Is Reiki a religion?

openingmind said:
Is Reiki a religion?

If so, what makes it one?

What makes a religion?
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"Religion" is a fuzzy term for a subset of supernatural beliefs that typically include as part of a package deal belief in some kind of immaterial entity or entities which are more powerful than humanity and which will look kindly on you if you go through prescribed ritual behaviour.

Some people try to broaden the definition of "religion" until it merely means "opinion" or "belief", often because they are angling for an argument that atheism or empiricism are "religions".

Generally people differentiate supernatural beliefs with no moral prescription attached ("ghosts exist" or "Ted has psychic powers") from religious beliefs with typically involve moral prescriptions ("God exists and doesn't want you to be homosexual").

Reiki has elements in common with organised religion in that it's a structured scam which charges people money for the right to scam suckers for fake treatments, and eventually for the right to scam suckers for reiki training.

Overall I'd say it's probably not a religion due to the lack of a moral element, but it certainly has a lot in common with a religion. I'd call it an organised faith healing scam rather than a religion, but calling it a religion could be defended.
 
Contemporary Reiki as practiced by most is a commercialized and secularized scam that has lost it's original religious environment.

Originally it was a faith healing practice within the environment of Esoteric Buddhism (Tendai). The focus symbols it still uses are stylized Sanskrit symbols for certain Buddhas and dharma protectors.
Most practitioners are unaware of this, though, so can't be said to be showing these religious figures any reverence or devotion.

Reiki is now sometimes force fitted into any religious environment.
For many years practitioners circulated the lie that it's founder was a Christian to make it compatible with the American environment.

Mostly it's not a religion of itself. As Yoga and Transcendental Meditation, it is no longer exclusive to its root religion.
However it can be a religion of itself if an individual invests a lot of ritual and teaching into it.
 
Apathia said:
Originally it was a faith healing practice within the environment of Esoteric Buddhism (Tendai). The focus symbols it still uses are stylized Sanskrit symbols for certain Buddhas and dharma protectors. Most practitioners are unaware of this, though, so can't be said to be showing these religious figures any reverence or devotion.
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From the research I've done, two of the symbols, the "Hon Sha Ze Sho Nen" and "Dai Ko Myo" are simply Japanese kanji or stylizied abbreviations of kanji, and are not properly symbols at all. And the first symbol, the "Cho Ku Rei" doesn't seem to have any relation to Tendai Buddhism...that I've found. The second symbol, the "Sei Hei Ki" bears a significant resemblence to the Sanskrit Hrih, a symbol associated with a Buddhic figure, but which isn't necessarily exclusive to Tendai.

Doubtless the system was developed in a context of religion, but its origins are sort of pan-cultural. I heard too that it was founded by a Christian, but with some research turned up dubious results. The founder is said to be Tendai, but was buried in a Jodo Shinshu cemetery. ...It seemed like the founder borrowed from different traditions.
 
openingmind said:
From the research I've done, two of the symbols, the "Hon Sha Ze Sho Nen" and "Dai Ko Myo" are simply Japanese kanji or stylizied abbreviations of kanji, and are not properly symbols at all.
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That's correct. Both of those are religious terms taken form both Tendai and Pure Land Buddhism.

The Sei Hei Ki is the Sanskrit character associated with the Medicine Buddha who is a figure in the Tendai tradition.

There were other such names and terms used ritualistically in the original practice. But it's difficult now to trace just what the originals and what their forms were, as teacher after teacher has adapted Reiki to his or her own tastes.

And you're right. It can't be pinned on any one sect of Japanese Buddhism. It seems that from the start it borrowed from both esoteric and Pure Land elements.
The practice of initiations or "attunements" is an esoteric approach, though this has become more an exchange of money than a transformative experience.

Again it seems to me that whether it's a religion of itself or not depends on the individual usage.
 
Yes, religious.

Very religious.


(Domini, domini, etc.)

Your faithful servant,



and so on.
 
openingmind said:
Is Reiki a religion?

If so, what makes it one?

What makes a religion?
Click to expand...

Coming up with a working definition of religion is not easy. It makes no claims to be a religion and doesn't try to structure itself as one so I would say it would be hard to come up with a definition of religion that people would accept that would fit it.
 
Gord_in_Toronto said:
No. It's just plain silly.

:th:
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Nah, silly implies a humorous value.

Reiki is just plain old stupid.

Like, a-nine-year-old-can-prove-you-stupid kind of stupid.

And I have no reservations about saying that I think that anyone who believes in this obviously factually incorrect concept must be stupid.
 
Religion is part of the Old Age and hence an outdated concept. Reiki is part of the much more hip New Age, when antiquated concepts like religion are done away with. Newer is better, and more healthful for you.
 
Reiki isn't religious, it's spiritual

[Ladewig ducks]

No, seriously, it describes itself as spiritual.
I agree that it does not fit the definition of religion.



Fun fact: The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has declared that Reiki therapy is incompatible with either Christian teaching or scientific evidence.
 
Ladewig said:
Fun fact: The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has declared that Reiki therapy is incompatible with either Christian teaching or scientific evidence.
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Of course not, it doesn't involve saints, the Christian god or get money into the church in anyway. That is why they still recommend a good trip to Lourdes.
 
i was hanging out with a girl who "discovered" Reiki.

she told me, as we were sitting by the beach, that she could "feel my sexual energy".

do they all talk like this?

:)
 
Thunder said:
i was hanging out with a girl who "discovered" Reiki.

she told me, as we were sitting by the beach, that she could "feel my sexual energy".

do they all talk like this?

:)
Click to expand...

"Feeling sexual energy" doesn't require Reiki.
Talking about it only requires a little New Age flakiness.

Wait till she gets to the part where she says,
"I consulted the Fairies, and they told me you and I should part ways, because you are taking me off my path."

Not that this requires Reiki, but you've had your warning! :wackyyes:
 
I recently stopped dating a new-ager after she told me that she was experiencing intestinal discomfort that she diagnosed as being caused by an imbalance in her second chakra. And guess who was the cause of said imbalance?

Me!
 
You were dumped because you made her flatulent? Perhaps it's a wake-up call and you should turn your super-power to good.
 
I don't know quite enough about it to classify it as a religion or not. I find the similarities between Reiki and the Laying on of Hands fascinating... but think of it more from a D&D perspective than a Christian one.

Being touched doesn't generally heal people, that I know of... but it can certainly make one feel good at the time... particularly if one's life is lacking in normal social touching. I suspect this is part of why people can easily be fooled into belief in such a thing.

One could make the case that a generalized belief in "mystical energies" within the body could definately be considered a relgious belief if it has no scientific basis.
 
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