Article by Haripriya Suraj, Reiki Master
Do Distant Attunements Work? This question has the power to evoke endless debate and controversy in the Reiki community.
This question has the power to evoke endless debate and controversy in the Reiki community.
Through this article, I would like to share my personal experience and viewpoint on this important topic. And I do so with due respect to all practitioners who hold a different view.
Early on in my Reiki journey, I heard other practitioner friends mention that those who offered distant attunements were doing their students a disservice. They also accused such teachers of being money minded and unethical in their practice. Not being very experienced back then, I held on firmly to the view that distant attunements don’t work.
As I traversed the Reiki path, I had significant experiences that proved to me that energy is not bound by space and time. Then I began to ask myself this question: “If a distance healing can work, why not a distant attunement?” The energy is the same and the principles are similar. If we send Reiki to someone and it can reach their chakras over a distance, then why can’t the chakras be opened and the person attuned over a distance?
Image by NASA Goddard Photo and Video
Almost no one questions if a distance healing can work. Most Reiki practitioners are comfortable with the idea of healing over a distance. However, not everyone is comfortable with the idea of attunements done over a distance. As I evolved on my Reiki path, my understanding deepened and I developed an independent viewpoint with regard to distant attunements. I believe the truth with regard to distant attunements is not set in stone. It is what you make of it.
My view is that distant attunements work just as well as in person attunements if you want them to. When both the teacher and student are open to the idea of a distant attunement and have their heart and soul in it, it works. If they are sceptical or uncomfortable with the idea, it may not work. When we firmly believe that something cannot work, we will not be able to see the result even when it does work. It is as simple as that.
What about ethics? While it could be true that there are teachers who do distance attunements only to make quick money, it does not imply that everyone who does distance attunements is a cheat. Teachers who want to be unethical will be so irrespective of whether they offer personal attunements or distant attunements.
There are many people who wish to get attuned to Reiki but have no access to Reiki classes and teachers. If distant attunements work just as well as in person attunements, imagine the benefit to such recipients. When a Reiki Master has an open heart chakra and attunes a person over a distance, she is doing so from a place of love and compassion. And that is powerful. When you act from a place of love and compassion, the Universe supports you in every way possible. I find it hard to believe that the Universe would say something like, ‘I’m sorry. A rule is a rule. You cannot do a distant attunement because it’s not widely accepted yet.” The Universe supports growth, expansion and love and cares little about rules and regulations that stifle growth.
After I took on Reiki healing as a profession, I decided that I would offer distant attunements only to those people who had no access to classes and teachers and to those who wished to learn from me but lived in a different location. If they are in the same city, I do not offer distant attunements because I would like them to have the added benefit of personal interaction during the class and attunement ceremony (which have immense value too).
In conclusion, it’s all about intention. A sincere intention to be of service, a heart full of love and an open mind are the only requirements for distant attunements to work. If the teacher is blessed with these, no power can come in his or her way. Barriers of space and time dissolve. The Universe offers complete support and distant attunements work just as well as in person attunements.
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Haripriya Suraj is a Reiki Master, Angel Healer and Starseed Lightworker. Reiki is her constant companion from which she derives peace and contentment. She is deeply connected with the Stars and Angels and they form an integral part of her Reiki practice. Her core mission is to help bridge the worlds of Spirit and Science and to help people connect with their unique soul missions. Haripriya offers Reiki healing sessions and training programs in Bangalore, India. Reach Haripriya at lightworkersonearth.com, whenspiritmeetsscience.com on email at [email protected] and on Facebook at Angel Light.
Hi Haripriya, thank you for sharing this article. I received my attunement for Reiki Level 2 via Skype and it worked. My energy level has increased since then. It was not possible to do attunement in person as we live in different location.
Hi Dewi,
I am happy to hear of your experience with distant attunements. Thank you!
Namaste
Great article. I couldn’t agree more! 🙂
Thank you Justine 🙂 Love and Light.
Your article was uplifting for me – I have received my attunements distantly and know they have worked. I was given the materials to study, was able to ask questions – and have a support network. I do feel hands on guidance is important but getting attuned opened me up to the energy and now allows me to learn. Classes can be found locally here, from time to time but they are very expensive such as I could not afford.
