I haven't heard about that in awhile, but looking forward to hearing more about it.

I have had extensive experience with Dahn. There are many many positives to the practice and the workshops. I have seen others and have personally experienced much improvement in my physical, emotional and spiritual well-being. Unfortunately, due to the expense of the program and running the business, the "sales" aspect can become overwhelming for "members."

Having been both a trained instructor and member of Dahn, I also sometimes am confused about their purpose. Bottom line though, the regular practice of Dahn Yoga, or any Yoga, can bring about great benefits. The additional benefit for Dahn Yoga is that the "regular" person can achieve great physical and spiritual benefits from the practice. There is not the initial intimidation of asanas as can occur in the more traditional forms.

I have taught and practiced both, and continue to combine both in my daily practice.

its pity ,in the name of yoga diffrent kinds of crazy stuff being taught to the people . yoga must be practice as YOG not as exerceise of cult .
i m surprised to know that yog have been dwongraded to such low level .

I went to a free Dahn yoga class offered in my hometown about a month ago. What I experienced in the introductory class was nothing like the yoga I have previously experienced (hatha, Bikram, vinyasa), lots of counting and chanting and not very much movement or focus on the breath. Just a lot of TALK about focus on the breath. The teachers made me incredibly uncomfortable, asking me what I thought of the class about every five minutes. Then, they asked me to pay four hundred dollars for three months of classes and tried to pressure me into paying a slightly smaller amount when I said no thank you. The room in which the classes were held was lit with fluorescent lights, which I don't really think facilitated relaxation, and we had to vocally participate in the class by counting our breath to a chant, as a group. This lasted for about ten or fifteen minutes. I felt like I was in the first grade. It wasn't the yoga for me. It did feel very cultish, to say the least.

Out of curiousity, I once attended a Dahn Yoga open house. It was mostly about marketing and signing people up for a variety of things - prerequisite: a $20 Aura photo - and selling vibrating "brains". I asked them to demonstrate or describe what type of yoga they taught. The fresh-faced instructor was unable to come up with a satisfactory answer (guess it wasn't in their script). I asked if they knew about Iyengar yoga, and they had no idea what I was talking about. Need I say more?

I just googled Dahn Yoga and it confirmed my suspicion. I was looking for a place to study yoga and tried their free introductory class. I had this creepy feeling all through the class. Like someone is telling me this is not yoga. They made me count, pressured me to sign up for a lot of money. I got out the place as fast as I could. This place is in my neighborhood for almost 15 years and I often wonder how their bussiness survive. I don't see a lot of people going in and out of their place.

I practiced Dahn Yoga for about two years before I become an Instructor. After that I've been a trainer for more then three years and I've seen Dahn Yoga (HSP Yoga or Brain Respiration) from a members, instructors, workshop trainer and center manager point of view.

As a philosophy and as a mind, body and spirit programme, Dahn Yoga is possibly the best, one possibly can find. It combines techniques like or similar to Yoga, Pilates, Martial Arts, Energy Healing, Acupressure, Meditation and many more. It also teaches Chi (Qi or Ki) sensitivity and other HSP (higher sensory perception) techniques which are literally priceless.

Unfortunately the Management of the centres puts a lot of focus on the financial aspect of the business. The management explains to the instructors and trainers that the money generated by the centres, is being used to open more centres to help other people, and matter of fact, I’ve seen many centres opening and many many satisfied members and customers. There are events organised by the Dahn Yoga centres to support Families, events to make people more aware about the state of our Planet and so on.
The whole concept basically is to make people more self aware and awaken their Healers consciousness, so people can improve their life, improve society and the planet.

A problem in the centres is usually a language barrier, most of the senior staff, which is about 99% is Korean. There is also a huge difference in mentality. I wouldn’t say that Dahn Yoga is a cult though there is a hierarchy with the masters (Jidojas) led by Dr. IllchiLee. That is something one can find in every company and especially with spiritual groups and organisations.

My suggestion is to try the Dahn Yoga training and to take on board what you think is useful. If the staff asks for big money memberships or trainings simply say “no” if you don’t feel like you’ll get benefit out of it.

I tried Dahn yoga once when I was traveling, since it was the closest studio to where I was staying and had a class at the right time. It was the weirdest "yoga" class I have EVER been to. First of all, everyone has their own uniforms they keep at the studio, reminiscent of karate uniforms. The "studio" was an office, complete with fluorescent lighting and linoleum tiled floors. Not only that, but there were lots of yoga-esque things that we did, like banging the bottoms of our feet together (presumably to open energy channels?) The teacher and other students were not flexible, either. Then, at the end, meaning for the last half hour of class, everyone lay on their backs while the teacher came around and 'healed' us. The goal of the class was clearly this meditation, but it was bizarre. He used energy from his hands and waved them around each of us. There were also medical-seeming charts on the walls detailing energy flows, etc.

