http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/allinthemind/the-psychology-of-cults/4392444
Category: brainwashing
Evaluating UM as a cult.
The feedback from the Universal Medicine group, its followers, some members of the public and even affected families can give one the impression that there is a question mark remaining over whether Universal Medicine is a cult. There is a general misunderstanding of the nature of cults in the public at large, however the implacable nature of UM as a cult is not in a shadow of doubt to the well-informed. The only question is, what trajectory is the group following as they tend to have an arc of development?
I’ve cut and pasted a commonly used cult evaluation chart (the FBI have used this for cult evaluation in the US). The higher the score the more potential danger the group poses. Of course, the rankings are subjective and dependent on your knowledge of the group’s machinations. I’ve put my score in bold next to each question. (Don’t let it influence you, which of course is now quite impossible- ah, the irony)
The commonly held misapprehension is that members are held against their will in a compound or tricked into slavish adherence to the group and its leaders after a honeymoon period. While groups do exist like this, the vast majority of contemporary groups are ‘open cults’. That is, the members more or less function as they would have done before being recruited by the cult. Many cult members ‘feel good’ and this takes precedence over logic and inconsistencies. In the case of Serge ( and like many narcissistic cult leaders) this means ignoring glaring integrity issues and questionable ethics. The accountability website has done an sensational job of highlighting many of those.


Members of these groups- UM included- are not aware that theirs is a cult and that their leader suffers from a personality disorder. If they did, then the group could and would not exist. It is in a sense, easier to believe the grandiose claims of the cult leader, than the far simpler truth that their leader has a personality malfunction. The payoff is a sense of purpose, community, and superiority ( poorly masked by love-speak).
At the limits, the metaphoric walls that keep members contained are sets of behviours that are dictated (or offered as choices) by the group ( for UM that is food, music, sport, relationships, sexual behaviour, feminine identity, art, information) and the ‘penalty’ for leaving which is usually a spiritual punishment; the thought of which is ineffable and subsumes the logic of making a rational choice based on the information at hand. In the case of UM this is bad karma, further bad incarnations, going down the imaginary initiation scale, not becoming an initiate or member of the ‘hierarchy’; and of course rejection by the group mind which is extremely powerful. There exist groups that hold a real gun to their heads of the members, but they are few. The metaphoric gun for modern groups is turning the mind of the follower against itself, by keeping them sufficiently simultaneously dumbly happy and confused therefore disabling their sense of mortal and spiritual danger.
The stakes have risen for Serge in the last year. Rather arrogantly (one of his favourite words) he predicted the ‘new era’ and imagined himself as it’s chief advocate. In his mind Universal Medicine was a growing force ready to take on the world. Instead, he has been met with a steady stream of right-minded criticism and the soured fruits of his efforts- a wall of distraught families and unhappy partners. His medicine has been exposed as a large scale scam and his business practices called into question. Whether he knows it or not, the relevant agencies are aware of his every move and the sins of his the past and present. Long forgotten ghosts no doubt will come back to haunt him. What we need to remain vigilant of now is Serge ratcheting up the rhetoric out of an understandable sense of paranoia and foreboding. He and the group are currently following the cult-under-pressure play book to a tee. And there’s more revelations to come.
For people with loved ones in the group, keep an eye on your family member and remember, arguments won’t get them out. Real love just might.
**********************************************************************************************
The Advanced Bonewits’ Cult Danger Evaluation Frame
Factors:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Low High
1 Internal Control: Amount of internal political and social power exercised by leader(s) over members; lack of clearly defined organizational rights for members. 10
_________________________
2 External Control: Amount of external political and social influence desired or obtained; emphasis on directing members’ external political and social behavior. 8 – increasing steadily with RMRC, womens groups etc
_________________________
3 Wisdom/Knowledge Claimed by leader(s); amount of infallibility declared or implied about decisions or doctrinal/scriptural interpretations; number and degree of unverified and/or unverifiable credentials claimed. 12- Serge is off the scale here.
