Showing posts with label Dahn Yoga. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dahn Yoga. Show all posts

May 11, 2024

CultNEWS101 Articles: 5/9/2024 (Attachment, Chiropractic, Jehovah's Witnesses, Japan, Dahnworld)

Attachment,  Chiropractic, Jehovah's Witnesses, Japan,  Dahnworld

PsyPost: Attachment styles predict experiences of singlehood and well-being, study finds
"A new study published in the Journal of Personality examined the link between attachment profiles, singlehood, and psychological well-being.

Despite the universal desire for romantic companionship, a growing number of people are choosing to live alone, with a significant increase in solo living from 7.6% in 1967 to 14.4% in 2020 in the United States. Further, around 35% of U.S. adults are not in a romantic relationship.

In their new study, Christopher A. Pepping and his colleagues examined why some people remain single through the lens of attachment theory. While attachment theory is often referred to in explaining relationship dynamics, it has rarely been applied to singlehood."

JSTOR: The Metaphysical Story of Chiropractic
Chiropractic medicine began as a practice built on an approach to the human condition that was distinctly opposed to Christianity.

"If you've considered seeing a chiropractor for a back problem, you may not have thought much about how the treatment could affect your spiritual life. But, as religious studies scholar Candy Gunther Brown writes, chiropractic began as a distinct approach to the human condition that was explicitly opposed to mainstream Christian theology

Brown writes that, before he became the founder of chiropractic, Daniel David Palmer was a Spiritualist and practitioner of animal magnetism. Palmer subscribed to eclectic spiritual ideas based on the unity of God and nature and the idea that humans can restore themselves to a state of harmony without depending on divine intervention.

Palmer claimed to have received communication from a deceased physician who taught him the principles of chiropractic—a term he invented in 1896, combining the Greek words cheir and praktos to mean "done by hand."

Palmer considered introducing Chiropractic as a religion in its own right but ultimately settled on describing it as an amalgamation of Christian Science and modern medicine. He wrote that it was based on adjusting the body to permit the free flow of "Innate Intelligence," or just "Innate," which he explained as "a segment of that Intelligence which fills the universe" (i.e. God) found in each individual.

"Palmer insisted that chiropractic could not be practiced effectively apart from a philosophy which he thought captured the essence of the world's religious and medical systems," Brown writes.

In 1963, the American Medical Association formed a Committee on Quackery with the mission "to contain and eliminate chiropractic."
Palmer's son, Bartlett Joshua Palmer, continued his father's work, leading the Palmer School of Chiropractic in Iowa, which trained about 75 percent of all chiropractors for 50 years. The younger Palmer was more forthright than the elder in his opposition to Christianity, writing that "no Chiropractor would pray on his knees in supplication to some invisible power."

Nonetheless, Brown writes, many patients apparently found seeing a chiropractor compatible with their Christian faith. Often, chiropractors served rural, working-class people, who were frequently suspicious of allopathic medicine."

Japan Times: Japan finds 47 cases of abuse of 'second-generation followers'
"There were 47 child abuse cases apparently reflecting parents' religious beliefs in Japan between April 2022 and September 2023, a Children and Families Agency survey showed Friday.

The suspected abuse cases were found by child consultation centers across the country, with victims temporarily taken into protective custody in 19 of the total cases, while some of the victims, often called "second-generation followers," sought support to become more self-reliant or advance to the next level of education.

The agency plans to consider necessary measures based on the results of the survey, which also covered medical institutions with critical care centers and municipal governments as well as elementary, and junior and senior high schools.

Mitsubishi UFJ Research and Consulting conducted the survey on behalf of the agency using subsidies.

Of 232 child consultation centers across the country, 229 gave answers. Among the respondents, 37 facilities, or 16.2%, said that they detected child abuse cases believed to have been caused mainly by parents' religious beliefs.

Of the 47 detected abuse cases, those in which parents blocked their children's free decision-making by inciting fear through the use of words and images accounted for the largest share. In other cases, parents forced their children to declare in front of others that they are following religions or compelled their children to engage in activities to spread the religions they believe in by intimidating them."