I was relaxed afterwards, but it was really strange and felt cultish to me. However! It doesn't fit the requirements of a cult: living leader, members change lifestyle and give up contact with non-members, work tirelessly and without benefit to selves to support cult. It was oddly sexual though, but maybe that's just me.

I'm a Dahn Yoga Instructor currently working at one of the centers. I haven't studied Indian forms of yoga much, although I am interested in learning more. Dahn actually means "life energy" in Korean and is a Korean energy practice that, like Indian yoga, helps to increase a person's mind-body connection. Each instructor, center, and region delivers the exercise or runs a center a little differently, but the essence is always the same. Based on Eastern medicine energy principles, the idea is to get your chi/ki/qi energy flowing to improve your overall health. Some of the techniques, such as vibration exercises and energy meditation, are helpful even if a person is only capable of limited movement. It's always interesting to me to see how a person with previous yoga experience who tries a class for the first time likes it. I usually explain that it may be different from what they are used to. Some don't like it. Some love it. Some like it but say, "This isn't yoga!" One active member told me that it has a little bit of everything. To me all that really matters is that people get what they are looking for out of the exercise and that they are genuinely happy.

Eve, above, says: "It doesn't fit the requirements of a cult: living leader, members change lifestyle and give up contact with non-members, work tirelessly and without benefit to selves to support cult. It was oddly sexual though, but maybe that's just me."

Many people have reported that at the inner circle of the organization there lies a manipulative and deceptive cult that fits the description Eve provided. Proceed with caution.

I have been attending classes at a Dahn Yoga center in New York City since February. I bought a 6 month membership, which was costly, but by going 2-3 times a week, the price per class evened out to about the cost of other types of yoga. The cons are: I think the Dahn Centers use the word yoga loosely and the sales pressure is a bit much. I'm not that thrilled with the hugging that tends to go on when you enter the center. I'm there for the exercise, not the hugs. And the uniforms and the bowing are not my cup of tea but if you go to a martial arts class, you'll find that uniforms and bowing are not that extraordinary in these classes. The pros(which outweighed the cons for me): I felt measurably better after class. I became more aware and in touch with my body after being woefully out of shape. Although they told me I would likely lose weight, I don't think that the weight that I did lose came from the exercise, but from the better way that I felt about myself physically. I became motivated to start a serious diet. I am still ambivalent about the classes and the philosophy seems a bit "out there" but there is no doubting the fact that ultimately it has been good for me. After my 6 month membership I signed up for an extremely reasonable 40 class offer, which I'm half way through. After that is up I will probably move on to something else. I'm a very centered and grounded person and although there was a bit of discomfort with the sales pitch and some unusual practices, I do not let those things detract from the fact that this program has been very beneficial to me. I would not have been capable of doing Indian style yoga or much of anything when I started and I was motived to get into shape with this program and have done so.

I recently visited a Dahn Yoga center after reading "A Friendship With God" "and uncommon dialoge" at the end of the book it recommends Dahn in order to learn better breathing and meditation techniques. I loved it, I loved the Mind, Body, Soul, Universe, aspect, I just could not afford it. When a freind of mine mention "cult" and "price". It simply told her, just because the messanger may be corupt, that does not make the message corrupt. I am currently seaking a cheaper alternative of the same teaching. If anyone has any suggustions please email me. janinesemailaddress@comcast.net

I've taken classes in Tai Chi (starting in 1989) and Qi Gong and although I don't practice regularly, I really like Tai Chi.

However, my son is a yoga teacher in Montreal (it's his URL that I've given above)who tells me all the time that yoga is the way to go, so I've been trying yoga for the past 3 years. I've taken several beginner classes that include some Hatha, some Ashtanga, and some Iyengar, I watch classes on TV, and I have the big B. K. S. Iyengar book (and have followed some of the routines suggested in it).

When I first took yoga (a once-a-week lunch-hour Hatha class through the college where I teach), I found it very relaxing, but unsatisfying because I expected standing "linked-up" movements, like I'd learned in Tai Chi.

During weekly phone conversations with my son, he would ask what asanas I'd learned/practiced in my latest class, and would tell me to keep practicing. I, in turn, would complain that I wanted something that was all standing and "linked up," like Tai Chi...he kept telling me to be patient, and so I have. But I still don't much like yoga. To compound my discomfort, my office mate, a man who's 2 years older than me, has turned into an absolute yoga FREAK over the past couple of years and, because he knows my son is a yoga teacher, he thinks I should be a yoga FREAK too. So I get "How's your practice?" from my office mate on a regular basis as well as "Are you doing any yoga, Mom?" from my son. :-(

(Bear with me...I **AM** going to get to the Dahn Yoga stuff eventually!)

I'm 54, overweight, a former smoker, and didn't do any form of regular exercise since I was...um...30, so when I visited Michael (my son) in Montreal in December 2006 and attended a few of his yoga classes, I almost died (I had never done Sun Salutations until I took a class with him!).

Anyway, I haven't done yoga for several months, and Michael was just home for Christmas and encouraged me to take it up again. Since New Year's (like many people), I've been thinking I must get involved in something...

