Reiki controversies
The existence of Reiki energy has not been scientifically proven, and anecdotal evidence of the effectiveness of Reiki therapy is commonly ascribed to the placebo effect and a combination of post hoc reasoning and the regressive fallacy by critics. Proponents of Reiki claim that they can detect and manipulate this energy, but a means to measure it or even objectively demonstrate its existence to the satisfaction of the scientific community has yet to be found. The predominant opinion among the scientific community is that the sensations felt by practitioners and patients of Reiki are psychologically subjective or the result of self-deceit.
Some practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine are also skeptical of the claims of Reiki practitioners.
Doctors, academics, and consumer advocates have expressed concern when patients with serious diseases such as cancer choose Reiki solely as a means of treatment over trained doctors. In some cases people reject conventional medicine completely and solely practice Reiki, and this is deemed as a highly untrustworthy and potentially dangerous practice even within the Reiki and wider alternative health community. While it is understandable for patients to seek non-mainstream remedies when conventional options seem ineffective or untrustworthy, many doctors say that Reiki, like many other forms of alternative medicine, is simply exploiting the fear and hope of people with serious illnesses for money while offering no demonstrable help. The response from Reiki practitioners is that Reiki is a reliable and effective treatment which is being unfairly dismissed by conservative Western scientific research. Some Reiki teachers and practitioners advocate a complementary approach to conventional medicine - holding it as the most prudent and responsible means of treating any illness - much like many other alternative medicine advocates suggest.
Opposition from religious groups
There are various religious groups opposing Reiki. Christian fundamentalists condemn Reiki as promoting pagan practices. For example, the Unification Church cautions its adherents to avoid Reiki on the grounds that Reiki involves channelling the energy of evil spirits. Some individuals and groups (like Dominicans from the Roman Catholic Church) actively advise believers against it.
Reiki as a cult
Reiki has been called a cult or an attempt at sorcery. Some Reiki adherents would reply that there is no strict structure, guru or chain of command in the Reiki community, so it doesn't fit the modern sense of a cult. While the practice itself does not necessarily fit into cult-like behaviours, some teacher's of Reiki have engaged in practices reflective of a cult-like approach, proffering various religious and spiritual beliefs along with the Reiki techniques. The experience of hot or cold sensations in the hands whilst giving and receiving Reiki is put forward as a validation of some groups' particular religious ideology - however far fetched or different to other Reiki groups.
It is claimed by critics that some Reiki groups also put forward that they can never grow ill if they practice Reiki regularly and have a positive outlook - with disappointment and shock being the outcome when their teacher (or they themselves) become mortally ill or die.
Critics point to the often substantial fees charged by Reiki practitioners for their teachings as deeply troubling, as well as the obedience to a given that some teachers demand of their students. Chujiro Hayashi's students are, for example, called "disciples" - strongly implying a religious overtone.
Some Christian practitioners of Reiki claim that the source of power that is directed through them is the Holy Spirit, or go so far as to say that Jesus was a Reiki master - claims that are in contradiction with most Christian doctrines. Hawayo Takata has claimed that she once used Reiki to raise a person from the dead. Such a claim falls outside the scope of most alternative health practices - comparable to the New Testament story of Jesus restoring Lazarus to life.
Because of the health claims made by its adherents, Reiki is sometimes embraced by people desperate for hope that their terminal or chronic health and mental problems may be miraculously cured. The desperation of these people and their willingness to embrace magical thinking is sometimes encouraged by less than sincere teachers and practitioners - contributing to perceptions of Reiki's association with cult-like practices.
Internal Controversies
With the many varied ways that have been used to teach Reiki, there have emerged many points of controversy between different groups, teachers and practitioners. Controversies often exist on topics such as the nature of the Reiki energy itself, fees charged for courses and treatments, training methods, secrecy of symbols and attunement methods, to name but a few.
