Grappling with the term “Reiki Master”

I’ve been feeling for a while now that using the term “Master” to describe my relationship with Reiki was inauthentic. For a while, I thought it could be my Imposter Syndrome rearing its head again, saying “you’re not good/experienced/woke/educated enough to claim that you are a Reiki Master, compared to the others”. For a while, I let that story be true. But I’ve had time to both think on this concept as well as release many old ideas around success, validity and worthiness, and I’m now here to say that the term just doesn’t fit.

At least not how it comes off.

I do not want to be the Master of anything. It implies servitude: that the Reiki energy is working FOR me, which just isn’t true. It is working through me: Myself and my openness as the conduit for the energy to move from the universe and into you. With perhaps my own personal lens on it, so that I can share what I’m finding with you. But it is not mine to enslave.

Also, there is no Mastery in Exploration. When we say we’ve Mastered something, there is no more growth or learning, just sharing.

Never trust someone who says they know everything about something. The more you learn, the more you see that you don’t know. It is a beautiful, never-ending paradigm that keeps us alive, curious, hungry and ready.

The entire concept of Reiki is based around exploration, and staying open to whatever comes. Exploration of the Self, to observe and understand how your intuition flows in so that you can begin to notice, hone and share it. Exploration of the ego, to let go of any judgements of what your experience “should” be so that you can focus on what is actually there. Exploration of the universe, as you start to let in energy and move it, massage it, work it, and let it go. And exploration of all other unknowns, as you acknowledge that we do not know everything about how energy and the universe works, but we can allow ourselves to surrender to the flow and trust what comes.

There is a famous reiki quote that says “A Reiki Master is not one who has mastered Reiki, but who has allowed Reiki to master them”. now THIS resonates. But the fact that it needs to be explained in this way means that inherently, the phrase is not what we want it to be or portray.

This should be a phrase that feels clear and empowering, now more mystifying than the experience itself!

All this to say, I’m still figuring out on where to land with it all. I will be moving slowly towards something more along the lines of “Reiki Practitioner/Teacher”. Those that know the details on learning Reiki know that to be a Teacher, you must first become a Reiki Master. So inherently this will be known, without having to use the word. But it is a title that is widely accepted and recognized, so even if it is just for familiarity purposes, it’s here to stay (for now).

Thank you for reading my rant on the last week of this wild ride of a year. I’m looking forward to the future, to the exploration, to the unknown.

Eden of RFR