The beginner’s path to Reiki: what happens if you don’t check the lineage
This is a story without names — because it repeats itself constantly.A person feels interested in Reiki, Googles it, looks at Instagram, finds a school with a beautiful website and inspiring text about “15 years of practice” and “reclaiming the true teachings of Usui.”Pays.Initiation takes place.And only after a while—sometimes a year, sometimes two—does one begin to notice inconsistencies.
Let’s look at what exactly happens at each step, using a specific line as an example.Everything described is typical not only for one school, but this particular case makes it possible to analyze the mechanics especially clearly.
Step one: search without criteria
Most beginners look for a Reiki school something like this: they look at the reviews, at the “atmosphere” of the page, at how warmly the teacher himself writes about the practice.The «lineage» criterion is not included in this list — simply because most people do not know that it is even important.
Meanwhile, lineage is the only verifiable criterion of legitimacy in Reiki.Everything else (style, terminology, “author’s techniques,” “15 years of experience”) is marketing.A line is a fact that can be verified.
Step two: a beautiful title and a compelling narrative
The school is called “Tantra Reiki Atma”.Sounds significant.The text includes “restoration of the original Japanese Reiki,” “reinterpretation of the principles,” references to meditation, “awareness of death,” “seeing God in another.”This is interesting, unlike a standard course, it seems deeper.
A beginner who doesn’t know the context takes this as a sign of expertise.It’s actually worth asking a few simple questions here.
Is “rethinking principles in a positive way” news?No.Dozens of schools were doing this long before this text.Frank Arjava Petter, Hiroshi Dochi, and William Lee Rand published studies of the original Japanese principles back in the 1990s and 2000s.The criticism of “double translation” (Japanese → English → Russian) is also not new — many researchers have written about it.
«Death Awareness Meditation»is a classical Buddhist practicemarasati, existing for thousands of years.In Western psychology — “negative visualization” of the Stoics and the techniques of existential therapy (Irwin Yalom and others).
«Seeing God in Another»— ThisNamastein Hinduism, the concept of “Atman = Brahman” is thousands of years old.
None of these sources are mentioned in the school’s teaching materials.It seems that the author achieved everything herself in “15 years.”This is called “reinventing the wheel” — and in itself it’s not scary if the bike works.The problem is different.
Step Three: The Transmission Line Nobody Names
The school’s public materials do not indicate the transmission line.This in itself is already a signal.A transparent line is a basic criterion for trust.
If you reconstruct the chain using indirect data, it looks like this:
| Link | Status |
|---|---|
| Mikao Usui | ✅ Historically confirmed (1865–1926) |
| Suzuki San | ⚠️ Not verified.Chris Marsh claimed that he studied with a certain Wasaburo Suzuki, a relative of Usui and “the keeper of the original Reiki.”This figurenot confirmedneither by the Gakkai (the official Usui Society in Japan) nor by independent Japanese researchers. |
| Chris Marsh | ⚠️ British practitioner whose materials on the “original Japanese Reiki” have attracted serious criticism: Frank Arjava Petter and other researchers have questioned the authenticity of his sources. |
| Taggart King | Founder of Reiki Evolution (UK).Well-known practitioner, but inherits the controversial Marsh line. |
| Benedikt Karaush → Miroslav Zhiva | European students, data limited. |
| Ma Atma Ruchira | She studied under the Marsh line.Works in Russia. |
| Veronica Krainova | student of Atma Ruchira. |
Key weak link —Usui → Suzuki San → March.This is where there is no independent confirmation.Everything that goes further along this chain inherits this problem — no matter how conscientious all subsequent teachers are.
Paradox: criticizing other people’s distortions without revealing your basis
This is the most telling moment.The author criticizes the distortions in the transmission of Reiki to the West — and this is an honest criticism, there really are many problems there.But at the same time:
- himself belongs to the line withunconfirmed transmission;
- this lineis not publicly mentioned anywhere;
- passes off the author’s interpretation as the restoration of the “true” meaning.
This is a rhetorically convenient position: to take the place of a critic of existing schools without opening one’s own “black box.”A novice who does not know the context perceives such criticism as a sign of independence and expertise.
Why is this typical — not just for one school
The situation described is not unique.It is reproduced in many schools with different names and varying degrees of awareness:
- A school that does not publish the lineage — but actively criticizes the «illegitimate» online initiations of others.
- A teacher who refers to the «Japanese tradition» but was trained in a European school with a controversial chain.
- The author of a “unique technique” based on things that are well described in open sources — without references.
The problem is not bad intentions.Many teachers truly believe in their approach.The problem is that a beginner who does not know this structure cannot evaluate what exactly he is buying.
What to check before paying
- The lineage must be listed publicly, with names.Not the “Usui Reiki tradition,” but a specific chain: Usui → who → who → who → this teacher.It should be independently verifiable.
- It is dangerous if there are promises to cure diseases.This is not only ethics — it is a legal risk (FZ-323, Article 50).
- Prices should be open, and not written that they become explicit only “on request”; exceptions for higher levels are permissible to take into account the situation of a particular student.
- Initiation should be face-to-face, no online meditations for immersion into the flow remotely, as is done in the Atma school (you can check it yourself), reiju should be regularly conducted live.Online initiations have no basis in the original Usui system — online business is convenient for making money, but initiation and reiju must be live in the presence of a student and a master in reality, and not online, online transfer is possible under specific conditions that are not described — a strong flow is needed.a whole group, and perhaps support from a place of power where each of those in the group transmits the group flow using the symbol of Hon Sha Ze Sho Nen, no one talks or reminds about this, Irina Koshlova accidentally mentioned this in passing, for some reason no one clearly says this — only after you pay enough money, so that Irina Kozlova decides that she has already been paid enough to finally remember to say this.
- Sources are called.If the teacher relies on research, Japanese texts or other schools, this should be indicated.The lack of links when actively using other people’s ideas is a red flag.
A detailed checklist for assessing a Reiki master is inseparate article.
Conclusion
A beginner who does not check the line of transmission does not risk ending up with a “bad” person — many teachers are quite conscientious.He risks paying a significant sum for the author’s interpretation of a practice, presented as an original tradition, with an open question about the legitimacy of the transmission itself.
The transmission line is not a bureaucracy.This is the only tool that distinguishes “I do Reiki” from “I have been trained in a verifiable tradition.”
Learn more about how the economics of Reiki practice works and what you should know before starting training in the mini-course«Reiki as a business».