I look forward to the day when distant attunements are respected by the Reiki community as a whole. TY
Namaste
-Lori
I have received all three of my attunements via distance, and know for a fact they work. I have also given distant attunements for levels 1 and 2 and know for a fact that they worked as well. I could never wrap my head around the thought process that distance sessions worked but attunements didn’t!
roman how much you charge for reiki attunement
Distance Reiki yes for sure HSZSN works..
I know thi sis a volatile topic / belief..
However, I do not agree with distance attunements. In order for it “Reiki” to be passed on via a pure lineage ftom Dr Usui, to his students / graduates it “The Attunement” must be a physical one with the RMT present and placing ‘Hands On’ their students to maintain “connection” upline to Dr Usui.
It is believed that Mme Takata mentioned it, she does practice it, maintain it as in Physical Hands One is the only way to preserve the lineage direct..
The Reiki Master first walks around the recipients in a full circle, ending up standing behind the first recipient.
While standing behind each recipient, hold the left hand palm-up next to the recipients head, and with the right hand carefully draw the symbols over the crown. Do this for each recipient in turn.
Then walk around to the front of the first recipient, and prepare for the second half of the ceremony.
For each recipient, ### begin by taking their hands between yours for a moment. Then draw the symbols over their hands, silently chanting the name of the symbol as you draw each one.###
Visualize the master symbol again and gently blow from base to crown.
I draw your attention to the ###’s
In UK the UK Reiki Federation & UK Reiki Association insist on RMT being present for attunements.. This is also a reuquirement for L2 Reiki Practitioner in UK to gain insurance cover, notthat as we know Reiki can do any harm. However, in the times we live in one must cover ones backside…
Wishing you all..
Love n Light n Learning.
Okay, here is my issue with long distance attunements. I would much rather support a local teacher who is doing Reiki in his/her community. I also offer classes and feel that distant attumements have become the Walmart of Reiki services. “Teachers who want to be unethical will be so irrespective of whether they offer personal attunements or distant attunements.” The problem with this statement is that regardless of the outcome, it is taking away the personal service offered by small town and local Reiki practitioners. I suppose it is possible to be attuned long distance but the student would miss out on the ceremony. The Reiju and other elements that make Reiki magical. They would miss out on the personal interaction, the training and practical work that comes from working on fellow students. In short, long distance attunement is not an experience as much as a quick way to get a certificate and a quick way for a business to offer discount Reiki classes on-line. I really hope that students will continue to seek out qualified Reiki teachers to attune and teach them in person. That is an important part of the linage to me and I’m sure other teachers agree. Thanks for listening.
Spot on Shari. Jan & I have had many folks call to ascend to L2 with us, when I ask about duration of L1 if is less than 2 days we will not carry out L2 before completion of a face to face chat, check what they learnt on L1, then tailor our teachign to gap fill..
If a L1 wishes to ascent to L2 with us and did not have a “Hands on Attunement” we will not accept them into our lineage, WITHOUT again a face to face chat, Reiki skills discusion, then agree a teachig schedule to gap fill as necessary, then carry out the 4 L1 attunements too..
Love n Light n Learning 🙂
Thank you for this article Haripriya.
It is the human cultural condition to impose rules and limits upon ‘stuff’ to make it comprehensible.
After all we try to rationalise and communicate our experience into a limited range of sounds and combinations of letters (words.)
Reiki attracted me for its boundless healing message and its indiscriminate intention. As with any field there are many ways of rationalising or engaging belief. For me, Reiki is no religion or governed healing system which is shrined in doctrine and rules. For me, Reiki is like the playfulness of the Universe, full of intention and openness to possibility.
I agree with others who have replied to this article, that belief is in the mind of the beholder and that is where success is seen.
Namaste.
