Dahn Yoga Lawsuit Filed, Called a Cult, Campbell Brown CNN Show

Dear Readers, I am saddened that Dahn Yoga is being unjustly criticized.  Dahn Yoga has been and continues to be an unparalleled source of physical, emotional, and spiritual benefit to me.  I am a 68-year-old woman who joined Dahn 5 years ago.   That fortunate event created a happy, physically fit, emotionally sound, and spiritually motivated earth citizen. Physically, Dahn offered me classes and trainings that improved my condition dramatically.  At 58 I thought I was too old and too fat to put up Christmas decorations and paint my 13-foot cathedral-ceiling walls.  In 2007 I painted the walls and have put up Christmas decorations for the past 5 years. I now feel 10 years younger than my calendar age.  I am in better shape than I was at 30.  My eyesight has improved from 2.50 to a 1.25 reading strength.  I have gained ¾ inches in lost height.  I weight the same as 5 years ago, but have lost 19-1/2 inches in girth.  My Dexiscan, bone density, test said “osteopenia” and now I am in the normal bone density range.  I am flexible.  My driving has improved because I can easily turn my head and I am more focused and attentive.  Many of my friends, including my son, noticed how I good I look and say I “glow” and “You look great!”  They wanted to know what made me look so well.  My answer was Dahn.  In 2002 I had a marked hearing loss and began to wear hearing aids in both ears.  Since November of this year I have not needed hearing aids.  Immediately, my associates noticed my improved hearing.  I no longer talk as loud as I once did in order to hear myself.  As a teenager I took voice lessons, but never relaxed enough to sing well.  I can now sing like I wished I could years ago. Emotionally, I am happier and much more relaxed.  My ability to sustain caring, respectful relationships increased.  My family noticed I now relate to them in a loving, caring, humorous way.  We are relaxed and enjoy being together.  Before Dahn, I was tense and my family was uncomfortable with me.  We had many misunderstandings and an estrangement that is now thankfully repaired.  When I look over the wrecked relationships of my past, I wish I had Dahn 50 years ago.  My partner is amazed at the depth I am willing to be open with him.  I share myself at the deepest, not always pretty, level.  He describes me as being “so there”.  My sister’s life expectancy is short.  I am truly able to be her support, her advocate, her companion through the rest of her life journey.  Last March I supported my best friend as her husband lay dying.  For 3-12 weeks I visited them daily in the hospital.  I massaged his feet and held his hand.  My friend said:  “He was the most responsive when you were in the room, Leanne.”  I continue to support my friend in her grief process. I feel grief over the loss of my friend’s husband the upcoming end for my sister, but grief doesn’t incapacitate me today.  I can feel and allow the tears without letting depression rule me.  I am still able to teach classes and be a support for my sister and my friend.  All these benefits I have received as a result of my trainings and practice with Dahn.  Spiritually, my world has widened to include love.  I now know the meaning of unconditional love for a few, not all people yet.  Without Dahn I hadn’t the ability to love myself, let alone anybody else.  My many trainings have tied up so many loose ends, answered so many questions in my life.  It is as if all the far-reaching desires I had as a child have been answered through Dahn. As a child I wanted to travel to every country, learn the language, and live with the people so I would know them.  Instead, since Dahn attracts such an internationally diverse group of members, I have made friends with people from all over the world.  I had a job at Dahn that took me to businesses in the area where I met people from 34 different cultures.  I learned to say “thank you” in each language. As a kid, I wanted food and medicines for everybody.  I am now part of a movement toward world peace that will allow equality and humane treatment among earth citizens, everybody.  When I first began my Dahn journey, I recoiled at “worshiping” a man.  What I now know is I identify with the spiritual energy Ilchi Lee emulates, not his physical presence. This higher energy is the Christ-energy, the Buddah, the Mohammed, the Yahweh, the Great Spirit, the Holy Spirit energy my soul longs for.  As I’ve learned the unconditional love mentioned before, and been able to be of service to my family and friends, I am becoming that spiritual person my child-self always wished to be.  None of this would be possible without Dahn.  I have a Master's degree in psychology and am a registered counselor in my state.  At one time in my own practice, I conducted workshops for large numbers of people.  The methods I and others use are the same that Dahn incorporates.  The design of the groups I led was to open people to old wounds in order to heal them, and then continue with group therapy after the initial workshop.  The difference is Dahn trainings do help heal old wounds, AND they leave members with a sense of completion and real hope for the future.  This hope is the basis for self love and further progress along the road toward enlightenment.  I consider their methods more advanced, beneficial and far reaching than my own.  I've incorporated the last element, the feeling of completion into my own work.