Various claims are made as to the 'legitimacy' or 'authenticity' of various schools of practice - with the schools making those claims also engaging in criticisms of the other schools who they see as illegitimate or otherwise inauthentic or immoral in their spiritual conduct. Political fighting is quite strong between many schools, so for example a practitioner of one teacher may often not be welcome to practice Reiki with another teacher's Reiki group. Teachers from other schools are often not welcomed in other teacher's classes. A Reiki school will often discourage the participation of outside students and teachers, particularly when there are claims of an individual school's practices being the only correct practice. This occurs amongst both traditional and non traditional schools. Often and as a more mild form of enforcing adherence, the unorthodox person is required to be retrained in their levels before being accepted into the fold.
Secret Teachings
Teachers often appear claiming to possess hidden additional teachings from the original system and symbols unknown to other schools et cetera, but none of these claims are substantiated with evidence that supports the additional material that they use. Some current examples (but certainly not a comprehensive list) of such schools are Dr Barbara Weber Ray's "Radiance Association" (who claim to possess additional attunements, symbols and levels) and Dr Ranga Premaratna's "Reiki Jin Kei Do and Buddho-EnerSense;" (who claims to possess the original Buddhist Reiki system as well as additional symbols, initiations and meditations). Although (among many others) both organisations also claim they possess additional authentic supplementary teachings, only Premaratna's school seems able to substantiate these claims through the evidence of ongoing research and the obviousness of the claims to those students who have taken the training. Dr Weber Ray's claims are disputed by Takata's students, particularly the teachers present during her training. Dr Ray demands strict obedience from her students and deregisters them if they disobey her, though this is not the case in Dr Premaratna's lineage of Reiki Jin Kei Do. Dr Premaratna claims that his teacher, Seiji Takamori, was not taught and initiated into Reiki by Hawayo Takata as is claimed in some books on Reiki. In fact this is born out by Takamori's absence from the list of Masters that Takata provided to her sister just prior to her own death. He additionally claims that although Seiji Takemori was a teacher, he only initiated Dr Premaratna alone. There is no reason to doubt this claim but Reiki Jin Kei Do has become the butt of many attempts by some in the Reiki community to discredit it in an effort to promote their own system as being the authentic one. Dr Premaratna has never made the claim that his system is the authentic one, but merely claims that his system contains material not available elsewhere.
There are a great deal of questions that remain around Reiki practice, and a great deal of these questions are currently being answered by the newly rediscovered Japanese lineages. These lineages can in fact produce historical evidence to support their claims, and although perhaps the actual nature of "Reiki" energy is a mystery, the system of the "usui shiki ryoho" seems to be becoming clearer.
The "Reiki Grandmaster"
Many conservative schools are based around claims of Hawayo Takata's many student teachers competing as the true "Grandmaster" of Reiki or teaching exactly as Mrs. Takata herself taught. In recent years however many teachers connected in some way with Hawayo Takata do not strenuosly claim to be appointed as the "Grandmaster of Reiki" as they once did in the past. Phyllis Furumoto (the grandaughter of Ms. Takata), for example of the "Reiki Alliance" seemed to cease claiming this title around the same time that it was found that historically no such title ever existed once the Japanese schools were discovered by Western Reiki schools. Often these "Grandmasters" attempt to patent the term "Reiki" in their particular country or countries of interest. Such actions are very unpopular in the wider Reiki community and have never been granted in any country.
It would appear that Hawayo Takata invented this title and claimed it for hereself, however her motivations for this obfuscation are unknown. Dr. Barbara Weber Ray (T.R.T.I.A - The Radiance Technique International Association / a.k.a. The Radiance Association), Beth Gray and Phyllis Furumoto are the most notable Hawayo Takata trained teachers who have all claimed at one time or another to have been anointed as the supreme teacher of Reiki. Whether Mrs. Takata did or did not appoint them is unknown, as none of these claimants have produced any evidence or witnesses to their claims. It is perhaps likely that as the title itself was a fiction, that Mrs. Takata was reluctant to officially endorse anyone as she hereself could not actually confer any such title.