Customer Reviews

Reiki Jin Kei Do: The Way of Compassion and Wisdom

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I have been practicing and teaching Reiki for over 10 years. With the publication of "Reiki Jin Kei Do: The Way of Compassion and Wisdom", I now have a book that I can happily and unequivocably recommend to my students, clients, and others interested in learning about this unique lineage of Reiki. Steve's book is comprehensive, well researched, well written, and accurate. It has integrity, providing a grounded and balanced perspective on the topic of spirituality and healing. I am thrilled that he has made this book available and hope that many readers will enjoy and learn from the wisdom in its pages.

So many people and so many schools of Reiki focus exclusively on using Reiki solely as a means of healing others. While this is a wonderful part of the whole, Reiki is more than that. It is a powerful vehicle of personal and spiritual growth. It is through this growth that we develop both the Compassion and Wisdom to truly help others - whether it is in the channeling of energy to promote healing or, more importantly, in lending a hand to help another along the Path.

Steve's personal journey of spiritual growth through Reiki is an inspiration and worthy to be followed. He is a true teacher who has obviously walked his talk.

Thank you, Steve.

Imagine a cookbook that lists the dishes, but not the ingredients, the amounts used, or how to prepare the dishes. The author extols the virtues of each dish, but that's all the reader gets to find out--because these are SECRET recipes.

That's a good description of what we have with Reiki Jin Kei Do by Steve Gooch.

In a book that purports to be about a new, or at least different, branch of Reiki, little can be found about this new, or at least different, branch of Reiki. The author doesn't mislead on this. Within the first few pages, he comes right out and says it: "You will not find any of the specific methods or techniques of the lineage describe in here, nor will you see the Reiki symbols."

And he's true to his word. You can read the book from cover to cover and not know a single thing about this lineage, except that it's different and that it's somehow more "spiritual" and "compassionate" than other lineages.

There are some meditation techniques discussed, but these particular ones can be found in almost any book that discusses meditation. There is a teacher's directory. There are some brand spanking new Reiki "histories" making lots and lots of claims with nothing to back them up. There are also far too many dismissals of what many in the Reiki community know to be true: the miracle of distant healing and attunements.

The notion (hinted at over and over in these pages) that only this particular branch of Reiki delves into the spiritual and compassionate aspects of Reiki is baffling. Where has the author been over the last few years? Mars? Most, if not all, branches are based on strong spiritual concepts. Those who begin the Reiki journey for self-healing will almost always find that they are healing--and growing--spiritually as well. When it comes to compassion, Reiki IS compassion. Reiki spirituality is alive and well almost everywhere Reiki is practiced, if the author would only take off his blinders and see. No lineage has a lock on spirituality and compassion.

If you want to learn more about Reiki spirituality, don't bother with this book. Instead, pick up almost anything by Walter Lubeck, who has immersed himself in the spiritual aspects of Reiki for years, or find a copy of Karyn Mitchell's "Reiki Mystery School"--among many other books that will actually teach you the practices, not just vaguely allude to them.

Like another reviewer here, I would give this one less than one star if I could. The writing is fine, but the author rambles on without really saying much. Next time Gooch writes a book, I hope he doesn't waste my my time as he did with this one. I don't buy a book about new or different practices just so I can read empty prose--I want to learn what those practices are.

This book provides thorough exploration of a rare lineage of Usui Reiki. I am already recommending this book to students in my Reiki classes!

It is so refreshing to find a book on Reiki that does not just rehash the same old material than can be found in pretty much every other book on the subject. This book is going to take the Reiki world by storm. Not only is there material in here on the history of Reiki that I never knew before but it offers a totally original way of approaching the system of Reiki itself. What is really refreshing amongst recent books on Reiki is that it is not full of Japanese words that only Japanese and Japanese-fluent readers can understand or really relate to. A real eye-opener of a book. It is about time someone wrote a book on Reiki like this with its emphasis on personal spiritual development rather than on the therapy side of the system. This book could change the world's view of Reiki for good. In fact I think it is inevitable (and much needed). A great book for beginners who want to know what Reiki is really all about and a great book for those who practise Reiki already - this will really deepen your understanding and practice of the Usui system. Surely this is as close as we can get now to the true heart and essence of what Reiki was meant to be in the first place? Thanks Steve for a great book and for redefining Reiki at last in the way that was so needed and long overdue!

I would give *less than 1 star if possible*

The statements made in this book about a "new" history of Reiki have not been authenticated in any way.

Reiki people should not accept "new" Reiki histories without some factual background and, sadly, there are no facts to back up the story told in this book. Should it just be accepted as truth because someone says it is? I don't think so.

You would have thought we'd learnt our lesson and people would be more careful as to what they print as the "truth", especially after the Lama Yeshe (also known as Richard Blackwell) experience. To explain further: Richard Blackwell wrote a book with a "new" history of Reiki and it turned out to be completely made-up and the result was great confusion and disillusionment. Curiously, an ex-student of Lama Yeshe's is even quoted in this book and the teachers of the author were all teachers of Lama Yeshe's material.

This book highlights serious flaws in the concept of Jin Kei Do, apart from its general lack of clarity (the accepted Reiki history is pretty mashed up as well).

A major problem is that this book lays claim to two histories:
A relatively accepted history of Reiki taken from other Reiki books and Reiki websites called Part I.
And a second history, Part II, that begins to interweave, what I would only call fiction (as it is totally without verification), with the known history of Reiki. This "new" Reiki history has conveniently been fitted into conventional Reiki history. Here, names of people from Buddha down and their supposed practices and actions, along with the land Tibet, are described as influencing a part of the founder of Reiki's practices. These practices were then secretly passed down and have made there way to a man in Australia who purports this is all true.

Another major problem is: Not one of the Japanese people mentioned in the accepted history of Reiki like Hayashi, Eguchi, the Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai, Mrs Yamaguchi, Tatsumi and even Mrs Takata taught the chakra system. Yet Jin Kei Do appears to be based upon chakras. Chakras were a new age addition to Reiki and there is absolutely no record of them being used prior to Mrs Takata's death - how come then Jin Kei do uses chakras? I would guess because Jin Kei Do was actually created in the 1980s.

The book also states that a character named Seiji Takemori had to study for more then 3 years with someone called Takeuchi to learn this system. How, then, did the man who lives in Australia, Ranga Premaratna, only manage to study for about 25 days with Seiji Takemori to learn the whole system? The number of 25 is pulled from a Jin Kei Do website although it is called a "relatively short period of time" in the book.

And finally this book goes so far as to lay claim to a similarity between its practices and the highest yoga tantra AND even earlier Hindu yogic practices! A Buddhist of Yogic Master would find it odd, to say the least, that a person could learn all of that in 25 days!!!

This book is not a Reiki book even though it uses Reiki to base its claims on. It includes a bit of this, a bit of that and a lot of fiction - not good for a non-fiction book!