The Chosun: Religious cult links to HYBE spark online speculation
" ... Founded in South Korea in the 1980s, Dahnworld outwardly presents itself as a meditation group but has long faced allegations of being a cult. In the United States, it is known as Dahn Yoga. CNN, Forbes, and others reported allegations in 2010 that the founder and spiritual leader, Ilchi Lee (Lee Seung-Heun), had sexually preyed on young female disciples. In Korea, SBS's investigative program Unanswered Questions shed light on fraud allegations against the organization."


News, Education, Intervention, Recovery


CultEducationEvents.com

CultMediation.com   

Intervention101.com to help families and friends understand and effectively respond to the complexity of a loved one's cult involvement.

CultRecovery101.com assists group members and their families make the sometimes difficult transition from coercion to renewed individual choice.

CultNEWS101.com news, links, resources.

Facebook

Flipboard

Twitter

Instagram

Cults101.org resources about cults, cultic groups, abusive relationships, movements, religions, political organizations and related topics.


Selection of articles for CultNEWS101 does not mean that Patrick Ryan or Joseph Kelly agree with the content. We provide information from many points of view in order to promote dialogue.


Please forward articles that you think we should add to cultintervention@gmail.com.


Jan 18, 2018

Dahn Yoga founder Ilchi Lee's NZ residency under investigation

Ilchi Lee
Lincoln Tan
NZ Herald
January 18, 2018


Dahn Yoga founder Ilchi Lee's website says he was amazed by NZ's purity.

Lincoln Tan is the New Zealand Herald’s diversity, ethnic affairs and immigration senior reporter.
A controversial South Korean spiritual leader who has New Zealand residency is under Immigration New Zealand watch — and could face deportation.

Seung Heun Lee, known as Ilchi Lee to his followers, gained residency under the investor category after buying land and properties in Auckland and Northland as part of a global plan to recruit 100 million members for his Earth Citizen Organisation movement.

INZ area manager Marcelle Foley said the agency and the Labour Inspectorate had looked into companies associated with Lee, including Double Pine Investment Ltd, Meditation Tour Ltd and Body and Brain Yoga Ltd.

Foley confirmed that Lee was granted a resident visa in June 2015.

"INZ is investigating the grant of residence to Mr Lee to determine whether he may be liable for deportation," Foley said.

"It is not possible to say how long this may take. For legal and privacy reasons, INZ can make no further comment."

Investigations into his associated business had uncovered breaches to employment and immigration rules.

"Breaches of record keeping obligations and holiday pay were identified," Foley said.
"One person at Double Pine and one person at Body and Brain Yoga have been found to be in breach of their visas."

Double Pine and Meditation Tours have both been issued Improvement Notices, which had been partially complied with.

Double Pine is also embroiled in an employment dispute with a Northland-based staffer.

Lee's spokeswoman Yewon Hwang said Lee's lawyers are in communication with INZ over the immigration investigations which involved mistakes made by his immigration adviser in the original residence visa application.

Hwang said the company had also "secured the assistance of a competent accountant advisor" and better software system to address holiday pay and record keeping.

"There was someone helping Ilchi Lee with his visa status because his English is not fluent, and Ilchi Lee has taken the initiative to provide relevant information to INZ to clear up potential cause of misunderstanding," Hwang said.

Cabins under construction last year in Kerikeri for Ilchi Lee's

"The investigation by INZ is currently underway ... we remain optimistic that when they reach the conclusion of the investigation, the outcome will be positive."

Ki Philsu, one of Lee's meditation instructors, said the businesses were set up in New Zealand with the vision to "do good for the community".

"But people we have engaged kept making mistakes, and we are now the victims of that," Ki said.

"All we can say is sorry, but what good will that do because other people's mistakes have damaged us, and also damaged our dreams and hopes."

Ki said about 7000 overseas participants has taken part in the meditation programmes since it started three years ago.

"We want to do good and put New Zealand on the world map, that is our true intention," he said.

Dahn Yoga, which was changed to Body and Brain Yoga, is described as a combination of yoga, tai chi, meditation and self healing and promises members the transformative power of energy.
Its techniques have come under fire and led to two lawsuits in the United States that were later dismissed by the courts.

Lee, referred to as the "grandmaster" first visited New Zealand in 2014, and decided to make an area near Kerikeri the site of his Earth Village.

