Isn’t Charging Money for Reiki Just Wrong?

Here’s something I got asked today and thought I’d share my reply so anyone else with a similar question can read up too.

You are saying, we can charge fees. But would that be corruption. If we are doing something good, do you think we should charge fees to someone. We can accept anything eg. A chocolate but not money. Correct me if am wrong.

If you truly believe that, then you should also not be taking any salary for your professional work. Because if you are doing good for the world, according to your principles you should not take money. And if you work does not involve doing good for the world, then you are being unspiritual and selfish. So by your ideals, you should be doing all work for free. If you take money for any service, then you are corrupt.

If you believe that you are doing something ‘superior’ by doing Reiki, i.e. higher than a doctor’s work, higher than a sweeper’s work, then that is nothing but your ego speaking. If the sweeper stops doing his work, you and your family will get sick, and no amount of Reiki will provide a permanent solution. If the doctor stops doing his work, people will start dying all over the world. If the farmer stops raising crops, you won’t even be around to go do Reiki on people. If the laborer stops construction work, you will have no place to live or pray in. Do you really imagine you are doing people a greater favor by giving people Reiki? To imagine that only Reiki is divine work is nothing but your ego making you feel big.

In my experience whoever I’ve met so far that gives Reiki for free, has been an insufferable egoistic person who goes around giving free advice. There may be exceptions of course, but I haven’t met any. Think about it for a moment. When you give Reiki for free and people start to benefit, how is that not going to inflate your ego? On the other hand when you take money, everyone thinks this is a business for you, and nobody’s falling all over your feet for rescuing them. So I know we tend to link money with ego, but it doesn’t always function like that, it works in the opposite direction here.