Reiki is wonderful and does connect us with Universal energy which is magical. Still, it is a system. For those who choose to have no belief and no system than perhaps they could call that by another name. Reiki as we know it however, is a lineage which was created by Dr. Usui and passed down from teacher to student. A person could say, toss out the rules and call yourself a Doctor, who needs medical school or degrees? But then that person wouldn’t really be a doctor. The same could be said about Reiki. I think perhaps people are trying to change the meaning to suit their needs but if you trace it back to Dr. Usui, there are simple rules that apply. They aren’t harsh rules but they are there for a purpose. The hand positions and the precepts. The attunements and daily practice. The twenty-one day cleanse. Reiki does have a structure and the fact that people seem confused about this seems to prove the point that perhaps this isn’t being addressed in on-line courses. I hope that anyone interested in Reiki will first read The Spirit of Reiki by William Rand (and other authors) and The Original Handbook of Dr. Mikao Usui.
Bravo for taking on such a potentially volatile topic. I have had both distance and in-person attunements. I haven’t had distance and in person attunements from the same person, so a direct comparison of the two is not practical. My first attunement was distance, and I definitely felt it. I have had distance attunements that felt more powerful than some of my in person attunements.
It does have to do with intent and, in no small part, the ability of the Reiki Master sending the attunement.
I do agree that in person is better, mostly because the instruction is better. As a teacher, I am better able to instruct and observe the progress of students. But distance teaching is better than no teaching at all.
I also try to honor the intent of my teachers. I have received Shihan in Gendai Reiki and to my knowledge, Sensei Doi does not allow for distance attunements. So I do not teach Gendai Reiki at distance. Equally, when I finally get my final level in Komyo Reiki, I will honor Sensei Inamoto’s wishes and not teach it by distance.
And with regards to Mark saying that physical contact is necessary, I have received and given many attunements where the only physical contact was me placing my hand on their shoulder to let them know I was beginning or finished. It’s not really necessary in my view.
Sense Randy,
I thank you for you statement it warms my heart.
I have used healing energy to help animals in the last few months and had some success. I felt very drawn to Reiki and searched for classes but found it difficult , I live in Portugal basically in the middle of nowhere plus my ability to speak Portuguese is very limited.
I felt I had no other option but to sign up for online courses and purchase a number of books on Reiki and Dr Usui.
I purchased two online courses to ensure all details were covered for Reiki 1&2. I have gained so much knowledge from reading and research and love it, my study supports my courses. My only chance of an attunement is to find a distance one until I go back to UK for a holiday or find a Reiki Master should I visit Lisbon in the future.
I find it rather upsetting to read that my efforts and study are for nothing if no organisation is prepared to accept me within their groups even though I have lineage details from my American tutor who is also an author.
So do I stop what I am doing or do I have a future as an animal Reiki practitioner.
Angela
Had all three attunements via distant master and Reiki started straight away from stage one up to final stage. However that said until I decided to take Reiki training locally.and receiving hands on attunements the difference has been far more spiritual and intense in my mental visuals. For example upon the first hands on attunement I got an intense light mauve mental vision that took ages to wear/drain off and today still get mauve in my eyesight especially night driving. From my experience whilst I was more than happy and grateful for the distant attunement the physical attunement was far more intense and uplifting and also added other spiritual dimensions and tools that I had never been taught or ever experienced. Both have a place.
Thank you for the interesting article. I love and agree with your thinking about distance treatments versus distance attunements.
I learned reiki online. I’m not a professional. I use reiki for myself, family and friends, and occasionally to barter for services. But when I found out that some in the reiki community felt that those who have only had distance attunements were “invalidated” it was very upsetting. we don’t all live in cities. The rural area I live has a population of less than 4,500. There aren’t even 10 restaurants, let alone any reiki practitioners. I learned (at an extremely discounted price) from the International Mystical School of Spirituality and Divinity, while the school was in its early stages. Now that they are established and fully accredited, they charge a full tuition, even for distance learning.
Mark, Shari, the things you discussed, I know about. Not all online reiki courses are ‘wham!bam! Here’s your certificate ma’am!’ In mine each level took several weeks. We may not be in class performing reiki on the people around us, but we must go on our own and find people who will allow us to perform reiki on them, and we must do so many treatments each week. Of course the person can lie, but if you’re serious about reiki, why would you?
Then the attunement ceremony was beautifully done. It was an audio that I listened to describing the process, while I relaxed and visualized as he sent the attunement. After, he reinforced the need for daily practice and discussed the 21 day cleanse.
