For those seeking further information about this Group:

Spiritual Human Yoga was founded in 1989 by a Vietnamese Guru called 'Master Luong Minh Dang'. Originally known as IHUERI - 'International Human and Universal Energy Research Institute.'

The organization has been known by several other names including 'Mankind Enlightenment Love'. (MEL)

The 'Master' passed away in August 2007. The group has since split into two factions. One faction, still going under the name 'Mankind Enlightenment Love' is operated by the Master's son, Dr. Trung Minh Luong and based in St. Louis, Missouri.

The other faction, known as 'Academy of Human and Universal Energy School' (HUESA). It is operated by the second wife of the Master and based in Melbourne, Australia.

Both factions have 'centers' located in the US and several countries throughout the world.

According to the teachings of the Master, he considered himself the first and only person on earth who had the God-given ability to open the 7 'chakras' of the human body through a divine transmission of energy from himself to his students / disciples.

It was asserted that this 'opening of the chakras' was what yogis and monks through the ages have been trying to achieve through meditation throughout the centuries, but that no-one has ever achieved a full and permanent opening as Master Dang could provide.

This opening and unblocking of the chakras is supposed to charge the body with 'Universal Energy' which can then be used in an unlimited manner to heal all illnesses including cancer, AIDS etc. Energy transfers are given at lower 'levels' through the hands and later through the 'chakra 6' - meaning mental transfer of energy.

In general the mindset of the group members tends to be positive in the hope of establishing a utopian 'spiritual' society where 'illness, aging and death' will cease to exist. Also, this utopian society will not occur until there has been a complete breakdown of the structure of society, including world-wide devastation of the environment caused by both natural and man-made disasters. The 'Master' also predicted a complete collapse of global economic systems.

Many members 'voluntarily' give up outside interests including family, career and hobbies to devote their lives to 'transferring energy' to the 'heal' the sick and teaching the theological/philosophical concepts as taught by Master Dang during his lifetime. There are many who accept to live in poverty to do this.

In order to assist others makng a decision on whether to join this group, and how much time and energy that they are willing to devote if they do choose to join, I will be posting information from my own research on this thread so that they can make an informed decision given all the facts.

I also wish to assist those who are concerned about family members who have devoted and continue to devote all their personal time and money to this group. I hope that there will be others who have their own experiences or observations to offer on this thread.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/07/2008 05:57AM by solea13.

It would be interesting to know where 'Master Luong Minh Dang' learned his material.

One doesnt hear of yoga being practiced in Vietnam...one would be more likely to find chi gong and tai chi being used as part of the indigenous methods of body work, to supplement Buddhist sitting and walking meditation.

The word yoga here is used in the sense of "path", as in karma yoga or guru yoga. Not the yoga with asana's.
Their website mentions meditation and philosophie. It's guru yoga : transmission of energy that can only happen in the guru-disciple relationship. Guru yoga nowadays always means : you're going to be exploited.

Quote
corboy
It would be interesting to know where 'Master Luong Minh Dang' learned his material.

One doesnt hear of yoga being practiced in Vietnam...one would be more likely to find chi gong and tai chi being used as part of the indigenous methods of body work, to supplement Buddhist sitting and walking meditation.

corboy - Thank you very much for bringing this point up.

From the HUESA Website: "Master Luong Minh Dang - the founder of the Universal Energy School - was born in My Tho, Southern Vietnam, on 30 January 1942. In 1985, Master Dang migrated to the USA and he was later granted USA citizenship."

'Master Dang' initially told students that he learned about Universal Energy from a man known as Dasira Narada II, an Indian man who briefly visted Vietnam, during which time it seems he met and instructed M. Dang.

According to the Master, this man later he returned to India. This Dasira Narada II supposedly taught until about 1972. This would put the Master at about 30 years old when he studied with this teacher.

Very little is known about Dasira Narada I (Chinese name seems to have been 'Zushi Ye') except that he was from Sri Lanka and spent him life as a 'high civil servant'. he was born about 1890 and died 1924. I can't find any more information about this man except that there appear to be other groups existing today in China that also base their practices upon his teachings.

'Master Dang' adopted the title 'Dasira Narada III'. However, there was also a Vietnamese man by the name of Mr. Huynh (Chinese name Huang) who claimed the title of 'Dasira Narada' for himself. This teacher went to China and taught almost the exact same principles as Mr. Dang to another, apparently different group of Chinese there. (Those people still study and follow Mr. Huynh's teaching.)