Through Double Pine Investments, which he is the sole shareholder, Lee bought 156ha of pine forest and bush on Pungaere Rd, west of Kerikeri.
The company has also purchased Haruru Falls Panorama Resort and a 25ha waterfront property on Whangaroa Harbour.

In addition to these, Lee is also linked to four high-end residential properties around Kerikeri.

Lee plans to make the Pungaere site, which is modelled after an existing ECO centre in Arizona, USA, his movement's main training hub.

Another of Lee's companies, Meditation Tours, have been bringing trainees to the Bay of Islands since 2016 for stays ranging from one to three months.

A spokesman for Lee had said approval from the Overseas Investment Office, a government agency that regulated the sale of sensitive land to foreign citizens, was not required because he had New Zealand permanent residence.

In Auckland, Body and Brain operates a yoga studio in Paul Matthews Rd in Albany, where training includes brain wave vibration, a form of moving meditation of head shaking.

CNN reported in 2010 of former members alleging severe physical, mental and financial abuse by the group's personnel and staff, which was dismissed by the Arizona District Court.

It came after a 2008 lawsuit, alleging "breaking wage and immigration laws, evading taxes and sexually abusing female disciples" which was also dismissed.

Oct 6, 2017

Korean spiritual leader plans martial arts school near Kerikeri 

A company owned by a Korean spiritual leader plans a martial arts centre on the site of Marty's Cafe and Golf Driving Range, off SH10 north of Kerikeri. Photo/Peter de Graaf

Peter de Graaf
Northern Advocate
October 3, 2017

A company owned by a Korean spiritual leader has applied for consent to build a martial arts academy for gap-year students in rural Kerikeri.

Meditation Tour, which is owned by Dahn Yoga founder Ilchi Lee, bought Marty's Golf and Archery Range, on State Highway 10 north of Kerikeri, earlier this year. The company wants to build a martial arts hall on the property along with accommodation for 50 students, sportsfields, a tennis court, pool, archery range and an extension to the existing Marty's Cafe.

Mr Lee is also the founder of the Earth Citizen Organisation which aims to recruit 100 million members worldwide and establish a global training centre on Pungaere Rd, west of Kerikeri.

The martial arts academy dormitory will have separate wings for boys and girls, a dining room, lounge, study rooms and bathrooms. The site is at the end of an unsealed private road.

According to a Meditation Tours brochure, the academy will be called the Benjamin School for Character Education and will target South Korean gap-year students in need of a break from their high-pressure education system. The cafe will remain open to the public.

Neighbouring properties were notified about the company's resource consent application last month and have until October 24 to make submissions.

The next step will depend on those submissions. If neighbours are opposed a hearing could be called with an independent commissioner making the final decision about whether it should go ahead.

Meanwhile, Mr Lee's Earth Citizen Organisation has also opened an "Earth Citizen Healing Centre" in a former shop on Cobham Rd, next to Kerikeri's Procter Library.

The centre is open daily and offers classes in yoga, weight loss and qi-gong (a form of exercise involving gentle movement). It also sells the yellow, hammer-shaped "belly button healing wand" which Mr Lee's followers claim stimulates the navel for gut and brain health, energy, and stress and pain relief.

Meditation Tour manager ManGyu Choi did not respond to inquiries about the martial arts centre. Earlier, however, he told the Advocate the company brought 3000 visitors to Northland in 2016 and planned to more than double that this year. With its construction projects, jobs and visitor spending, the company would inject millions of dollars into the Bay of Islands economy, he said.

Ilchi Lee, real name Seung Heun Lee, made his fortune as the founder of Dahn Yoga - described as a blend of yoga, tai chi and martial arts exercises - and a variety of mind and body training techniques. He now focuses on his Earth Citizen Organisation and business interests such as Meditation Tour.

Mr Lee has bought five high-end homes in Kerikeri, a resort at Haruru Falls and a 25ha waterfront section on Whangaroa Harbour. One of his companies has also bought a 156ha property on Pungaere Rd, on the edge of Puketi Forest west of Kerikeri, where he plans to build a global training hub for the Earth Citizen Organisation.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/northern-advocate/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503450&objectid=11929837

Mar 15, 2017

Controversy-hit yoga system sets up NZ base

Dahn Yoga, also known as Body & Brain
Dahn Yoga, also known as Body & Brain
Lincoln Tan
The New Zealand Herald
January 28, 2017

A yoga movement which has been mired in controversy overseas has set up base in New Zealand, creating an "Earth Village" in Northland.

