Quote
HerbertKane178
What amazes me about the recent newspaper articles and TV reports on Universal Medicine is the response of Universal Medicine to them. If you go on their website, the front page is now dominated by links to their 'media' page. The whole set up displays a massive lack of understanding of how the media works and actually human responses to it. The letters to various media organizations they have chosen to publish highlight the desperation of the situation they are now in. Writing to a reporter who visited their headquarters and they willingly gave their time to, who then delivered a report as he saw it, pretty much how every other media organization has seen it, and not the puff piece they expected and then suggesting that he was not telling the whole truth is ridiculous. The more they try and counter the press interest in them, the more they reveal about themselves, and it would seem, the more the media becomes interested in them.

Apparently all the journalists involved in the numerous articles have no integrity and are just printing lies. All of them, really? While the Northern Echo did the name of good journalism a disservice in the article they printed as certain facts were not properly researched, they did retract those errors very quickly. I have seen no retractions from the Sydney Morning Herald or The Medical Observer. Both are respected journals with reputations for accuracy and credible journalism. Their reporting of Universal Medicine allowed for comment from Benhayon and Universal Medicine, and both printed those comments. I can see no evidence of unfair reporting in that.

The accusations of a "smear campaign" are just idiotic, a childish defense against the truth being revealed. Universal Medicine often often uses the expression "mud slinging". It seems to me they are slinging mud everywhere at the moment hoping some of it will stick, but none of it is.

I would also like to welcome the new posters, and those choosing to do so via PM.

Agreed, Herb. It's bizarre on several accounts. Firstly, the chorus of UM devotees calling the journalists in question (who I might add, have barely scraped the surface regarding just how weird Serge's claims are) 'liars' are happy to place their trust in an individual who claims to be sent from Shamballa with a multitude of supernatural powers and knowledge centuries beyond the rest of humanity, but without any evidence to back up his claims.

Secondly, the concerted effort by students (at the behest of 'the UniMed team') to prove that UM is 'not a cult' simply makes it appear to be a cult all the more. Apart from the use of language (certain turns of phrase, hyphenated words etc. employed by Serge), the repeated praise of Serge's 'love and integrity' sounds like the praise heaped on every other guru by their respective devotees.

Lastly, any mention of Serge's supernatural claims or the UM belief system built on them are being avoided by the pro-UM campaign, despite being well documented here and in Serge's written and audio presentations, which I believe have been made available to the investigating media. Since there's an apparent desire on the behalf of UM and its apologists for the media to be 'truth-full' in its coverage, maybe it's about time for full disclosure Serge's belief system in the media and the responses coming from the UM camp.

Hi All,

I would like to say thank you Serge for launching the NEW ERA…..now I am not talking about the UMer CD that is the only and best music in the world to listen too made with love ( in UM beliefs) but the NEW ERA of accountability and scrutiny that will be required by the public and government agencies from Universal Medicine and Serge moving forward. Every word you say, every idea and teaching that you present, you will have to ensure that it is justified and not some wacky idea / thought or teaching.

I am also a little confused because what your faithful followers are saying what UM is all about is very different to my experience with UM teachings and beliefs. I think they must be hearing your teachings differently to others or are they now saying things to make UM look a little bit normal in todays society with all the recent publicity.

The writings from your followers of their experiences with UM is not the same CULTure that exists in UM today.

To name a few teachings of Serge - you all have been told by Serge that if you have inner love you will be ok, if you get sick it is bad prana and you have not been self loving, you all eat food that has been classified by UM in the following fields of prana / fiery, you all have been told the only music to listen to is Umer music, only read his books, and do not play sport or exercise as you need stillness in your life, and you all say that it is your choice?????................somehow I don’t think so. You all have lost the ability to think from your head……………you all say that you have to feel it with your heart….well your not you are doing what Serge has told you to do….follow his teachings and believes or bad prana will occur…he is applying scare tactics to ensure you follow his ways.

Why has no student written a post about the wild and wacky teachings of Serge and try to justify these as normal…because you know that you can not justify them and the majority of the public will find his teachings and beliefs weird / wacky and stupid.

Also with regards to the interview on TT, this again showed the public how UM is not mainstream …and the smug look on Serges face when he said that “ are you making love or having sex …a man he just wants to have sex” ……..how can you sit there Serge and categorise all men in this class that we all just want to have sex ….well again your wrong Serge I would think the majority of men do have the qualities of LOVE / CARE /CONECTION / EMOTIONAL CONNECTION to make love to their partner.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/03/2012 08:22AM by John lazuras.