DearCampbell Brown: To a large extent it is true that Dahn yoga teachers coaxed and coaxed students to join all sorts of extra workshops. They insisted that they should go to Sedona for further development where the fee was over 3000 dollars.  If the students said they could not afford it, they did not take no for an answer.  Surely there training of yoga  an Tai chi was very good.  But I tell you the teachers were trained to gently coax you to give more money for something or the other.  Of course we are grown  up adults and we knew how to say no every time.  But it was annoying.  Even though I became a life member.  In 2009  I did not go because the year before during one of the massage (healing) sessions the teacher would not let go of me till I signed up for workdshp at Sedona.  My action was to walk away from the Dahn center.  I sure miss doing the yoga and other exercises but pushing for spending or this or that became aggravating and embarrassing.  I should get a refund for my  life membership.  

Notice how so many of the Dahn supporters on all the different sites try to discredit the women who were brave enough to come forward and speak out against this multi-million dollar company.  Honestly, these women's allegations are just the tip of the iceberg of all the unethical behavior that goes on behind the scenes in Dahn.    The indoctrination of masters to believe that earning money for Dahn Yoga (ie Ilchi Lee) = growing yourself spiritually is just disgusting.  The ridiculously competitive ego-centric culture within Dahn to make the most money (and therefore be looked at as the most spritually accomplished) goes against everything the organization supposedly stands for - enlightenment, peace and equality.  There is so much hypocrisy beneath that happy fuzzy shiny surface.Dahn members, next time your "master" asks you to sign up for something, ask them how much $ they still need to earn to make their daily income vision.    Notice how busy and stressed the masters look the last couple days of the month.  Ask them what their monthly income vision is and how much do they have left to go.  Masters spend their whole day focusing on their number, how much money they need to make that day.  They chant this number, meditate on it, do bows to it, clean to it and pass out flyers focusing on this number.  Every activity that goes on in your center is somehow connected to achieving their number.  Masters have been indoctrinated into believing that by utilizing members to achieve their income goal, they are growing spiritually while helping you grow.  They honestly believe that $ spent on Dahn = spiritual growth.  So they believe a member who pays $20,000 for 10 healing sessions that are performed exactly the same way as the 10 healing sessions another member paid $2000 for, will get 10 times the spiritual growth.  That's why they don't feel guilty for pressuring you to pay $20,000!  Then the master who finds a way to sell "beer as champagne" for 10 times the price gets glorified in the master community and shares their secrets to other adoring masters.  Sad but true.

Lucie Vogel, do you never shut up? If I had as much spare time as you seem to have, I would opt for an activity that was actually productive and helpful to people. You claim that these women (like Jade Harrelson and Liza Miller), who have lied shamelessly to public audiences, are “brave,” but the women who are truly brave are the ones who didn’t quit being Dahn masters. They actually work and they certainly do not quit on their members as they help them create health and happiness in their lives. Unlike you, they are honest and hard-working. Why do you go all over the internet spreading such slander? Ilchi Lee has not been affiliated with Dahn Yoga for years. What you call “the ridiculously competitive ego-centric culture… to make the most money” is a startlingly accurate description of yourself, and only yourself, NOT Dahn Yoga. I hope that anyone who bothers to read or listen to anything that comes out of you is aware of that. Maybe you just gave a description of your own psychotic behavior. I don’t know what you’ve been smoking, because you’re making up some pretty crazy $hit, and I don’t even know how you ever became a Dahn “master”—oh, that’s right. You were never a real master, you were an instructor like all the other instructors and used the inaccurate, if convenient, shortened version of the title, Master-in-training. Did you actually charge $20,000 for ten healing sessions? Oh, that’s right—you charged it on your members’ cards without letting them know. That’s called fraud. Is that why you’re suing your former employer for millions of dollars? Because no one in their right mind would actually hire you? Why don’t you just live off of money from your parents if you can’t earn money through honest effort of your own? Stop ruining your own life and so many other people's lives before it becomes even more irreparable than it already is. People need to know that while you’re pretending to be self-righteous, you’re the one they need to be warned to stay away from.

