I have read this in books and have seen this on the internet. I was just wondering how Reiki can be intelligent? I think of Reiki as energy, but, how can energy be intelligent?

Greetings Darknyte,
First, I'd like to say a little about Placebo and the Effects of Reiki. One person suggested that Reiki only works on 'those who are not ill' and that the sick should be 'left to Doctors and Hospitals'.

Interestingly enough, there is more and more research being done to confirm what we Reiki practitioners already know - Reiki is real and it works.

Check out this site for some real case studies on Reiki and other forms of energy / touch therapies:
http://www.transitiontoparenthood.com/janelle/energy/support.htm

Also, Reiki has been shown effective on animals. Animals aren't reactive to placebo. (Discovery Channel '04)

Next, its a real shame that some dont realize that Reiki is the fastest growing modality in the world, and, thats its gaining recognition in many Hospitals, and, being used by many Doctors.

The Cleveland Clinic was recently awarded a $250,000 federal grant to study the effect of Reiki on cancer patients. Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital in New York is using Reiki as a complement to treatment. The Hospital at the University of Pennsylvania (HUP) Medical School, Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, Marian General Hospital, and the California Pacific Medical Center all offer Reiki to their patients. There is a Reiki clinic at the Tucson Medical Center in Arizona, Reiki is used at the Portsmouth Regional Hospital in New Hampshire; in Cleveland, hospitals are considering setting up a Reiki clinic.. In Vermont, there is already a Complementary Medicine clinic at Windsor Hospital where Reiki practitioners are working. A recent newspaper article indicates that there are at least 65 Reiki practitioners among the doctors and nurses at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. UPMC Shadyside Hospital has Reiki Practitioner. AGH Hospital Has Reiki Practitioners. And the list goes on. For a Placebo, its being recognized as something pretty amazing

Now, lets get to the question at hand. I agree that it is often stated that Reiki is an intelligent energy that knows where it needs to go and does what it needs to do. That Reiki is divinely guided energy. That Reiki works through you & not by you, etc.. .

Unfortunately, this is also part of 'Western' Reiki misinformation that was created from Takatas Usui Shiki Ryoho style of Reiki and commonly taught today in the 'West'. You'll see this in just about every Reiki book and on every Reiki web site that has Usui Shiki Ryoho as part of its linage.

It is known as fact that Usui, Eguchi, and Hayashi all had Reiki manuals that listed specific hand positions for specific aliments. Traditional Usui Reiki Ryoho teaches these specific hand positions.

In the Original Reiki Society in Japan, it is required that you demonstrate the ability to find specific areas of energetic imbalances, and, use specific hand positions to treat clients. This is part of your training - that may take as long as 10 years to complete!

Takata taught a very watered down version of Reiki that was simplified by omitting the energy sensing and manipulation techniques common in Traditional Reiki. She did away with these specific hand positions (as well as the manuals) and taught a generic 12 position hand routine that treated the entire client. The idea was that if one treated the entire client, there would be no need to be specific. This was all done in an effort to teach Usui Shiki Ryoho in a rapid fashion - where she taught levels back to back in a matter of days.

Also, In my linage of Traditional Usui Reiki Ryoho, the same question was asked to a surviving member of the Original Reiki society. He said that if Reiki was intelligent and goes to where its needed why then would you need training in how to administer it? Why would you have to move your hands? If it were intelligent, why would a practitioner be needed at all? Why doesnt god just send it down to those in need?
He didnt seem too convinced that Reiki had an intelligence.

I never agreed with that statement either. I always believed that we, as reiki practitioners have the ability to sense specific areas of energetic disturbances and treat those areas with specific hand placement. This is how I always did Reiki, even when I was originally taught to do 12 position hand routines as part of my Usui Shiki Ryoho Training.