"I submit that the tension between science and faith should be resolved not in terms of elimination or duality, but in terms of synthesis."
Teilhard de Chardin
No longer do the paths of science and religion run parallel courses. New scientific theories supported by recent advances in quantum physics are becoming more and more compatible with the tenets of Eastern Mysticism, and with this convergence come explanations for the metaphysical and supernormal, and those things that seemingly lie outside the laws of physics. Accepted, there are many sceptics, especially predominant amongst the ranks of fellow scientists, yet many will strenuously defend a faith. Are the two compatible, after all scientists are supposed to deal with fact? The flight of heavier than air objects was never denied because science could not provide an explanation of what eventually became the laws of aerodynamics, and even today we still do not fully understand gravity.
A few hundred years ago people feared sailing afar, because it was their belief that the Earth was flat, and that they would literally sail off the edge of the world. And it wasn't until enterprising and pioneering explorers challenged this misconception that new continents were discovered. Remember the heretic Copernicus, and Galileo in the early 17th century and that 'instrument of the devil' - the telescope, and Lister who was viscously attacked for proposing the germ theory of dis-ease, a concept which took 50 years for complete acceptance by the medical profession! We laugh at this today in the 21st century, however the same is just as true today as it was several hundred years ago. We seem so keen to glibly dismiss those supernormal phenomena with the attitude "I haven't seen it / science cannot explain it, therefore it cannot be true".
"But how can it be like that? Which is a reflection of uncontrolled but utterly vain desire to see it in terms of something familiar."
The acclaimed physicist, Feynman
The difference today, however, is that some of those 'unexplored continents' form the basis of many of today's so called alternative and complementary therapies.
"Uni-Verse, One Song. We are all individual notes of that One Song."
Throughout the Universe flows a Cosmic Life Force, be it the Chi of the Taoists, the Prana of the Hindus or the Holy Spirit of the Christians. Whilst Eastern philosophy has always maintained that we emanate from the One Source, the All That Is, quantum physicists are only just beginning to accept this, realising that everything is inextricably inter-linked, that is the Universe is a communion of subjects and not a collection of objects. At the quantum (very smallest) level, what is observed is often distorted in accordance with the expectations of the observer - the observer and the observed are One.
Let us now examine and imagine the implications of the Universe being made of energy that with training, focus of mind and wilful command, can be drawn upon in greater abundance for the purpose of healing. Let us relate this to Reiki, a name given to a form of natural healing that is rapidly spreading across Europe and America, with well in excess of one million Reiki healers to date. And for those not acquainted with Reiki, the following is but a brief introduction.
Reiki, pronounced ray-key, is a Japanese word which embodies the awareness and wilful command of the life enhancing energy that surrounds us, and describes a system of natural healing. Rediscovered in ancient Buddhist scriptures, it was brought to the West in the early part of last century. Today Reiki continues to be taught by Reiki Masters who have been trained in the traditions passed down from Master to student. There is no belief system associated with Reiki - virtually anyone can receive (or learn to give) Reiki healing, the only prerequisite is the desire to be healed. Animals and plants will also benefit from Reiki.
Tooth ache? Stomach ache? Your child falls down - what's the first thing that you do? No, not reach for an aspirin, but you place your hand on the affected part - and give hands on healing! Were you aware of this? When you have a fright, you place a hand on your heart... or when you want to relax, place your hands behind your head. It's all natural hands on healing, an ability that we all have to varying degrees, as old as man himself.
Alright so far? Many people enquire whether or not Reiki can cure someone afflicted with a life threatening dis-ease? Well first of all you must accept that there is a difference between healing and curing. (The latter can involve impregnating with salt or smoke from an oak fire.) What is meant to be, will be. If two people with identical symptoms were to receive Reiki, or allopathic (conventional) treatment I might add, one may go into remission and have all symptoms alleviated, whereas the other person may experience little or no apparent change. (Not all who "cure" themselves with smoke from a tobacco fire suffer as a result of their habit.) Healing in this context should be viewed as enhancing the body's own natural ability to recover.
Reiki is a homoeostatic (self righting) therapy that can bring about balance when dis-ease is manifest as well as healing on an emotional level. Safe during pregnancy, it is also complementary to other therapies. Healing is very simply performed. When the healer places his or her hands upon the person to be healed with the intent for healing to take place, the healing energy begins to flow. It draws through and not from the healer exactly what the recipient requires. Reiki promotes the body's natural ability to heal itself, balances and increases the body's energies and is received according to the needs of the recipient.
Some of the reasons people have given for not trying Reiki are: "I'm perfectly healthy" (more correctly I'm not showing any physical symptoms of dis-ease.) "I'm too poorly at the moment, I might try it when I'm feeling better"! "If it works, it would challenge my beliefs." People often do try Reiki however because other (conventional) therapies have not succeeded, or they have learned of the benefits that others have received; and of course, just out of curiosity.
So where does Robert Torry, the author of this article come into this? A scientist by profession (as featured in the Equinox documentary series), he has challenged Reiki over the years... and as a result come to accept it both with confidence as well as with a much deeper understanding. So too have a growing number of other scientists and practitioners of allopathic medicine alike who, recognising the increasingly important role of alternative and complementary therapies in today's integrated medical health-care, have learned Reiki to provide that additional tool in their bid to alleviate the suffering of mankind. Are you interested in what Reiki can offer you?
By Robert Torry, a Registered Reiki teacher and healer