From the most recent Medical Observer article:

Mr Messerschmidt wrote in the newsletter that Mr Benhayon told him “this is you releasing the evil/prana of Dorn Therapy from your body – a little more to go”, and to take photos of the swelling, and that Mr Benhayon said “sorry to hear this is still happening but I can’t help being excited by [it]”.

And:

Mr Benhayon told MO his remarks to Mr Messerschmidt were “a light-hearted quip… based on many months of discussion”.

“I saw only an emailed pic of a swollen hand,” he said. “In that quip, what I say is true according to the way I know and understand energy. But under no circumstance was it a diagnosis. Steffen never asked nor did I offer. When I did see him next… I firmly recommended he see a GP.”

It needs to be explicitly stated for all readers here that Serge's beliefs about 'prana' are an evidence-less theory of everything. If he can dismiss the comment quoted above as a 'light-hearted quip' then the entire UM cosmology can be similarly binned. Serge essentially attributes all human disease and suffering to pranic influence. Furthermore, he has written that climate change is due to the prana emitted by humans and that natural disasters such as earthquakes and tsunamis are simply the Earth clearing itself of excess prana. His entire organization is based on this assumption, so his flippant dismissal of the above statement as a 'quip' could be read as an acknowledgement that perhaps the way he 'knows and understands energy' is a pseudo-scientific load of rubbish that has no bearing on matters medical or otherwise, and therefore should not be promoted in such a manner.

New article up on Australian Doctor covering the TGA investigation here:

[www.australiandoctor.com.au]

Here's an excerpt below, if someone has an AHCP number feel free to post up the complete article:

Herbal products sold by ‘cult’ investigated

An urgent investigation into three products touted by an alternative medicine group in northern NSW has been launched by the Therapeutic Goods Administration.

The group called Universal Medicine, branded a “cult” by dissenters and former followers, is under scrutiny after selling three brands of herbal supplements through its website that are not listed on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods.

The group which promotes "esoteric medicine" has come to the TGA’s attention after complaints were made by several members of the public.

Universal Medicine getting plenty of media coverage at the moment. It begs the question that if Serge purportedly has nothing to hide, why isn't he embracing this opportunity to re-emphasise claims he has made previously to students in focus groups, and mass email campaigns, including among other things that humans are a race of alien beings who originate from Mars and Venus and that we are here to reincarnate back to the light we came from.

Either he isn't resolute in his claims, he's changed his mind, or he is afraid that it might confirm concerns that he is in fact the leader of a million dollar exploitative cult.

Regardless of the reason, his toning down, shying away, and ambiguity when confronted by representatives of the concerned general public, is telling.

And here's the Today Tonight story again in full for those who missed it (bolding by me):

[au.news.yahoo.com]

Healing guru's 'cult resort' - Today Tonight

Serge Benhayon has no medical qualifications, but with thousands of followers worldwide, he says he has nothing to hide.

A controversial healthcare movement which had its origins on a toilet thirteen years ago now has 15,000 believers worldwide.

It all started with a feeling that Benhayon says he just knew he had to share with others.

“Once I discovered this loveliness, I thought ‘wow, if the world found out about this, perhaps, just perhaps there might be a way to not feel so miserable, or so unhappy and may lead to a new feel for health, a new understanding of health’,” Benhayon said.

And what a lovely feeling it is for him, knowing Universal Medicine continues to expand from its Australian headquarters just outside Lismore.

The business has a $2 million yearly turnover - not bad for a former tennis coach who once described himself as a reincarnation of Leonardo Da Vinci.

In this life, the 48-year-old father of four says he's simply helping devotees find their inner peace - something he might struggle to maintain in the face of mounting criticism which he says are just a smear campaign.

There are men who claim their partners left them because he modified their love-making through his lectures and 70 per cent of Benhayon's clientele are women, not because he can control them he says, but because they're open to change.

After using conventional treatment to overcome cancer and heart problems, Anne McRitchie turned to Benhayon and his healing therapies eight years ago.

“I wouldn't keep paying if I thought I wasn't getting anything out of them,” McRitchie said.

Student Rebecca Baldwin has been involved with Universal Medicine for more than a decade after hearing one of Benhayon’s lectures.

“Their care and dedication is second to none,” she said.

Professor John Dwyer is the former head of medicine at the University of New South Wales. He says that Universal Medicines “is dangerous nonsense. There are absolutely no suggestions that these people have any professional skills, or know anything about how the human body works.

“They're saying you can talk to your ovaries - when you read that you would think these people are mentally unhinged,” Dr Dwyer said.

