Re: Universal medicine
Date: May 26, 2012 06:21PM
Hi All
I thought I might use a different tact having spoken today with another student who, god love her, has no idea how she is just channelling Serge. It is saddening to see people lose there unique self and become mindless channels for Serge. So this post is addressed to those who are thinking about Universal Medicine and hopefully for those who are deep in and a small part of their true self wants to find it’s way back out.
A meditation on Universal Medicine…
First let me say, I understand that it ‘feels good’ to be a part of the UM community. There is a sense of knowingness, soulful evolution, community and connection. At this time perhaps that feel good is pre-eminent and any contradictions, doubt, concern about the money you are spending, what your friends, partner, husband says, very secondary. On top of that, you have been told, over and over that resistance is a sign that the person doing so has been ‘touched’ by the truth of the work and that the greater the criticism the more it is true. Moreover, you have been told that the new era is upon us and that resistance will grow. Yes Serge has anticipated it all. So right now, you maybe slightly confused. Is Serge right, or is he a masterful manipulator? If you choose to read on, the questions I pose are to make careful consideration of that:
There are many many similar groups in the world today. All of them discredit other leaders, traditions and thought systems. Yet members in these groups believe that theirs alone is not a belief system and they are being liberated and that they are 'in-truth'- They all feel happy, even joyous ( at least to begin) and are in a love bubble. If you question them if they are in a cult they will look at you with head slightly to one side and assuredly tell you "no, it is all about love...nothing else"- this is not exclusive to UM- Consider: If universal Medicine IS the first group ever in history to know the truth, you are very very lucky… or possibly just in the same situation as many other well meaning seekers in other the many other groups on the planet ( and remember, many if not all of these leaders predict attack or resistance in some form from people not aligned with their message, and some cases that has became self-fulfilling)
Putting aside the connotation of the word CULT for a moment, let's consider what your group is about: It has its own set of books and fundamentals. It has its own rules, language, symbols, music, art, food, (Non) exercise regime and mediation technique. In a true sense it has its own CULTure. A belief system in itself usually does not necessarily require any particular adherence in behaviour outside of the central belief and a moral code. ( think mainstream religion) A sect is defined as a sub group of an existing belief system ( Christian or Muslim sect for example)- and in this case, to define themselves they may ask for certain rules around food or dress as well as the central re-interpretation of central tenets. A Cult is defined as one when it's own independent belief system (and remember, UM is now a registered religion. In order to be one, it must have a belief in a supernatural being and its own set of doctrines to which to adhere- if this is not the case for UM, then the registration is illegal) Now Consider: Forgetting how you feel about the word cult- IS UM a group of people truly free to decide what is right for them without deference to an exclusive doctrine and without guidelines on how to behave in the world?- or is it a by this sheer definition ( and the recent registration as a religion) alone a cult?
If something or someone else is wrong, is UM therefore right? Serge uses a classic sleight-of-hand to “prove” his ancient wisdom. He emphasizes something that is clearly wrong as ‘prima facie’ proof that his words and wisdom are right. For example, drinking lots of alcohol is clearly not productive and does result in health consequences, as does smoking, drug taking, over eating, lack of exercise…however because that is the dominant paradigm of contemporary times, does it validate the tenets of his ‘wisdom”? Just because the Catholic church is clearly flawed, does it make his new religion not? Serge uses subject matters which he knows will touch people and get them nodding profuse agreement so that when he introduces his ideas your head is still nodding. So next time you are listening to Serge, ask yourself, is he simply gift-wrapping his ideas in something I can accept to make the unacceptable less so?
Is Serge mesmerizing you? This may seem strange question, but ask yourself, when you go to the retreats and the EDG’s and the treatments isn’t part of the process to site and go inside and to let Serge’s words ‘energetically’ go past your mind? Many talks start with a ‘going within’ and relaxation process very similar to that used by clinical hypnotists to prep a willing subject into a more suggestive state. It is true, people cannot be made to do what they do not wish, but it is known that in these relaxed states the mind is more suggestive. So ask yourself: Is there a reason you feel ‘relaxed and wonderful’ post retreat, treatment and EDG and why you have a constant need to go back, and moreover that you are not able to induce the same state exactly without revisiting the retreat, the course, the treatment…?
Is Serge a leader or just a fellow student? This question answers itself. He is clearly the centre of the organisation. The money flows to him and his companies and charity. (If he is not the centre, maybe he would happily share the funds and rotate the speaking schedule so everyone can share their wisdom and in the abundance) He is the one allegedly in contact with the Hierarchy, the author of the books and the ( registered) doctrine, he is the one that claims the authority of lifetimes of significant historical figures, makes predictions and picks significant dates and tells his audience he is smarter than leading scientists and the Dalai Lama. Contrarily, he does say he is no different to anyone else and is just a presenter of information; but please consider, if Serge is not the leader, then why do you look to him for information and treatments, and why is it that most UM students follow the edicts of his books and lectures. What would happen if Serge passed to the other side tomorrow? When you are thinking about UM who is the first person to come to your mind? Yes, that person in your minds eye is the leader.