Then tonight, my husband and I had supper at a Korean restaurant, and I picked up a brochure on our way out on Dahn Yoga, noting the studio is near our home.

I went to the Dahn Yoga website and got REALLY EXCITED!! The system looks like it combines my fave things--Tai Chi and Qi Gong with YOGA--I thought "Wow!! This sounds PERFECT!!"

But then I Googled "Dahn Yoga" (I usually research things I'm not familiar with) and read a lot of disturbing stuff, like how many studios pressure people to sign up for higher levels of membership and how they're like a cult.

I'm not worried about the cult thing, and can certainly say "NO!" to pitches for more money. However, I would hope that the branch near me doesn't put its main emphasis on milking money from people.

I just want to become healthier, and this combination of yoga (even if it's not traditional yoga), Tai Chi & Qi Gong (again, even if they're not traditional Tai Chi or Qi Gong) works, then I don't really care.

That's my 2 cents' worth,
Deb Bridge

Sorry

I have only taken one Dahn yoga class. Thought it was fine. However there was the pressure to sign up immediately for a lot of classes. I'm not too keen on that type of sales tactic.

I also know a couple of people who have taught there. Personally, I think they're kind of brainwashed. But they do seem happy.

Another one of my friends used to be a Dahn member (higher level) and left for the very reason she thought it was a cult.

As a former "master" of Dahn Yoga, I feel compelled to set the story straight. The exercises and some of the concepts are beneficial. I know many people who experienced health benefits. Each Dahn Yoga center will be run somewhat differently depending upon the headmaster of the center. So some centers may not have the standard Dahn sales pressure. A member's experience will depend a lot on their headmaster. Yet my experience is that the negatives far outweigh the postives with Dahn.

There are many masters out there who have great hearts and good intentions, in fact most started off this way. Unfortunately, the Dahn system is corrupt. The system is built upon disempowering the members AND masters so that they don't trust themselves. Members trust their masters above themselves and masters trust Ilchi Lee above themselves.

Regular members probably won't hear much about Ilchi Lee. The organization has gone through great lengths to separate his name from the business, and yet he still controls the organization. He tells the masters what they need to ACHIEVE every year. He sets the goals (the VISION) and masters are taught to have the mentality to "achieve your vision or die." This is why masters will do anything to get a member to sign up for programs and pay a lot of money. I've seen crazy unethical actions performed by masters, but done with the zealous belief that their soul and the member's soul depends on it.

Even if you just sign up to take "yoga" classes, the masters will always have a hidden agenda for how to save your soul through enrolling in Dahn programs. Dahn masters are encouraged to have a plan for each member and to focus on the members with the most "potential." Dahn yoga suffers from a case of spiritual arrogance. Ilchi Lee and Dahn masters truly believe that Dahn yoga is the only path for enlightenment. This is how they justify many deceptive and manipulative actions - the end justifies the means.

Don't buy into it.

I took three classes at Dahn Yoga before I realized something was off. It's kind of like Teletubbies meets TCM. They got me on a free class and hit me on a hard sell for a 3 mos membership, but I am seeking to get it back & am thankful that I didn't dole out a whole lot. I should have known; the classes didn't seem like regular yoga, or at least the yoga I tried at the Sivananda Center in New York. It was kind of like Baby Yoga. Even that's okay, if it helps, but if I am going to do that, I'll do it at the Y without all the mumbo jumbo. The Dahn "philosophy" struck me as a checklist menu--here's a little TCM, here's a litte EST, here's a little this or that. Geez, all I wanted was to increase flexibility and core strength. The sellling point was offputting.

This is very interesting that I happened upon this blog. I began Dahn yoga about a month ago and was reallly impressed by how this practice combined emotional and spiritual health with physical health. However, after reading this blog, it confirms some suspiccions and discomfort I have felt since joining. I found the cost for 3 months exhorbitant but felt that it was worth it because I found myself in dire need of some "self-care" (700.00 with unlimited classes x 3 months). But then I began to feel singled out by the head master and was told that I should seriously consider a healing course, that it would greatly benefit me. I thought about it and thought I could do without a latte daily and expensive haircuts, to be able to afford a weekly healing session, but then I found out it was 5000$ for a 6 month weekly healing sessions. I am currently umemployed and have told the master I cannot afford it, yet I still get phone calls and the "pitch" every time I go for a class. In terms of the practice, I feel better, and have lost a pant size.

