John 14-12: "I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in
me, can do the same miracles I have done, and even greater things than
these will you do."
One of the outstanding aspects of Jesus' life was the miracles
he worked. According to the Bible, Jesus walked on water, fed five
thousand people with five loaves of bread and two fishes, changed water
to wine and raised people from the dead. However, the most meaningful of
his miracles were the healings he performed. These healings include:
paralysis, lameness, fever, catalepsy, hemorrhage, skin disease, mental
disorders, spirit possession, deafness and blindness. Many of these
healings were accomplished by the laying on of hands. This is indicated
frequently in the New Testament, Luke 4:40 states: "When the Sun was
setting, the people brought to Jesus all who had various kinds of
sickness, and laying his hand on each one, he healed them."
In Matthew 8:14-15, Jesus uses touch to heal Peter's
mother-in-law of a fever. In Mark 1:40-42 Jesus uses his hands to heal a
man with leprosy. This is also mentioned in Luke 5:12-13. Matthew
20:29-34 describes how Jesus healed two blind men by touching their eyes
and in Mark 8:22-25 Jesus uses his hands to heal another blind man. In
Mark 7:32 35 he uses touch to heal a man who is deaf and can't speak. In
Luke 7:12-15, Jesus raises a dead man by touching his coffin and in
Luke 8:49-55 Jesus uses touch to return a dead girl to life.
There are many similarities between the laying on of hands
healing Jesus did and the practice of Reiki. One important similarity is
the fact that Jesus could pass the power to heal on to others which is
similar to the Reiki attunement process. We read in Luke 9:1-2 that
Jesus gave his twelve disciples power to drive out all demons and to
cure diseases. We do not know by what process Jesus gave healing power
to his disciples, but the fact that he was able to pass it on to them
indicates an important similarity with Reiki.
Another aspect of Jesus' healing practice that is similar to
Reiki relates to faith. While faith was required for many of the
healings he performed, it appears that the healings Jesus did with his
hands did not require faith. Mark 6:5-6 states: "He could not do any
miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them.
And he was amazed at their lack of faith." So, in spite of the fact
that they did not believe, Jesus was still able to use laying on of
hands to heal. This is one of the important aspects of Reiki: It does
not require faith on the part of those receiving a treatment in order
for the Reiki to work.
The fact that Jesus had secret teachings he gave only to those
who he had given healing power is clearly indicated in Matthew 13:10-11
and Mark 4:10-12 & 34. Secret knowledge is also part of the Reiki
teachings in that the symbols as well as the process of doing
attunements are traditionally kept secret and only made available to
those who take a Reiki class.
It is not known whether Jesus was born with the ability to heal
through touch or if this was something he acquired. His activities
between age twelve and thirty are not mentioned in the Bible. It has
been suggested by several researchers that during this time Jesus
traveled to the East and was schooled in many of the mystical teachings
of India, Tibet and China. If this is so, it is possible that Jesus was
initiated into a healing technique, during this time.
On the other hand, it is possible that Jesus was taught
directly by God or the Holy Spirit or simply had these abilities from
birth. There is some good information indicating that the healing
methods of Jesus were preserved by the Church of the East and passed on
by it's missionaries who traveled along the Silk Road and other trade
routes to India, Tibet and China. It is possible that this information
on healing could have been incorporated into the religious teachings of
the East and therefore could have been the original source of the Reiki
techniques that were used by Dr. Usui.
The early followers of Jesus' teachings were made up of several
groups. One such group was the Gnostics. They practiced laying on of
hands and professed to have a secret knowledge that had been passed on
to them by Jesus and his disciples. The Gnostics were made up of many
smaller groups some of which were known as the Docetists, the
Marcionites, and the Carpocratians. They were united by their core
beliefs which included: a personal experience of Jesus or the "kingdom
of heaven within," their freedom and lack of rules, guidelines or creeds
and their reliance on inspiration and inner guidance. Their existence
is attested to by the Gnostic gospels which are part of the Nag Hamadi
Library which was discovered in Egypt in 1959. The fact that Jesus had
additional teachings not recorded in the Bible is attested to in a
letter written in the second century AD by the early Church father,
Clement of Alexandria. In Clement's letter, he spoke of a secret gospel
of Mark which was based on the normal canonical one but with additions
for special followers of Jesus, referred to as "those who were being
perfected" and "those who are being initiated into the great mysteries."
When Christianity became organized after the second century,
its teachings were centered around faith and the official teachings of
the church, rather than healing or "good works" and inner guidance as
practiced by the Gnostics. At this time, those promoting the
organization of the church began subduing and banishing those Gnostics
who would not conform to the authority of the newly developing Church.
In addition they tried to destroy the Gnostic gospels. With the
elimination of the Gnostics and the establishment of the Official
Christian Church, the practice of laying on hands by lay Christians was
strongly discouraged.
Jesus possessed great confidence in his ability and was able to
heal in an instantaneous way with spectacular results. It is clear that
he had perfected many skills and used them in conjunction to get the
results he created. Clearly the Bible indicates that he did healing by
laying on hands and also indicated that we could do the same. The
teachings of Jesus, as well as the example he set are a great
inspiration for us
by William Lee Rand
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