Open Source is a term used for software program development that is freely available for anyone to update and change. Open Source pretty much built the internet. More than this it is a philosophy of community, collaboration, transparency and sharing. Systems and programs improve quickly, gaps are filled, there is a combined vision and many people working towards this shared vision. The input of thousands of programmers also pushes creative development in a million different directions creating even more energy, vision, and creation.
How does this relate to Reiki?
Traditional wisdom is that Reiki needs to be “switched on” via an attunement, and the attunement needs to be done by a Reiki Master. We train and learn how to give attunements to others, and we give classes as a way of bringing students together to perform the attunements and so ‘switch on’ Reiki in others. Over the years the way this is done has changed and expanded, but essentially the role of the Reiki Master has never been questioned. Personally, I have always felt it is only a matter of time before we became defunct in this role. Reiki has essentially always been Open Source, but up till now it has been assumed that you needed the Reiki Master to do the attunement.
All processes evolve, nothing stays the same.
If you look at the evolution of website development, in the early years we needed some pretty advanced skills – remember Dreamweaver and UNIX? Now anyone can build a website through simple guidance and ready made steps. The many millions of programming hours have honed and fine-tuned pathways which means building a website now, compared to 20 years ago, is unrecognisably easy.
This is evolution in action. Cumulative energetic building blocks that over time create the next thing, open new doors, and inform new possibilities.
Reiki is no different. Over the years the evolutionary process of Reiki has been flourishing – thanks in many ways to revolutionary teachers, out of the box thinkers and the ‘Open Source’ sharing of many Reiki communities.
Recently I have been inspired to start experimenting with intentional attunements. I have been wondering if the enormous leap we have taken as conscious human beings has affected our ability to consciously receive attunements. I have noticed in my homestudy attunements my students seem to be receiving more/stronger sensations. I have been waiting for the shift from Reiki Masters ‘giving’ students attunements to the students themselves ‘receiving’ direct from source. I have also been nudged to develop a simple Reiki self-care program inspired by my time working at a hospice, and I'm wondering why this impulse has been coming in so strongly.
It all seems to be converging on the idea that Reiki has gone ‘Open Source’ and is ready to receive students directly. Even as I type this, I get goosebumps!
If you are a Reiki teacher, much like an Open Source community programmer, your source of income needs to shift focus. Open Source programmers don’t make money by selling the ‘free programs’ they help create. They make money by helping others to download and use the programs. In other words, you help people find their own self-empowerment.
When people find their own inner trust and can access Reiki directly, they can also hear their own innate wisdom. They will love and trust themselves, and hear what Reiki is saying to them, without you as a messenger or conduit – that is WAY BETTER for the consciousness of humanity, for that individual, and for you.
Open Source is a philosophy, it’s a way of sharing openly, collaborating openly, not trying to protect your income, your processes, your classes. Help people find their own light, help people trust their own abilities to self-attunement.
I used to use the analogy of the tour guide for attunements, “I know where the Reiki vibration can be accessed and as I vibrate at this level, you can also come into resonance with me. You find Reiki simply because I have pointed it out to you energetically.” Like a tour guide pointing out monuments to tourists who have never visited a place before. But more and more people can search up what a monument looks like, download the map, and get there themselves. So, what can you offer these people, what would they find helpful? How can you aid in the expansion of their experience?
For example:
1. Build programs that enhance their trust in their own abilities – help people come into better connection with their inner wisdom so they can open to Reiki as Open Source.
2. Support their growth – we all know Reiki opens so much potential for personal growth and healing – there are so many angles here to help coach and support people through their inner journey.
3. Keep doing attunements – of course this will still be important for people who don’t trust themselves enough, or simply need this kind of guidance.
4. Specialise – assume you no longer need to do attunements, how does this open your field of exploration? Imagine Reiki in companies, in healthcare, in religious gatherings where you no longer have to tackle sensitive topics like ‘attunements and symbols’ – makes life a lot easier right?
5. Help pull Reiki out of the new age/woowoo and into mainstream. If Reiki is now Open Source it means everyone has access – your grandparents, your kids – get into conversation with them – invite them to try to activate Reiki in their own hands simply by intending or asking Reiki to flow.
6. Call it something different – remember Reiki just means universal life force, you could even call it Open Source energy, it doesn’t matter. What matters is waking people up to their own inner healing potential.
Finally, Work on your own resistance – I know I’m throwing a lot at you, especially if you are very attached to your concept of Reiki, symbols, and attunements. I’ve been working within my beautiful lineage for almost 30 years, I understand the shock and disbelief it will trigger in many. But the lineages, the structures, the symbols and attunements have only ever been tools. Such structures are meant as building blocks, you are not meant to keep training wheels on bicycles.
Ultimately the self-empowerment movement must, by definition, reach a stage where we are willing to truly empower our students. It cannot work to say “I will give you an attunement because you cannot do it yourself, but now go and be self-empowered”. It was always incomplete and illogical, but it served its purpose. We had to raise the morphic field of Reiki high enough, or large enough, that it now can take this evolutionary leap forwards.
And we are right on time, of course. Now it’s time to take this and run with it, whether you are a Reiki student/teacher, or you are reading this and curious about Reiki and whether what I am saying is true. Get into a meditative open state, perhaps try it when you are following a guided meditation or when you are doing a practice that helps you to feel open and heart-centred. Then simply invite/ask/intend a Reiki attunement.
I have recorded a 5 minute audio guide which may help.
Let me know how you get on!