_________________________
4 Wisdom/Knowledge Credited to leader(s) by members; amount of trust in decisions or doctrinal/scriptural interpretations made by leader(s); amount of hostility by members towards internal or external critics and/or towards verification efforts. 12- Serge is off the scale here also
_________________________
5 Dogma: Rigidity of reality concepts taught; amount of doctrinal inflexibility or “fundamentalism;” hostility towards relativism and situationalism. 12- Serge is also off the scale here ( surprised?)
_________________________
6 Recruiting: Emphasis put on attracting new members; amount of proselytizing; requirement for all members to bring in new ones. 10- UM has a very clever model of focusing on women health issues and word of mouth, plus satellite agencies of ‘practitioners’ that have paid for the privilege to recruit for UM/Serge
_________________________
7 Front Groups: Number of subsidiary groups using different names from that of main group, especially when connections are hidden. 10- Oops like Serge hits the mark here too.
_________________________
8 Wealth: Amount of money and/or property desired or obtained by group; emphasis on members’ donations; economic lifestyle of leader(s) compared to ordinary members. 10- And again… surprising? Not really.
_________________________
9 Sexual Manipulation of members by leader(s) of non-tantric groups; amount of control exercised over sexuality of members in terms of sexual orientation, behavior, and/or choice of partners. 12- Yes. He’s a royal flush. His mass scale manipulation of the sexuality of his members is monumental. What he does more privately is yet to be examined.
_________________________
10 Sexual Favoritism: Advancement or preferential treatment dependent upon sexual activity with the leader(s) of non-tantric groups. 10- Based purely on the pretty girls that stay with the Benhayons sent from overseas and interstate, and the known activity of match-making for his own children, ex-wife and favoured inner members.
_________________________
11 Censorship: Amount of control over members’ access to outside opinions on group, its doctrines or leader(s). 10- Members are told which books to read, to avoid newspapers, dissenting sites, and to clear books they have to read of bad energy.
_________________________
12 Isolation: Amount of effort to keep members from communicating with non-members, including family, friends and lovers. 8- They havent perfected this yet. But they make an effort when they know someone is dissenting.
_________________________
13 Dropout Control: Intensity of efforts directed at preventing or returning dropouts. 7- Not sure of this internal mechanism.
_________________________
14 Violence: Amount of approval when used by or for the group, its doctrines or leader(s). 2- That is giving Serge the benefit of the doubt.
_________________________
15 Paranoia: Amount of fear concerning real or imagined enemies; exaggeration of perceived power of opponents; prevalence of conspiracy theories. 10- Large scale paranoia of imaginary enemies and persecution from past life times.
_________________________
16 Grimness: Amount of disapproval concerning jokes about the group, its doctrines or its leader(s). 10- They don’t like a joke at all.
_________________________
17 Surrender of Will: Amount of emphasis on members not having to be responsible for personal decisions; degree of individual disempowerment created by the group, its doctrines or its leader(s). 10- While its alleged it is a choice, that is false. The members are totally dis-empowered from differing opinions to Serge and other members.
_________________________
18 Hypocrisy: amount of approval for actions which the group officially considers immoral or unethical, when done by or for the group, its doctrines or leader(s); willingness to violate the group’s declared principles for political, psychological, social, economic, military, or other gain. 15- Serge’s assertions are completely at odds with his own behaviour past and present.
_________________________
The Lords of Form and Money for UniMed.
We have endless hours of recordings and notes from Serge’s meetings over the years. There are some common themes that play out over and over, and I’ve picked these to highlight a few. First, Serge is interested in unwavering commitment from his flock. He constantly warns them of the negative consequences of not doing ‘the work’. In fact, we tend to find more negatives than positives on analysis. While the members speak about love, much of it is about fear of prana, dampness, lords of form, bad karma, bad energetic choices and their ramifications and so on.
Secondly, he is very interested in the members money. A lot of time is spent creating negatives around money and extolling the virtues of handing money to Universal Medicine- better incarnations, cleared Karma and other hogwash.
When you read this stuff, it is hard to imagine how the members can say they are not in a cult with a straight face. Enjoy.
5)The Sphere of Grace also builds a Divine wall between you and your karma.
