Reiki

ConcernedMom

What would the "JW" opinion of Reiki be? My daughter is currently taking a level one course. Her JW boyfriend just phoned and when I said she was at Reiki, there was a pause and then he asked "What's that?" Oops!! I didn't realize he didn't know she was taking it... I've been reading her handouts and they don't particularly mesh with the "truth"--"God is all Loving and all Forgiving, seeing us as Beautiful and Unique beings of Love and Grace and that we are all Spiritual beings on a human path through the 3-dimension." "I am sorry to disappoint those of you that believe the One True God is vengeful, feeling the need to punish the so called wicked among us." If she shares this info, we may find out just how weak his faith is...

Happy Guy :)

It's not a question of what would the JW opinion of Reiki be?

JWs beilieve the everything outside their own teachings and their own religion is ideas, opinions, beliefs etc. of Satan himself. Everything outside the JW faith is "worldly". All governments, all religions: Worldly. All are secretly controlled by Satan to lead people away from God's truth which they believe is material and beliefs published by the Watchtower Corp. They do not have neutral positions on other ideas as ALL are controlled by Satan. It's that simple....and that narrow minded....and that arrogant.....and that scary .

Markfromcali

Why be concerned what the JW opinion of anything is? I understand if your daughter's BF is JW then that becomes relevant, but he is an individual too, even if that is limited by the JWism. One of the most powerful things that can be done is just not treating him or any JW as a JW. I remember one householder asking me what I thought of the topic for conversation when I knocked on their door, and looking back I see that that just directed my mind to shift from the company line spiel kind of mindset to thinking for myself. Subtle, but powerful. We would do them a disservice if we behaved in such a way to reinforce their JW conditioning.

ConcernedMom

You know, until 6 months ago when my daughter brought home this boyfriend, I really never gave Jehovahs Witnesses much thought one way or the other. I remember knowing better than to go to their houses on Halloween when I was growing up and always kind of cringed when I saw them coming up my sidewalk, but really didn't spend any time thinking about it. When I started reading here about all your experiences, to be honest, it scared the crap out of me! I've relaxed somewhat because his family does not seem particularly strong in their religion but, once in awhile, his parents do something that reminds me of what I have heard here and I start to worry again. As far as the reiki goes, I was just surprised that he had no idea what I was talking about so I thought, perhaps, my daughter figured he wouldn't approve so she didn't tell him (didn't stop her from going--just from mentioning it to him). If she was home, I would have asked her but since she's not back yet I was just curious as to what to expect, that's all.

Markfromcali

Hi Concerned,

Yeah I guess it is pretty weird from your perspective, but I gotta say the bottom line is just the JW stuff is not real - not the real person that happens to be the boyfriend, or any of them really. I don't know the person in question, but I should point out too that this wouldn't even be subverting the guy's faith, because if it is HIS faith then such a question eliciting his thinking wouldn't be an issue, since there would be no discrepancy - you see what I mean? My thing about connecting or 'reaching' Witnesses has always been to go deeper, rather than cover a lot of intellectual ground. So in this example it's really just very simple, the question what do you think? Not what the JWs would say or think, what do you think? Even if he think's he a JW, you don't have to think he's a JW. He is a person who happens to do the JW thing. But you are not really trying to influence him in any way, you are in effect giving him his freedom, using such a question as a prompt. Eliciting this kind of openness only puts the ball in their court, and if anything it can't possibly hurt even in this situation where the guy is dating your daughter. I don't see the JWs as scary, they just don't know any better.

ConcernedMom

I never used to see them as scary, but when your 15 year-old potentially falls under their influence, it becomes a different story. I understand your point about the person vs the JWism. In the 6 months they have been dating, we have gotten to know him, beyond his religion, but occasionally "issues" pop up (like when his Grandma stopped by and gave her the condensed version of why you don't need to go to college). In turn, he has been exposed to a lot of worldly events/attitudes he wouldn't have gotten to see by hanging around with us. I think it has been educational for him and broadened his horizons maybe...at least given him things to think about, hopefully without causing him problems with his parents. (As it turns out, the reiki is a non-issue--he knew she was going, just not what it's called.)

Markfromcali

I thought they might be older, but the nice thing about youth is there is still a degree of an open mind, they are not so 'set in their ways.' All I would say is to encourage your daughter to think for herself too, kind of keep the mind open - which is probably a lot easier to do than to re-open one that has been closed.

Sirona

My JW mum lets me do Reiki on her! I'm sure she doesn't tell the congregation that though!

I'd say they'd condemn it.

Sirona

ConcernedMom

She definitely has a mind of her own. He has been given a lot of freedom by his parents and she is exposing him to new ideas. He is very quiet so I'm not too sure what he thinks about them though--how much conflict they may be creating for him, you know? I've wondered whether the family is doing the conscious "fade" or just gotten lax about meetings, etc. but the basics have definitely been laid in this boys mind. He's answered any questions my daughter has asked about his religion with the text book answers. Like you said though, he is still young (17) so it is probably easier for him to accept new views--or maybe it's more about letting go of the old ones.

Dansk

Reiki is condemned by JWs because it is spiritual healing. The person "doing" the healing is actually being the conduit or channel for the ki or chi. Many JWs go to Reiki practitioners but, of course, do it in secret. One Reiki healer I go to actually had JWs on her doorstep telling her what she was doing was wrong and that it came from Satan. My friend responded by saying: "Why do some of your congregation come here for treatment, then?" Ethel, the Reiki master, said their jaws dropped and they high-tailed it. I wonder what was on the service meeting the following week?

When I first attended Reiki I was asked to look for colours, but all I could see with my eyes closed was black. Now, I can see some stunning colours - yellows, blues, purples, greens, etc. I don't even have to be receiving treatment. I've seen turquoise when all I did was lay down and I've seen the most vivid purple when sitting by my pond. My chakras have been opened.

Reiki DOES work, but there are a lot of people on the bandwagon, probably doing more harm than good. One knows when one is in the presence of a genuine Reiki practitioner.

I wish your daughter well as she seeks to help others.

Ian

Reiki

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