The next question is are you under the control of a leader? You may say, no I am free to do as I please and I make my own decisions. Serge encourages us to check in with ourselves to see how we 'feel' about it and says he doesn't want any one to believe something that doesn't feel right. I don't live in a compound like I imagine cult people do, I work normally, interact with other people- I just feel more loving..... but do you, and are you? Consider this: Do you feel just slightly guilty when you eat something with dairy or gluten? Do you avoid that food for the same reason? Would you feel guilty cheering a football game, or riding your bike up a big hill and breaking into a profuse sweat? If the answer is at all yes, you ARE under his remote control. By creating rules of how you engage with the world he is delineating you from others and creating a choice of sanctity ( esoteric) or non-sanctity ( pranic) in your every waking moment. If you don't lift the heavy shopping bags, are afraid of vigorous love making, only listen to tacitly approved music and so forth it may be you are under a control and not making your own choice. So consider: Is the reason you don't do these things truly because that is your choice and how you really feel joyously, or is there an element of guilt and perhaps even shame? If so, is that constant negative ( or potential )EMOTION something that you want to live with? will it bring you closer to your own truth? And most importantly, are you really making your own decisions or are you under some type of control with implicit rules set by another?
Is UM a liberating tool or a complicated belief system designed to befuddle the mind? Does the practice empower you to understand more about yourself and what is right for you? Or does it entail a complicated cosmology of ideas that you cannot possibly prove or know for yourself, and most importantly that you cannot disprove; therefore rendering your objections, if any, as merely someone unable to perceive due to lack of development or clouding of the unformed/lower mind? Then consider: if you (dare in your own mind) question or even deny some of the more radical ideas that Serge puts forth in his “treatise’s” and “sayings” and “Satsangs” and retreats and EDG’s, do you feel like you are denying the ultimate goal? – namely connection with your inner heart, soul and God? Does that make you feel bad? If so, rather than finding your own truth, you ARE being asked to accept his to prove your worthiness of the goal you seek and that you are ‘doing the work’?
Is Serge asking you directly or tacitly to forsake you own mind, knowledge and sense in favour of his? Next time you are reading his books, listening to his words, ask yourself with that other part of your mind.. “is Serge telling me I am incapable in my current state to know the (energetic) truth?” “ Is my mind not to be trusted? And other books, philosophy, traditions, teachers, authorities, it is not me, and not others who am I left with? Does that also make you feel guilty, like you are treading of the path? Not doing ‘the work’- If so are giving your self to Serge rather than learning how to find your own truth without fear of where your mind/heart/feelings might go in its journey to truth?.
You counter with, “it resonates with me and I feel good” and “it explains the unexplainable things that have happened to me!”- But consider; Is the resonance as simple as the powerful feeling of someone breaking your paradigm or long held point of view? The sense of an epiphany is often simply the realisation that your existing paradigm, thought, belief was wrong, NOT necessarily that the new one is right. But it is a great time to get someone to your way of thinking if you are the one that breaks the old paradigm! And yes, we have all had things happen we can’t explain- co-incidences, feelings, insights. But is Serge’s interpretations the right or simply the more convenient one because we cant or refuse to allow ourselves to see an alternative and equally satisfying explanation?
The unexamined life is not worth living. -Socrate in Plato, Dialogues, Apology
If this is not true then, you may feel despair and ask, is there any truth in the world if Serge and Universal Medicine is not. Don’t let that be a reason to cling to something that may not be true. The answer is there IS truth. But the path is narrow and requires your ultimate participation, and unreserved search for your truth. This means casting aside your predilections, your untested beliefs; acutely examining the source of information, and why you are attracted to it, and not another. Examining why you seek information that supports the belief already formed and eschewing that which does not, and the confronting those ideas truthfully… only when we have undertaken that difficult journey are we ready to discern what is true for ourselves without fear of finding it is not what we imagined at the start of our journey.
Many of us, if not the vast majority, make the error of looking to others for the truth, and the greater error of believing that others can and do know something they do or cannot. As Serge says himself without understanding its true import , the truth is within. The path does not require MORE beliefs and unprovable ideas even more fantastic than the one before. You do not have to believe in something obscure to hold the notion of advancement towards a higher understanding, self-realisation or even God. In each of us is an amazing ability for self-reflection above and beyond our minds. It allows us to examine ourselves, and as Socrates sagely implores, our lives to find their meaning. No one outside can tell you that and if they are asking you to fill your mind with even more ideas that will have to be discarded later, then they are not helping but hindering you. The next time you choose to read Serges works or listen to his words, ask yourself, “Am I examining myself for all I am truly worth, or am I giving myself to someone for all I am worth”
Trust yourself. Take the good from UM, if you found any, leave the rest and continue your journey with the discernment of Buddha who saw that humans’ construct meaning to obscure themselves from the more simple truth of themselves and of our ultimate nature. We have been blessed with self awareness and it is because of that we seek meaning, and it is from that you will discern it if you take the road less travelled. As you wouldn’t surrender it to drugs and alcohol, you should not surrender it to another outside yourself.