Karma
When a person rapes another and then feels sorry because they understand what harm they have done they draw towards them an energy of recognition and they do not have to suffer the same energy being imposed on them. If the person does not understand the extent of the harm they have imposed on another or are in denial that they hurt the other in any way, then more of that same energy (an example was used of “pack energy” say if you were involved in a pack rape ),comes in to fill the vacancy after the act…this energy pushes through you so that karma comes to you by attracting the same act to be done to you giving the physical experience of it in your body , and the memory of it is in your cells. The energy has come back to give you the full experience and thus is registered in your body and then you know and feel that you could not do that to another .
The entity can come and go and you are left with the karma ,the imprint of your physical ill.
Even if you have a terrible karma and you are in service ,not looking for recognition and identification ,your karma is cleared. Even if you look for recognition much later – you are not Atmic and all the good is undone
If you do something outside your heart – you are harming. If you choose to stay outside your heart – you embrace evil . Evil is a magnification of the separation from the heart .It is a magnification of an expression that keeps you out of your centre – anything that enhances your spirit . You can improve your body in the pranic sense- evil is a constant emanation of prana Staying in evil accumulates karma .
Fire deals with what is true, not what is good. Healing is not giving or sending love , it is being love.
Healing is not about being good it is about being true.
When you go into grace you wipe out beds of prana to get back to your soul. When you are emanating from there, from grace ,your energetic space enables your own healing.
Simply put -a person goes into their heart -the activity leaves behind a Grace -you are healing your own Karma.
(EDG notes September 2007)
If you keep your receipts in a shoe box you are hiding everything away.
A manila folder -is open and easy to add to every day.
Spiking your receipts/ invoices – can’t see the numbers clearly if a spike is through them.
A lot to learn about how we are – if there is harmony in relationship money flows, if communication is open money flows. If not, aspects where a person is using money in a position of power over another- contraction.
Money shows how you live- is reflected in life. If the way you are earning your money is coming from contraction- no self worth but up for recognition, every time you are paid magnifying self worthlessness.
You are responsible for the energy you are giving money in – if in anger the anger gets circulated through the money.
Intention – why you do something , the truth of why you do something may be contraction.
Money is about life-force, about how you live with your life-force. Saving – all about the intention why and how. Intention – money saved in bank gets lent out 45x… if saved in the energy of fear and someone borrows it to buy a car- your karma as the car gets bought in your fear imprinted in the money.
Money spent on Unimed courses etc.- choosing to spend money on self love.
Money issues around it exposed as not being loving.
Serge worked the price out so that you are only paying for the healing sessions – value the energetic imprint -never charges for accessed information from the Masters.
With a loan from the bank once you get the letter put it on the symbol.
All the money Unimed is creating is going into the clinic- an ongoing thing. The clinic is for everyone.
Serge talked about Wills
If you leave a child $10,000 dollars and the kids spend that money to keep them in recognition and identification – excess – that holds you in contraction in your next life.
If you invest wisely in your will this gives you fire in your next life.
If not you leave behind a constant drain on kidney energy and an imprint of a pranic emanation stopping others from being in their centre.
If you give in sympathy no matter how much you give esoterically you are drained.
Do you clear it from other past lives?
5points of fire everyday, left behind 10points prana, end of the day 5 points of prana.
If you leave a Will to Unimed and you put a lineal condition that it be used to fund those who can’t afford the courses then that is pranic- putting a lineal condition on a spherical nature, not trusting people will know how to best use it.
Cathars – create a livingness to reincarnate into – that momentum lasted 900years.
We are now starting a new movement and it will not finish like the Cathars as this time nothing will stop the work. As soon as someone really gets and lives the work they become focalisers and will re-incarnate in to other countries becoming a Shamballic point of light on earth spreading all over the world. The student unfolding will keep coming back into the larger group until you become a developer and then focaliser.
EDG Message 7 – 2010
‘If one places their life-force towards the work of the Hierarchy on Earth, in every way, sensibly so, all of one’s personal needs get taken care of in the appropriate Soul-full manner. This is natural as it is magical under the Law of Magnetic Pull and the Law of Constellation’ – SIB.
