Reiki is not a religion.  It is not directed in any way by anyone and cannot control anyone or any thing.  It is energy and is available to anyone who wishes to heal themselves. 

The power of prayer heals, power of universal energy heals, meditation heals.   Open your heart and your mind so you can heal your mind, body and spirit. 

The following paragraph is a statement issued recently about Reiki by US Catholic Bishops.  It is interesting to read and answers many questions about Reiki and religion.  They based their opinions from inaccurate information for the most part.  Anyone can write a book about their beliefs and experiences.  Anyone can create a website filled with information that is derived from other websites.  The author's interpretation of the information published is then interpreted by the reader making it impossible to guarantee that everything on the internet is true and that is a key issue. 

The above statement is an excerpt of newsletter from Reiki.org

On March 25, 2009, U.S. Catholic bishops issued a statement advising Catholic hospitals, health care facilities, and Catholic chaplains not to support the use of Reiki sessions. The statement was issued by The Committee on Doctrine, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and titled: “Guidelines for Evaluating Reiki as Alternative Therapy.”

The statement was based on research the committee had done over a period of several months involving information found on the Internet and in Reiki books. Based on these sources, they concluded that Reiki came from Buddhist texts and has a religious basis; that Reiki healing energy is directed by human thought and will; that Reiki is not validated by scientific studies and has no scientific explanation, and that Reiki is not accepted by the medical community. *end*

Read full Newsletter at this link:

http://www.reiki.org/reikinews/ResponseBishopsStatement.html

The above link should open in a new window.

Additional note:  Reiki and Healing touch therapy are similar in the ways energy healing is used.  Traditional Reiki and Karuna Ki (compassionate healing) are combined. 

Simple Definition of Buddha:  Enlightened one