Guruphiliac: Dahngerous "Yoga"



Sunday, September 06, 2009

Dahngerous "Yoga"

File under: Gurubusting, Gurus Clockin' Dollars and Hands Where They Don't Belong

A reader turned us on to a fine piece of investigative journalism about Korean guru Ilchi Lee's Dahn Hak, aka Dahn Yoga in the States, an org that's chock full of the usual culty nastiness in which lives are wrecked while the cash gets clocked:
Shipley, now 25, is one of 27 former Dahn practitioners who filed suit in Arizona in May claiming the group subjected them to psychological manipulation and fraudulently induced them to spend thousands of dollars on Dahn yoga classes and retreats in Sedona, Ariz. and other places. The punishing techniques, they say, included forced isolation from friends and families, exercises like bowing 3,000 times all night long without breaks, disciplining members by sticking their heads in the toilet and making them lick other members' feet, and having them hold certain poses, like the push-up position, for 20 to 30 minutes at a time. On top of those charges, the suit alleges that Ilchi Lee, the 57-year-old Korean founder of Dahn and its spiritual leader, sexually preyed on young female disciples.
Dahn makes its money the traditional way, squeezing it out of hapless initiates with "money training," ridiculous quackery and straight-up pseudo-science:
Dahn centers sell a variety of products it deems healing-related. Nina Miller, a plaintiff in the Arizona suit, is seeking reimbursement for the $1,800 she spent on a gold painted "Okum turtle"--an item purportedly made from "living metallic materials" that "optimizes harmony within the body." For $450 Dahn sells a kit that includes a Brain Respiration Quotient, a transmitter that uses light and sound to supposedly stimulate the brain, and Power Brains, a brain-shaped handheld vibrator that is said to increase awareness during meditation.

Testimonials on the company's Web site claim brain wave vibration has lowered high blood pressure, corrected lazy eyes and healed the symptoms of multiple sclerosis. But the company cannot point to any independent peer-reviewed studies vouching for its effectiveness. Brian Cummings, a neuroscientist at the University of California, Irvine, says calling it pseudoscience would be generous. "Exercising, stretching and meditating may be beneficial to health. But there is no science behind the claim that vibrations in the body alter brain activity in a meaningful way," says Cummings.
And guess where all the money goes:
Dahn claims that founder Ilchi Lee is no longer directly involved in the company but instead runs a consulting firm, BR Consulting, which owns the intellectual property used by Dahn Yoga. (Lee is seeking to dismiss the suit against him on this basis as well.) But according to the plaintiffs, Ilchi Lee controls them all. They claim Dahn's profits are transferred to Lee and used to fund a lifestyle that includes a horse ranch in Arizona, high stakes gambling, a yacht and a private jet. forbes confirmed that BR Consulting owns the jet, the horse ranch and some residential properties.
In the end, you'll take it in the end for the guru and like it. This is the operating principle of almost every bit-time guru's satsang. Lee is no exception, and apparently, despite all the bad press he's generating in the States, there's still a full, rich market of the disaffected from which he can continue to steal.

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14 Comments:

At 9/14/2009 6:12 AM, Anonymous quackers said...

what's the point of posting if my comments are not printed?

now whats happened admin?

was it because i attacked (up)chuck the mule/horse in one instant?

mule/horse - whats the difference, still an ass isnt he?

well he was attacking me on another thread.

so if youre upset about me attacking him then you should have been equally upset when he was attacking me...

but you werent and that's double standards!

anyway its just a guess, maybe its your time of the month?

 
At 9/15/2009 9:22 AM, Blogger CHUCK said...

quackers, sorry I missed this here attack of yours cuse I certainly do enjoy bein attacked sometimes, unless it's like someone attacking Turkey from the rear without the aide of Greece! why not just say again what yore problem is with yours truly! By the way there is quite a difference between a horse and a mule, especially this mule! Da Free jack is a special critter. If I weren't layed up with the gout, I might have the energy to explain it to you...

 
At 9/16/2009 10:30 AM, Anonymous quackers said...

u attacked me when i was posting under anon, and i attacked u. i had just started posting here as well and it wasnt nice..

but then if you didnt even realise it, thats good for me, others did however

oh well just as well...

no problem with you otherwise: actually i could keep you as my pet.

 
At 9/16/2009 3:04 PM, Blogger CHUCK said...

Quackers, I doubt you could afford my mule as a pet, youre better off just playin with yoreself!

 
At 9/17/2009 4:36 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hello Jody,

Why the add of this Madhukar figure on your site, or aren't you in control of those adds?
Anyway, this is your fake, self-appointed, self-aggrandized guru right here!!
Good luck,

J.

