Can you go from beginner to Reiki Master/Teacher in a day for free without even leaving home?

A reader has written to ask my advice, and since it's a topic that comes up almost as often as those "free online Reiki training" Google ads, I'm posting the question and my reply here:

Hello, I am writing in regards to an internet site that I came across looking for reiki and would like your opinion on it. This site claims to give all attunements, from level one all the way through master/teacher level, in the span of a single day using distance reiki to do the attunements. If you could take a look at this site and get back to me I would be so grateful because I have not yet begun my reiki training or received any attunements yet, and if this is real, then I think that it would be a great asset to me and others that I will encounter throughout my life. (Name of site omitted to avoid giving them free publicity -- Editor)

K.

Hello K.,

Thanks for your message. You bring up a couple of questions, which I’ll restate here to make sure I’m understanding you. You want to know:

1) Can a student go from complete beginner Master/Teacher in a single day?
2) Can a student become a Reiki practitioner through distance training, including distance attunements?

If all you want is a certificate saying you are a Reiki Master/Teacher, design one, print it, and sign it. If you want to learn Reiki and become a practitioner, at any level, find a teacher who can work with you in person. Reiki is an energetic practice, and a subtle one at that. It is traditionally taught experientially, in the physical presence of the teacher, especially at the basic levels. I’ve got nothing against distance learning, but some things don’t come across as well that way. Reiki is one of them. As for distance attunements: science itself tells us that at a certain level, there is no such thing as distance. That doesn’t mean your online teacher, whom you’ve never met, has the training and experience to work with Reiki at a distance. But even if your distance attunement were the equivalent of an in-person one, it would be out of context, so what would you have?

The distance issue aside, you don't go from beginner to Master/Teacher in a day, not with Reiki, not with anything. It takes practice, regular practice in real time. And it takes time to assimilate the energetic shifts that take place with Reiki: that’s true for experienced masters as well as beginners.

All the best,

Janet