I bought a three-month membership to Dahn Yoga and went as much as five times a week for the first month. There were aspects that I felt were helpful- the stretching increased my flexibility- but there was incredible pressure- come to another after hours class, buy a uniform, buy a vibrating brain, buy a trip to Sedona, buy another training session-that I grew disgusted with the focus on money and the push to constantly get members to spend more. Although there were the forced smiles and hugging, there were intrusive questions that were turned around to get us to pay for more stuff. Also, so much emphasis on money- by the end of month 2 the head master constantly bugged me to join up for a year- never let it go- I could not enjoy the classes, I dreaded going to the cener and getting the sales pitch, and the final straw was at the end of one class where we were all lying on the floor in the dark, listening to "soothing" music to replenish our chakras, when I could hear the head master on the speaker phone outside the classroom discussing the sales for that month with her apparent boss- who was praising her for selling so much beyond her assigned numbers- "the profits out of this center this last month were enormous"- that I really felt that made it crystal clear that this was a money-making venture and not much else. I left, never used the third month of my membership, and never went back. Some few months afterward I got a form letter addressed to "dear friend" saying how much they were thinking of me and wanted me back ( but weren;t thinking enough to use my actual name on the form letter!)

I am a lifetime "gold" member of Dahn yoga, and have practiced since 2005. I am also a yoga instructor, and I teach Hatha/Vinyasa yoga 4x week. I truly believe in the life force energies, whether they are called "prana" or "Qi". "Bandas" are the same as "Dan John" - it's all at a universal understanding. I would encourage teachers to experience a few classes, and new students to experament with all types of "yoga" to gain a better understanding.

There is a definite cultural difference between traditional Hatha yoga studios and Dahn studios, and the way business for membership is conducted. Each person needs to trust their own instincts, and find a teacher that helps them grown with the practice. I personally have a strong distaste for any type of pressured sales for memberships and classes, yet at the same time I believe that students need to be pushed mentally and physically to grow. They do not need to be pushed financially.

Sincerely,

Maria

I am one of the original Dahn enthusiasts in my region. I first walked into a new Dahn center opening in my old neighborhood almost a decade ago. And now, after all these years, I am leaving. I feel like Neo in the Matrix when he takes the red pill and wakes up and really SEES for the first time, with open eyes. Once you take the red pill, you can't go back. And I wouldn't want to. I am eternally, blissfully grateful for having the courage to take that red pill. In answer to your question: Oh yes, indeedy, Dahn Yoga most certainly is a destructive cult. Pretty much the worst things you have heard are true. It's been about six weeks or so since I first started to wake up from the Dahn belief system, and the universe just keeps bringing more and more info to me. It just keeps coming.

If you are in Dahn now, either as an enthusiastic member with mostly/only super postive experiences thus far, or if you are one of the members who are being groomed to become a master, or if you are actually an instructor (instructors used to be called "masters" but the organization recently changed that practice), and you are reading this, I say to you:

I know you are probably going to dismiss what I am saying as nonsense from someone who is "unenlightened" or just "not getting it," even though I've probably been involved much longer than you have. You have been conditioned to think this way by the group leaders. Your critical thinking process has been systematically disengaged, in such a masterful way, that you (an intelligent, thoughtful person) aren't even aware of it. But I do know this. In the back of your brain, there is still some small voice that is questioning and wondering if this is all true, if Dahn is for real...

Only a very small handful of members don't have that questioning voice in their brains, and these people are truly the victims in all of this. That small group are called by those who have left "the lifers." The lifers may never get out. And I pray for them, I do. But you. YOU know that you have that small critical voice still inside. It's been supressed and buried as much as possible. You've been taught to regard it as "resistance" and laziness and "negative information" and any number of blocks your ego is throwing up to keep your soul from growing. What you don't know now is that that small critical voice in your head is what is going to save you in the end. It is a blessing, and later you will be very grateful for it.

You see, you have taken all of these classes and trainings thru Dahn, thru your center and Sedona, and maybe you've even gone to Korea, and as a result, it's like a voice (another voice) has been implanted in your brain that constantly filters and analyzes everything you see and hear thru the Dahn belief system. So I already know in advance how your brain is going to immediately dismiss what I am saying. If you can't find an explanation for my assertions, then you will just shut your mind down entirely and will refuse to think about it at all. And you'll go on your merry way.

But I know you.

I WAS you.

For many, many years. And I know that behind that voice implanted by the Dahn belief system, is the real you, that critical voice you've been taught to disregard. That voice will read what I am saying here and will wonder if it's actually true. You will wonder. You will probably dismiss, for now. But you WILL wonder.

And weeks or months or even years from now, when you, too, decide to leave Dahn (because almost everyone does, eventually), you may remember this post. And if you remember nothing else that I have said here, there is one thing you SHOULD remember, because it will help you so much: it's called "mind control." When you are ready, and you are leaving Dahn, and you are connecting with a whole network of supportive, loving individuals who have also left and who are willing to talk to and listen and share with you, then you will be searching for answers, and this concept will be enormously helpful to you. There is a book that really helped me to make sense of my experience and the Dahn belief system: it's called "Combatting Cult Mind Control." It's a bestseller than you can order thru Amazon. It was written before Dahn existed, but you will be absolutely stunned, as I was, by the parallels between Dahn and other cults that came before it.

