Ilchi Lee’s New Zealand dream
When a prominent figure of new age spiritualism left the US for a bucolic life in Kerikeri, his arrival altered the Bay of Islands. An investigation into Ilchi Lee’s past reveals his bizarre claims, some of which border on the paranormal, and that his org
On the first day of the festival, just before sundown on a late summer’s evening, the Earth Citizens stood together in a park, holding wands to their belly buttons.
It was 2017, and Kerikeri in the Far North had been chosen to hold the ‘‘First Annual Earth Citizens’ Peace Festival’’. The festival’s aim: to trigger the greatest change in human history, ultimately bringing about world peace.
The people in the park were practising ‘‘belly button healing’’, which involves stimulating the navel in a rhythmic fashion, ostensibly to clear the body of toxins. Doing so involves the use of a ‘‘healing wand’’, a yellow, plastic device costing around $140, accompanied by an illustrated book and an online course.
This curious exercise was invented by Seunghun Lee, a South Korean spiritual master better known as Ilchi Lee.
The Chinese characters onwhich ‘‘Ilchi’’ is based mean ‘‘finger pointing to the truth’’. Lee adopted the namemany years ago, after he returned from a spiritual quest into South Korea’s Moak Mountain. In his telling, he meditated for 21 days without eating or sleeping, which drove him to the brink of death.
As he fought to stay alive, the cosmos opened up and a voice emerged from within: ‘‘I am cosmic energy,’’ it said, contorting Lee’s tongue to form the words. ‘‘My energy is cosmic energy, and my mind is the cosmic mind.’’ According to Lee, he could hear the universe breathing, and thus knew it was time to descend from the mountain.
In the decades since, Lee has reaped the fruits of his enlightenment. He amassed a fortune and legions of devoted followers to his Brain Education philosophy from around the world.
Then the weight of that empire descended onto the Far North of New Zealand.
When Lee first came to New Zealand six years ago, a hub for bringing about world peace was not on the cards. Lee wasn’t even supposed to go to Kerikeri. While travelling New Zealand, he had received an email from Gina Garcia, a Kerikeri resident whose granddaughter is a Brain
Education adherent in the US.
Garcia’s granddaughter had asked her to look after Lee. ‘‘She asked me to be kind to him, make him some tea,’’ Garcia recalls.
She was not familiar with Lee or his philosophy. Nevertheless, at her granddaughter’s behest, she contacted Lee and invited him to Northland. When Lee and his entourage arrived, Garcia could tell he was immediately taken with Northland.
At Garcia’s home, Lee hosted a screening of his documentary LifeParticles: The Change Effect for around two dozen locals.
LifeParticles, in Lee’s teachings, are a substance that make up all objects and can be channelled with one’s mind. The idea bears a resemblance to Ki, a concept in some Eastern philosophies which broadly translates in English to ‘‘energy’’. When targeted at certain thoughts, those thoughts can become manifest. The documentary includes accounts from people who cite LifeParticles as partly responsible for their recovery from physical disabilities, including a brain tumour and paralysis.
While she did not continue with Brain Education, Garcia believed Lee had been an asset to the community. ‘‘He’s very gentle and he came across very humble.’’
Of the few locals in attendance at the First Annual Earth Citizens Peace Festival, somewere given star treatment. Among them was Tim Couling, an instructor at the local taekwondo centre.
His impression was that Lee commanded a great sense of respect from his followers. ‘‘He seemed like someone with a great deal of [authority] who wanted to create this place of peace, where everybody gets on and works in terms of the Earth and stuff like that,’’ Couling recalls. ‘‘I think it appealed to a lot of people.’’
Another VIP was Andrew McNaughton, a dentist in Kerikeri, who was asked to read a section of the Earth Citizens’ declaration, a document which serves as a pledge of allegiance. People from 10 countries took to the stage, each reading a section of the declaration.
McNaughton told the Sunday Star-Times he had become involved with the Earth Citizens through his association with the Kerikeri taekwondo club. ‘‘The philosophy behind the bit I was reading fitted quite well with my beliefs anyway. It was quite an event. It was good fun.’’
McNaughton kept in touch with Lee and took up belly button healing. Later, he was a character witness for Lee.
‘‘It is indeed a privilege and a humble service to be able to offer a character reference for Mr Ilchi Lee, an individual of whom history will likely recognise as a bright and significant luminary on the world stage,’’ McNaughton wrote.
