The Sunday Telegraph’s report on UM has seen the cult abandon their gentle breath meditation and crank the propaganda machine into overdrive. In house barrister, Charles Wilson, has weighed in publicly, but the best he could do was accuse News Ltd of aligning with cyber-bullies. A blog post on UM’s site embellishes that silliness with a bunch of inane distortions and blatant lies.
Veteran Journalist Jane Hansen linked to Cyber-bullies in Latest Media Coverage on Universal Medicine
Being ‘linked’ to so called ‘cyber-bullies’ isn’t exactly mentioned in state and federal crimes acts, unlike deceptive and misleading conduct and breaches of charitable fundraising authority.
Here we go again, the standard UM reaction to media coverage. The media is biased, documentary evidence is ‘lies’, UM refuses to answer the questions, accuses everyone and their cat of defamation, baulks at taking legal action and tells investors a couple of suburban activists are deceiving international media organizations – who are missing out on the real story – the ‘miracle’ of Universal Medicine.
The wheels are in motion for yet another biased story on Universal Medicine, after Daily Telegraph journalist Jane Hansen contacted founder Serge Benhayon last week with a series of leading questions about the student run charity, The College of Universal Medicine…
It appears that Hansen was most likely tipped off directly by the complainant, and there is evidence to suggest she is actively collaborating with both anti-Universal Medicine blogger Esther Rockett, who works actively with anti-UM ring leader Lance Martin.
Both have form in attracting mainstream media interest in their lies about UM, even putting their name to several documents detailing a litany of defamatory and insulting allegations against the Lismore-based business. Universal Medicine Website
Allegedly defamatory allegations that none of UM’s four plus lawyers, including big scary barrister, Charles Wilson, have ever taken any action over, in spite of Benhayon taking up a collection for a legal fund on behalf of 70+ Esoteric ‘healers’, and telling Google in late 2012 they intended to.
Charles Wilson, mind you, is a director of the College of Universal Medicine charity under investigation.
The College of Universal Medicine is described as a non-profit student-run educational institution, which offers courses run by UM-trained practitioners in men and women’s health and well-being, who volunteer their time.
Founded by Serge Benhayon who appointed himself the charity’s ‘Chairman in Perpetuity’, and which in 3 years of operation has charged students to attend their so called charitable activities, and raised money to renovate a building Benhayon owns, so that he can run his clinic and courses out of it.
That Hansen first notified Mr Benhayon about the complaint suggests this is an inside job, giving a small group of hate campaigners a free run with the press.
LOL!
While the substance of the complaints remain under wraps by both government offices, it is understood the complaint to Liquor and Gaming was formally made on Wednesday June 18th – the day after Hansen put her questions to Mr Benhayon.
Serge must be operating in a different space time continuum. The signed confirmation letter we have from the OLGR is dated June 12.
College board member and Brisbane barrister Charles Wilson contacted the manager of investigations at the Office of Liquor and Gaming, who told him when the complaint was made and said he “shouldn’t lose any sleep over it”.
It is understood to relate to allegations of funds being “dispensed inappropriately”.
The manager also confirmed that it was against the Office’s policy to inform journalists or the public about complaints – proving Hansen didn’t hear about the complaint directly from Liquor and Gaming.
Does that mean it’s the office’s policy to give details of the investigation to directors of charities under investigation?
Some commentary: What matters is not that the complaint is false – that is a given, due to Rockett’s track record. The problem is that the media is able to speculate on the meaning of the complaint, and use it to bolster their story, before it is deemed illegitimate by Fair Trading or Liquor and Gaming.
The statement that my complaints are ‘false’ is defamatory – and duly noted.
Universal Medicine’s reputation – already affected by a litany of false articles from 2012 which remain online – is set to take another blow from sensationalism, forged with distortions and innuendo.
UM withdrew legal action against those media organizations when they worked out they’d have to prove the allegations were false. That’s why they ‘remain online’.
Journalistic integrity does not involve relying on obviously dubious sources for your narrative, Ms Hansen.
No, journalistic integrity involves relying on evidence. That we have. By the truckload.
I love it when UM lectures on journalistic integrity – particularly when they count bent journalist Hamish Broome among their faith-full propaganda team. And also when UM refuses to answer questions, studiously conceals much of their marketing and their more bizarre and anti-social doctrines from public view, and erases online content the minute it’s scrutinized.
As previously mentioned, Rockett described herself as being depicted as “some sort of windbag nuisance” by the HCCC – apparently in reports to the NSW Health Minister in regard to her series of false complaints. This included her submission to a recent NSW parliamentary inquiry into misleading information about complementary health care, described as ‘self-serving’ by the government committee. This submission has not been referenced or published due to it not meeting the terms of reference.