Dahn Yoga, also known as Body & Brain, combines yoga, tai chi, meditation and self healing and promises members the transformative power of energy.

But its techniques have come under fire and led to two law suits in the US that were later dismissed by the courts.

The movement is founded by Ilchi Lee, described as "a global educator, mentor and innovator devoted to teaching energy principles and developing the full capability of the human brain."

According to Lee's website, the Korean-born "grandmaster" visited New Zealand in 2014 and was "amazed by the purity ... and the peacefulness".

Lee had decided to make an area near Kerikeri the site of his Earth Village and had also purchased property to build a retreat centre.

The website also claimed Lee has been running meditation retreats and that he had set up Dahn Taekwondo - a brain education version of the martial art - at an unnamed local school.

Body & Brain operates a yoga studio in Paul Matthews Rd in Albany, Auckland, and has more than 200 practitioners.

Training includes brain wave vibration, a form of moving meditation or head shaking, and brain education.

Professor Peter Lineham, a Massey University religious historian, described the movement as a "curious combination of religious zeal and bodily practices".

"I am most puzzled about its use of the term 'yoga'. In certain respects it is not yoga at all in the sense that it has any links with South Asian practices."

In 2010, CNN broadcast a report with interviews of former Dahn yoga members alleging severe physical, mental and financial abuse by the organisation's personnel and staff.

The Arizona District Court in the United States dismissed the allegations in August that year.

That came after an earlier lawsuit, which levelled allegations of "breaking wage and immigration laws, evading taxes and sexually abusing female disciples". That case was dismissed in 2008.

Continued below.

Related Content

Watch: Controversial yoga practice

A former practitioner, who spoke to the Weekend Herald on the condition of anonymity, said she left after a short stint because she felt "something wasn't right".

Ilchi Lee's website says he was amazed by NZ's purity. Photo / Supplied

"I've been involved with all sorts of yoga, and this surely didn't feel like yoga," she said.

"I questioned the trainers, but I was instead asked to sign up and pay for private sessions to understand the philosophies better."

But another practitioner, Regan Harvey, said he had felt "fitter and healthier" after just a few months and plans to continue the practice.

Dahn Yoga changed its name to Body & Brain in late 2005.

A Body & Brain spokeswoman said she was aware that "detractors" had labelled the organisation a cult.

"It's totally understandable that people should be suspicious of something they don't understand and it's easy to fall into the trap of labelling it as a cult," she said.

"The fact is, it's not a cult and the organisation has very few of the typical characteristics of a cult." The spokeswoman said practitioners come from diverse backgrounds.

Dahn yoga has been the subject of critical reports overseas, including by Forbes and Rolling Stone magazines.

The New Zealand spokeswoman said overseas media reports were based on "frivolous claims" of disgruntled former employees and their attorney, as were the lawsuits.

"Our business activities are not only legal, but there is also considerable scientific and anecdotal support for the effectiveness of our yoga," she added.

Jane Lowe, from Yoga Connection, said she was aware of Dahn Yoga but that it was not included in national studio listings.

http://m.nzherald.co.nz/northern-advocate/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503450&objectid=11790246

Mar 4, 2017

Karen Berg And The Kabbalah Centre Announce An Hour Of Spiritual Unity On Monday Evening, March 27, 2017

Using Technology to Organize and Unite, Berg and The Kabbalah Centre Seek to Spread #hourofspiritualunity Around the World

NEWS PROVIDED BY
Kabbalah Centre
February 28, 2017, 10:00 ET

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 28, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Karen Berg, the Spiritual Director of The Kabbalah Centre, has announced her plans to present An Hour of Spiritual Unity on the evening of March 27, 2017. On that evening people from all over the world will read from a holy scripture or another text that awakens their consciousness. The readings will be chosen by the individual: the Old Testament, the New Testament, the Zohar, the Quran, the Yogi Sutras, the Bhagavad-Gita, the Pali Canon, even poetry will be a part of An Hour of Spiritual Unity. Those who prefer not to read can engage in meditation, contemplation, yoga -- anything that personally awakens the spirit. Participants are encouraged to post #hourofspiritualunity on the platform of their choice to share with others how they plan to spend their hour.

