that "everyone" should learn Reiki. Those people will see a huge opportunity in offering Reiki Training. Perhaps there are a half million or a million Reiki Practitioners alive today, that's a drop in the bucket compared to the 7 billion fellow humans alive today. Why, there are nearly 7 billion people left to train!
Another way to pose the question is "What's the best way to train Reiki Practitioners?" Should training be conducted by a school that has dozens of teachers traveling around giving classes every weekend? Or should training be conducted in a more direct and personal setting?
Each Reiki Teacher has to choose their own way of offering training, the way that makes sense to them. Some Teachers will envision the training one way, other Teachers will envision it another way. Not every Reiki practitioner has the capability to run a business. Some might see it better to join together in a collective, just to avoid having to be a business proprietor.
Likewise each prospective Student needs their teaching in a way that makes sense to them, and should choose a Reiki teacher that fits their needs. Some would like knowing they were trained in a large school that has taught thousands of Practitioners. Others will like personal one-on-one teaching.
Let's face one thing squarely: Any person providing a service and being paid for that service is running a business. This is true whether that person is a single teacher/practitioner offering healing and training out of their house, or whether that person oversees a large school with dozens of teachers.
Those prospective students who want to become practicing healers need training not just in using Reiki, but also successful business practices and the legal requirements for offering healing as a Reiki practitioner.
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