Hasn’t it?!
Hasn’t been referenced, or hasn’t been referenced yet?
For the record, this is the quote from the letter from the Health Minister to a local member concerning my complaints to the HCCC – March 28, 2013. It led me to express justifiable frustration that my complaints weren’t being taken seriously. The statement shows that my complaints have been misrepresented:
With respect to individual unregistered practitioners, such as Mr Benhayon personally, the Commission advised me that Ms Rockett has not provided any evidence regarding is [sic] treatment of individual clients apart from her own experience in 2005, and bases her complaints on material available on the Universal Medicine website.
We all know UM avoids posting controversial material on their website. Complaints I made came from talking to people affected, information found in student notes, materials distributed to students and Benhayon’s books. The complaint of inappropriate of touching of sexual abuse victims came from the workshop manuals. The Commission’s advice indicates they hadn’t read my complaints.
The Health Minister added:
Legislation is currently before Parliament to broaden the legislation allowing complaints to be made about conduct “which is likely” to affect individual clients. This amendment should give the Commission the potential capacity in future to investigate health service providers without having a complaint from or about an actual client.
Currently, cult psychologist Marianna Masiorski is under formal investigation by AHPRA Queensland, Caroline Raphael was required by the NSW Psychology Council to undergo counselling, and there are further serious complaints in the system.
Perhaps the most obvious breach of ethics in the lead-up to the story was this:
On Saturday, Rockett tweeted: “HEADS UP, DUCKIES! Universal Medicine article tomorrow in the Sunday Telegraph (Sydney)… Will UM answer the questions?”.
In the tweet she hyper-linked to a blog post in which she wrote: “Charlie Wilson has put on his barrister pants and has been huffing and puffing down the phone to a few folk.”
The content of the call has obviously made its way back to Rockett from someone in the Sunday Telegraph, a matter which would clearly amount to a serious and disturbing breach of journalistic ethics.
It just gets better! Who wrote this? Probably Sarah Davis and Rebecca Baldwin. Okay, RMRC, would you like to point out which clause in the journalistic code of ethics is breached by a journalist talking to a source?
Serge didn’t answer the questions did he?
It’s an astounding revelation that a senior journalist at News Ltd would knowingly align herself with a woman whose conduct has prompted calls for the HCCC to class her as a “vexatious complainant” (after bombarding them with unsubstantiated complaints), who presides over a slanderous [sic] blog packed with cleverly written lies, and has misled the public about virtually every interaction she ever had with Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine.
Every statement in that paragraph is false and defamatory. In court the authors of that nonsense and the owner of that site will be asked to produce documentation or witnesses from the HCCC to prove they class me as a ‘vexatious complainant’ and that my complaints are unsubstantiated. They’ll need to prove I have defamed them, nominate the alleged lies and prove what I have said is false.
And when they can’t, they’ll pay me damages.
A copy of that post on the UM website is also being sent to the OLGR, NSW Fair Trading, the HCCC and the NSW Parliamentary Inquiry Committee.
Nice work, Charles.
Esther Rockett 
The problem with specializing in ‘esoteric truths’ is that in the real world, they are known as lies. No amount of ‘spherical context’ can change that. The only people they’re convincing with these emotional reactions to FACTS are themselves. Everyone else can see they’re completely delusional, just like their increasingly discredited guru.
At least your so-called lies are cleverly written. No so theirs.
Yes, everything they have said on that page is substantially wrong. It’s because they’re indignant and the pause is on thinking. And we’ve intruded on their love bubble.
The ‘mainstream’ media is only ever going to write stories that interest the public, and only ever based on verifiable facts. The Sunday Tele article, and all others, have been past lawyers. It’s not sensational. It just states the facts.
(By the by, Serge claiming to be a member of the hierarchy or Pythagoras is far more interesting to the public (aka astral cult) than the limp health claims of Universal Medicine, which with just one read of its website can be dismissed as very subjective and based on glaring false dilemma’s- such as the massive rise of illness across the world.)
The same fact checking applies with David Leser’s article, Heath Astons, Byron Kaye’s and Josh Robertson (my best mates apparently)… It HAS to be. That is their code of ethics they HAVE to abide by.
What code of ethics to UM have when they write their site copy or advertising material. Or hate blogs?
Has anyone checked the “facts” on the hate blog, say by calling (or emailing) me or Esther a with a list of questions? Of course not. I wouldn’t mind a list of “leading questions” rather than a pile of baseless and defamatory allegations cooked up by a committee of hate-full people with an agenda to protect their belief system and guru.
