Regarding a group or organization that Americans have just joined, one of the scariest words they could hear is that it a “cult.” This happened to Jeffery Robins, a retired management consultant in a Washington, DC, suburb. For six months he had been a member of a Dahn Yoga Center with classes in Brain Education, a system of body-mind and energy-circulation methods for reducing stress and improving overall health. Having entered with intestinal problems, he stretched, breathed, vibrated, tapped, relaxed and meditated until he regained his health and thus got his life back on track. Then a friend emailed him that Dahn Yoga was a cult and its founder Ilchi Lee the cult leader.

Jeffery started reading his friend’s email full of claims about this Ilchi Lee cult and Dahn Yoga cult, and then suddenly he stopped. He simply did not believe this secondary negative information. Why? Because he had months of authentic positive information now in his brain and based on his own experience – namely, successful physical and emotional healing, observation of his many classmates also being healed, and his knowing that the teachers in the organization are committed to his holistic health and personal growth.

Why do Americans call a group or organization a cult? Our culture has been called the “cult of the individual,” and loves the famous bumper-sticker slogan “question authority.” So it is not surprising that accusations that an Ilchi Lee cult or Dahn Yoga cult exists, given the Korean-rooted holistic health principles and practices and the strong teacher-student style of the yoga centers. 

Let’s look at the hard evidence about the claim of an Ilchi Lee cult or Dahn Yoga cult. Physicians, physical therapists and other professionals, who have seen substantial improvement in their patients who have participated in Brain Education programs, have endorsed Lee’s body-and-brain-fitness programs and techniques. The United Nations has recognized the Korean Institute of Brain Science, founded and presided over by Lee, to promote brain science, education and health. These are not people and organizations that would praise Ilchi Lee, if a cult leader and scam artist.

Fourteen of Lee’s 31 books have been translated into English from Korean or originally authored in English. These books use terms that carry not-always-easy-to-understand connotations. While he is a thought leader and philosopher (musing on human “oneness” with the earth, making a case for “spiritual healing,” focusing on “completion of the soul,” and the like), some English readers have felt that Ilchi Lee is a cult-like leader, a guru who expects devotion, and even a scam artist. Likewise, Dahn Yoga Centers the organization that he founded in 1985 — and now has more than 600 outlets in eight nations — has been labeled the Dahn Yoga cult. These characterizations are definitely not accurate. 

Lee founded the Korea Institute of Brain Science (KIBS) in South Korea in 2002, and serves as its president. KIBS is working with the International Brain Education Association to do scientific research on the results that people worldwide have found in practicing Brain Education. Lee has spent many years working with leaders of Korean business as a peer, coaching and training them in Brain Education. He founded and serves as president of the University of Brain Education in South Korea, which is researching and teaching about how Brain Education can be utilized to advance health, well-being, and global peace.

Several thought leaders in America – such as Deepak Chopra and Eckhart Tolle – have espoused similar concepts. Lee encourages every individual to make his own choices and be empowered to live a life of health, well-being, actualization, and independence.

There is no Ilchi Lee Cult and no Dahn Yoga cult

Looking at the facts, in contrast to the talk, it is clear that Lee is a change agent in the area of brain education and holistic health, and there is no Ilchi Lee cult and not Dahn Yoga cult.