Website: Home
Page About Us
Healing Sessions The Energies Training Courses Training Manuals Information Centre Newsletters
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Reiki –Grandmaster Title, Origin and Validity
The following letter has been published on the
internet by Carell Ann Farmer who was initiated into
Reiki by Phyllis Furumoto.
Hawayo
Takata was Phyllis Furumoto’s
grandmother.
Background
I include the letter from Carell Ann Farmer in my Reiki training manual so that
students can have some understanding of how the western teaching structure for
Reiki developed. Although this letter is
posted to many internet sites, I also post it to my
site as it is an historic statement regarding the introduction of Reiki into western
society and it is useful to have it here.
For those who are not aware of some of the background
issues, there was an attempt by Phyllis Furomoto to
trademark Reiki around the world in the late 1990s. It would have been
necessary to pay expensive licence fees to practice Reiki had trademarking approvals been given. Here in the UK
Origin and Validity of the
Grandmaster Title and Other Important Issues
This letter was
written by Carell Ann Farmer who was the fourth
master initiated by Phyllis Furumoto and was present
at the first masters meeting in 1982 and at the meeting to form the Reiki Alliance
Carol has given
permission for anyone to make copies of this letter to share with others.
806 - 6th St. E.
Saskatoon, Sask
S7H 1C7
December 31, 1997
Dear Reiki Masters,
I am writing this letter to share my truth in response to the present events
that surround the practice of Reiki, in particular, the design of Office of the
Grand Master, the concept of a sole and rightful heir, lineage bearer, trademarking and licensing.
I write to provide a more complete picture of the growth of the Usui System of Reiki. I write because I have the courage
and understanding now to do so. I write to encourage other people to speak
their truth. I write so that I can honour the life force as it lives within me.
I was trained by Phyllis Furumoto in January, 1981 in
the first two levels of Reiki. During my 1st level seminar, I received three
gifts: the knowing that I was a teacher of this natural healing art (it was
known then as Reiki - A Japanese Natural Healing Art), the knowing that it was
an individual path and that my inner wisdom would always guide me, the knowing
that when I touched healing happened. The actualization of this wisdom has
strengthened over the ensuing years with the challenges presented to me.
I was initiated as a Reiki Master on April 1, 1982. I was the fourth Reiki
Master that Phyllis initiated. I paid Phyllis $10,000. Phyllis asked me to make
two commitments: to honour Reiki as an oral tradition and for it to be my sole
source of income. I committed. I also committed to bringing forth the master in
me. I have upheld my commitment to the oral tradition. At the time of making
that commitment I did not really understand what it meant to commit to an oral
tradition. I was a single parent with two children and no other source of
income. It was a huge leap of faith to trust that the universe would totally
provide all that I needed to raise and provide for my family. My work as a teacher of natural healing and my life have been
supported by this practice. I have been invited to travel extensively to give
seminars and treatments. It has been a profound experience of support and love.
It has taught me the essence of Reiki. I have upheld the commitment to it being
my sole source of income. On April 1, 1996, I took my healing work into the
corporate world, where I have gained experience and strength in standing strong
in the face of politics and the bottom line of making a profit. I live the
practice quietly and continue to deepen my understanding of what it is to
follow my inner wisdom and to dedicate my life to mastery.
Some of the memories that I want to share are parts of conversations that
Phyllis had with me during my seminars in the first two levels of Reiki, my
subsequent training as a Reiki Master and my friendship with her that extended
over several years. I have held these conversations in confidence based on my
personal ethics. The interactive relationship with Phyllis no longer exists and
that is of my choosing. I have felt for many years that I cannot align with the
control and power which she exerts in her role. Phyllis and I were strong
catalysts for each other. We each have our own destiny to fulfil. As in all
relationships, we have the right to agree and disagree. I want to state clearly
that I have no interest in making Phyllis appear "wrong" for her
choices. I wish only to speak from my heart and some of what I have to say is
in disagreement with her choices. It was a difficult path for me because she
was my teacher and friend. I was taught that one of the Reiki precepts was to
honour one's teacher.
I met Phyllis shortly after her grandmother, Hawayo Takata died. Over a period of several years (1981 - 1984)
we were in close association. Phyllis confided in me. She talked to me in great
detail of her confusion over her grandmother's death, her grandmother's lack of
clarifying Phyllis's future role, her lack of direction in her own life and her
fear of the opportunity that was before her to step forward into the position
that her grandmother had filled.
