Durham E-Theses An Ethnographic Account of Reiki Practice in Britain BEELER, DORI,MICHELLE How to cite: BEELER, DORI,MICHELLE (2015) An Ethnographic Account of Reiki Practice in Britain, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/11098/ Use policy This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution No Derivatives 3.0 (CC BY-ND) Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk An Ethnographic Account of Reiki Practice in Britain 84, 252 words Dori Beeler | An Ethnographic Account of Reiki Practice in Britain | Abstract Abstract Reiki practice is a hands-on-healing method with spiritual foundations that travelled from Japan to the West in the 1930s. Since that time it has rapidly grown in popularity and has taken root in many countries around the world. This thesis is the result of 14 months of ethnographic fieldwork intended to develop a detailed understanding of what Reiki practice means to participants in Britain. I focus on three groups: Reiki practitioners, Reiki clients and medical professionals. First, I introduce important Reiki terms and concepts. Second, after a discussion of methods, I explore a specific method for researching spirituality and the role that interiority has in this approach. A disciplinary practice grounded in spirituality, Reiki is considered as a technology of the self. I apply a triadic analysis of doing— becoming—being in order to examine the ways in which practitioners processually embody the Reiki practice in their lives. In the following chapters I delve into the meaning of Reiki practice. Central to this is the link between spirituality and well-being. This link is investigated through discussions on how subjective spirituality derives meaning through practise and an ethical imperative for care in Reiki practice. Additionally, as it pertains to the health care market, I critically discuss Reiki practice as a commodity. In maintaining a detailed, anthropological focus, the complex nature and diversity of meaning underpinning Reiki practice in Britain begins to emerge. This comprises of the diverse journeys of this study’s participants, including myself, each aiming for an embodied well-being that transcends common understandings of spirituality and health and is often characterised in terms of a peaceful and harmonious life. 1 Dori Beeler | An Ethnographic Account of Reiki Practice in Britain | Title Page An Ethnographic Account of Reiki Practice in Britain Dori Beeler PhD Thesis Anthropology Durham University 2015 2 Dori Beeler | An Ethnographic Account of Reiki Practice in Britain |Table of Contents Table of Contents List of Illustrations 6 List of Abbreviations 7 Statement of Copyright 8 Foreword 9 Introduction Development of Reiki Practice 11 Structure of Thesis 14 Unexplored Themes 18 Chapter 1: Reiki Lexicon Chapter Introduction 20 Vignette – Reiki and reiki 20 Important Reiki Terms 21 Holism and Vitalism 22 Client or Patient? 24 Demystifying Lineage 25 Reiki Training Levels 29 Reiki Symbols 30 Reiki Precepts 32 Reiki: System or Form? 36 Reiki as a Medical Culture 38 The Reiki Paradigm 40 Reiki Practice in Action 42 Chapter Conclusion 44 Chapter 2: Methods and Ethics Chapter Introduction 45 Vignette – A Participatory Event 45 Participant Observation 48 The Insider Position 48 Participation Criteria and Informal Interviews 50 Focus Groups 53 A Method for Exploring Spiritual Experience 54 Interiority Explored 55 Theme Analysis 56 Research Ethics 57 Chapter Conclusion 60 Chapter 3: Reiki as a Way of Life Chapter Introduction 61 Vignette – Living Reiki 63 Vignette Reflections 64 3 Dori Beeler | An Ethnographic Account of Reiki Practice in Britain |Table of Contents Prologue to the Process of Doing-Becoming-Being 64 Reiki Experience as Knowledge 67 A Note on Suffering 68 The doing of Reiki: An Embodied Experience 69 The becoming of Reiki: Explorations of Embodied Experience 74 The being of Reiki: A Move towards Transfiguration 79 Chapter Conclusion 83 Chapter 4: Reiki as Tradition Chapter Introduction 85 Vignette - Riveted By the Reiki Story 85 Vignette Reflections 89 Story Unfolds Into Narrative 89 The Scholarly Debate on Tradition Emerges 92 Narrative and Story: A Mode of Tradition 95 Mikao Usui 96 Chujiro Hayashi 102 Reiki Arrives In the U.S.: The Story of Takata 104 Takamori 106 Chapter Conclusion 108 Chapter 5: Reiki as a Journey Chapter Introduction 110 Autoethnography or Autobiography – A Critical Assessment 110 Reflexivity and Authority 111 The Representational Voice 113 Authenticity and Membership 115 Phenomenological Considerations 117 Vignette - Intersubjective Reiki Experiences 118 A Journey with Reiki: A Search for Community 120 Crossing Borders - Living Between Identities 124 When Researcher Becomes Practitioner 128 Chapter Conclusion 130 Chapter 6: Reiki as Spirituality Chapter Introduction 131 Vignette – A Spiritual Day 132 Vignette Reflections 134 Community and/or Network 135 Spirituality