Themain event was a keynote lecture from Lee himself.
Lee was introduced with a 10-minute animated video summarising his struggles with learning disabilities and the many books he had written.
A voiceover in English quoted Lee’s lofty ambitions for the festival. ‘‘Let’s make this event, today, the beginning of the greatest change in human history, one that will change the world and save the Earth through the power of 100 million Earth Citizens,’’ the voice said, as Imagine by John Lennon played through the speakers.
Lee received a raucous standing ovation. In Korean, through a translator – Lee does not speak English – he talked about why he came to Kerikeri.
Then Lee encouraged the crowd to pick up their healing wands. And so they did, pressing the plastic against their stomachs in unison.
The focus of Lee’s speech was to unveil the project he had been working on in New Zealand. An Earth Village, which would serve as a hub to unite 100 million Earth Citizens to bring about world peace.
In the years afterward, Lee’s vision to build an Earth Village has faced roadblocks, and remains in a state of uncertainty. Nevertheless, Lee has been influential. He has found new adherents in Northland, and continues to spread his Brain Education philosophy in rural parts of the region.
It’s been used in an anti-suicide programme for at-risk Ma¯ori youth. Advocates say the philosophy helps its believers live more comfortable lives. Lee’s activities in Northland have also prompted a minor boom in economic activity; several businesses have come to rely on adherents of Lee visiting the country on meditation tours, guided tour groups comprising visitors mostly from South Korea and the US.
‘‘I love this area and am committed to being a
part the Far North community for many years to come,’’ Lee said in a statement.
‘‘Obviously the current Covid-19 pandemic will impact the overseas visitor numbers we can attract for now. Nonetheless, I remain committed to the region and New Zealand and intend to continue to invest into the business for the long term.’’
Also a great source of pride for Lee is Global Cyber University, which he formed a decade ago. Expressly based on the values of Brain Education, it’s come to be known as ‘‘BTS University’’ for its famous Korean popstar graduates, BTS.
It shows the way in which Lee’s values have become intertwined with culture. In a recent lecture, Lee said the name of the BTS album Love Yourself reflected the values of Brain Education.
Apart from education, Lee’s teachings have inspired numerous for-profit and non-profit organisations. In South Korea, these are best known as Dahn World; in the US, Dahn Yoga. Nowadays, they are better known as Body and Brain.
It is unclear how much Body and Brain – or Lee – is worth. Lee has no official relationship with the company he founded, severing ties around a decade ago, although he remains the figurehead in follower’s minds.
He owns the trademarks and licences to his teachings, and receives consulting fees, which appear to be lucrative. To obtain New Zealand residency, he was required to invest $10m; he has done that, and more. Before he came to Kerikeri, Lee’s spiritual base was in the desert town of Sedona in Arizona, USA, where Lee built the resort that forms the centre of his philosophy on land he bought after its former owner, a long-dead new age figure, visited Lee in a dream. The way the resort operates gives a hint at what underpins Lee’s teaching.
Firstly, the name: Sedona Mago Resort. Central to Lee’s teachings is Mago, aMother Earth figure in South Koreanmythology. The name is also used in Kerikeri, at the Mago Holiday Park paid for by Lee, where tour groups visit.
Lee has written that 10,000 years ago, humans lived in a paradise called Mago’s Castle on the Korean peninsula. The people became corrupted, and strayed from Mago; but through the ancient teachings, rediscovered by Lee, people could regain their divinity.
The Sedona resort installed a 15m tall statue of Mago, depicted as a blonde, blue-eyed woman, in violation of city planning rules and to the displeasure of neighbours. It was torn down, despite a sit-in protest by Lee’s followers.
Lately Lee’s philosophy has incorporated Western techniques, particularly psychotherapy and neuroscience.
These elements combined are called Brain Education, and Lee says if 100 million devotees adhere to it, they will change the world.
Afew years ago Kerikeri local Charles Hohaia saw an old man walking with a cane along the waterfront. He thought the man was a kaumatua, so he stopped to say hello.
‘‘I knew I was going to have something to do with this gentleman again,’’ Hohaia recalls.
The men had much in common. Hohaia runs a health-based trust, with a focus on mental health and addiction issues. Lee was interested in using his techniques and they became friends. Lee asked Hohaia if he wanted to become a Body and Brain instructor.
