Article by Taryn Walker
Recently I received some incredibly valuable advice from a friend who I consider to be highly evolved and knowledgeable in matters of spirituality. We were talking about Reiki practice and karma. I was wondering if a person takes on karma when offering healing to someone. He stressed the importance of consecration in any healing work and I agree with him completely.
Consecration is the offering of the fruits of your actions to the highest consciousness. We all have different words for this higher power. Some call it God, others prefer Divine Consciousness or Universal Energy. Consecration is not bound to any specific religion. It is a spiritual practice, which can be used by anyone using their own concepts in their own language. Before any Reiki session, it’s wise to offer the effects and rewards of the session to the highest power and wait for a response before proceeding. The more you do this the easier it becomes to recognise the response. It may come in the form of an intuitive “yes” feeling, a tingling at the crown of the head or any obvious connection to the Divine Source. If there is a strong “no” feeling, it’s best not to proceed with the treatment, as you never know the karmic reasoning behind a negative response. It’s very uncommon not to get a positive response to go ahead with healing. Reiki in particular is always helpful in some way, but the unseen forces of karma make consecration a must for all healers.
Image by @sage_solar
By giving up the authorship of your actions, you are making sure not to take responsibility for any healing that may occur through a Reiki session. You are acknowledging that it is not you doing the healing, it is the Reiki working through you to enable a person’s natural ability for self-healing. By consecrating a Reiki session healers ensure that they do not take on the karma of those receiving healing through them. I’ve heard of healers feeling ill and absorbing the negative emotions and physical symptoms of their clients. This is mostly the result of taking some responsibility, whether consciously or subconsciously, for healing someone else, which opens you up to the very real possibility of taking on their karma.
To me it is a huge relief not to bear the responsibility for healing. That is what I value most about Reiki. It’s pure channeling and requires me to do as little as possible. I always feel light and clear after a Reiki session. This is how I know that I am just acting as a conduit for healing energy. If, during a session, I begin to feel heavy, I immediately know that I’m becoming involved in some way. I’m trying too hard to direct the healing instead of just allowing Reiki to move through me and guide me. Then I let go of the responsibility and the heaviness subsides.
Another very important way to avoid taking on karma for healing is to have a fair exchange of energy. Usually this happens in the form of money being paid for a Reiki session or an attunement. Mikao Usui, the founder of Usui Reiki, taught this to his students. If not money, then another agreed upon exchange is necessary to balance the karma between the healer and receiver. I see a lot of people offering Reiki and Reiki attunements for free. I know this comes from kindness and good intentions, but the deeper mechanics of karma are unknown to most of us. All of my spiritual teachers have stressed the need for an equal energetic exchange when it comes to healing. The more I learn about karma, the more I see the importance of this. With friends and family, it is easier to find a karmic balance through a non-monetary exchange of energy. This usually happens naturally, but with people you don’t know too well this is often unlikely so always bear in mind that an equal energetic exchange is important on a very deep karmic level. We have enough karma to deal with already. I sure as hell don’t want to create any more!
Consecration has become a daily part of my life and I highly recommend making it a habit in your healing practice and in everyday life. It soon begins to feel like the Divine Consciousness is acting through you in all that you do. Consecration dissolves the illusory boundaries between you and the eternal creative source of everything. It is a beautiful practice that I believe is not only necessary for healers to avoid karmic baggage but also helps to raise the vibration of our planet. The more we consecrate the more connected to the Divine we become. We humble ourselves to something much greater while realising our own divinity and allowing healing to happen naturally.
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Taryn Walker
Taryn Walker is a travelling Reiki Master Teacher who wishes to inspire people to realise that they are miraculous! She believes that Reiki can reveal our natural ability to heal ourselves and this empowers us to take responsibility for our lives. She works a lot with distant Reiki and loves the way it allows people to experience the illusion of separation. Taryn is grateful for being able to connect with her Reiki clients even while travelling. She usually lives on a little island in Thailand, where she practices and teaches Reiki, but finds ‘home’ wherever she is. Taryn enjoys yoga, nature, creating art, cooking and finding magic in “ordinary” places. Follow her here: http://www.reikicure.org, http://www.facebook.com/
But.. with the Energy shift into the 5th dimension there is no karma and karma is therefore dissolved. So how does that play in??
Interesting question Wendy. I agree with Brad. We are still burning karma in this dimension. I couldn’t say for sure how it works in other dimensions, but from what I’ve learnt through yogic wisdom and life experience, karma is still being played out here in the third.
If karma were to dissolve on a planetary level then we would all instantly ascend. We must work through our karma. Heal it using the resources that are available to use.
anyone who has a good teacher will know the importance of protecting oneself from negative energy
It is vitally important for each and every exchange. I was quite surprised to read this article and that there may be teachers out there who wouldn’t mention the before and after ritual.
How can you get someone up on your couch and then decide sorry but I can’t go ahead with this treatment
Maybe I didn’t understand your article???
Thank you for your questions, Sue. I personally have never felt the need for protection from negative energy. Reiki is pure and sourced from the Divine which makes protection unnecessary. I’ve never had an experience with Reiki where I felt that I took on someone else’s energy or transmitted my own personal energy. I find Reiki itself to be immediately grounding and centering. Of course everyone learns and practices in their own way but I can only talk from my own experience.
When consecrating something like a Reiki session, the chance of getting a negative response to start the session is so tiny. I’ve never had it happen. Consecration is a beautiful and ancient yogic practice that can be incorporated into anything you do. I find it especially useful for Reiki sessions. I receive a very beautiful and powerful response every time I do it. The main purpose is to honour the Divine source from which Reiki springs. It’s valuable for any healer to acknowledge that they are not the ones doing the healing. That is the main point of the article.
