Is Sadhguru Right About Reiki?

Christian Stone | Standing Stones Healing Co.

Are you familiar with Sadhguru's teachings? He has some negative opinions about Reiki and with his popularity growing, I've been getting more and more questions about it. I'm wondering what a good response to this YouTube video Is Reiki & Energy Healing Safe? would be. 

I'm not familiar with Sadhguru's teachings, although he frequently pops up in my YouTube feed. I checked out this video, and I'm going to say something suprising...

I agree with him.

Except, what I agree with is that, if you're afraid of taking on someone's energy during a session, then I would recommend not practicing on others and to first and foremost strengthen your own self-practice.

Otherwise, I take issue with his generalization that practicing Reiki is an "immature" manipulation of someone's energy. Of course, he obviously knows nothing about Reiki...while at the same time one might claim that this video (and probably many of his videos, though I don't watch them) are also "manipulating" people's energy. Would Sadhguru say his teachings are an immature manipulation of people's energy? I'm sure he would not, and yet a convincing argument can be made.

But how I agree with disagreers is to agree with them on some level, such as my point of agreement above. Because in any disagreement there is some point of agreement, a place at which there is a commonality. So I do definitely agree with him that if you're a Reiki practitioner afraid of taking on someone's karma or energy, then the easiest way to avoid this is to not practice on others. Self-Reiki will definitely help with this fear.

Following finding a point of agreement with Reiki haters, I then turn the discussion toward the Precepts because this is the basis of Reiki, and I don't know how anyone can read the Precepts and believe there's evil or negativity there.

I think it's also helpful in this case to acknowledge that controversy drives clicks, views, and comments and that, with 11 million subscribers, Sadhguru is aware of this and using it to his advantage. If he said "Reiki is fine: do it or don't do it," I doubt this video would have nearly as many views. Controversial click-bait content drives views and comments and engagement, which drives his revenue. Hmmm...sounds kinda like manipulating people's energy, doesn't it? With 11 million subscribers, Sadhguru is a millionaire from his YouTube revenue alone. He knows the game for sure.

For more on how I deal with Reiki skeptics, check out my article Dealing With Reiki Skeptics. Sending blessings to the skeptics!