"It has been my dream that one day barriers will be removed between people, and that we will find the commonality that exists within each other's spiritual practices and beliefs," said Karen Berg, The Kabbalah Centre's Spiritual Director. "This year, the New Moon of Aries (Rosh Chodesh Nissan) begins on the evening of Monday, March 27th. The kabbalists teach that this is the lunar New Year, the seed level of the coming 365 days, the start of a new cycle. There is no better time to use the technology available in our generation to do what has never been done before – to come together regardless of our individual paths.

Kabbalah Centre's Spiritual Director Karen Berg is inviting people from all over the world to join together for An Hour of Spiritual Unity on the evening of March 27, 2017.

Kabbalah Centre's Spiritual Director Karen Berg is inviting people from all over the world to join together for An Hour of Spiritual Unity on the evening of March 27, 2017.

For those who are interested in participating, the details are simple, according to Berg: "All we ask is that you join us any time on the evening of Monday, March 27th. The book and the hour can be of your choosing. It can be as you get home from work, or perhaps just before you go to sleep.

"To give shape and form to all the spiritual energy of this unity, I would like to encourage those who will be joining us on March 27th to tell us now how you plan to spend your hour by using #hourofspiritualunity on any social media platform. In this way, we tie our individual choices in one sentiment, and give form to all our many spiritual expressions. This is the beauty of social media, as it brings everyone together like never before in history, with no boundary of geography, language, or other such barriers. Let us create a wave of peace that will ripple throughout the digital landscape."

The Kabbalah Centre will provide additional details at https://kabbalah.com/hourofspiritualunity.

About Karen Berg and The Kabbalah Centre

Over four decades ago, Karen and her husband, Rav Berg, set out to make Kabbalah understandable and relevant to all people. Their goal was to teach the spiritual wisdom and tools of Kabbalah, without exclusion.

Under their leadership, The Kabbalah Centre has grown from a single location into one of the world's leading sources of spiritual wisdom, with locations around the globe.

"One of the things we believe at The Kabbalah Centre is that there are many roads to awaken consciousness. At any given connection at The Kabbalah Centre, you might see a Jewish person praying next to a Christian next to a Muslim next to a Buddhist, and maybe even a contemplating atheist," said Karen Berg. "We believe that every path is part of a Divine plan. Though holy books of different faiths may contain different words, the message remains the same: To love each other, to love ourselves, and to grow our love and awe for the Infinite force that is all around us and gave us life. Indeed, difference can be the foundation of our unity."

As the spiritual director of The Kabbalah Centre, Karen Berg is devoted to an enduring vision— within each person is a spark of God that can be bound together to create transcendence beyond all differences.

Karen is certain that peace is possible and foresees a world free of hatred and intolerance. She works untiringly to cultivate a new paradigm of Global Spirituality through which people from diverse beliefs and no beliefs at all can work together to bring the world to a better place through mutual respect, dignity, and love for humanity.

To this end Karen has:

Created the international children's program Spirituality for Kids, an online children's educational program that supports children to find the spark of Light within themselves, within others, and within all things.

Founded Kids Creating Peace (KCP), a program designed to help children discover for themselves a place of peaceful coexistence in the Middle East. For the International Day of Peace in 2010, teenage KCP participants were invited to make a presentation on behalf of peace in the Middle East to the French National Assembly. In 2014, teenage KCP representatives attended the United Nations Youth Assembly at the UN in New York City, where Karen gave the keynote address.

