Have you ever seen those online ads about how you too can become a powerful reiki master online or in your own home? Some do attunements over DVD, some tell you how to do a self attunement. There are online chat groups that offer attunments for free at specific dates. It’s true that part of the system of Reiki honors the oneness of all things, that this spiritual system is not restricted to time and space.
I myself did take Celtic Reiki through an online ad, distance attunement and everything. I received a very nice certificate and an PDF download of the manual. My Celtic Reiki Teacher seems like a super cool person, and I did feel the energy during my attunement. I looked for a local person who practiced Celtic Reiki and couldn’t find one at the time. The pictures of her space and her cat, the whole atmosphere looks like a cool place to learn Celtic Reiki. But since she’s halfway across the country, the commute seemed a little far. Over a year has gone by and I don’t think I’ve visited her website once, or emailed her or received an email from her. If she were local, I think we would have gotten along great and even become friends. But because it was long distance, and the attunement a one shot deal, we never had a chance to build any kind of relationship.
Maybe I’m old fashioned, maybe I just am learning to love the company of others as I grow older. What I do know is that it’s hard to talk about the nuances of working with a healing modality in person, and even harder to describe in writing.
The advantage of learning Reiki in the comfort of my own home included lower cost and convenience. The disadvantage is that I didn’t have an opportunity to create a symbiotic relationship with this Reiki Master. I don’t care how much you email each other back and forth, nothing can replace a real world hands on experience of learning from another Reiki practitioner. Relationships that are limited to emails over time will trickle off until you may not remember your Reiki Master’s name unless you look at your certificate.
We are in a digital age, obviously I have embraced much the internet has to offer with my blog, facebook, and twitter accounts. It’s a wonderful tool for written communication. But there are so many other ways we communicate, verbal, non-verbal, you can’t really get a feel for someones personality online. Case in point I have a friend who online is very conversational, direct, and sarcastic. In person she is very, very, shy. Those who know her online would never know her by her quiet hello, and single word responses.
I value my relationships with my Reiki teachers, and I’m glad that I made the choice to go with in person training whenever possible. I’ve learned a lot by reading other blogs, books, and even renting some DVD’s as well. But nothing compares with working with other Reiki practitioners, which I do twice a month in my Reiki Share.
So much of the digital age is replacing the old, now that Kodachrome film has been discontinued we have to say goodbye to the unique quality of the color prints. Renting videos for a fun night at home has to be pre-planned or ordered online to watch on your computer. I miss the experience of going to the DVD rental store, strolling through the aisles, laughing at oddball titles,  the excitement of the new releases and finding the perfect movie. That’s almost all gone now.
A few pictures on a website, or a DVD that I put in are a poor substitute to the real thing. I also missed having another student in class, asking the questions that I didn’t think to ask. Now that I’m a teacher myself I’m committed to providing a hands on kind of training to all my students. I’m learning so much from them in turn, about balance and friendship and Reiki too. It’s worth it to have a class in person, it’s about building a spiritual community and not just a personal practice.
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