However as Benhayon sees it, “he’s never tried anything that we do and we respect him, you know, he should respect us.”

Benhayon's healing work for now won't involve some of his own products - which he's stopped selling until an investigation by the Therapeutic Goods Administration is completed.

Hi everyone , does anyone know if gluten free meals are available in prison ? I do believe you get more than a breast massage though. - Eric

Does anyone else find the following strange:
1. People inside Universal Medicine think Universal Medicine is normal, not a Cult and that the press coverage is an 'attack'.
2. People who have left Universal Medicine say Universal Medicine is a Cult
3. People who have loved ones that are in Universal Medicine say Universal Medicine is a Cult
4. People who aren't in Universal Medicine say Universal Medicine is a Cult
5. People who are specialists in Cult theory say Universal Medicine is a Cult
6. Media organisations are speculating that Universal Medicine is a Cult
7. In fact it seems that unless you are in Universal Medicine it is quite easy to see that Universal Medicine is a Cult.
8. So if you were involved with a group that everyone else on the planet says is a Cult, wouldn't you at least ask yourself the following three questions before you considered joining:

1. Does Universal Medicine have a charismatic leader, who has increasingly become an object of worship as the general principles that originally sustained the group lose power.
Answer: Yes, the leader of Universal Medicine is Serge Benhayon. He is the founder, the one who leads the EDG's, the one who writes the doctrine, takes interviews with the Press and the one who the Business Names, Trademarks, and ABN's are registered in - despite the attempts recently by the group to deny this as truth. He has increasingly become the focus of the group, even as he distances himself from the doctrine in interviews, the group cluster around him in a protective posture, and even as they turn a blind eye to the fact he has publicly renounced his previous claims, they raise him up further as 'the one'.

2. Is there a process of thought reform in use?
Answer: Yes, students are advised not to use critical thought, to 'feel' into things rather than use their mind. This unquestionably is a reform to the normal thought processes, and it is observable on the recent Pro-UM blogs where 'students' are told to feel what is right for them, rather than to logically weigh up facts.

3. Is there economic and other exploitation of group members by the leader and the ruling coterie.
Answer: Yes, it is quite easy to demonstrate that through the deployment of a charismatic leader, a complex belief system, which he can change at will, and by changing the thought patterns of members through thought reform processes, the leader is able to achieve a sales model of 'no-compete' enabling him to mark up prices on items over and above competitor prices, and has been found to sell products and services that have not been classified by appropriate government bodies, creates certifications for services which are not recognised by any independent and accredited bodies, and uses these falsehoods and deceptive tactics to enable him to pressure members to purchase his products and services, without which it is not possible for them to fulfil the requirements of his prescribed belief system.

Note: Psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton, considered by many to be a leading expert on Thought Reform and Cult Formation, wrote on the topic of Cults, that the presence of all three factors above, satisfied the necessary requirement to define a group as a Destructive Cult.

So in the very least you must ask yourself if everyone is telling you that Universal Medicine and its leader Serge Benhayon are a Destructive Cult, and that the processes in use are demonstrable of Cult behaviour, is everyone else wrong - or maybe, just maybe, do you think it is possible that our major concerns for your safety are justified...



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/04/2012 10:01PM by knowledge_is_king.

I think that is a very astute and accurate post, KIK.

Quote
knowledge_is_king
Does anyone else find the following strange:
1. People inside Universal Medicine think Universal Medicine is normal, not a Cult and that the press coverage is an 'attack'.
2. People who have left Universal Medicine say Universal Medicine is a Cult
3. People who have loved ones that are in Universal Medicine say Universal Medicine is a Cult
4. People who aren't in Universal Medicine say Universal Medicine is a Cult
5. People who are specialists in Cult theory say Universal Medicine is a Cult
6. Media organisations are speculating that Universal Medicine is a Cult
7. In fact it seems that unless you are in Universal Medicine it is quite easy to see that Universal Medicine is a Cult.
8. So if you were involved with a group that everyone else on the planet says is a Cult, wouldn't you at least ask yourself the following three questions before you considered joining:

1. Does Universal Medicine have a charismatic leader, who has increasingly become an object of worship as the general principles that originally sustained the group lose power.
Answer: Yes, the leader of Universal Medicine is Serge Benhayon. He is the founder, the one who leads the EDG's, the one who writes the doctrine, takes interviews with the Press and the one who the Business Names, Trademarks, and ABN's are registered in - despite the attempts recently by the group to deny this as truth. He has increasingly become the focus of the group, even as he distances himself from the doctrine in interviews, the group cluster around him in a protective posture, and even as they turn a blind eye to the fact he has publicly renounced his previous claims, they raise him up further as 'the one'.