Discussed human dignity and peace with many spiritual leaders including:His Holiness the Dalai Lama; Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, founder of the Art of Living Centres; Imam Mohammed Ali Elahi, spiritual leader of the Islamic House of Wisdom; Michael Bernard Beckwith, founder and CEO of the Agape Centre International; Bawa Jain, Secretary-General of the Millennium World Council of Religious Leaders; Mabel Katz, authority on the ancient Hawaiian healing method, Ho'oponopono; and Ilchi Lee, founder and developer of Brain Education and Dahn Yoga. Karen has also spoken with political and thought leaders including: President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian National Authority; Hilary Rantisi, director of the Middle East Initiative at Harvard University; In London in 2011, Karen spoke alongside Dr. Jehan Sadat, human rights activist and widow of former Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, and later that year, hosted an event in honor of International Women's Day with Ibtisam Mahameed, co-founder of the Women's Interfaith Encounter, and Professor Galia Sabar, chair of African Studies at Tel Aviv University, both recipients of the Dalai Lama Peace Prize.

Authored four groundbreaking works: Finding the Light Through the Darkness: Inspirational Lessons Rooted in the Bible and the Zohar; Simple Light: Wisdom from a Woman's Heart; To Be Continued: Reincarnation and the Purpose of our Lives; God Wears Lipstick; and Karen's first and most revolutionary title, Kabbalah for Women.

Following Rav Berg's passing in 2013, Karen continues to passionately lead and nurture the Kabbalah Centres around the world. She has expanded her efforts to bring peace to the world through spiritual unity and travels extensively. Karen meets with people daily, both personally and online, serving a worldwide community of more than 300,000 souls.

Karen has four children, sixteen grandchildren, and considers everywhere there is a Kabbalah Centre her home.

SOURCE Kabbalah Centre

Feb 2, 2017

Controversial 'spiritual movement' sets up shop in NZ

Dahn Yoga
Lincoln Tan
NZ Herald
28 January 2017

Dahn Yoga - also known as Body & Brain - has received critical reports overseas including in Forbes and Rolling Stone magazine.

A yoga movement which has been mired in controversy overseas has set up base in New Zealand, creating an "Earth Village" in Northland.

Dahn Yoga, also known as Body & Brain, combines yoga, tai chi, meditation and self healing and promises members the transformative power of energy.

But its techniques have come under fire and led to two law suits in the US that were later dismissed by the courts.

The movement is founded by Ilchi Lee, described as "a global educator, mentor and innovator devoted to teaching energy principles and developing the full capability of the human brain."

According to Lee's website, the Korean-born "grandmaster" visited New Zealand in 2014 and was "amazed by the purity ... and the peacefulness".

Lee had decided to make an area near Kerikeri the site of his Earth Village and had also purchased property to build a retreat centre.

The website also claimed Lee has been running meditation retreats and that he had set up Dahn Taekwondo - a brain education version of the martial art - at an unnamed local school.

Body & Brain operates a yoga studio in Paul Matthews Rd in Albany, Auckland, and has more than 200 practitioners.

Training includes brain wave vibration, a form of moving meditation or head shaking, and brain education.

Professor Peter Lineham, a Massey University religious historian, described the movement as a "curious combination of religious zeal and bodily practices".

"I am most puzzled about its use of the term 'yoga'. In certain respects it is not yoga at all in the sense that it has any links with South Asian practices."

In 2010, CNN broadcast a report with interviews of former Dahn yoga members alleging severe physical, mental and financial abuse by the organisation's personnel and staff.

The Arizona District Court in the United States dismissed the allegations in August that year.

That came after an earlier lawsuit, which levelled allegations of "breaking wage and immigration laws, evading taxes and sexually abusing female disciples". That case was dismissed in 2008.

A former practitioner, who spoke to the Weekend Herald on the condition of anonymity, said she left after a short stint because she felt "something wasn't right".

"I've been involved with all sorts of yoga, and this surely didn't feel like yoga," she said.

"I questioned the trainers, but I was instead asked to sign up and pay for private sessions to understand the philosophies better."

But another practitioner, Regan Harvey, said he had felt "fitter and healthier" after just a few months and plans to continue the practice.

Dahn Yoga changed its name to Body & Brain in late 2005.

A Body & Brain spokeswoman said she was aware that "detractors" had labelled the organisation a cult.

"It's totally understandable that people should be suspicious of something they don't understand and it's easy to fall into the trap of labelling it as a cult," she said.

"The fact is, it's not a cult and the organisation has very few of the typical characteristics of a cult." The spokeswoman said practitioners come from diverse backgrounds.

Dahn yoga has been the subject of critical reports overseas, including by Forbes and Rolling Stone magazines.