And I’d challenge anyone at UM to pull one thing at of any of those articles that is not substantially true.
Just ONE thing.
Here’s their chance to prove someone wrong with a FACT- rather than just making crazy allegations without proof.
But I guess when your belief systems and lifestyle choices are based on the utterance of one man you don’t know from Adam, fact checking is not high on your list of priorities. Is it.
There’s not a national newspaper in the western world that would publish an article based on UM’s description of how articles are written – by a single source informing a journalist. No editor would allow it, and the paper would be open to all manner of legal consequence should the source be proved inaccurate.
UM’s continual questioning of the integrity of any and all journalists who write about them says an awful lot about UM. I am not even sure of the exact number now of journalists, both print and TV, from a variety of institutions who have explored UM and have all come to a pretty similar conclusion. And yet, each time, UM cries the same cry.
Rather than answering questions, or, if they are so sure what is written is untrue, taking legal action, the same, tired response comes out.
The only people drinking that kool-aid are the paid up members. It’s very, very apparent to everyone else what the real truth is.
According to today’s Telegraph, Serge said “Not a single person can be persuaded, coerced or brain washed against their will”. So they’re being persuaded, coerced & brainwashed by choice?Just asking…
To a small extent- unbelievably- Serge is right. It’s hard to brainwash against someone’s will. ie- where they are aware that they are being coerced or convinced. (but not impossible, according to real science and some simple observation)
However, thought and emotion reform is not only possible but exceedingly easy and well documented when the process is covert. That is, the subject is unaware of it.
It’s likely Serge isn’t even aware how it works himself. There are forces at work he and the group don’t understand (nor care about)
” In general, natural groups…seem to encourage attraction between their members…we prefer to be with people who ‘provide us with rewards’ and who are similiar to us at a very basic level on such aspects as beliefs, interests, personal backgrounds, and values. We also tend to be attracted to people who are physically…..nearby. Human beings engaging in social interactions tend to synchronize posture. movements, vocalizations and facial expressions, usually without being aware of doing so: this leads to both their behaviors and moods converging, a process labelled ’emotional contagion’… P39, Brainwashing. Kathleen Taylor, Oxford Press, 2004.
“In psychological terms [cult] leaders raise the issue of charisma and followers that of dependence. Both are bound together in the group by a shared ‘cognitive landscape’; a commonwealth of ideas, beliefs, attitudes and feelings.: P38, Brainwashing. Kathleen Taylor, Oxford Press, 2004.
“The mind that generates our sense of self is a product of a brain that has evolved to become social. But in being social, the self is radically altered by the presence of others and our need to fit in with them. This is such an imperative that being in the a group can be one of the most life affirming experiences but also one of the greatest anxiety inducing challenges.” Chapter 6, Bruce Hood. The Self Illusion. Constable press, 2012.
“…In fact, completely false memories can be constructed simply by asking leading questions… hypnotism is probably one of the best examples where people seem to abdicate their personal sense of free well. Why is this? Hypnotism seems like some magical power….that is the myth of hypnotism…it works because not only do we instinctively tend to mimic other…if you couple that with induction techniques that place us in a state of relaxation…then it is fairly easy to hypnotize someone. There’s nothing paranormal about it… V C4,5 7. Bruce Hood. The Self Illusion. Constable press, 2012.
“We are so concerned with maintaining the illusion of the sovereignty of self that we are prepared to argue that black is white just to prove that we are right. This is why we effortlessly and sometimes unknowingly reinterpret our behavior to make it seem that we had deliberately made the choices all along. We constantly telling ourselves stories to make sense of ourselves.” Chapter 5, The Self Illusion. Bruce Hood,Constable press, 2012.”
My guess is Serge’s “science” is based on Brendan Mooney’s far from insightful analysis, and the opinions of other highly compromised individuals in the group. Although, science is a word that has a very broad and often convenient meaning within UM.
Another error they keep making is the false belief that ‘professionals’ and ‘intelligent people’ cannot be ‘brainwashed’ (to use that term) when it is evident that many groups have the same sort of members. One’s profession has nothing to do with your capacity to resist the lure of group dynamics, reward dopamine and stealthy thought and emotion priming conducted over and over on individuals who attend events in good faith. Even, and perhaps especially, psychologists. These are people that are looking for answers; and if they don’t have a pre-awareness of how thought-reform can happen and the right critical defenses in place, they are as susceptible as the next person.
They’ll use confirmation bias and that illusion of sovereignty to dovetail their new world view into their thinking.