I have come to understand that people walking in the door are usually groomed in one of two ways: either you're an enthusiastic member repeatedly pushed to pay lots of money for healing sessions and workshops, including repeated trips to Sedona. This is the group that is solely being used for money. These people are usually middle-aged or older and out of shape when they join. They will end up giving THOUSANDS of dollars to Dahn.

The other group is smaller. These are the young, bright, vibrant people who are recruited to be instructors. They usually don't have much money (although they will be pushed to open multiple credit card accounts and to ask their families for money). They are wanted for their ENERGY. One of the most interesting things I learned about cults is that they specifically target strong, vibrant people (not weaklings) because they know these will make the most enthusiastic, charismatic leaders who can convince others to join.

So you might be reading this post and a member of either group 1 or group 2. If you're in group 1, you're only going to be shown the most positive aspects of the group. Your experiences will be controlled in such a way by the group leaders that they are only positive, and that is because they want you to keep shelling out that money. It is amazing to behold the number of wealthy, middle-aged members of Dahn. It is common knowledge now that Dahn only opens centers in wealthy, white-bread neighborhoods. However, if you're in this group, observe the way that Dahn has completely engulfed your life. The instructors push you to do all kinds of trainings, and to spend most of your time at the center. Sure, the exercises make you feel quite good, but notice how doing them has begun to take up such large amounts of your time. Also notice that if you are hesistant to do the next in a long line of expensive trainings, you will be made to understand by the instructor that your reasons for hesitating are not valid. Ever. You are told that it's "your choice," but take note of the way they react when you say no. Watch and observe carefully.

Group 2 members are the true victims of mind control, and that is what people must understand who are criticizing Dahn. The young instructors running these centers are victims themselves. They are to be pitied, not attacked. Imagine the trauma their families feel at having lost a son/daughter/wife/husband/sister/brother to this organization.

Another classic hallmark of cults is the belief of the most involved members & leaders that they are part of a special, "chosen," elite, a group of spiritual revolutionaries who are going to heal the world. Did you know that this is the view of pretty much all cults? Did you know that this is what members of the Moonies also believed? When you are eventually coming out of the Dahn belief system, and you are reading everything about this subject that you can get your hands on, you will be flabbergasted to learn the number of parallels between Dahn and the Moonies. I now believe that, historically speaking, Dahn is a more sophisticated, modern-day version of the Moonies.

Here are some of the things I have learned in the last 6 weeks:
The business model for the American Dahn system is a Ponzi scheme. This is similar to a pyramid scheme. This is what Madoff was recently jailed for. A Ponzi scheme operates with a central figurehead at the top (Ilchi Lee). The next 2 or 3 levels of the pyramid (his closest associates - most of whom are shadow figures who you will never meet) are the only ones making money. And they are making MILLIONS, buying real estate left and right, creating many new "front groups" (another classic cult hallmark) and enterprises. Going down and down the pyramid, you get to levels, say, 8 and 9. These are the people who are MAKING the money for those at the top. These are the people who are in charge of the grunt work, the sweat, the labor, and most importantly, bringing new recruits into the scheme. The level 8 and 9 people are the Dahn instructors running the centers. These people work 100 hours a week for little money. They sleep 3 to 5 hours a night. They live in communal housing. Almost every moment of their time is given to inventing ways to make more $$$ for their center and for Dahn. In Dahn language, they are working for their "vision."

In this context, the way to convince a level 8 and 9 person on the pyramid to work like this, constantly and endlessly, to maximize profits and bring in new members, is to impose an elaborate belief system, something they can passionately and fervently believe in, a religion (if you will), that they will defend to the end. Also necessary is to utilize techniques of mind control in order to disengage their critical thinking processes. Again, I point anyone interested in this subject to the book "Combatting Cult Mind Control," which can be ordered off Amazon.

Forty percent of the income at Dahn centers is given to Ilchi Lee (although this may be done regionally, so individual center instructors, particularly the newer ones, may not always be aware this is happening), and the center instructors assume it's for opening new centers and other programmatic expenses. What is kept from them is that much of this money is for the personal enrichment of Lee and the people on the next 2 or 3 levels of the pyramid. Evidence of this is everywhere, and devoted members don't want to see it.

Many of you may have been in Sedona and seen Ilchi Lee's Hummer and his entourage of personal attendants who travel with him (usually anonymous, interchangeable Korean men in business suits). If you went so far as to inquire why Lee drives this expensive, environmentally-unfriendly vehicle, you were probably told that he needs it for the difficult terrain around Sedona, or that he needs it for "protection." Right? But if you really take some space and sit and think about this situation, you will see that your first impulse was correct, after all: there IS something not right about Lee's being driven around in a Hummer. In the context of the Dahn belief system, it doesn't fit. And your rational brain immediately sensed this. But the group leaders are experts at convincing you to distrust your own intuition and to conclude that there are things going on at higher levels in the group that you don't need to understand or question.

I can look back now in amazement at the way I "turned off my brain" in these sorts of situations and meekly accepted the explanations given me by the group leaders. And how ironic that Dahn is all about "waking up your brain"! The cognitive dissonance and groupthink are rampant.

