Niladribaran Sahu was among those who emailed her for Reiki treatment to solve his marital problems. A few email sessions later, the Sahus began to feel the effects of distance healing. "Even words that came through her email had their effect," they say.

Today, Rohini has a thriving practice online.

The Internet has made distant healing through Reiki and pranic methods quick, cheap and private, especially for those seeking immediate relief. All that is required from a patient is: name, age, place, chief complaint and, sometimes, a passport size photo, to help healers focus on the person.

"The first energetic rapport between a healer and 'healee' is through email and this is vital for treatment,'' says Rohini. "I use email as first-aid tools. Language can sometimes be a barrier, but in most cases email works wonders and sometimes, the person even comes forward for a personal healing. Without the Net, communication in distant-healing would be a difficult."

Also, many healers narrate that people are more forthcoming in emails. Rohini feels the power of the written word should not be underestimated. "Even through an email or chat session, pain and negative vibes are transferred." She therefore wears a 'protection shield' (as advised in Reiki) before she checks her email.

Rohini is not surprised that she receives more 'patients' by email than a traditional Reiki clinic would: "Many people prefer to continue with distant healing even after I have directed them to a personal healer in their city." The Internet is also useful to those who cannot seek help in person. Like Sanjeev Shenvi. He was unable to speak due to a neurological ailment, and reached out to Rohini online: "She gave me some distance Reiki guidelines, suggested crystal healing and sent the stones for it."

Belgaum-based Dr Beena Goel, member of a Reiki newsgroup where a lot of healing requests are posted, says she has provided relief to an army major who was bedridden with severe sciatica pain: "Even a large dose of pain killers was not working. After an email, and distance Reiki, he was off painkillers and he could resume playing golf too."

Pune-based Urmila Bhana, who did her Masters in Reiki from an Australia Institute online, receives 20 queries everyday from all over the world. "Only three to four requests are from Indians, who I think are still not comfortable using the Internet.'' She prefers not to charge for treatment in cash, but instead asks her patients to send her some Reiki books.

There are those who doubt the effectiveness of Internet healing, though. Says Kumar Doshi, a reiki practitioner: "Nothing can replace meeting the person. If one uses the Internet, the success rate is 90 per cent with a scanned picture, because pixels and dots cannot send you correct vibes. If one is provided merely with details of name and birth date, then the success rate is only 60 per cent. Besides, I think it is quite easy to give wrong details via email. If I have such a feeling after two or three chats, then I don't follow up on the problems of the patient."

Rishi Bhargava, who discusses Reiki with patients and surfers on his web site, is more categorical; "Nothing can be done over the Net,'' he says. "Yes, we can work with pictures of the patients, but for that the healer must have attained some level of expertise (Second and Third Degree).''

He also feels that there is nothing to stop scamsters from pretending to be healers online. This could hurt people genuinely looking for help.

Doubters notwithstanding, for many people the Net is an ideal medium to test the waters before taking the plunge. Bangalore-based Ananth Ram tried out Rohini's emailed meditation guidelines before going in for distant healing himself. M S Chandrashekhar, an engineer seeking help with his hypertension, feels he has "learnt more about Reiki through email sessions than I would have in person."

Additional Links
 --Therapists and healers from India
 --More information on Reiki
 --More information on Pranic healing

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