in Academic Literature 136 Reiki and Spirituality 138 Spirituality as Conceived by the British Reiki Milieu 141 Nonformative Spirituality 142 Subjective Spirituality 144 Reiki as Practice 149 Vignette – Reiki and Connection 152 4 Dori Beeler | An Ethnographic Account of Reiki Practice in Britain |Table of Contents Connection as a Spiritual Practice 153 Chapter Conclusion 156 Chapter 7: Reiki as Healing and Care Chapter Introduction 157 Well-Being vs. Health 157 Reiki as Healing 160 Balance as Well-being 162 An Ethic of Well-being 163 Vignette – Love as Reiki 164 Love as Agápē 164 Ethic and Care 169 Reiki as Care 171 Vignette – Combined Client Narrative 172 The Subjectivity – and Intersubjectivity – of Care 172 Chapter Conclusion 177 Chapter 8: Reiki as Commodity Chapter Introduction 179 Vignette – Adjudication 181 Organizational History, Regulation and Reiki Practice 184 Framing a Commodity 187 Marketing Agents and Commodity 188 Commoditized through Adjudication 190 An Issue of Value Equivalence 191 Real or Imagined, the Placebo Effect 193 Decommoditized through Spirituality 194 Contrasting Understandings 197 Recommoditized through Marketing 200 Reiki as a Market Brand 202 Chapter Conclusion 204 Thesis Conclusion 206 Contribution to Current Knowledge 211 Future Research Applications 212 Appendices Appendix 1- Translation of the Memorial Stone 214 Appendix 2: Survey 221 Appendix 3: Research Participants 223 Appendix 4: NHS Trusts and Reiki 224 Bibliography Page 225 5 Dori Beeler | PhD Thesis |List of Illustrations List of Illustrations Figure 1: USR Sample Lineage 28 Figure 2: Interview Locations 47 6 Dori Beeler | PhD Thesis | List of Abbreviations List of Abbreviations ASA: Advertising Standards Authority CAM: Complementary and Alternative Medicine CAP: Committee of Advertising Practice CMA: Competition and Markets Authority CNHC: Complementary and Natural Health Care Council CPD: Continuing Professional Development EBM: Evidence Based Medicine FHT: Federation of Holistic Therapists GP: General Practitioner NHS: National Health Service NOS: National Occupational Standards OGM: Office of the Grand Master RCT: Randomised Control Trial RJKD: Reiki Jin Kei Do T&CM: Traditional and Complementary Medicine TRA: The Reiki Association (not to be confused with the Reiki Alliance) UK: United Kingdom UKRF: UK Reiki Federation USR: Usui Shiki Ryoho WHO: World Health Organization 7 Dori Beeler | PhD Thesis | Statement of Copyright Statement of Copyright The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published without the author's prior written consent and information derived from it should be acknowledged. 8 Dori Beeler | An Ethnographic Account of Reiki Practice in Britain |Foreword Foreword Describing the complexity of Reiki practice and reiki energy has been a challenge throughout this thesis. However, in the analysis, I found a way to provide insight into one aspect of meaning for the Reiki practitioners involved in my study. The narrative, given by Reiki practitioners below, describes this meaning and is provided as an introduction to Reiki practice. You know, it came down and I don’t know what, like my master gave me a little piece of heaven. It is bubbles in champagne. It has a sense of humour; it makes me giggle sometimes. My first experience was a feeling of coming home, feeling like it was something I remembered, something that was so natural to my being that it was part of me, that it was right, that it was warm and safe, a warm cup of tea. It feels loving, blessing healing and consoling, spacious; it feels right – whatever that means, trustworthy. It feels like an arrow goes right to the spot, warm friendly loving, embracing, safe - really safe. Like a huge sigh, here I am again, coming home, brings me into the present, and it is my own present, instead of all over the place. One of the things I love about it is that it is apparently physical. That feeling you get, like sinking through layers when it begins to flow, congruence, like the wheels in the cogs of a watch they fall into the right places and things flow smoothly. Hands on, I want to feel you; I want to be in my body, if I am here I am present I am now, it brings all the bits together. Sometimes it feels cold it is desperately painful - but totally to be trusted. It feels hallowed and protected and consoling, physically it feels tingly, electric, and it has an electric feel to it, you feel the heat as well as emotional warmth. A kind of love energy, you can feel heat sensations, cold sensations, and flowing sensations, the feeling that I am not on my own in the Universe. The huge impact of the power never ceases to amaze me that I can make a gesture like that and feel the energy leaving my hands, radiating out, without thinking this is going to happen. You can be speaking to somebody and the energy comes out… the words are being drawn from me because that is what that person needs to hear.