The short answer, I believe is ‘no’.
The long version has a bit more nuance:
As background to this, I recently received an email from a former Reiki Master (who no longer calls what they do as Reiki) who expressed distain at those who have picked up the Reiki ball and run with it, perhaps developing their skills and finding their connection with the energies. It got me thinking about what we think of as practice and who owns what.
Personally, I don’t believe that anyone owns the universal energies that healers tap into, call it Chi, Ki, Prana, Ka or whatever- we do not own it. I have always felt that we are conductors of the energies rather than the owners of any gateways or spirits or guides/teachers. My take has always been that the role of the ‘Master’ is to follow initiations/attunements to help students connect up to the higher energies. This is kind of like connecting a device up to wifi and giving them a manual on how to work with it.
The master gives the student the background and the practices to follow, knowing that the person will find their way of getting the best out of it. A good analogy, I think is from one of the Kung Fu Panda films when Po says he cannot be like Shifu. Shifu explains that he is not trying to turn Po into a copy of Shifu, he is trying to get Po to be the best version of Po that he can be- to help him find his true, fullest, higher self.
I think that is the best role of the teacher, having gone through the fundamentals and held space for the student. Allow them to grow.
The email also essentially said that their teachings are the true ways and all others are fake or man-made and you can be cut-off from their ‘buddha’. I would question anyone’s opinion that they own an energy and access to any buddha. That is not something I believe they can say without having had their ego corrupted.
I say this as someone who works with spirit guides and has a connection to a number of Egyptian spirit masters (including a being who identifies as Thoth). I don’t own them or control access rights though, I am just grateful for the connections when in the right space to do so.
A master can own the name and specific practices to a trademarked, protected name. But that does not in my opinion mean that they own the energy outright. Universal energy is not a commodity for us to own.
Masters can introduce you to the light, but they do not own the light or your pathway to it.
I feel that was a point well made by Master Like about nobody owning the force in the last Star Wars film. (There really is alot of good guidance hidden in films, lol).
With love
Phoenix
Holistic Transformation 