The imposing of a spiritual belief system over a Ponzi scheme business model in order to rake in millions is really, truly genius. Lee and his associates should be congratulating themselves. They've done a great job, haven't they? Let's have a round of applause for them. Bravo, boys!

The most troubling aspect of what I have recently learned is definitely painful to write and to think about, but I believe it's important to air it out and let it see the light of day. I have become aware of an entire network of women who have been sexually abused by Ilchi Lee.

For those who are reading this and are still heavily involved with Dahn, I know your brain is going to try to filter out and dismiss what I am saying as untrue. I know this because for years my brain did the same thing when I was presented with similar info (being rumors on the Internet). But for the first time, this info was presented to me in a way that I could not dismiss, because it was coming from people that I personally know and trust, not just strangers on the Internet.

Yes, it is true. I personally know a young American woman who claims to have been raped by Ilchi Lee. And I believe her. She is one of the last peope in the world I could imagine fabricating such a story. Through her, and through other connections, I have become aware that there are many such woman who assert that they were coerced into sex by Lee. Let's just take some space for a moment and sit and really think about this.

I will say it again: There are many such woman who assert that they were coerced into sex by Lee. How truly powerful is that statement? Now, if you are still heavily involved in Dahn, your brain is going to be busily at work right now, filtering what I am saying thru the Dahn belief system so that you will dismiss my words or tune them out. I don't need you to be convinced, because I am confident that down the road, when you yourself are ready to walk, you will be ready for this information, and it will come to you. You will be ready for that red pill. All that you really need to remember right now is that there is such a concept as mind control, and this: that when you do leave Dahn, even though you REALLY don't believe it now, your life is going to improve so much. You can't see it now, but Dahn has taken the world AWAY from you, and by leaving, you will get it back. You will get back a resolute faith in yourself and your own strength.

Try to go back and remember, if you can, when you first walked into a Dahn center. Try to remember the way that you felt (physically, emotionally, etc.) and who you were at that time. Now, no doubt, Dahn (the exercise practice) has made many improvements in your life. I read many accounts by people with disease and illness and Dahn exercise classes have really helped them to feel better and to build physical strength. The fact that the exercise program is so beneficial is Ilchi Lee's biggest ally, because when members hear cult accusations about Dahn, their brains immediately bombard them with memories of how crappy they felt before they started doing the practice, and how good they feel when they leave class, and they conclude the accusations must be false. More advanced members think about how fabulous they feel after workshops, or the loving, Buddha-like qualities of the group leaders.

What members don't understand is that, within the classic cult hierarchy, the group leaders are ALWAYS described as these loving, compassionate, kind, Buddha-like creatures. This is exactly how members of the Moonies described the leaders of THEIR group, and the Hare Krishnas, and so on. I now believe that radiating that Buddha-like state is a practiced and cultivated habit that anyone can become good at. The instructors interact with dozens of members a day and thus become very, VERY good at this. What is important is how they are behind closed doors, when paying members aren't around, and I know that they are as human as you or me, and no more "enlightened" than anyone else.

Now, in the beginning, terms such as "dahn jon" were unfamiliar to you and sounded silly, and you may have dismissed as hooey their pushing you to try this or that. Eventually, though, you gave in, and you found that - hey! boy oh boy! - they were right! You feel so much better!

And in this way, your resistance to the group's doctrine begins to be worn down. Remember, you are being led down a path, shown new things in incremental steps, and given info about the belief system in small doses at a time. After you allow them to lead you those first few steps, when you're still a newbie and all that Korean terminology is new and strange, and you figure out that what they're telling you, thus far, is actually quite true, and following their instructions results in positive changes in your health and state of mind, you start to doubt yourself. Let me repeat: This is when you start to doubt yourself and your own intuition. As you go farther down the path, more and more info they're telling you is unproveable because it's actually religious in nature. "Growing your soul" and helping others to grow their souls, even such ideas as your work for Ilchi Lee's vision will help to "save" the souls of your immediate family - these are unproveable concepts requiring a leap of faith on your part.

But you are inclined to believe this because the first few steps of the path (doing intestine exercises, coming to class regularly, taking Shim Sung, etc.) turned out to be true. So you begin to suspend your disbelief, and let them lead you futher down the path. Once you've gotten to a certain point, once that "Dahn voice" is implanted in your brain, thus allowing you to see and perceive everything thru the Dahn belief system, you will be able to lead others.

The instructors working in the American Dahn centers are working, working, working, making money money money. The ones who are good at it begin to see members as walking dollar signs. The mind control techniques which have disengaged their critical thought processes, don't allow them to perceive that they are not "enlightened." They are not on the path to spiritual enlightenment. The reality of running a Dahn center and making money has nothing to do with enlightenment. The workshops and endless trainings you are pushed into doing are designed to lead you down 1 of 2 paths:

1) Extract as much money from you as possible, until you get fed up and leave (again, these are often the older, middle-aged, wealthier members who don't have the physical strength to become full-fledged instructors)

OR

2) Convince you that becoming a Dahn instructor is what you were "meant" to do, at which point you will begin working in a Dahn center, which isn't pushing you towards enlightenment, but only renders your life, for all practical purposes, that of an indentured servant who is hell-bent on making money for the vision

So you see, the only paths available are 1 or 2, and both are a dead end.