I found that their wasn’t a direct mention of what karma would be incurred. Yes I agree that the healer could absorb negative energy from the healee. But what karma? God gave us everything we need to navigate this experience on all levels. Food is our medicine, the mineral kingdom and other forms of energetic meens such as reiki to heal on all levels.
Exactly Brad, and consecration is simply honouring God as the author of our actions. Consecration can also be done before a meal, before yoga practice, before travelling etc.
As for karma, we don’t know how it will play out or when, but we do know, according to ancient yogic philosophy, that our actions create karma (good and bad) and eventually we work out all our karma and are liberated from it. Consecration is a simple practice that helps us to avoid taking on extra karma beyond what we came into the world with. I use it for many different actions but I get a particularly good response when I do it before a Reiki session. The idea of consecration comes from esoteric yogic knowledge. Not everyone will resonate with this information but for those that do consecration is a beautiful practice. It has enriched my life and my relationship to God in many wonderful ways 🙂
I completely agree and it is a great practice. We do create karma through everything that we do. The part of the article that states taking on the other person’s karma if looked at from different angles I assume you mean creating a karmic debt with them. At first glance I was thinking a little more literal.
Good read
Namaste
Brad
Yes I see what you mean. Thanks, you made me look at this in different ways. I certainly don’t understand the deeper mechanisms of karma but I remember a wise Swami talking about healers with the so called Messiah Complex developing very mysterious and horrid medical symptoms unable to be explained by doctors. My hope is that all healers are humbled enough by the Divine moving through them to avoid such things.
can you tell me how I would go about to concentrate before I start a session? Or do I say a prayer or any kind of words? can you tell me exactly what you say or what you do that way I can know what I’m supposed to do? I would appreciate it very much. Thank you
Hi Lorie,
Thank you for your question and interest in consecration.
This is what I do to consecrate. I place my hands in Gassho (prayer position) and say these words:
“I consecrate this Reiki healing session to the Divine Consciousness. I offer the effects and rewards of this healing to the Divine for the benefit of all sentient beings” By this time I usually feel some tingling on top of my head and warmth throughout my body and a strong connection to the Divine. It’s beautiful. I then say something like: “I, Taryn Walker, ask permission from the Universe for Reiki to move through me and be drawn by [name of receiver] according to what is needed and for his/her highest good, offering this request to the highest consciousness.
Try this for a while and see how it works for you. Over time you may wish to change the words used to suit you. I like this traditional yogic way of consecrating and I find that my connection to Reiki has become much stronger since I learnt this.
Love,
Taryn Xx
Hi Taryn
Would you use consecration for self healing as well?
Hi Lauren 🙂 Yes I consecrate self treatments as well, to make sure I remember that it’s not me allowing for the Reiki connection. Consecration really helps me (my ego) to get out of the way. It’s also something you can do at the start of each day. A general consecration of all of the day’s actions is a beautiful way to start the day 🙂
Hi Taryn..I have had a few incidences where during a session I become light headed and faint, to the point where I have to discontinue the session. I polarize and ground before the sessions as instructed but occasionally get this reaction. Am I doing something wrong and am I taking on these peoples negativity. I am a Reiki III practitioner now and working on my next level. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated because this is very frustrating and upsetting. Thanks Kathryn
I realize this is three years after this letter, but I would like to ask if you had the Antahkarana symbol in your Reiki room.? This symbol opens a portal that draws energy away from the client and you as it is being channeled in. Remove it from your room. If symbol not present then may I suggest that you place a piece of selenite on or under your table to draw away all negative energies while you are channeling Reiki. Selenite does not counter the effects of an open portal due to the Anatahkarana symbol. I ground and surround myself in light and ask for the gift of Reiki for the highest purpose of the client. Remember to thank for the gift when you close at the end.
If this is a practice that you do, flicking! Please note that it is also very disconcerting to the client if are flicking your fingers or hands as you work on them. They are trying to find peace and the sounds of a practioners flicking imagined ( actions that may be creating reality from the practioners own mind) negativity away denies the client that peace as they wonder what is wrong with them.
If you feel negativity maybe what you are feeling is the release from the client and you need to direct it without fear to be transmuted to a higher source of energy. Just call in the Arch Angels and or the Ascended Masters that are working with you to remove all negativity or energy that no longer serves the client and transmute it to a higher source of energy. Hope this helps if you look back on this column. 082018 Jan Living with Light Joules Healing
Hi Kathryn 🙂
It’s difficult to know the reason for the lightheadedness, but if you consecrate properly before each session you don’t need to worry about taking on anything of the receiver. I mentioned in a comment above how to consecrate. Try it for a while and see how it helps you to get out of the way and not take responsibility for any of the effects of the sessions you’re offering. Sometimes we are pushing too hard without realizing we’re doing this, actively trying to make something happen, instead of just let it happen naturally. I think we do this because we want the receiver to really feel something and we worry that if we aren’t trying to do something it might not work and they’d be disappointed. I suggest just letting it go and you’ll find a stronger connection happening without you feeling overwhelmed. Consecration helps us to let go in this way.
Hi.do you use yor symbols at all through this as I would ask rapheal an Michael to surround me then make symbols over client before I start I know everyone has there own way of doing this but like your respond to consecration much appreciated
Hi Monica,
If a symbol comes to me during my consecration then I use it but this doesn’t happen often. The rituals you choose to use as you’re preparing for a session and during and after the session are separate from consecration. The importance of consecration is in honouring the Divine as the author of your actions. If you do this authentically you’ll find yourself guided by the Grace of the Divine Xx
Lovely article…as i understand it we r giving all credit to the divine power and thanking the divibe for choosing us as d medium of this universal energy