Q&A: Can I Practice Both Vipassana and Reiki?

July 2, 2020 · by · in All Posts, Food for Thought, Suggested Reading

Yesterday a student asked me what is the difference between Vipassana and Reiki, does Reiki even have a goal (Vipassana has a clear one) and should she give up her practice in order to practice Vipassana. She was confused after discussions with her husband who practices Vipassana. I thought you might enjoy the reply.

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I have done Vipassana, I loved it. I didn’t find any conflict with it. I was told very strongly that the two should not be mixed because at some point some reiki practitioners fainted or something during Vipassana – I assume this would be possible if they’re involved with things like crystals and angels because that can pollute the aura like crazy and cause adverse reactions while doing Vipassana. Otherwise there was no other argument that made any sense why they shouldn’t be mixed. My sister also did Vipassana and practiced the two together for a long time and I know a few others. So if you’re doing Reiki the way we do it, no problem.

For me what drove me away from the school of Vipassana was the rigidity of it. ‘Don’t learn if you want to practice anything else’. ‘don’t chant, don’t do yoga, don’t do anything else’ – why? I know personally, people who did Vipassana and then had physical problems because of it which lasted for many months – even more than a year, because not every Body can handle the abuse of sitting still the whole day. Stretches are needed to help the body. My teacher does different meditations everyday, we have physically active meditations in the afternoon and instead of that being a distraction, I find that it takes me deeper more easily than Vipassana did.
There are hundreds of tools and pathways to the state of union. Sticking to one thing is one way, using a combination is another. The key is to find something that works for you. But does this mean that there is absolutely nothing else that will aid or speed up your path? This is an assumption that Vipassana makes – that 1) this is a universal tool that WILL work for everyone 2) That this is all they need.

For me, I believe in evolution. Nothing is perfect. Future (sincere) teachers will develop better and more effective methods – in any system. For me, rigidity is death. So a rigid school of thought can help a lot of people on the lower level, but I believe it has its limits in how far it can take you.

Last thing. What is the goal of Reiki? Nothing. Because Reiki is very very expansive. It is like a car. Why do you buy a car, is it to go somewhere specific? The truth is, the car will take you anywhere you want to go.

So with Reiki, if you want to focus purely on physical health, that’s what you get. If you want purely to focus on relationships, that’s what you get. If spiritual development is what you want, that is what you get. Vipassana is only about going within. Reiki is inside and outside both, and sees no separation between the two. Everything is ONE. So obviously something like this is going to get used in a million ways and a lot of people will do it for materialistic reasons. But if you are sincere and your practice is proper (because there are also soooo many crap teachers and teachings out there) then sooner or later your eyes will open up to the spiritual pathway.

The only way for Reiki to be really effective is to learn to be in complete surrender to the Source. It is, I believe, a much faster pathway because it will find you the fastest path if this is what you seek – you will find teachers and therapists who will break your blocks and take you further. You are free to use a car, plane, boat, cycle, feet, rickshaw to move ahead, you will be brought these vehicles depending on the current terrain, you are not stuck in one vehicle.