In 1993 or 94 another Vietnamese man, the leader of the 'Universal Energy' Center in Spain called Curtis Cao Duy also claimed to be Dasira Narada III. This man was almost certainly instructed directly by Mr. Dang, but apparently decided to create his own splinter group.

At that time, the Master apparently made the decision to cut ties with the Dasira Narada connection completely. From that time on, he always claimed that everything he knew came directly from God, not from any other human teacher.

It seems that he used the story to explain himself when he first began teaching and then no longer found it useful.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/07/2008 11:48PM by solea13.

At one time (probably about the year 2000) the Master was claiming to have 1 million practitioners throughout the world in 67 countries.

Claims as to the number of students currently practicing have been pretty much dropped from the official websites.

At one time (probably about the year 2000) the Master was claiming to have 1 million practitioners throughout the world in 67 countries. Claims as to the number of students currently practicing have been pretty much dropped from the official websites.

Mr. Dang began teaching students in California in 1989. These students were predominantly drawn from the pool of Vietnamese refugees residing there at that time. Interestingly, several of those students had been following a much more famous Vietnamese Guru by the name of 'Supreme Master' Suma Ching Hai before they encountered the teachings of Master Dang.

In October 1991 the Master announced that a major earthquake would destroy California. Mr. Dang announced the re-location of himself and his family to St. Louis.

According to students, the Master did not encourage anyone to go with him. In fact at times he supposedly actively discourgaged them from following him. Most of the students were panicked by the earthquake prophecy, however, and about fifteen to twenty Vietnamese families uprooted themselves and drove in a convoy from California to the Midwest behind the Master's family car.

The journey has become stuff of legend within the school, with the cars traveling at great speed through the mountains, feeling as though the hand of God was the only thing keeping everyone safe from falling off the winding, narrow roads.

When the predicted earthquake did not destroy California, some students were angry and blamed Mr. Dang. Some did leave to go back to California or Texas etc. Most remained, staying loyal to the Master and believing his prayers and intercessions to God had averted the catastophe. In 1991 the group began to attract American and then European students.

Except for one notable exception in 1999, for the most part, this group has flown under the radar and has avoided publicity or outside interest.

There is only one scholarly article about the group by Mr. Jean Francois Meyer and I post it here as follows:

Spiritual Human Yoga



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/08/2008 12:47AM by solea13.

Quote

When the predicted earthquake did not destroy California, some students were angry and blamed Mr. Dang. Some did leave to go back to California or Texas etc. Most remained, staying loyal to the Master and believing his prayers and intercessions to God had averted the catastophe.

That is an effective way for someone to identify which members of the group are believe anything die hard loyalists and those who are capable of leaving and cutting ties when the leader's prophecy fails.

This will leave the leader with a smaller, much more obedient group of loyalists.

And True Believers tend to make friends with persons also capable of becoming True Believers.

So if you winnow down your group to a small group of loyalists, precisely because your prophecy has failed and others have walked out on you, the ones remaining will be known to you as obedient, and will be more likely to recruit persons with a similar mental and emotional malleability.

Kind of like football team try outs where the coach identifies who has the aptitude to be selected for the team and who doesnt.

Jeffrey M Masson's parents were disciples of a relatively obscure Theosophist type guru named Paul Brunton.

In the early 1960s Brunton predicted World War III and nuclear annihilation. He went into seclusion and many of his followers sold homes and businesses and moved to south america, because PB predicted it would be spared.

Some lost trust in him when the war did not happen.

Others, to rationalize their sacrifice and avoid the pain of feeling had, ended up believing in Brunton more passionately than ever.

Leon Festinger wrote a classic study of a 1950s UFO group entitled When Prophecy Fails. He and some graduate students joined the group and observed what happened and how they rationalized it when space aliens failed to appear and rescue them from impending catastrophe.

The suspense was incredible. Festinger and the others were told to remove all metal from thier bodies--watches, rings, etc.

Festinger recalled that at one point he suddenly recalled he had gold fillings in his mouth and silently feared and hoped that the leader would not suddenly think of that and demand on the spot tooth extractions.

Fortunately, this did not happen.

When the saucers failed to appear, the loyalists believed yet more strongly, rather than face the cognitive dissonance of admitting theyd made all their sacrifices for something that did not pan out.

