UM acknowleges that the College of Universal Medicine is a charity on his web page here.

[www.universalmedicine.com.au]

However as quoted on the Australia taxation office website here is what they have to say.

Charity
If your organisation is a religious organisation it might also be a charity. Refer to Is your organisation a charity? for more information.
If a religious institution is also a charity, it must meet the special requirements for charities to be income tax exempt. See Endorsement as an income tax exempt charity.
The vast majority of religious institutions are charities. An example of a religious institution that is not a charity could be a closed group that is conducted only for the benefit of its members and not for the public.
Examples
Example 1
A scriptural college was established for descendants of Northern Ireland Protestants who had settled in New South Wales before 1880.
The college would not be a charity because it was not established for the public benefit. Those to benefit were selected on the basis of relationship to particular people.
Example 2
A group of 13 families formed an association 80 years ago. It solely owns and runs a shrine. Use of the shrine is limited to members of the families.
The association is not a charity because it is not for the public benefit.
From 1 July 2004 the law has been clarified to ensure that closed or contemplative religious orders that regularly undertake prayerful intervention at the request of members of the public are accepted as providing a public benefit. Provided the religious order's purposes are charitable such entities are likely to be charities. See 'Legislative extension to the meaning of charity' in Is your organisation a charity? for more information.

Regarding the book burning. That was me. I didn't go but at the end of my one and only Sacred Esoteric Heart bla bla workshop 1, Serge mentioned that they were having a book burning, especially books of Echart Tohl etc etc, everyone was very excited but I remember then Serge said he wouldn't be there and there was some serious sighs of disappointment.
I went to a workshop on the recommendation of a friend who is heavily into UM. I didn't like it at all, I found the crowd to all really be quite numb and there was no real sense of knowing anyone. I even mentioned that to Serge and he said something like "maybe this is how they truly are". I couldn't wait to get out of this course. Look, I'll be honest, I don't mind what people are into as long as its not divisive.
I like what Krishnamurti famously said "truth is a pathless land".
My problem with UM and Serge is that he is obviously making so much money from his students, and also that Serge is so obviously not a real true enlightened being, he is however, very good at brain washing and marketing himself. To be honest I found him quite creepy, not at all someone I would want to follow. Obviously 1000's do though. The other thing I found with Serge is that he is very charismatic and obviously speaks in a way that captures peoples attention. I mean really anyone who would burn all their books because they are pranic! Its totally absurd. The science of UM is absurd, but I think its the absurdity that keeps everyone following, its like a puzzle that needs to be worked out. Serge knows and they are all trying to know, it keeps it interesting and it keeps his followers the eternal student. Personally I just don't think life has to be that complicated, whether your atheist, agnostic or a believer, keep it simple.


I feel for the people who are living with partners or who have lost partners to UM.

Feed them the poison and sell them the antidote. Is that what a charity does ?

There is a principle from journalism to ask questions in terms of

Who, What, When, Where, Why

Why the burning?

When - and why that time vs other times?

Where did the burning take place and what was used to set the fire?

(Would be worth knowing if some esoteric ingredient was used or if they were content to use ordinary barbie liquid fuel)


Who ordered it and supervised it?

Could everyone attend, or did members hand over their stuff and let someone else take charge.

Does anyone remember what was burnt?

Pictures or old photos?

What kinds of books?

Magazines or music?

Were people ever told to get rid of stuff they were using, wearing, stuff in their houses?

Where was this done?

Any locals who disliked having smoke or a fire hazard show up?

Ironic that one visitor has reported that Eckart Tolle is among the list of 'pranic' books.

We have a huge thread about ET and Byron Katie here.

They are classic, commercial gurus. And there has been a lot discussed about the precise methods of their public appearances and workshops.

Their stuff is hugely popular.

So eliminating their stuff would be a test of obedience and cut them off from a major swathe of the New Age milieu in which Serge remains personally free to circulate and look for new recruits.

And the relationship discord-- either way, UM wins.

If your partner gets into UM because of your own commitment to UM -- bingo, two recruits for one.

If you dump your non UM partner, UM still wins. Whoever dumps their non UM partner is all the more dependant on UM as a result.

Bingo, an especially dedicated recruit who is the equivalent of joining SAS in relation to the regular Army.

bobbymacindoe- Feed them the poison and sell them the antidote. Is that what a charity does ?

Ha ha! almost-

For UM it's more like take everything away, then sell you what you need.

Serge's fatherly aspirations to elevate his children into the musical and dance movement spheres is causing some questions around town about-ego driven motivation once again. Even Serge reluctantly admits that he IS still human after all.
On the other hand maybe it's just a natural part of the process of Empire building.