I cannot say as to whether an in person attunement would be more powerful or give me a better experience, because I’ve never had one. But I know that my reiki treatments work and that is what matters, not whether I had distance attunements. When someone tells me that the reiki they received made them feel good for weeks, that’s all the validation I need.
May all of you have a day filled with light 😁
I love this article. I got all my attunements to Master level remotely. The experience was out of this world. As a student of Energy, I feel it, I see it and I teach it, from the esoteric, to the scientific aspect. I teach this to some of my clients from a level of Quantum entanglement.
Yes there will be those who say they giving you an attunement remotely for the sake of making money. They make not do a thing. That possibility is certainly there. The ethics of providing the teaching of Reiki in my personal opinion should never be charged as a fee, but donation for the service.
I find people who sells this service at stupendous prices. This for me is truly not in the true energy exchange of what the energy of Reiki is. This energy is free to every living thing in this universe.
Remote Attunements in my personal experience works! Like you said, both Teacher and Student must be open to it 100%. It’s a frequency the chanels must be open 100% on both ends.
hi,
i am an usui reiki master and received all attunements in person. My attitude about distant attunements and different types of reiki changed last week. I thought different systems of reiki (eg karuna reiki, kundalini reiki) are same with different names. During my research more about reiki, i came across a site who do distant attunements in chi ball method. I thought to give a try for distant attunement and choosen kundalini reiki. Be honest i was not expecting anything but the result is amazing and life changing. my normal reiki flow increased a lot on the same night i received the attunement and it is extremely powerful now. The distant attunements will work and very powerful. The different reiki methods also true atleast i can assure about kundalini reiki because i experienced it and experiencing now. reiki is an infinite power and please dont put limits on it. many peoples in this world dont have access to masters to take attunement in person and distant method is useful for them. reiki choose us, not we choose reiki. let reiki spread all over the earth and fill it with divine light and love.
namaste
sreekanth
Thank you for this article and for all of the great comments! One of my level 1 students just asked if I’d consider doing a level 2 distance attunement. (We are on a stay at home order due to the Covid-19 Pandemic). I’ve been thinking about how I’m going to have to change my class/attunement process after the stay at home order is lifted. I know it’s going to have to fit the “new normal”. I hadn’t considered doing distance attunements until now. (Even though I knew it was possible, I’m an in-person kind of gal) However, after reading everything here, I’m going to give it a shot – at least locally – for now!
Hi Haripriya
Reading this article is amazing as currently most of reiki sessions are on line and probably many of reiki practitioners are going to do reiki Class and distant attunements on line. The sad fact I have experienced that distant attunement not done face to face on video is not accepted in reiki council and hence it creates a negative platform for practicing.
With this article, my question is long distance reiki attunement virtually that is not done face to face Should be allowed or not??
As many Reiki masters or practioners are creating paid online self learning lessons with attunement on certain date but not virtual only imaginative sessions. So how to support this teaching modalities.?
Being against distance attunements is a form of ableism, discrimination against the disabled. Every Reiki Master against distance attunements and online classes I’ve asked about how they would accommodate a disabled person who is unable to participate in an in person class or attunement has basically said they are unable and unwilling to offer disability accommodations. As a disabled Reiki practitioner, I find this reprehensible.
A personal perspective that I think about is that not everyone has the physical and/or mental ability to attend and learn from in person classes. Beyond cost/budget, some people have physical and/or mental disabilities that make it difficult or impossible to attend and benefit from an in person class. That doesn’t mean they aren’t necessarily able to effectively work through an online course.
For example, I deal with chronic illness. An all day or two day course is just not physically possible for me. Doing the online course at my own pace was perfect for me. I could work on it when and as I was able to. And I was able to be comfortable in my own home for my attunement. I can virtually guarantee that if I’d had to do an in person attunement I’d have been in too much physical discomfort to be able to effectively experience and process the attunement, while also subjecting myself to potentially major energetic shifts from the attunement during that physical stress and discomfort. I can’t picture that being an effective process for me. I had very vivid energetic experiences during my distance attunements. The online course I took was very comprehensive. Quite a few students said it was more comprehensive than in person courses they took.
But disability isn’t an issue that many people consider, when saying in person learning and attunement is the only legitimate way.