A warning … ‘If one measures their commitment and applies that measure to ‘the work’ and thus to the Hierarchy — as in – 1: as my life gets better and ‘the work’ proves itself to me, so too will I commit more to it, and or – 2: when my life has reached that point my spirit set-out to achieve — as in — a better-life, relief, reprieve, improvement of any kind, higher initiation and or any other personal gain etc etc — I will sit back and cruise with it. TAKE CAREFUL AND ASTUTE NOTE THAT — such students, as those in points 1 and 2 above, will fall into one of the greatest hidden long-term traps where one’s re-development/initiation will be stunted for many, many lifetimes by the slow and stealth-like manner the astral forces will regress them back into the damp pranic abyss they once fought hard to arise from. Measuring your life and commitment to ‘the work’ against whatever personal needs one may have as the leading key or point of drive for and towards ‘the work’ attracts the highest forces that are assigned to undermine and attack the work of the Hierarchy … through you, much high astral energy is wielded, for when you wobble, you will, in one way or another, blame ‘the work’ for your woes … and through that blame you will get a large dose of the highest levels of the astral plane.
Measuring your life with ‘the work’ as in – doing enough to feel better, but not enough to upset your partner, your suitable life, or your family, friends, colleagues etc, will have you feeling ‘better’ by the numbness the astral will bring to you. And whilst you may think you are doing ok or progressing esoterically, you are in fact receding back into the damp body the fire once showed you to be in. It pays not to dance alongside the true fiery esoteric work. It is a very harming illusion to do so and one that will take many lifetimes to heal………………………end.
Dear students, Take special note of the above warning. My words will make themselves be known more and more as we head closer to 2012 and beyond. Embracing the fire is the only true healing way forward … all else will merely get you by whilst it builds the new dampness the lords of form have released to counter the greater light of fire/Christ that now so abounds. This new level of dampness is not one to get wrong about if you are in the illusion that you are not part of it. The new ‘damp’ pranic energy is in accordance to my prediction some years ago about the coming new lung ill conditions on Earth. Not only will ill lung conditions increase, they will develop more severely in addition to the coming new forms of them that the specialists are not trained for. The solution – Choose fire — whole-heartedly and never in part Choose fire all the way and do not measure how much it can be in you, but embrace it in full and let it serve as it must to help those who know little of the imprisonment they are in.
From the endless reservoir of Atma and thus with Atmic love, Serge Benhayon
Self Indoctrination- An insight into how it happens
Self-Indoctrination- the subtle nature of thought reform.
One may wonder how people fall under the spell of thought reform techniques, and indeed how they work. Many families of cult members, and members themselves cannot grasp the subtle forces that lead to someone coming under the influence of a cult and its doctrine. What’s more many people misunderstand what constitutes a cult. That’s been spelled out here before, but to recapitulate it is NOT a compound with chanting zombies. A cult can simply be a group that idealizes a certain belief to the exclusion of others whereby it leads to diminished critical thought and the erosion of key relationships, and is often, but not always, centered around one individual who claims to have special knowledge. The members function in society, albeit with an altered worldview. Universal Medicine has offered a rather limp defense that they are not a cult on their own site, albeit without either understanding cult criteria, or necessarily being completely forthright.
A feature of cult doctrines is the presentation of the world in absolute terms. In the case of Universal Medicine the world is simply “Fiery” or “Pranic” and the student is asked to choose between them on a moment by moment basis. Serge uses everyday personal dilemma’s that are common to all (problems, lack of fulfillment, self-esteem, relationship, financial issues, and so forth) and world problems, real and imagined, as the justifying rationale behind his choice; describing those things as resulting from “prana’ and “pranic choices”
He simply needs to set this idea in motion for the student to commence a process of auto-indoctrination. Once introduced to the concept, the idea insinuates itself into the consciousness informing every decision in light of this new ‘paradigm’. Furthermore, by introducing the key idea that thought and emotion is ‘wrong’ he creates a distrust within the would be student in their own ability to make that decision. They soon come to see their own reactions as flawed and ‘pranic’. To reinforce this process Serge offers healings, workshops, meetings and group support aiding the student in letting go of their own critical faculty.
The Student blogs are bursting with descriptions of self-indoctrination and details of how critical thought has been abandoned. It is also very interesting to note how many of the students mythologize their childhood and how Serge uses children as ‘proofs’ that society and the world at large corrupt people with ‘pranic’ thought. In the Universal Medicine doctrine, children are ‘claire sentient’ which is later suppressed (often blamed on parenting, schooling etc) and a goal is to return to that state of ‘innocence’.
