Certified Reiki Master

Ok so for the sake of argument if we assume that Reiki works, that they should get paid, and that they shouldn't teach the craft to others, at what point is Reiki a career (and how much should they be paid for it) or a hobby/spiritual side hustle?
Is it ethical to even charge for spiritual services in the first place (beyond a bare minimum to keep the services available)? What if someone can't afford Reiki at the prices you charge?

Rex wrote: Ok so for the sake of argument if we assume that Reiki works, that they should get paid, and that they shouldn't teach the craft to others, at what point is Reiki a career (and how much should they be paid for it) or a hobby/spiritual side hustle?
Is it ethical to even charge for spiritual services in the first place (beyond a bare minimum to keep the services available)? What if someone can't afford Reiki at the prices you charge?

Most people I've known to employ Reiki in their profession use it in combination with some other healing modality. Some people hang out a shingle announcing their services as holistic healers, perhaps employing some combination of massage, nutrition counseling, chiropractic, and Reiki in the mix of services they offer. More conventionally, there are a number of licensed nurses who, with willing patients, will administer Reiki to augment conventional medical treatment. In those cases, it's at least a component of a career. Offhand, I can only recall meeting one person who endeavored to rely on offering Reiki treatments as a sole source of income. The demand just isn't high enough to make that a practical course for most.

A number of those same people though quite frequently also provide Reiki services for free to those in need and unable to pay. When the very foundation of a professionally-applied skill rests upon compassion, I would argue there's a mandate for the service to be freely given when it's practical to do so without jeopardizing the healer's ability to meet their own physical needs.

Reiki practitioners who have been attuned to the Master level actually can teach others to apply Reiki, and often happily do so. Early Reiki masters tended to charge huge amounts for such training, but that is no longer the case; someone can take a weekend course in Reiki level one for the cost of three or four treatments, and use it on themself and others for the rest of his/her life.

Personally, I think it's unrealistic to expect people to consistently provide either mundane or sacred services for free. Kindness, empathy, and devotion don't eliminate someone's need for food and shelter. Churches and charities have to ask for money to continue their work; healers face the same conditions. On the other hand, it strikes me as hypocritical for someone using a healing energy claimed to be a conduit for an ethereal form of love to practically bankrupt their clients. The Bureau of Labor Statistics claims that the average hourly wage for American workers in 2019 is about $23.50 per hour. Charging many multiples of that detracts from the client's quality of life as much as it adds to it.

I thought I was done on this topic, but Omhu Cuspor brings up another good point: If you charge those who can afford it, and you don't charge those who can't, everyone wins.

Think about it:

• People who can afford high-cost treatments are more likely to attach value to something they've paid for--it will be worth less to them if they pay less for it.
• People who can afford mid-cost treatments are more likely to receive benefits that fit into their disposable income.
• People who can only afford low- or no-cost treatment are subsidized (in the eyes of the practitioner) by those who can afford high- and mid- cost treatments, since the practice of reiki has no overhead.
• The practitioner still makes enough money to cover the cost of their training and necessities, because the cost of treatment averages out among all clients

It's not a bad system, and that's why I use it.

People are paying for an experience, simply put...

It's never intended to replace medical treatment, medication, or a trip to the doctor's office. Your attempt at picking apart why someone should charge in the first place (or if it even exists), is evidence you don't understand what is truly going on during these attunements...

Most Reiki practitioners that I know of who do this partially or full time as a living, invest a decent chunk of money into the experience that goes into these encounters...

LTK wrote: My friend recently posted that she's now a certified Reiki Master and has started offering sessions for 175/hr.

That's a bit steep? In the UK you'd pay from £40-60.. That's the same whether they're an Okuden or Shinpiden I believe.
I've recently attained Shoden in Reiki so I'm not expert yet.

LTK wrote: Personally, I believe Reiki is pseudoscience, but it got me wondering: if there is this universal healing energy that is accessible to all, do you think it's ethical to monetize and charge for it?

I'm still getting my head around it. I myself believe healing should be free, but I was curious enough to see if healing using Reiki was different and paid for the initiation. It was a fairly spiritual and moving course. The idea behind behind paying is that people will value your healing as much as you do.. so to respect yourself and your abilities, you should charge something. If it was free, then people would take it for granted or think it was fake.. It's a tricky balance and subject to think about tbh.

LTK wrote: 2) It's probably my own preconceived prejudices but when I read the Bible as a kid, I don't recall Jesus asking for payment when performing a healing service. If Reiki is a healing service shouldn't it be free, even if it takes time?

If it's your living, I can see it's hard to not charge for it, but if it's something you do on the side because of your love to heal others, monetizing it seems odd to me. In my old religion we called it priestcraft if you charged money for using sacred powers to help others.

I can also see not charging anything and instead leaving an option for a donation.

I know I’m preaching to the choir here with this link but I’m going to go ahead and do it anyway lol
https://bit.ly/2LFlWA1
And sure, I’m positive some of them could argue that it isn’t the same thing enough to satisfy their beliefs but it doesn’t cut it for me. It’s just more of the same hypocrisy and politics as anything else.

To summarize a very large paragraph I just deleted - if someone believes in Reiki healing they’ll be willing to pay someone to do it because learning it takes time and effort - and giving a session also takes time and effort. Even if most people don’t believe in it, the ones seeking it out do and know and understand there is cost involved.

I think I would take donations. People will naturally show their thanks and gratitude..

I wouldn't want to rely on energy work for income. I think having other income would be optimal for me.. servicing others and myself in the process

My force i use to heal others and while it does sound psuedoscience like it's much more then that. Ever faced your fears and felt relieved after some sort of warm energy that relieves or something? That is technically reiki energy which is the healing energy usually silver then using blue you can be soothing, calming and flowy. The green can ground and if you have energy that is red or an overactive chakra use the green maybe combining with blue force color aka the aura. It depends on the energy needed at the time and red is circulation yet can be mapped out which if it's red would mean inflated or irritated nerves.
pardon my poor formatting if it is and it's something one can experience to truly figure it out or call it more then a psuedo. You use it whether or not your aware of it though and hope your doing well. Just my input as i have done and received that energy.
mtfbwy

Mira wrote: My force i use to heal others and while it does sound psuedoscience like it's much more then that. ... mtfbwy

I think there's a helpful point there, Mira. I would not call Reiki as we now rely upon it "science", not even pseudoscience. I do not think it has passed the criteria that the discipline of science would require for it to be accepted as scientifically validated. I honestly don't know if that's even been attempted.

But that said, there are thousands of people whose subjective experience with Reiki has been positive. I am one. It was through working with a Reiki practitioner that I overcame joint pain from a fall down some stairs that my physician said would be with me the rest of my life.

To those of us who have experienced tangible benefit from energy work like Reiki, accusations of being involved with pseudoscience don't matter. We know what it contributed to our lives. I am not an anti-science person, but the longer I live the more I think that the scientific paradigm, while profoundly helpful, may not by itself be able to provide a complete understanding of the universe in which we live.

So is this like Force Healing? How can I learn it?