We often think that only a Reiki teacher can teach but that is not the case. And thinking that only a Reiki teacher can teach is very limiting.
A Shoden Reiki Level I practitioner also can teach!
Think about it. Within Shoden Reiki Level I, the practitioner learns how to meditate on the precepts, how to practice specific meditation techniques which focus on the breath, and how to perform hands on-healing on themselves in a meditative state of mind. If the practitioner performs these practices on a daily basis, then she will start to feel, slowly over time, more in-tune with the precepts.
These precepts are:
Do not anger
Do not worry
Be grateful
Be true to your way and your being
Show compassion to yourself and others
The more a Shoden Reiki Level I practitioner embodies these precepts through daily practice, the more the practitioner also becomes a teacher. In an indirect way, she will start to teach others what it means not to be angry and worried, how to be grateful and true to your way and your being, and how to be compassionate.
In fact this kind of teaching is the essence of teaching. This kind of teaching is the embodiment of the system of Reiki. We might know how to draw the symbols or say the mantras and we might know how to do an initiation/attunement/reiju; we might know many other teachings. But if we do not embody the precepts, then these teachings do not come from the right place.
The real teachings come from showing others how we embody the precepts in our daily life. And this kind of teaching and embodiment also helps others to start to heal themselves, to embody the precepts in their lives. The student now becomes a living example of the system of Reiki; it is not something they know intellectually but something which comes from their whole being. And this state is definitely not limited to a Reiki teacher. In fact there might be Shoden Reiki Level I practitioners who embody this more so than Reiki teachers!
An old saying is “experience is the best teacher.” A Shoden Level I practitioner may never wish to become a certified Reiki teacher. But simply by continuing and deepening her practice, by being herself and teaching by example, she can teach everyone she may meet on her path.
Based in Holland, Frans Stiene teaches in North America, Europe, UK, Australia and Asia.
Frans is also the author of Reiki Insights, it is the continuation of his previous book The Inner Heart of Reiki, taking your personal practice and understanding of the system of Reiki yet another step deeper.
Comments 1
So true! Taking classes and reading books may be very helpful but the real “work” is in the daily practice and living it!