 
At 9/17/2009 7:54 AM, Anonymous quackers said...

or how about this one?


"ATTRACTIVE MULE/ASS FOR SALE"

NAME: UPCHUCKJI (cos anyone who sees him eventually throws up)

CONDITIONS: pls be aware when we say "attractive", that means beauty is in the eye of the beholder...

except if you find chuckji attractive, you've probably had a lobotomy...which is why you will find him attractive...

TRAINING: by this we mean he does shit ALOT from his mouth and NEEDS training...

FRIENDS:upchuckji has some rather strange friends, who come barking everytime upchuckji is attacked...

they are ofcourse of the same breed because they start howling and baying together...

in a language only they understand

ADVICE:if approached by any of these undesirable creatures ...RUN like the wind...

or else get knocked out by the stench of chuck...

more later...i gotta go throw up again...!

ADMIN:if i wanted to communicate with animals i'd go visit the zoo,
but even there,they wouldnt allow the likes of upchuck

so why allow him on here?

i guess by that comment i've probably upset jody/admin,
its ok jody/admin u can keep your pet...

except cant you keep him LOCKED UP?

 
At 9/17/2009 9:27 AM, Anonymous quackers said...

and anyway i'm finding this site pretty boring nowadays...
i used to like it when i first started and my more entertaining posts were printed...

but now they are just not printed...

its a bit hard to stay on the subject at hand all the time esp when you are talking of pig-ugly cult leaders...

so often my topic goes off course and i start talking of my fav tv show or actor...

i know this but this is because i cant concentrate on cult leaders all the time...

...have you seen prem rawat? hardly a pin-up is he? so i talk of other actors (you know which ones) but those comments are never printed...

so this site is getting boring for me...and then i have to speak to another pig-ugly beast: chuck

god, is there anyone i'd like to ignore more then him? NO!

pig ugly cult leaders vs pig ugly ass! who wins?

who cares? i dont, the sight of either is too much for any teenage girl to take...

so i'm outta here, for a while anyway, it's all a bit too much to take...

and especially since even on the comments sometimes the ignorance is astounding...

i try my best to remove it but i can never be as good as jody, so i'll leave it to him...

instead i'll go have a natter with my mates instead....!

thanx and bye....!

 
At 9/17/2009 9:48 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

quackers ,

Please , please leave for good.Do not let amnesia creep in.

This site is certainly not for bad mouthing Chuckji. That too unwarranted.

 
At 9/18/2009 8:23 AM, Blogger CHUCK said...

Sir or mam, thanks for the kind attention! I'll just cut some cheese and then you can have it with your quackers! I know better than most that I look like somethin born from a 200 pound mother bred with a bored hog... Still, there's another feller who shows up here from time to time name of "semblance". He and I didn't hit it off at furst but now we are the best of friends.

 
At 9/23/2009 6:13 AM, Anonymous quackers said...

anon: go hide up chuckji's inbred backside.
i doubt this site is for the likes of you or the upchuck either but hey...!

and upchuck: stop neighing and baying or whatever,

i doubt we could be friends but i asked my pet if she would befriend u, but even she has standards...

about the part of upchuck having strange friends, i think that's just been proven...

and now bye again...sigh!

ps: and i cant help it if i dont like the mule/ass. he attacked me the very first time i posted here, and my arguements were the correct ones!

meaning i was the one arguing against the idiot making ignorant comments out of his arse...

and this dumb mule attacked me instead...!

i guess it's first impressions and all and its stuck, i've never liked upchuck since...!

 
At 9/23/2009 7:00 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Chuck ,

Welcome :)mam it is.You have good sense & empathy.Why bother about appearance.

 
At 9/25/2009 7:14 AM, Anonymous quackers said...

i dont think you have the time to worry about anyone elses appearance but your own...

and appearance is the last of your worries: a decent brain, breeding,
and an understandable language could be a start...

a mate for u could be another worry:
not many inbred mules about, considering mules are inbred anyway and we're talking of an inbred inbred in your and your friends cases...

u know the ones, the ones who come here to defend the undefendable like yourself...

 
At 9/26/2009 8:13 PM, Blogger CHUCK said...

mr or miss quackers, ifn you were a bit more intelligent or entertainin I might stoop to answer you more completely but the Good Lord has chose not to give you much to work with in them there areas. My advice and my mule's advice is to finish jr high and go on to high school, then seek suitable employment! As a wit you jist do not measure up, good buddy!

 
At 10/01/2009 6:15 AM, Anonymous quackers said...

choice between talking to an idiot or you, i'd take the idiot

dont worry, you are funny for the both of us cos you are the JOKE!

 

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