I ask you now: What vision? How are the people on paths 1 or 2 in any way helping to heal the world? If anything, their spending all of their time in Dahn centers is keep them ISOLATED from their communities, all while nurturing a false sense of superiority and arrogance that Dahn is the "one true way" (by the way, yet another cult hallmark - every cult in existence believes that theirs is the one true way).

The American Dahn movement is designed, I can see now, purely for the purpose of generating more money. I've been around long enough now to say with confidence that I have yet to meet a single person who has joined Dahn and who I believe has achieved "enlightenment."

I now can see that noone (not even Ilchi Lee) has the power to grant someone else spiritual enlightenment. Note that, historically, humans who are commonly regarded as being "enlightened beings" (Jesus, Buddha, etc.) pursued their own path to enlightenment. They did not get there as part of a military-like group. They followed their own, unique, individual voice.

Giving their lives for Ilchi Lee's vision to heal the world is what being a Dahn master is all about. They are told, during their master training, that doing this will enable them to get out of the cycle of death and rebirth (reincarnation). They believe that this is their last lifetime as a human, and that when they die, Ilchi Lee will meet their soul at the top of Bell Rock (a sacred Dahn spot in Sedona) and will personally usher them into the next level. They believe they are moving on, after this life, to the next evolutionary level.

I know that the enticement of regarding oneself as part of a special, elite group, who are actually being given the opportunity to achieve enlightenment in this lifetime, is a powerful draw. And giving that up, for Dahn instructors who leave, can be traumatic. But they almost all do leave. Of the hundreds of American members/instructors whom I have met over the last decade in my region, less than 5 are still standing. Everyone else is gone, and has been replaced by naive new members who have no idea of the vast numbers of people who came before them, and left. And now, so am I.

Anonymous' post of 3/22/09 is absolutely on point. I was a member for 5 years, did many of the "high level" classes and retreats. I became an instructor of the basic class But never could get Lee or that organization. My desire to serve the world, bring healing to my community was going to be very expensive.

Dahn Yoga has taken some of the practice of the authentic ancient Korean dahn practice of Chi development and balance for health, a very powerful practice that in the attenuated "Dahn Yoga" form, give the member just enough benefit to leave him hungering for more. When it doesn't come you are told it is your lack of commitment/ descipline and these $10,000 work shops and $400 healing sessions will help.

Stay away from "Dahn Yoga" How do you spell scam? D A H N Y O G A

Apu

Shortly after my Father passed away last October I found myself depressed, lost, and very angry. I needed peace of mind and didn't know what to do. I remembered two things. First, while working in China several years ago, I saw people in the mornings, sometimes hundreds of them, either practicing Tai Chi or dancing. They all looked so happy and fit. Second, while working in India a few years ago, I was asked to practice yoga with some of the locals. We'd practice early in the morning in the fresh air (we were in the countryside), have our breakfast, and go our separate ways to work.

Around the Christmas holidays, I was in bad shape both physically and mentally. I had quit my job, gained a lot of weight, and was drinking too much. It was then I saw the little neon sign at the Dahn Yoga Center in a shopping center in my neighborhood and decided to see what it was all about. The sign advertised Yoga and Tai Chi. Maybe that's what I need, I thought.

The lady there was pleasant and offered for me to have a 45 minute evaluation for $25. I told her maybe later and asked if she had a brochure I could read. She gave me a brochure and suggested that I go to their web site and read more about Dahn Yoga. I went home and discussed it with my wife. She said that I seemed to enjoy the Yoga when I was in India so it might do me some good. Couldn't hurt, right? By then it was a new year. I was once again employed, so I called and made an appointment for my evaluation.

The evaluation consisted of 45 minutes of poking and prodding by the center's head master and a discussion of why I was interested in Dahn Yoga. I explained to him about my Father and the demons in my head that I was experiencing. He said he could feel the tension in my body and that it seemed it was allowed to build for years. Everything he said made sense and he was saying things I was thinking and I thought of what an amazing person this little guy is. So wise. BUT, I bet he was thinking SUCKER.

He said I needed a minimum of one year training to heal myself. I thought one to three months, evaluate my progress, and then take it from there. Oh, no, I need at least one year. Okay, what is one year going to cost? He went for his book and told me for one year I would get membership, unlimited classes and three or four workshops. All for $2,000. That's kind of steep, but three months was about $700. And, $2,000 would cover all I needed to heal myself. I signed up.
At first it was great, the best thing I ever did. Within two months I lost weight, felt better, and stopped grieving about my Father. I still miss him but I can now let him go and I'm not crying any longer for no reason. Some time during the second month I started being asked to stay after the regular classes for special classes. Sometimes these would go into late in the evening because the center master would lecture. At first it was enlightening but after a while it got annoying. After working all day and doing the exercises for a couple hours, I just wanted to leave. But we had tea, everyone had to take a turn to tell what they experienced, and the master would lecture and sprinkle in a sales pitch or two.