The New Zealand spokeswoman said overseas media reports were based on "frivolous claims" of disgruntled former employees and their attorney, as were the lawsuits.

"Our business activities are not only legal, but there is also considerable scientific and anecdotal support for the effectiveness of our yoga," she added.

Jane Lowe, from Yoga Connection, said she was aware of Dahn Yoga but that it was not included in national studio listings.

http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/news/national/controversial-spiritual-movement-sets-up-shop-in-nz/

Feb 19, 2016

Joining a cult is easier than you think

Bill Colvard
Mount Airy News
February 19, 2016

Briefly during the spring of 2004, I was a member of a cult, a fact which totally eluded me at the time. As I seem to be saying lately with alarming regularity, “imagine my surprise” when I found out last week. One would think I might have noticed such a thing but there was no beret, no machine gun, no bank robbery, no selling flowers in the airport. Those things I would have noticed.

Within the span of a few months in 2003, which was not one of my better years, I fell off a table and was run over by a Volvo. The Volvo incident left me with a plate and some screws in my right leg, confirmation of my suspicion that New Jersey drivers are far worse than New York drivers and newfound knowledge that Volvo’s self-hyped safety record only applies if one is inside the car. Being flung against the windshield of a Volvo from the crosswalk is not an appreciably better situation than being flung against the windshield of a less safe car.

But it wasn’t the Volvo that got me into a cult. It was the table, or rather, my fall from it and the excruciating back pain that resulted and continued for months. After three shots of steroids into my spine and the doctors gleeful discussions of surgery, I took matters into my own hands and joined the Montclair YMCA where I took three 90-minute yoga classes a week, bid the doctors adieu and was pain free within a couple of weeks.

The story should have ended there and if it had, I would not be an ex-cultist. But we left Montclair and I began to look for a yoga studio close to my office in Chelsea. I found one just around the corner. Not regular yoga but a Korean version called Dahn Hak. Went to a free introductory, or should I say, indoctrination, session, liked it, signed up for three months and wrote them a check for 300 bucks. That was three times the cost of the Montclair Y but the herbal tea steeped from stems and roots and served in tiny handleless cups after the lesson was mysteriously compelling.

In retrospect, there were some clues. We stood in a circle and chanted in Korean. We pounded our lower abdomens rhythmically with closed fists while chanting, “I love my belly. Don’t eat too much.” Then we counted 20 repetitions in Korean. Silly? Definitely. Dangerous? It didn’t seem so.

Then we pounded our upper abdoman while chanting, “I love my liver. Don’t drink too much” and again with the counting. There were no yoga mats but the entire floor was this squishy stuff and we left our shoes in the hall. It felt like a place where you might take your kid for karate. Not really a culty vibe.

Later, we did “The Sleeping Tiger” where we laid on our backs, closed our eyes, raised our arms straight up to the sky and then raised our legs straight up but bent our knees at a 90 degree angle. And then didn’t move for ten minutes. It sounds easy but I invite you to try it sometime. Trust me, it is agonizing. One by one, every muscle in my body began to twitch and by the time the lights came back on, I appeared to be in the midst of a full blown grand mal seizure. The leader flattered me by saying, “You very strong man. Most people can’t do first time.” Now she tells me. That would have been good information to have ten minutes earlier. Those cult people are tricky.

Sometimes we meditated and practiced moving things with our minds but I don’t think we got into that the first day. That was probably another clue that something was a bit left of center. As was the monthly physical exam and adjustment where I went into an exam room with the leader and lay down on a mat on the floor and rested my head on a little wooden pillow. Yes, a wooden pillow. Which I must say was surprisingly comfortable. The most memorable part of this particular experience was the little thing she put over my eyes which kind of looked like Jordy’s headband from Star Trek: The Suburban Generation. It flashed lights and colors through my closed eyelids and made little noises. Perhaps if I had had a significant fortune, I would have been requested to sign it over at that time. But that didn’t happen that I know of. It was kind of fun though. Like an acid trip, or what I expect an acid trip would be like.