Hohaia was struck by how Lee showed a keen interest in ma¯tauranga Ma¯ori, and how Ma¯ori knowledge could be incorporated into his Brain Education methodology.
Over time, Lee became more comfortable in Ma¯ori spaces. A business Lee funded that brings Brain Education adherents to New Zealand for ‘‘meditation tours’’ has an itinerary heavy on Ma¯ori culture.
Lee, who at first resisted being touched by strangers, was soon performing hongi. He started exploring the healing properties of the whauwhaupaku plant (aka five-finger), and gave lectures at marae. A common fixture at Brain Education events is a South Korean rendition of Po¯karekare Ana.
To Hohaia, Lee appeared to have a genuine interest in forming a bridge between his ownbelief system and tikanga Ma¯ori. ‘‘I know these people want to say that, is this, maybe, some sort of cult, some sort of so and so...’’ Hohaia said.
‘‘I’m very clear, myself, that … the underlying principles resonated with the values and belief system that I would have come from as aMa¯ori.’’
While those familiar with Lee’s activities in Northland are complimentary, Lee and companies claimed to be associated with him have faced lawsuits in several countries, sometimes alleging cult-like conditions.
Major investigations by journalists suggested patterns of behaviour in which members are pressured for large amounts of money, or to buy products said to enhance one’s abilities and aid in Brain Education training.
Most notoriouswas a small turtle figurine said to provide healing energy. The turtles cost thousands and, despite claims they were goldplated, an investigation by South Korean news network SBS found they were made predominantly from lead. It’s no longer for sale.
One device, called an Aura-Q, claims the ability to determine the colour of the energy field surrounding the user. It costs around NZ$7000. Essential oils themed on healing chakras cost around NZ$225, as does a set of 100 cards featuring the LifeParticle design. Lee has consistently denied the allegations.
‘‘My teachings have helped thousands of people over many years and I am proud of that,’’ he said.
‘‘The United States is a very litigious environment, but I will point out not a single suit against me or my businesses has succeeded, and these lawsuits represent a tiny minority of the many people I have helped.’’
The products were ‘‘developed to help people deepen their experiences in self-healing practices’’.
While the products applied his teachings, Lee did not run the companies that sold the products, some of which were only sold in Korea, not in New Zealand, he said.
The scientific basis of some of Lee’s teachings is unclear. In one of his many books, Lee claimed his techniques had given him the ability to cure many ailments including helping paralysed people walk, and calming ‘‘mentally unstable’’ people.
Testimonials from adherents cite Lee’s teachings as contributing to their recovery from multiple sclerosis and cancer. In another book Lee said advanced practitioners might feel their bodies rise into the air, and find themselves standing in a different spot.
When asked whether he stood by these beliefs, Lee said he had many remarkable experiences since his enlightenment in 1980, and students had experiences ‘‘that cannot be scientifically explained’’.
‘‘All mind-body training and meditation are often accompanied by extraordinary experiences,’’ he said.
‘‘This is awidely known fact. But if you are a seasoned meditator, you know that obsessing over such experiences will never help. The important thing is that everyone can create health, happiness, and peace for themselves and has the power to improve their own lives and the lives of their communities.’’
A non-profit organisation founded by Lee regularly holds an olympiad testing children on Brain Education techniques.
Among the challenges is the ‘‘brain window’’, which posits that children can sense colours and words whilst blindfolded due to a form of heightened sensory perception.
A group associated with Lee once ran an experiment at an American university to test these supposed powers. An American statistician involved in creating the experiment – which ultimately showed no evidence the claimswere true – wrote about it later: ‘‘I worry very much about the kids back in Korea who are undergoing ‘training’ in brain respiration/education methods.’’
Lee said the olympiads contained other events, but the brain window had been ‘‘exceptionally highlighted’’.
‘‘It is difficult to study new phenomena or sensations that are not well known, and it is even more difficult to fully reveal them scientifically,’’ Lee said about heightened sensory perception.
‘‘Although HSP training is used as amethod to induce students’ meditation, it is also true that there are frequent reports that the correct answer rate is significantly higher than the theoretical probability. Currently, we are working together with scientists interested in this to open up all possibilities with an open mind and uncover this phenomenon.’’
Lee provided a list of papers, most published in alternative medicine journals, which he cited as evidence supporting the basis of his methodology.