Sing4Him
April 28th, 2008, 11:42 PM
Reiki News magazine Identifies Seven Successful Reiki Centers - Rob Bell Connection
The Reiki News Magazine is a prominent publication that represents Reiki masters around the world. The Spring 2008 issue of Reiki News has an article titled "Reiki Centers: How Seven Owners Achieved Success." One of the seven featured is the Dominican Center at Marywood (DCM) in Michigan. Roger Oakland, in his emerging church expose, Faith Undone, discusses Rob Bell's connection to the Marywood center. In view of the fact that Reiki is an occultic practice, and considering that many Christian churches (and even many Christian high schools) turn to Rob Bell's spirituality (through Velvet Elvis and Noomas), it is vital to understand this connection. Oakland explains:
On March 19, 2006, Bell unveiled a little more about his spiritual beliefs. He invited a Dominican sister to speak at his church. He said as he introduced her, "I have a friend who has taught me so much about resting in the presence of God."1 During the service, Bell and the sister led the congregation in various meditative exercises.
The sister who spoke at Mars Hill during that service is from the Dominican Center at Marywood in Michigan where a wide variety of contemplative/mystical practices are used and taught.2 One of the practices at the Center is Reiki (similar to therapeutic touch). The belief behind Reiki is that everything in the universe is united together through energy. In Japan, the word reiki is the standard term for the occult (or ghost energy). It is ghost energy because when Reiki is practiced, spirit guides are reached. William Lee Rand, the head of the International Center for Reiki Training, states:
There are higher sources of help you can call on. Angels, beings of light and Reiki spirit guides as well as your own enlightened self are available to help you.... The more you can open to the true nature of Reiki which is to have an unselfish heart centered desire to help others, then the more the Reiki spirit guides can help you.3
Reiki is becoming very popular in the Western world. In the United States alone, there are now over one million Reiki practitioners.4 If Reiki gains a foothold into Christianity, Rob Bell's statement "We're rediscovering Christianity as an Eastern religion"5 could be very accurate in the sense that Eastern religion (i.e., mysticism) is quickly becoming a qualifier for mainstream Christianity. (Faith Undone, p. 111)
Notes:
1. Quote from the March 19, 2006 service at Mars Hill. Audio file of this service was available on Mars Hill website: http://www.marshill.org/teaching.
2. See Dominican Center at Marywood: http://www.dominicancenter.com/BodyWork/432/.
3. William Lee Rand, "Developing Your Reiki Practice" (International Center for Reiki Training, http://www.reiki.org/ReikiPractice/PracticeHomepage.html).
4. Ray Yungen, A Time of Departing (Silverton, OR: Lighthouse Trails Publishing, 2nd ed.), p. 13.
5. Andy Crouch citing Rob Bell, "Emergent Mystique" (Christianity Today, November 2004).
From: http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com
The Reiki News Magazine is a prominent publication that represents Reiki masters around the world. The Spring 2008 issue of Reiki News has an article titled "Reiki Centers: How Seven Owners Achieved Success." One of the seven featured is the Dominican Center at Marywood (DCM) in Michigan. Roger Oakland, in his emerging church expose, Faith Undone, discusses Rob Bell's connection to the Marywood center. In view of the fact that Reiki is an occultic practice, and considering that many Christian churches (and even many Christian high schools) turn to Rob Bell's spirituality (through Velvet Elvis and Noomas), it is vital to understand this connection. Oakland explains:
On March 19, 2006, Bell unveiled a little more about his spiritual beliefs. He invited a Dominican sister to speak at his church. He said as he introduced her, "I have a friend who has taught me so much about resting in the presence of God."1 During the service, Bell and the sister led the congregation in various meditative exercises.
The sister who spoke at Mars Hill during that service is from the Dominican Center at Marywood in Michigan where a wide variety of contemplative/mystical practices are used and taught.2 One of the practices at the Center is Reiki (similar to therapeutic touch). The belief behind Reiki is that everything in the universe is united together through energy. In Japan, the word reiki is the standard term for the occult (or ghost energy). It is ghost energy because when Reiki is practiced, spirit guides are reached. William Lee Rand, the head of the International Center for Reiki Training, states:
There are higher sources of help you can call on. Angels, beings of light and Reiki spirit guides as well as your own enlightened self are available to help you.... The more you can open to the true nature of Reiki which is to have an unselfish heart centered desire to help others, then the more the Reiki spirit guides can help you.3
Reiki is becoming very popular in the Western world. In the United States alone, there are now over one million Reiki practitioners.4 If Reiki gains a foothold into Christianity, Rob Bell's statement "We're rediscovering Christianity as an Eastern religion"5 could be very accurate in the sense that Eastern religion (i.e., mysticism) is quickly becoming a qualifier for mainstream Christianity. (Faith Undone, p. 111)
Notes:
1. Quote from the March 19, 2006 service at Mars Hill. Audio file of this service was available on Mars Hill website: http://www.marshill.org/teaching.
2. See Dominican Center at Marywood: http://www.dominicancenter.com/BodyWork/432/.
3. William Lee Rand, "Developing Your Reiki Practice" (International Center for Reiki Training, http://www.reiki.org/ReikiPractice/PracticeHomepage.html).
4. Ray Yungen, A Time of Departing (Silverton, OR: Lighthouse Trails Publishing, 2nd ed.), p. 13.
5. Andy Crouch citing Rob Bell, "Emergent Mystique" (Christianity Today, November 2004).
From: http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com