What was not fun was waking up in the middle of the night after that first session with sharp, blinding pains running between the liver and stomach that I now loved so much. Fortunately, the toilet was only about 20 feet from my bed because otherwise, things would have gotten uglier than they did. Which was very ugly, indeed. Uncontrollable, excruciating diarrhea with simultaneous projectile vomiting continued for several hours until I attempted to literally crawl back to bed. I made it as far as the hall where the carpeting was softer than the bathroom tile and I just went to sleep there although at that moment, death would not have been unwelcome.

In the cold, hard light of morning, I decided that there were better ways to spend $300. During the resulting refund discussion, the leader got very excited that I had experienced such a thorough cleanse my first time out. She told me most folks didn’t get such dramatic results for quite a while. I had completely missed that part of the sales pitch. She urged me to give it a little more time and although the language thing was always a little iffy, I believe she said I had nothing else to lose. On this point, she was absolutely correct.

Since there was never a repeat of that first night’s horror, I stayed and by the time my three months were up, the “Sleeping Tiger” had given me the closest thing to rock hard abs I will ever have. And I got two more acid trips courtesy of Jordy’s headband and learned to move things with my mind, but only just a little. So all in all, it was worth $300.

And that was the end of it until last week when I went to my first yoga class at Surry Community College which is not a cult and the instructor asked me what kind of yoga I had studied before. I had forgotten the name but I looked it up when I got home and was stunned to find that Dahn Hak is now considered a cult and is being sued by the families of practitioners for wrongful death. Which is retroactively chilling. Because Dahn Hak only made me want to die. Somebody else actually did.

Reach Bill colvard at 336-415-4699 or on Twitter @BillColvard.

https://mtairynews.com/opinion/38023/joining-a-cult-is-easier-than-you-think

Feb 20, 2014

Yoga Group Accused Of Coercion, Sex Assault

WBZ 38
Beth Germano
Jun 11, 2009

BOSTON (WBZ) Dahn Yoga and its founder, Ilchi Lee, are named in a lawsuit.

Dahn Yoga claims it can give you physical and spiritual enlightenment. 

Across the United States it operates 130 healing centers, 600 globally boasting more than a million followers. 

But now a class action suit has been filed against the organization by 26 former members who claim they were subjected to "psychological manipulation." 

Nine of the plaintiffs are from Massachusetts where eight centers are run. 

Jade Harrelson and Liza Miller are attractive, young women who say they were also idealistic enough to join Dahn. 

"I feel I have some sort of mission to help people on this earth," Miller told WBZ-TV. 

WOMEN 'COERCED' INTO ISOLATION, SPENDING THOUSANDS


But soon she and Harrelson say they were coerced into devoting their lives to Dahn, isolated from family and friends. 

They claim the mission to heal the earth quickly turned into something else, bringing more money into Dahn. 

Workshops and retreats began to cost tens of thousands of dollars as they say they felt pressure to delve deeper into the organization and become Dahn masters themselves. 

"If you didn't take a workshop then your spirit would somehow suffer," said Harrelson. 

Liza Miller says she was even asked by an instructor to withdraw a 25,000 loan after attending a retreat in Arizona. 

"She said to me do you want to grow a lot or grow a little? I'm thinking a lot." 

They admit it was all to live up to the Korean founder and spiritual leader Ilchi Lee, who claims he can teach humans to increase their brain power. 

Harrelson says they couldn't work hard enough to train and recruit. 

"We were tired all the time, but we kept going. We have to work harder, we have to complete the vision," she said. 

The lawsuit claims the members were subjected to "thought reform, coercive persuasion and undue influence." 

Asked whether she believes this is a cult, Harrelson told WBZ-TV, "I think cult is a subjective word. I'd say with one hundred percent certainty this was a very destructive group." 

WOMAN ALLEGES SEX ASSAULT


In fact, Harrelson has another story to tell. She believes she was being groomed for Lee, summoned to Korea to work alongside him, and claiming she was forced to have sex with the leader. That was the turning point for her after four years. 

"I think he is very arrogant and protected by a lot of people. That's why I can't be quiet about this," she said. 

It's a healing movement they claim left them with nothing but pain. 

"It was more for an unsavory man's pocket," said Miller. 

The women say they are deeply in debt, a now daily reminder of what they call the power of persuasion. A hearing on the suit has not yet been set.

http://wbztv.com/local/Dahn.Yoga.Healing.2.1041584.html