Dear Claire - News flash for you and all other pro-dahn supporters who refuse to think for yourselves and see what's right under your noses:  If Dahn and Ilchi Lee were so great, you wouldn't be in the mess that you're in now.  I do not know Lucie or any of the others in the lawsuit, but let me tell you, they are NOT lying about the pressure to spend money and the real purpose behind Dahn which is to become a disciple of Ilchi Lee's.  I experienced both first hand.  And do NOT kid yourself about Ilchi Lee NOT  being associated with Dahn.  He controls EVERYTHING related to Dahn.  Wake up and think for yourself.  You go Lucie!  Keep pushing for the truth about Dahn and Ilchi Lee to come out.  Dahn and Ilchi Lee are NOT who they claim to be.  Thank you Lucie and CNN!!!

verdade - you are totally right.  Thank you. I spent over 40K for Life time member fee, Healer school, Dahn Mu Do and other stupid healing session.  Dahn told me everything is "My choice" Yes, I am adult, but please imagine, masters keep calling my office, my home and pushed me a lot. I come to the center for release my stress, but in honest, I feel a lot of money stress from the masters.  One master pushed me to buy Ilchi book 500 copies for up Amazon ranking, one master pushed me money because she did not met her vision that month.  One master pushed me to lend Healer school tuition for YEHA member because she could not afford it.  I said "NO" to my master, she starts to ignore me and never greeting for "6 months"  This master quiet Dahn and go back to Korea.  Regular class, meditaiton, drinking tea with other members are great, but Dahn is Money hungry, Money cult at all.  They still ignore refund healing session $2000.00 for me.  I am sorry for Dahn masters.  They are totally brainwashed and trust Ilch. Also I am very happy that we won't see Ugly Giant Mago Statue in Cottonwood.  City commissioner decided to turn down that statue. If Dahn hope, unity and peace, please do not push members, just guide member's health, No more giant statue in beautiful red rock in Sedona.  All Dahn's ego.  I really trust the cosmic energy, Chun Ji Ki Woon, Ilchi must pay his Karma in his current life. Dahn is just under fire and receive bad energy which they gave Ex masters and members. Real Chun Ji Ki Woon are watching and exposing real Dahn.  I just quit Dahn and no fighting about my money for refund.  I am sorry for all sincere Dahn masters.

If this yoga has helped you, that is greaat. But just because the physical aspects have helped some people does not mean that Dahn Yoga is not a cult. The truth is, that for many ailments, asthma, diabetes, being overweight, etc. any form of exercise would help clear up those problems. I am a hatha yoga teacher. In my teaching, I have noticed that even when we do poses that are not strictly 'yoga' poses, if I conduct a class using any type of vigorous poses and then rest at the end of class, the resting will always feel better. If you run around the room for a few minutes and then stop, sit down, and close your eyes, your body will feel better because it's saying, 'thank you for not making me run anymore.' So- I think that the physical benefits are just a lucky happenstance for Ilchi Lee. Also- some people have said that he is not involved anymore with Dahn yoga. But according to an article I read in "Rolling Stone", Mr. Lee is still involved with Dahn yoga and has a 30% stake, essentially. Plus, the article said that he just tacked on the 'yoga' part of the name after being in the US and seeing the influence of yoga in the US. He should not be able to call this by that name.