Corboy – Thanks for providing some further insights into the dynamics of failed prophecies within such groups. I haven’t had as much time as I’d hoped to follow up on this thread, but I wish to present some further information as below:

As I mentioned before, the man known to his disciples as ‘Master’ Luong Minh Dang taught a method of healing by using ‘Universal Energy’.

The Master made claims that when the techniques were applied correctly with pure intentions to help the patient, even medically incurable illnesses such as AIDS, Cancer, Leukemia etc., could be remedied:

“Presently in some special and difficult cases, scientists can do nothing about illnesses considered to be incurable diseases. There are no effective treatments and suffering can be incessant. Many patients see death near. We do not assert that we can solve all such problems, but we humbly present the marvel of UNIVERSAL ENERGY …” – (from the Spiritual Human Yoga Level 3 Manual, 1988)

The key ingredient in being able to ‘harness’ the ‘Energy of the Universe’ into the human body was the opening of the chakras.

At the time of his death, the Master had taught twenty ‘Levels’ within the school of Universal Energy.

Level One – The practitioner’s chakras are opened thirty percent and healing limited to self and immediate family. To maintain this ‘opening’, practitioners must perform the daily breathing exercises.

Level Two – The practitioner’s chakras are opened sixty percent and healing limited to self, immediate family and close friends. To maintain this ‘opening’, practitioners must perform the daily breathing exercises.

Level Three – Chakras opened 100% and no limitation on healing. There is no requirement to continue the breathing exercises to maintain the opening. At this level the practitioner is also said to be able to liberate ‘wandering souls’ (the souls of those who have passed on but have been unable for whatever reason to return to the ‘Light’) using a simple intercessory prayer to the Master.

Up to this point, all healing is performed using a direct ‘hands on’ method. At higher levels, preparation begins for students to begin ‘transferring energy’ through chakra 6 (remote healing at a distance).

Step by step, as students progress through higher levels, an entire spiritual system is revealed.

Students come to learn from Mr. Dang that they are in fact the reincarnation of various spiritual Masters of the lost continent of Atlantis or of Egypt. They learn that that they caused the destruction of Atlantis in earlier lifetimes. This was due to their overweening arrogance; they believed that they were better than God almighty and put more faith in their own technological prowess than in God.

Thus they can see that the world is making the same mistakes of Atlantis all over again, with egoic capitalists/scientists /religions leading the world to the brink of destruction.

They learn that they have returned to earth to atone for past misdeeds and that they now have a mission to serve all of humanity by spreading the teaching of Universal Energy to save mankind from itself.

Mr. Dang refers frequently to the ‘Higher Beings’ who are divinely appointed to protect/ assist/guide and judge humanity. They include but are not limited to “Mohammed, Buddha and Jesus Christ”. Students are encouraged to pray to the divinity of their own religion for guidance on the spiritual path.

If students have no particular religious belief, they can ask the ‘Master’ in their thoughts to guide them or intercede for them to God.

Some of the following quotes indicating that it can be difficult to extricate from this group are taken from transcripts of a meeting that was held in Tiel, Holland in 1998:

The Master is quoted as saying the following:

"If for any reason you refuse everything; you deny this teaching, you cannot be protected."

"If the soul is not turned to the protection of the human race, then this soul will not be protected and will be eliminated."

"[We need to learn] how to forget ourselves; how to forget ourselves to sacrifice to serve people; how to prepare ourselves; how to clean ourselves; prepare our minds; how to let our minds free, that is the only way to help our soul to really be free."

and this: "Now you have money. But when you see everything falling down [in society], then you say 'oh, if I would have known that before, I would have sold the house and then used that money to study, or to go and travel to learn with me (ie: the Master)."

One this bit about levels and ascended masters sounds like its derived from Madame Blavatsky's Theosophy teachings. Many other entrepreneurs/euses borrowed from Blavatsky's system to cook up their own--Elizabeth Claire Prophet (Church Universal and Triumphant), Paul Brunton (more obscure), etc.

This sounds like classic bait and switch.

At first its all about healing and friendship.

But as one gains access to more advanced teachings one is drawn into increasing levels of bizarre belief system one would have been skeptical of, earlier.

Which means there is a core of unhealthy secrecy at the heart of the group and a brand new walk in member cannot make an informed decision, not knowing the true extent and nature of the groups belief sytem.

It probably begins with love and companionship and promises of healing power but ends with progressive levels of power promised as one moves higher, but as one gains access to higher levels of power one also is burdend with higher levels of responsiblity and higher levels of fear if one lapses.