The fact is, people are EASILY influenced. And there is mountains of evidence that memories and emotions can be manipulated over time, without any knowledge of it by the recipient. In that situation, there is no way of telling that it has even happened, because the author of the memories and feelings appears to be yourself. Original memories and feelings are simply supplanted.
That’s why the groups blogs are full of group speak, similiar stories and feelings, mutual appreciation and back patting, righteous indignation, huffing and puffing, out-group hatred, and irrational justifications.
Serge, as usual, knows nothing. He stumbles over a truth occasionally but only as he tries to explain his hocus-pocus based on a wobbling pile of porkies and misappropriations. Truth is usually battered to death along the way.
Here’s some good news though. Those group dynamics tend to break down when the group numbers fall. 100 is a critical number… I know what I want for Christmas. Although the thought of members wandering around in a daze having to deal with reality is not a nice one. We’re already seeing people who are going through it who have left the group.
The legacy of Universal Medicine.
Perhaps I should have added this in the post – News Ltd received notification of the OLGR complaint from a member of parliament, not from the complainants. Even if the complainants notified the media, there is no law against it.
There are, however, laws against rorting, ripping people off and molesting.
Plus, something the cult might want to consider – we’ve had considerably more support – rather influential support – since they made the mistake of defaming us. The consequences of which they haven’t begun to imagine.
They’re not too bright … the more they defame & attempt to discredit their critics, the more they draw attention to themselves.
Draw attention to their less love -ly side …
College board member and Brisbane barrister Charles Wilson contacted the manager of investigations at the Office of Liquor and Gaming, who told him when the complaint was made and said he “shouldn’t lose any sleep over it”.
It is understood to relate to allegations of funds being “dispensed inappropriately”.
The manager also confirmed that it was against the Office’s policy to inform journalists or the public about complaints – proving Hansen didn’t hear about the complaint directly from Liquor and Gaming.
UM have removed those remarks from the site.
Which is fine. I took a screenshot of the post and it’s been forwarded to the appropriate parties.
Wilson’s statement today is that the CoUM is unaware of the grounds of the complaint.
So was that first statement a fib, Charlie?
UM’s “esoteric truths” do seem a tad hazy and often at odds with reality. “Truth” seems to be defined according to what suits. Alternative truths are denied, distorted, deleted or blocked.
Serge even selectively distorts what Jesus Christ said to support his view that all are God.
The one true loving God of the Universe is probably not impressed! In Ezekial 28 (Bible) He gently, patiently and lovingly warns those who believe they are God / are wise in their own eyes. Eventually He allows others to expose and make it clear that they are not God!
It’s not too late for Serge to address ALL concerns raised (to make amends and appropriate changes). Also to reconsider all that Jesus really said. (Preferably from the most reliable historical sources, see lawyer Josh McDowell’s “New Evidence That Demands a Verdict”).
Then UM might find a sounder way, true truth, lasting love, freedom and peace.
What a tangled web UM are weaving. UM insist on shooting the messenger/s don’t they?
UM were given ample opportunity to have their say.
WHY WHY not answers the questions?
With the current media interest, Serge Benhayon and all the ‘NOT’ brainwashed members could now tell the world the answers.
When people who are honest are questioned and they have nothing to hide they are very open and answer questions, they do discredit those seeking answers.
Is UM alternative Medicine?
OR
Are they now a Religion as one of their sites state?
Many irons in many fires I say, is it so if one plan gets found out there is always plan B,C,D,E….? Very suss.
I am guessing that all UM members/Practitioners HAVE to be really very vocal and busy right now, as this is the time for their yearly review to prove to the EPA (lol) that they are still full of integrity, love truth and light and love and doing as they are told etc etc you know worthy/loyal enough to still be Universal Medicine Practitioners.
Is Neil Ringe still a Universal Medicine Head? He was supposed to be the Chairperson of the EPA? He is very quiet.Why? I am asking? Leaving all the hard work to the Brides and Charlie the Barrister!?
It’s a good point. Is Universal Medicine a healthcare organisation or a religion? Although they’ve come out of the religious closet, their marketing is still ambiguous.
However, given their health care has zero health benefits and has caused comprehensive harm, and is based entirely on Benhayon’s occult magical thinking doctrines – religion is a slightly more accurate description.
But its true definition is cult.
Based around one central leader, uses deception and thought reform processes to exert undue influence, and features sexual and financial exploitation. No financial transparency, no meaningful accountability, outsiders are always wrong, claims monopoly on ‘truth’, perceives itself as persecuted etc etc.
Cult.
Did anyone else hear Charles Wilson on radio ABC North Coast this morning?
Lance did. We thought they were going to post a recording of the interview. If they do, we’ll link to it.