Standards Checklist:

If you are considering joining a Spiritual Development Group or Circle, there are a number of factors that you should consider. Is it really a Development Group, or is it more of an awareness group?

I have discussed with other colleagues in the area of Spiritual Development, and we have looked at how vulnerable some people are when they go to so called Spiritual Development Groups and Circles. At this point I should highlight the obvious, the difference between Development and Awareness. Development would imply that some form of teaching and learning is taking place, where as with 'Awareness' draws people's attention to what would be something new to an individual. I know of excellent Awareness Groups, but they do not claim to develop people spiritually.

I am also aware of groups who would claim to be for spiritual development, yet there are no teachers or people with qualifications, experience or expertise within Spiritual realms, other than the fact they may have read something from a magazine. Yet these groups also have people who are vulnerable attending them.

The difficulty with this is that at best, they undermine the work of genuine development groups, the worst case scenario being that they do damage to peoples' mental health, or that they disturb something that they are unable to deal with, such as poltergeist or even demonic activity.

Above Satan being Cast Out from Heaven

So my advice is before rushing to join a group who claim to be for Spiritual Development, there are a number of checks you should do!

1. If it is a development group, what are the teaching qualifications of the organisers or the people leading the group in the development work?
2. How long have they been qualified and what other credentials do they have?
3. What are the qualifications in the subjects being taught, how long was the course? and where were these obtained from? - the university of Kellogs does not count!
4. Do they hold membership to any professional Bodies? Example, The British Psychological Society  or the Reiki Federation, The Healers International, etc.
5. Is there insurance for the organisation or group or the activities taking place within the group, the minimum being public liability insurance. As a Sports Massage Therapist I am required to be registered and insured as a therapist, the same goes for Reiki and yes the same goes for counselling.
6. What is the experience and qualifications of the group leader/s - swimming certificates do not count!
7. Are they using psychodynamic approaches? and if so, are they qualified in these? this includes certain types of counselling, guided meditations, etc.
8. Do they hold an up to date licence in any specialist areas of work?
9. Do they comply the Health and Saftey regulations?
10. Last but not least - do they know what they are doing? - or have they read an article and are now claiming to be self taught experts in the field. Are they honest? Do they have Integrity? Do you fully trust them?

These are the minimum standards I would expect to see within a Spiritual Development Group. This is not to hold back potential leaders, or groups from being established. It is more about the protection of the would be group members who may be placed in a vulnerable situation by well meaning, but unsuitable and unqualified people - whose interests are not the Spiritual Development of others, but people who are dellusional and seek to hold power and control over group members.

Reiki

I am also aware Reiki Masters Qualifications for sale. I have heard that Reiki being taught at the Royal Forest of Dean College is being taught from beginers, i.e. Reiki 1st Degree through to Masters in the period of a year! I have spoken with the personnel from the College to see if this is true.  The college run a Reiki Diploma Course, one year long and as part of this course students are attuned to Levels 1 & 2, but not to Master Level. It would appear that on completion of the course one of the Tutors (privately) creams people off, i.e. those who can afford to pay, and then attunes them to Master Practiioner, i.e. Level 3. So in practical terms this means anyone who can afford it and who has no knowledge of any type of healing, be it spiritual or otherwise, can become a Master in less than a year! This is a mockery of genuine Reiki Masters, as well as the Reiki System. It was for these reasons that Dr Mikao Usui insisted that Reiki Masters should meditate on whether or not a person is ready or can be attuned to the Usui System. We seem to live in a world where Honour and Integrity is in short supply. I wonder how it is possible for a Reiki Master Teacher to meditate on a list of people enrolled for their course, without first having met or even spoken to the individuals? It saddens me when money takes the place of meditation, honour and integrity. Being an optimist I am sure that Dr Usui, the Ascended Masters and the Universe will deal with this, at least in the world of Reiki. However, I would hate to see Reiki go down the same route as Spiritual Healing, whereby anyone who was delluded could set themselves up as a healer, which was quickly followed by commercal opportunities for self appointed Guardians who insisted that people could only be a spiritual healer if they done it their way!!! If anyone thinks that the Reiki Healing Attunements are expensive, then have a look at some of the other systems in operation today.

Thankfully we do have the British Reiki Federation - part of the responsibility of the Federation is to observe and monitor practices of the Reiki Healers and especially Teachers.  

For those of you who carry out this practice look at the man below who you dishonour! then look in the mirror to see who you are cheating!

Dr Mikao Usui

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