The promise of power is linked with corresponding levels of fear and penalization if one lapses.

Note: A good way to evaluate any kind of set up, whether its a job, or a parenting role or membership in an ideology or religion is this:

Is the level of Responsiblity I take on, communsurate with the authority, autonomy and resources needed to make this Responsiblity
satisifying?

My rule of thumb is..beware of any offer of Responsibility for outcomes that is not accompanied by the following --a true description of your sitaution, rest, resources, and respect needed to bring those outcomes into being.

Without thse, a responsiblity becomes not empowerment but powerlessness and bondage:

Truth--the full truth about the situation you are asked to operate in--including the full extent of the belief system, the background of the situation and the character of the person giving you the offer or order. The greater the risks you are taking and the more effort you are expending in time and money the greater the obligation for you to be told the full truth.

Rest--can I take breaks, recuperate my body and mind and emotions and yes, even finances,so that I dont get burned out or ill or impovrished. (For example if you are urged to have a baby, can you count on enough help so that you can get sleep and take breaks?)

Resources--the means needed to carry out your assigned responsibility and effect the outcome in way that is satistfactory --both to you and whoever gives you the job.

Respect -- if you are given a responsiblity and your authority is not given respect by those who are supposed to assist you, (eg emotional abuse, insubordination) then the responsibility is just a slavish burden, not empowerment.

Finally, Responsiblity should be whenever possible accompanied by Freedom to Resign, without punishment or ridicule or instilled fear if you have taken on that assignment and later discovered that you were not told the full Truth, and that you lack the Rest, Resources and Respect you need to carry it out.

Yes corboy. At first it is all about healing and friendship when people first enter this group.

People feel that they have finally met a group of like-minded souls - kind of like a group of collective 'soul mates' who are going to work together for the benefit of mankind.

There are instant friendships that are not based on anything other than belonging to the group; an instant feeling of warm camaraderie.

Those who began working at the local Center on a day to day basis no longer experienced that early camaraderie. They were encouraged not to mix as 'friends' with the new students coming in. For the most part were kept as busy as possible with the excrutiatingly dull administrative tasks required for running the Center.

In fact, they were often told not to speak to newcomers much, just to smile and be courteously professional. They were supposedly not capable of providing the proper responses to difficult questions that new students tended to ask. 'If you don't know, keep quiet' was the mantra.

Pleasure and joy at having found such a worthy task to devote one's life to quite quickly became disillusionment as one became increasingly isolated from other students, and the load of menial/administrative work and personal sacrifice began to increase. In order to maintain compliance with the ever-increasing demands on personal time, the leaders would apply increasing pressure.

Staff were routinely chastised for not being truly committed to the mission to serve humanity; thus inherently a bad and selfish person. Any slight hint of unwillingness, questioning or small mistake was interpreted as being controlled by small personal desires and vain ego.

If the Master learned anything from Blavatsky or other occult philosophies, it was 'hidden in plain sight' as I think of it now, from his students. The vision was always presented of Master Dang as a pure hearted 'naif'; a man raised in poverty in Vietnam who had nothing more than a sixth grade education. His teachings were supposedly transmitted directly to him by God in meditation.

Yet in the Spiritual Human Yoga Level 3 Manual, the work of Franz Anton Mesmer and Edgar Cayce is cited as well as Vivekananda. So one wonders in the light of critical thought: How did this totally naive person who claimed to have no time for books and to have been plucked fresh from a rural village in Vietnam by a mysterious Hindu Master, know about these things?

If the Master was as wise and all-knowing as students believed, how come he apparently wasn't aware that the work of Mesmer and his 'gentle tappings' of energy had been entirely discredited? Oh, of course, the Master always used the 'false' to lead us to the truth ... but he claimed that 'everything you need to know' was in the Level 3 Manual ... we were supposed to research that manual to discover the divine secrets of the Universe. So why include references to a man who was in essence a nineteenth century quack physician? Another 'red-herring' to test student's faith, I guess.

People who came to Cayce's work after learning from the Master often saw it as backing up the Master's claims about Atlantis. But it was the Master himself who led students to Cayce through the Level 3 Manual! The Master's ideas on Atlantis probably came from Cayce, not from direct transmission from God as students were led to believe.

(Since the Master's death those manuals have since been 'scrubbed' clean, leaving nothing but the energy healing 'techniques' themselves. Leaving one to wonder how new students can have access to all the deep wisdom that the Level 3 Manual was supposed to contain.)