Bartholomew's Notes

Follows methods developed by Korean “Grandmasters” jailed for fraud in 2000

The video above shows members of the London Metropolitian Police extolling the virtues of “Ki Health”, a particular branding of Qi Gong available in London and other cities around the world.

A report in the Irish Times gives a bit of background:

‘ENERGY MONKS’ are growing in popularity in Ireland. These complementary healthcare practitioners work for the London-based charity Ki Health International.

…During a typical ki energy treatment, the practitioner makes quite a lot of hissing, blowing and burping sounds. The treatment itself lasts for between 10 and 15 minutes, during which time the practitioner will have aimed to open up all the body’s energy channels.

“The length of the treatment is useful because in London, we treat doctors and nurses, fire fighters and other people who work for the London emergency services. Many people tell us that they feel an immediate benefit from the treatment,” says Master Jin. There is no charge for the treatment, although donations are accepted.

…And, if all of this sounds a bit like a cult in the making, the ki masters are keen to dispel any suspicions that they are converting people to a new religion. “People of all religions and cultures do the training. Basically, the principles of Taoism follow the laws of nature and our aim is simply to create a mind/body harmony and balance which will bring health,” explains Master Jin.

The Ki Health International website itself is not particularly informative as regards the organisation’s background, mentioning only unnamed “Ki Masters”, although the site itself is registered to a certain Renate Damhuis, a Microsoft employee who has enthusiastically endorsed the practice on related sites (some of which are now defunct), such as that of Jungshim Ki Energy New York.

According to documents submitted to the Charity Commission, Ki Health International used to be known as Chun Do Sun Bup, about which there is a bit more detail at this website:

Chun Do Sun Bup (CDSP), which literally means “the heavenly way to recover body, mind, and spirit” is a 6000-year-old Taoist form of South Korean martial arts training. For thousands of years, this discipline was secretly passed down from generation to generation until Dr. Haeng-Yong Mo and his wife Gui-Dai Park began to explore “The Way of the Taoist Immortals” and were called upon to revitalize this tradition for the modern era.

The Grandmasters were to endure 30 years of arduous and often life-threatening ascetic training in the mountains of Korea, until ultimately they were capable of transmitting the perfect balance of yin/yang energy or Ki.

As they wrote in The Book of Heaven, when Grandmasters Mo and Park perfected the “heavenly way” of the Taoist Immortals, they received extraordinary healing abilities. They traveled in Japan, and South America performing miracles and treating thousands of people relieving their illness and suffering. Yet, as they traversed the world, they realized that they would never be able to reach everyone who needed their help. Finally their prayer to “serve humanity” was answered in the Chun Do Sun Bup Ki Energy Training.

KI ENERGY TRAINING Today there are more than 200 nonprofit International Chun Do Sun Bup Ki Energy Centers operated by Korean and Western Masters who teach this ancient art in South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and England. Ki Masters dedicate their lives to cultivation of their healing abilities to serve humanity. Introduced to North American in 1994, Ki Energy Centers are now located in Boston, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Vancouver.

A defunct CDSP site from Australia (many CDSP-related sites are blocked from caches and Wayback) has pictures of “Dae-Ra-Chun, the headquarters of CDSB in South Korea”, and of a fountain, with the caption “The Water of Life at the headquarters has incredible purity and healing properties”.

So why doesn’t the website of Ki Health International mention Mo and Park? An AP report from 2000 gives us a clue:

A South Korean court sentenced two leaders of a doomsday cult to 10 years in prison each Tuesday on charges of swindling followers out of millions of dollars.  Mo Haeng-ryong, 66, founder and head of the indigenous Chunjonhoe, or Heaven’s Gathering, and his wife, Park Kui-dal, 52, were found guilty of fraud in Seoul District Criminal Court.

…The cult, which incorporates Confucianism elements, urged followers to donate all their money, saying the world would end on Feb. 19 when it lost all its spiritual energy, prosecutors said.  With doomsday approaching, the cult leaders were preparing to flee the country with much of the money, prosecutors said.

…The cult was established in 1985 by Mo and his wife, who claimed they were given an order from heaven to build a holy shrine, called Daerachun, or big spiritual heaven, at Hongchun.

(Hat tip: Cult News Network, as well as posters at Cult Exit and JSM Cult )

Filed under: Uncategorized