I remember the day that she arrived at my house and pronounced that she had
made a decision. Her decision was clear. She said, "I will go for the
money." She had decided to pursue her grandmother's work – teaching
classes, initiating Masters - for the income potential. She initiated four
Masters between Feb.1981 and April 1982. She began to plan the first gathering
of Reiki Masters in
Her statement of " I will go for the money"
impacted me deeply. It felt wrong to me given my own experience of Reiki. Even
though I was a neophyte, I had felt the depth inherent in Reiki. I had felt the
spiritual impact. Her decision was a materialistic decision. In my experience,
there was no spiritual awareness associated with it and I felt the paradox of that.
My confusion regarding "honouring my teacher" deepened.
I sat in the circle at the first gathering of Reiki Masters in
I also heard the confusion. No successor had been named. Barbara Weber was representing
herself as the next leader. This was a source of concern because she had taken
actions and was making claims about some agreements with Takata.
Also, she had been invited to participate in the gathering and had declined.
Phyllis was questioned about what Takata had said to
her before she died. Phyllis said that her grandmother had hoped that she would
follow in her footsteps, but that she had not said anything definitive about
it. Phyllis was questioned about any additional knowledge or symbols that Takata had given her. She did not have any. But she was the
only person that had started to initiate masters in the group. She was in many
ways leading the gathering. She said that she was open to being chosen as the
person who would follow in Takata's footsteps and
eventually that is what appeared to happen. It seemed that nobody wanted the
responsibility of the role except Phyllis and nobody really understood what was
to happen. I think that we did not have a glimmer of understanding of how Reiki
could have moved forward without a "leader."
At that gathering, I received another profound gift. I had a powerful
experience regarding the concept of grand master. I knew from deep within my
being that I had the potential of being a grand master. I had just been
initiated as a Master. I was the "baby" in the group. The possibility
of envisioning myself embodying the concept of grand
master or the notion of speaking that I had that profound inner knowing was
ludicrous and terrifying. I chose not to speak of it.
I wish that I had had the courage and trust of my heart to speak. It could have
made a great difference to the future of Reiki. It is clear to me that if I had
spoken, it would have initiated a discussion about the concept of "grand
master." The future of the Usui System of Reiki
may have looked very different. Consider for a moment a discussion about the
concept of "grand master" amongst those Reiki masters. "Grand master", not as a title or a position, but as a
possibility that each and every one of us can aspire to. I believe that
at some level everyone at that gathering had this energy experience of the
potential of grand mastery. I know that as one of the participants, I felt that
energy through my body and I felt the full force and potential of that
awareness. I know that we all have the opportunity to direct our lives to grand
mastery. We could be living in the question "What is grand mastery"? A powerful spiritual focus that is our birthright. To live
in this question is quite different from acting as if we are "grand
masters". If there is a designation or honouring with a title, I believe
that it must be earned from living an exemplary life.
It seems to me that everyone has forgotten the naivity
of the participants at the meeting. It was the first time that a group of Reiki
Masters had sat together in
A further development happened at the next gathering of Reiki Masters, which
was held at Barbara Brown's home in
At the next gathering of the Reiki
For the past seventeen years, I have been deepening my understanding and integrating
those first three gifts from my first level seminar and the fourth gift from my
sitting in the circle in
I do not align with the complex notions that are currently expressed by Phyllis
about this practice. I do not align with any of the notions of a role of
grandmaster, office of grandmaster, lineage bearer, sole and rightful heir of
the Usui System of Reiki or licensing fees for
Masters because they do not come from the system itself. What is all this
for? Who benefits from all this
"stuff?" It looks to me like Phyllis does.
The notions of form, discipline and practice are inherent in the way that this
healing art is presented by the Reiki Master. At least at one time this was
true. In the oral tradition, the emphasis was on self-discovery and embodied in
the concept " allow the Energy to lead you".
There is no need to have lengthy treatises about it. Trust the Reiki Master to
live it and model it. It is simple. It exists.
We are all lineage bearers, rightful heirs and potentially grandmasters. It is
not the exclusive right of one person. We have a great opportunity to free
ourselves from confusion and return to the true simplicity of this gentle
practice. I believe that we have the maturity and understanding at this time to
speak, to be heard and bring forth the dignity and integrity of this teaching.
We are all responsible for what has happened and we are all responsible for the
future.
To be a Reiki Master is to hold a sacred trust. This purity of heart is the
essence of what we have to share. I pray that together we can bring that purity
forth to clarify the past, live what we teach and teach what we live.
I send you this letter with love and blessings,
Carell Ann Farmer
cfarmer@sk.sympatico.ca
Phone: 306-652-8967
Posted 27th February 2007
_________________________________________________________________________________
www.healingenergies-at-londonwest.com info@healingenergies-at-londonwest.com
healingenergies -at- londonwest
Telephone
_________________________________________________________________________________