Then we were told about a special, life changing workshop that we should all attend. I was told that since I had paid for it I should go. Okay, when is it? It was two weekends away and it was all weekend! Okay, if I am going to leave my wife alone for a whole weekend, I need more than a two week notice. I have a whole life outside the Yoga center. We had plans for the weekend of the workshop and I wasn't going to change them. Oh, that was not good. So, you must attend the healing workshop at the end of next month, it is only one Sunday afternoon. Okay, that's more like it. I signed up.

Well, guess what? A week before the one-day workshop I was told that this particular workshop was not included in my package. But, the head master told me my membership included everything I needed. She didn't know about that. She suggested that maybe I could "trade" one of the ones I paid for. Well, the only one I could trade (because I really, really, really needed the others) costs less that this one so I had to pay $130 to attend. Like a fool, I paid. The week before the workshop I was told that I needed to stay after class for a special class that would prepare us for the workshop, 30 minutes or so. Two+ hours later I got home. More lecture, more sales pitch.

The Friday before the Sunday workshop the center called my home and left a message asking me to attend the regular Saturday training class. I went, unenthusiastically, to the training Saturday morning. After the training I was asked by the lady master if I could stay for the special training to prepare for tomorrow's workshop. I said no, my wife was waiting for me, we had plans. The lady master looked so hurt. Oh, she said and looked down. We said the special goodbye, we did the usual hug, and I left.

Sunday, the day of healing finally arrived. The leader of the workshop was actually hand picked by Il Chi Lee himself. But, he couldn't speak English and having a translator was not much better. The lectures and exercises were almost exactly like we did in class, only it was six hours of it. And it was nothing about healing ourselves, it was about the special powers we all have for healing others. A total waste of time but I thought, well, I'm here so make the best of it. With the leader's Korean and the translator's broken English it was very difficult to "get inside". The day became an annoyance and all I wanted to do was run away from there as fast as I could. But I was trapped on the front row and didn't have the nerve to just walk out.

To make matters worse, the session ended with a huge sales pitch about the center in Sedona. That was it. I had had enough. Then to make matters even worse the lady master gathered everyone from our center for a group photo and discussion. Then to add salt to my wounds, when I approached head master to say hello, he simply walked away as though I was invisible.

I took the "red pill" and never entered the center again. THAT, my friends, is the best thing I ever did.

Thank you.

Apparently, I am not either group 1 or 2 but group 3....those of us that attend sessions of what seems to be exercise and meditation. I decided to do Dahn Yoga since my Rheumatoid Arthritis (which is mild but painful and limiting) does not allow me to do more intense traditional yoga. I take heed and appreciate the fore-warnings of all above, but the "Master" or "instructor" whichever you wish to call him that runs our center is not at all like what has been described above. Never pushy, never asking for more money (i.e. saying that you can not achieve improvement unless you attend this or that, but rather it is simply offered and on a calendar), very flexible and in shape and I have never been uncomfortable in his presence. In fact he is the opposite and the usual message is to apply the techniques learned in class to our daily lives and practice at home. Now I can see if someone attends the "special" programs and such that this could be true as the little voice inside me, as described above, is called common sense and intuition and when something seems wrong IT IS and I call a spade a spade. If something seems off don't do it. Why would I need to learn healing chakra anyway if I am not there to become something that I am not. I, like most of my fellow attendees take from the classes what we need and leave the rest. This can be true in any regimen or discipline. I gather that the master of our center maybe is not as ambitious as other centers I have no idea, but our exercise sessions are just that, exercise followed by meditation and have never been pressured to buy more, do more, or addressed improperly. I do not dismiss that as a whole something may be corrupt (as I have read and as stated above) and it may very well be, but I have been literally screwed over financially in the past by supposedly accredited exercise centers and I have gotten less out of those places over several years than I have gotten from a few short months of Dahn. I proceed cautiously but remain of my sound mind and spirit well placed in my Christian faith and apply only what I need in my life from Dahn yoga and that is physical well being and decreased stress. Anything more taken from my particular Dahn center would be my decision, they didn't pull my check out and take it by gunpoint and it would take someone alot heavier than a small Korean man weighing 120 lbs to take me down. Anyone can be taken in by scams, mind control and cults, etc but those with eyes wide open and not looking for anything more than what is experienced in class-walk with the red pill on their lips ready to swallow at all times anywhere they go and in every discipline;) ( do not base your decisions regarding Dahn Yoga on my personal experiences since apparently I do not have a pushy or money hungry instructor but rather make your own assessments as you should in anything in your life and remain ever vigilant of the constant influx of scammers and harmful people in your life there are many out there.)