However, it is well known that children before the age of 6 or 7 view the world in a non-critcal way, since they lack the high functioning critical faculty that develops as the brain does. It has been covered in another post here how Stage 1 thinking is replaced by Stage 2 which is ‘reflective’ and ‘high functioning cognizant states’ that have allowed humans to self-reflect, excel, advance, and have a sense of the future, past and consequences of choices. Faculties clearly lacking in children.
So in actual fact, Serge’s doctrine of ‘soulfullness’ is really about switching off the critical faculties and returning to a child-like state. This rings true because it is in that state we absorb much like children, who fail to grasp inter-relatedness, reason, meaning, consequence and experience the world ‘as is’. In this state we are more prone to re-programming as the critical mind is not testing the probity of the information or its source. Remember, we have gained our understanding of the world- our key values and personality traits- from the influence of that period. Many base assumptions, values and predispositions are formed in that time. That is why this period is deemed so critical in a child’s development. (Consider children in varying cultures and subcultures, their development and subsequent worldview. Consider also how some children manage to carve out their own sense of self despite their milieu and what faculty might been at play to have allowed that to occur)
Therefore, when a ‘student’ is asked to do ‘the work’ they are being asked to turn off their adult minds and to absorb a new paradigm- a sort of an over-writing of base programming*. All Serge needs to do is to introduce those ideas and much of the so-called ‘work’ is done by the student- self-indoctrination.
Below is an exchange between a student and Serge describing that process. It is interesting to note that Serge has no problem sharing this with the followers at large.
*Exit counselors inform me that many ex-member display symptoms of low emotional empathy and poor critical functioning well after leaving cults (and Universal Medicine) as a result of this base reprogramming.
EDG MESSAGE 29
ONE STUDENT’S HONESTY LEADS TO A COLLECTIVE REVELATION:
With Love, Kylie” Kylie has put it into the very simple it really is. Not much more needs to be said.
Except that —
is worth the daily custom.
it is all designed for you to know the grand you truly are.
Serge
Serge speaks…again and again.
Serge Announces he is the World Teacher and Bringer of Light.
Is Universal Medicine a Paternalistic Cult?
Why Do so many Women Follow Serge and Not Men?
Is it because as Serge asserts, as a women they are more ‘soft’ and able to ‘feel into’ a so called ‘truth’? Or is it simply because Universal Medicine is typical of a Paternalistic Cult?
Most cults in the World have a male leader or head figure. The vast majority of these cults have women followers. Is it because they are more enlightened, or because of something else?
Universal Medicine follows a typical strategy of ‘divide and conquer’ which is achieved by undermining the authority of the male, or less frequently female partner figure should they not agree with the ideology of the group and more specifically with Serge.
Serge has mastered this on a large scale. He has managed to alienate hundreds of women folk from their men and therefore assume the dominant male role by changing the way in which these women view their partners and men in general.
The Goal.
To elevate the leader, in this case Serge, to the penultimate male figure in the lives and minds of the followers.
Men are accepted, provided they agree with Serge and play by the rules that Serge has imposed.
How to play the Game.
1. Create a paradigm of sexualization– Serge constantly uses sex as a weapon against men by implying that they are only capable of base sexual behavior. He further underlines this by generalizing that society at large are exploiting women and their sexuality. Women in the group start to believe that their partner is objectifying them creating a tension.
2. Make sex divine- By elevating women and their sexuality and feminity and the expression of it to a divine status, the very act of temporal sexual behaviour becomes debasing. These women will start to feel that they have no normal sexual desire, and that feeling it is a sign of a lower impulse. Men showing sexual desire becomes an affront to their divine sexuality.
3. Ensure that masculinity is associated with lower, ‘animal’ impulses– Serge elevates femininity and decries masculinity at every turn. Men are “hard” and have “fascinations with breasts” based on (lack of) love issues. They are incapable of showing their ‘true’ selves and either act brutishly or intellectualize. Femininity is highly regarded and sacred.
