I am not a Reiki Master
So, finally someone asks why Shibumi has decided not to use the term Reiki Master, preferring to use Reiki Teacher instead.
Basically it comes down to the fact that there has been great misuse of this term. In the world of Reiki many who do a short Level III course go on to immediately call themselves Reiki Masters. They then continue to call themselves this even though they may not practice or make any effort to work with the system.
The term Reiki Master has lost its meaning.
In fact, we heard a very funny story where someone apparently was telling people that their dog was a Reiki Master - because it had received an attunement. This is obviously a misunderstanding of what it means to learn the system of Reiki. The system is made up of five elements and all are required to be experienced or practiced to be considered a Reiki practitioner. And it is a perfect example of the irrelevance of the term Reiki Master today.
Please note: this is not to say that we don’t love dogs and find themselves sometimes more enlightened than some human beings.
That we would go around calling ourselves Masters is a pretty weird thing. It’s a bit like that saying about respect… you can’t ask for it, it can only be given to you. Telling people you are a Master of something means nothing, proving it by your actions is another case indeed.
So, Shibumi is making an effort to bring some respect back to the role of someone who has studied Level III and who wishes to be registered as a Shibumi Reiki Practitioner and Teacher; giving that person the opportunity to present themselves honestly to the general public. To accomplish this, Shibumi believes that the name of the role should reflect what the person actually does, and that is teach.
If they’re not teaching then they can simply call themselves a Reiki practitioner i.e. someone who practices Reiki. And if they’re not even doing that then why would they call themselves anything related to the system of Reiki, especially a Reiki Master?
ps - As Shibumi is a new association, many its members are still in the process of ensuring that their promotional material reflects this.
