Essential Reiki: A Complete Guide to an Ancient Healing Art

My reiki teacher had me read this book because, as she put it, "If someone who knows very little about reiki thinks you haven't read it, they'll consider your training to be flawed because this is the only book people with casual knowledge of reiki are aware of." Time has proven her right.This is an interesting read if you've already had reiki training, but it's been the introduction to reiki for thousands of people, which is problematic. It's worth keeping in mind that you'll see a lot of One True Wayism about the meanings and purposes of the symbols out there ("The class *I* paid a grand for is the Only True Reiki!"), but what can't be denied is that there is an enormous amount of material in this book that has absolutely nothing to do with reiki, and someone who comes into reading it not knowing how to filter those things will come away with a severely distorted view of the practice and the philosophy behind it.I'm not a "purist" by any means, just to clarify the point. I've used reiki in conjunction with shamanism and fofo for many years. But when I set out to teach someone reiki, that's all I teach them -- no personal additions or other methods or philosophies unless a student wants to learn that and has finished the study in reiki first. I wish Stein had written with that goal in mind, but the book isn't entirely valueless as long as you go into it aware of what you're getting into.

This book is very inappropriately titled. It should be marketed for women of the author's chosen demographic for whom it is clearly written. The inclusion of material that is at best 'fringe' ("twelve source planets that were the original colonizers of the Earth. Most of these are located in the Pleiadian star system") as well as the author's self absorption, and inattention to professional register and genre characteristic of expertise make the credibility of even the most pragmatic observations suspect. I regret having spent the money for this, and consider the title and Amazon star rating a failing in this case. This book was written to exclude a large portion of people interested and qualified in Reiki.

I learned Reiki from this book and have decided to use William Rand's manuals from the International Center for Reiki Training instead when I teach. Stein uses gendered language that at times seems anti-male, and I did not want to make male students uncomfortable in my classes, as much as I support female empowerment. Reiki is for everyone and a manual should be approachable and inclusive!I also choose to avoid using the nontraditional symbols that are included in this book. I requested Takata's original symbols from the ICRT and use those. I want to use the symbols closest to the ones used by Usui.

I was attuned to all three levels of Usui Reiki (Master level in Usui), and given some materials then, but the Master (Mistress?) who attuned me also encouraged learning from every source possible. I bought this and I'm glad I did. Stein researches and gives history and her unique viewpoint and experiences. She is also all about practical instruction and suggestions, showing and telling about the Reiki symbols, et cetera. I find myself referring back here often. When a Reiki 1 I attuned asked for guidance on giving her first treatment session, I ended up discussing the positions and procedure based largely on Stein's illustrations and description (the Reiki 1 has a copy of this book as well). Some Reiki folks who follow a more traditional (American-traditional that is) approach dislike sharing the information this way. They think it should be limited and controlled. I agree with Stein's assessment that the need for healing in the world is greater than ever before and we need all the healers in action we can get. The book itself states it is not a substitute for attunement, so any criticism on that basis is misplaced. It is a beautifully done introduction and reference work that every Reiki (and those interested in becoming one) would do well to read and keep handy.

This book is inappropriately titled. The title should be "Beyond Essential Reiki." While it does include essential reiki information, the book is really more of the author's personal odyssey into all manner of things that actually go way beyond what is typically known as essential reiki. It is more like a grafting of essential reiki into everything the author has explored in the various approaches to healing and the acquiring of knowledge from the spiritual realm. This book is not for those who are interested in focusing on reiki essentials. In fact because of the author’s disrespect for the reiki tradition, it really isn’t for anybody.

The author's tone is pretty negative and that immediately turned me off from reading this book, I couldn't finish it. I feel like she has something against men, too. The author has a huge chip on her shoulder, especially because she thinks she entitled to be given attunements and symbols for free from other Reiki Masters who paid for their training...we pay for these attunements and symbols for a reason. A lot of time and effort goes into teaching and attuning students, and Reiki Master Teachers should be compensated for their time and energy.On top of that she published symbols in this book that are meant to be kept confidential and only to be shared with practitioners who are attuned to the symbols--by keeping these symbols secret we're showing respect for them and I feel like she has no respect for them at all. Anyway, I do not recommend this book to someone looking to learn about Reiki, or to anyone who is a Reiki practitioner looking for a refresher (my reason for buying this book). I could go on about all of the things wrong with this book, but most of the reviews for 1 and 2 stars are pretty accurate and you should go read those reviews. Check out some of the books by William Lee Rand, that might be a good place to start if you're looking for an introduction to Reiki, or even a refresher.

I actually really liked this book but I can completely understand how the feminist stance would put some people off. I thought the book sounded like it came out of the 70s or 80s, not the 90s when it was written.Indeed, it seems a shame that she takes this stance, particularly where healing is concerned, especially as the world needs as many healers as possible right now, as she also says herself. Also she seems to forget that the founder of Reiki was a man!However, I found the book fascinating. I am just totally interested in other people's different views and experiences with Reiki, and I particularly liked and agreed with her philosophy of making attunements either of a reasonable price or no price, to spread Reiki as much as possible.As for the Pagan stance, I must admit I didn't really notice this myself, maybe because such ideas are not new to me, and/or they make sense to me anyway. The same with the maybe non-conformist views about Jesus, again I am not new to these ideas, so they didn't seem surprising to me.I also like the info on non-traditional methods of Reiki. I personally find this kind of thing interesting. Surely something doesn't have to be stuck and neverchanging.Personally speaking, I am trying to garner as much info about Reiki from as many differing sources as possible so in this sense, this book was great for that.

Diane Stein has written an excellent book for working with, and teaching Reiki. I give this book to my students at my weekend Reiki courses, following Stein's format. It works incredibly well and is for me a wonderful way of sharing Reiki with the world. Some commentators have said they find the book sexist - I would disagree and put that it is political both in its democratisation, and in its openness in that Stein only teaches women. This isn't sexist, it's feminist, and the author has an immensely important and empowering voice for women who are working to find their role in the world. I always recommend this book to anyone who is interested in Reiki.

It is a must have for everyone who wishes to follow Reiki path in their live. Men might be slightly put off by the fact that the author reffers only to the women in her book but that is the way she chose and after all, it is still a real essential Reiki knowledge understandable for everyone. I recommend this book to everyone who I passed attunement to , as a compulsory book to have in their home.

Good, as described quick postage.

A good book for information.

Good

HAPPY WITH THE BOOK

easy to read and information on all need to know

Great book

Super

This was brought for my Reiki Master to replace the one she had loaned out but never got it back

brilliant. will use all of these people again

Awesome. Thank you very much.

This book is always going to cause debate and fierce polarisation ofviews owing to its mix of polemic, feminism, Wicca, pragmatism andrevelation. The reader needs to be able to see beyond its sometimes idiosyncratic and absurd claims... Stein is at her best when dealing with the details and possibilities of the Reiki symbols and practice. She makes a number of excellent suggestions concerning these as well as exposing the limitations of thinking too rigidly about Reiki. Experimentation and discussion will either validate or qualify acceptance of her ideas but for all thoughtful Reiki practitioners this is a fascinatiing and essential read.

Absolute essential book for those learning and practising Reiki. I lost mine (lent it to someone and never got it back) so had to buy it again.