4. Ensure that the Male ( or resistant Partners) authority is neutered– Work to make certain that men’s thoughts are seen as coming from a lower or less developed mind. This is achieved by re-affirming that women have a shortcut to truth ( periods/softeness) and are naturally ‘claresentient’ and that men deny these abilities at an early age and because of ‘societal imposed roles’. The outcome is that woman begins to view the man has flawed and his thoughts/feelings/opinions worthless. ( with the exception of Serge who is special and above a ‘normal’ man)
5. Undermine and belittle (so-called) Roles– Serge works to ensure that women and his students in general believe that society has imposed roles upon them, such as being a wife or mother ( or breadwinner for a man) and that these roles are inherently wrong and not ‘in-truth’- surreptitiously he replaces them with his own roles which is to play his game of paradigm shifting and to serve his world-view.
The Outcome.
Women leave their marriages, relationships, partnerships in the belief that there is a more ‘perfect’ way of relatng to men. ( it is noted that they also tend to co-habitate- a common practice of cult-women worldwide in the last 50 years. This structure further strengthens the paradigm as the women reinforce shared beliefs and reverence for the now dominant male figure)
The Reality…
Relationships require work, truth and honesty. No such relationship exists. Serge has manipluated the women into a state of servitude to his ego and self agrandisment by belittling the love partner and replacing them with himself as the ‘dominant stag’. As a Narcissist this is essential for his reflective worldview. However, there is mostly likely a deeper reason:
The Dominant Stag and his dysfunction.
Serge uses his lectures, recording, books, EDG’s. retreats and Womens Groups to drive home his message and to ‘groom’ women in the fashion described. The content of these meetings are available freely on the internet and various places and much of it refers to ‘underage sex’, ‘sexual exploitation’ ‘vaginas, ovaries, breasts’ , ‘men’s inability to make love’ ‘ men releasing themselves’, ‘ young girls being “split” [upon prematurely losing their virginity] ‘ ‘hand jobs/blowjobs [by underage person] ‘ and more detailed edicts such as ” making men sleep alone” and “not allowing men to show be less than you [as a divine feminine aspect] would expect”- all informing the unsuspecting recipient of his expectation, and those familiar with such assertions of the fact that Serge has a sexual pathology of a ‘groomer’ and quite possibly a ‘predator’.
The facts:
Serge met his current wife when she was 12- He was 31. Assuming the best, this is very unusual behavior. In the minds of most people in the Western World and with modern sensibilities, this would be considered exploitation and inappropriate to your average person. ( however it is well noted that the defense blogs of the faithful have not commented on this on one occasion, so one must assume that these faithful concur with this behavior, or are tracking a parallel trajectory with the aforementioned wife)
Serge is fascinated with Sex and particularly underage Sex– by rallying against these things insistently Serge reveals an unhealthy fascination and perhaps and obsession with these feelings. Perhaps he is resisting them or is covertly confessing past transgressions.
Serge discounts all other males as loveless and abusive– a common tactic amongst groomers. Most sexual predators will neutralize the male figures such as father, partners, husbands in order to gain control of the object of their desire- however in the case of Serge, it is more about gaining control of the women and the knowledge that he has preeminence in their minds and thoughts and that he has been able to covertly convince them to disregard their love interests; a large payoff for a narcissistic personality.
Assumptions:
Perhaps Serge surrounds himself with young ladies by way of his courses or at his home/workplace. Whether he indulges himself or the control is satisfaction enough is speculation. None the less, it is most likely and from all accounts, happening.
The sad conclusion…
Universal Medicine is really about Serge’s narcissistic and dysfunctional sexualised world-view. It is true that the followers have tremendous feelings of empowerment and expansion, because Serge knows how to find those ‘buttons’ personally and via the group that ‘engage’ the followers. Read the biography of any predator (sexual or otherwise) and this is a skill that is apparent and essential for their absolute success; Be it an uncle, family friend, scout leader, clergyman, or cult leader.
By winning trust, and emotional commitment above all and everyone else, these personalities can manipulate their followers into behavior and modes of thinking unimaginable to their former selves. There exits a sort of an unconsummated love bond between the perpetrator and the victim trembling in a sort of suspended animation that the vanquisher relishes- fully in the knowledge that they can execute at any time and at their discretion. The hitherto unrealized victim is almost faint in the dim and inarticulate anticipation of the act which they suppress, yet may very well enact should the circumstance arise.