2. Is there a process of thought reform in use?
Answer: Yes, students are advised not to use critical thought, to 'feel' into things rather than use their mind. This unquestionably is a reform to the normal thought processes, and it is observable on the recent Pro-UM blogs where 'students' are told to feel what is right for them, rather than to logically weigh up facts.

3. Is there economic and other exploitation of group members by the leader and the ruling coterie.
Answer: Yes, it is quite easy to demonstrate that through the deployment of a charismatic leader, a complex belief system, which he can change at will, and by changing the thought patterns of members through thought reform processes, the leader is able to achieve a sales model of 'no-compete' enabling him to mark up prices on items over and above competitor prices, and has been found to sell products and services that have not been classified by appropriate government bodies, creates certifications for services which are not recognised by any independent and accredited bodies, and uses these falsehoods and deceptive tactics to enable him to pressure members to purchase his products and services, without which it is not possible for them to fulfil the requirements of his prescribed belief system.

Note: Psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton, considered by many to be a leading expert on Thought Reform and Cult Formation, wrote on the topic of Cults, that the presence of all three factors above, satisfied the necessary requirement to define a group as a Destructive Cult.

So in the very least you must ask yourself if everyone is telling you that Universal Medicine and its leader Serge Benhayon are a Destructive Cult, and that the processes in use are demonstrable of Cult behaviour, is everyone else wrong - or maybe, just maybe, do you think it is possible that our major concerns for your safety are justified...

Medical Observer Video

Excellent video interview with Prof. John Dwyer on Universal Medicine.

I would like to address the issue of the Esoteric Breast Massage and accreditation by Universal Medicine.

The EBM which is yet another brainchild of Serge Benhayon was conceived by him and the practice and perfection of the massage was used firstly on his young wife Miranda.

My own experience with the EBM's was when I had 2 very close friends diagnosed with breast cancer a very frightening experience for both of them. I was strongly encouraged to have an EBM by another UM practioner. Thinking that it couldn't hurt I made an appointment.

My first appointment was an hours talk on the very high rate of Breast Cancers in todays world, so far true. I can't remember all that was said after that mostly because I was so shocked at the thought process on breast cancer, but for $100 I was left feeling scared whitless. Something about negative energy held in the breasts from being "wolf whistled" as a teenager to the "energy flowing out required in breast feeding children" (yes sad but true, those exact words) every "male hand" and "negative male energy we have ever been around" has been stored in our breasts. There I sat feeling like the dark lords were indeed residing in my breasts. At no time did the EBM practioner SAY this massage would 'cure or prevent breast cancer', it was however VERY STRONGLY IMPLIED throughout the entire hour long session. I then made an appointment for the actual massage...which at the time on this particular day, I thought I was getting for my $100! Great sales pitch.

After the first appointment I couldn't wait to get to the 'real' appointment to get rid of the dark lords in my breasts. I personally found the massage quite awful, but I must say at this point, the practioner was very professional. During the session where all and only the TALK was of the "negative energy held in my breasts", I was to find that it would in fact take 8 to 10 sessions to have them actually cleared (that's $800 to $1000 my mind was reeling) with follow up treatments forever(to keep them clear) and I would also need to buy the "special cream, invented by Serge to help keep my breasts cleared", more money. I couldn't wait to finish the session by this time.
$100 later which by the way, was written down on the receipt as Professional Development, because there is no way you can claim these massages on anything but Tax, I left in fact I think I ran. Yuck, yuck yuck was my mantra all the way home.

Breast feeding my children was sometimes hard, sometimes exhausting but ALWAYS a joy and a delight. I look back and feel proud of myself and delighted with the fact that I was able to accomplish this, even after I was told I would never physically would be able to do it. (Medical reasons) The wolf whistles, well wouldn't mind one of them now to be honest and the negative energy from the men standing next to me in lifts....Plleeeeeaase!

Now I'm not an expert and somebody correct me here if I have this wrong, but real accreditation is quite a complicated process to get. I don't believe say for example that, I could come up with an idea, ($$$$$$$$) formulate it, train people, ($$$$$$$) and then accredit them MYSELF? Firstly you have to have the thing you are doing acknowledged by a body of professional people within that field, then a group of your peers tests your ability to practice professionally, I don't get to accredit the people who have paid me the money to 'train' them ($$$$$$) and then pass them to work for me, it just doesn't work that way I'm afraid!

It is the 'fear mongering' from UM that I find so frightening, misguided actions of once lovely people.