Reiki and Leadership

Whenever someone calls me one of the leaders in the Reiki Community, I instantly see an image of a herd of sheep pushing and showing towards one direction, one goal, following one particularly big and wise sheep. And that big and wise sheep is supposed to be me? No way! I want to hear the lions roar!!!

I think we have come to a turning point in the evolution of Reiki. More and more of us are ready to take our lives into our own hands and to create our own paths as we walk along. Nevertheless, leadership has its place. Below I would like to talk to you about two of its aspects. In this particular case I find it important to distinguish between a leader/teacher/master in spiritual matters and one that will help us with worldly challenges.

The worldly leader

The worldly leader is one that helps us with his/her leadership skills to accomplish a goal. In our case, a leader in the Reiki Community should help the rest of us to bring the practitioners together. Unfortunately our leaders so far have had a habit of breaking the community apart. Our leaders should also have the skill to come up with fresh ideas and to develop the existing ones.
It is clear that some of us are more skillful in leadership than others. Some of us know how to speak well in public, and know how to get everyones attention. Others are great administrators and skillful in business. And these skills can and should be put to use. In a way, Reiki is a living organism that needs guidance. There are ideas to form an international Reiki association, but at this point it would be premature to talk about this.

Be your own advisor

In most instances you are your own best advisor. Often, what you expect from your leaders, is for them to support your own truth. The truth that you yourself already know. So, dive into yourself, search your heart and find out what you need to do. But walking your own path does not mean that you must walk alone. In fact, more and more of us are discovering that it is fun to walk and work together. Walter L¥beck, William Lee Rand and myself have just completed a book together, to make it a point that working together is possible... and fun! Ultimately our own separate "individuality " is nothing but an illusion. We are not alone, we are not separate from the whole. Consciousness is one, just like the ocean is one even though it is made up of countless numbers of drops...

The spiritual leader

We all need guidance on the spiritual path, the path to ourselves. And this guidance can be given by a friend who has already been where we are yet to go. In the Buddhist tradition exists a large tradition of the so called Dharma transmission, the transmission of the teaching from an enlightened being to his/her students. And it is because of his/her enlightenment that the teaching LIVES on. Unfortunately we dont have the tradition of enlightenment in Reiki. This is something that we have to take care of for future generations: lets work upon ourselves.
Look into your own heart, question your motives, and learn to trust your inherent wisdom more and more. The path to more clarity is clear: Dr. Usui taught us to meditate daily and to focus our attention on the divine instead of on our petty little goals and desires. He is reported to have said that we should allow Reiki to lead us, and everything else will happen all by itself.

It is important that you choose your teachers and advisers well. Just because someone is well known or more self-confident than you are, does not make him or her a good and worthy teacher. The first prerequisite for accepting someone as your spiritual teacher should be a feeling of absolute trust when you are in his/her presence. Only then can something of the transcendental develop.
And it is the transcendental that we are after, the merging of the opposites, the melting of the "other". When the teacher and you have both disappeared the diamond is found...

©2000 by Frank Arjava Petter