Good luck to him.

I have no first hand about the book burning. I have had it reported to me by partners of people that attended. I have had a few accounts so it clearly happened. It might be that other stuff ( old energy) was burned at the same time.

I think intentionally or unitentionally Serge has created a nice little circular trap of mind control and getting rid of the past is integral.

He has changed key words around. Spiritual V Soulful. (tm) Spiritual is now Pranic, therefore bad- Most other traditions are "spiritual" ergo bad.
Prana is considered life force in many tradtions. In UM, it is bad. ergo, other tradtions are bad.
that leaves only one answer: UM

then, lineage means nothing because they come from "bad energy"- UM and Serge has no lineage. Therefore, good. Serge has no cred, therefore, Serge is re-incarnation of several high cred figures and one not so great cred, but fits with his auto-philosophy. ( I can imagine Serge finding Alice Bailey books and going ....ahhhh, this is sufficiently badly written, illogical, counter-factual and hard to understand. I like it!...hang on I am having an impression that I was......)

The kickers is, no one understands "energy" like him/UM/the hierarchy. If you dont understand Energy then you dont understand anything. Serge understands energy. Serge is therefore all knowing.

The tricker is- Serge is not leader or guru, just presenting information- you are free to take it or leave it. If you leave it, then you might experience many bad lives, bad karma, etc. therefore, clearly you must accept it.
therefore, you must accept Serge as being the true source since only he knows energy/has energertic impress from hierarchy, and all other traditions are bad.

Of course besides that he has a great package to sell of higher love, connectedness, better next lives ( or none) which overrides anything that is happening now...like your real life. Carrot and stick approach. Nice big juicy carrot, clearly defined stick.

If you think about it, it is not dis similiar to any other religion and especially the extreme ones that put the next life over this, and the lives of others....mmmm.

On the issue of Religion and Charities I beleive that the latter should show their books. Working to find out how to make that happen.

Close to the capital so I am going to see some people!

If at some point SB suggests that he resembles Jesus in that Jesus was persecuted too, lets just remember this:

When asked by local clergy whether to pay taxes, Jesus held up a coin, asked whose it was, and when the reply was that the coin belonged to the monarch (in this case the ruling emperor or Caesar), Jesus said "Render unto Caesar that which is Caesars and render unto God that which is God's".

Jesus didnt claim tax exemption -- unlike his many alleged successors!

1) Jesus faced the authorities by himself.

2) Jesus had no attorney

3) Jesus didnt blame anyone else for his predicament. He didnt want to die, but because it appeared God wanted him to, Jesus went thorugh the ordeal all by himself and didnt implore any disciples to do it for him.

4) Jesus only property were some clothes. He didnt leave behind any real estate nor did he try to set relatives up in any careers of their own. (His own family and towns people reportedly disowned him)

5) He did not appear to have written any books

6) He didnt give advice on jewelery or music or massage techniques.

7) He had periods of retreat, but also socialized freely with all social levels and did attend parties where alcohol was served.

Note: Pythagoras was a vegetarian and so were his followers. They didnt eat beans but did eat dairy, barley wheat and wine.

Re burning pranic energy, I know that Serge recommends any one who has worked with homeopathics etc to burn these viles.

I believe Serge had told us that there was going to be another major earth quake in Tokoyo in May of last year. It didn't happen. I believe Serge thinks that volcanoes, earthquakes etc are just the earth releasing prana. I can only imagine what he believes the cause of global warming is.

I concur with Concernedpartner that Serge has rewritten and redefined words that in other spiritual (oh dear that awful word) or soulful practices are about love and kindness and through UM they are evil pranic words. He is a manipulator of the truth and very very good at it. If it wasn't for my friends here in the UK that are so caught up in this practice and who live their life to the UM doctrine without questioning any of it, I never would have looked into serge and UM being a fraud. Its funny my gut instinct was to really not like Serge, and I know you can't go on that, but there is something very very frightening about this sort of passive mind control.

I would love to hear from anyone who was heavily involved with UM and then left and how they felt about leaving.

Quote
lifetruetome
I believe Serge had told us that there was going to be another major earth quake in Tokoyo in May of last year. It didn't happen. I believe Serge thinks that volcanoes, earthquakes etc are just the earth releasing prana. I can only imagine what he believes the cause of global warming is.

True. Serge claims that natural disasters are the earth's way of 'cleansing' itself of prana. I can also confirm that Serge does indeed attribute 'global warming' to the pranic 'heat' supposedly generated by humans. It's referred to in several of his essays and books.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/27/2012 08:48AM by MacReady.