In light of what Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine present, I felt to share my story and the changes that I have made in my life since re-connecting with the esoteric.
On religion and philosophy
I was raised as a Christian and went to a private Christian high school – Christianity did not feel right to me as there where many contradictions and much behaviour that I witnessed by so called Christians that did not seem to fit. I knew that there was more to life than what I could see but did not have a good explanation for the way the world is. Christianity was all that I had been offered when I was younger and so I was a believer, while knowing it was not the full truth and did not fully explain what I saw and felt around me. Throughout the years I explored other religions and philosophies including Buddhism, Taoism, yoga, tantric philosophy, traditional Chinese Medicine and philosophy, psychology and some of what may be described as spiritual new age meditation. There seemed to be some parts of these different philosophies that made sense or felt right to me, but this was never more than a part, the whole did not make sense in its entirety. Further to this, the people involved in or presenting these various philosophies were not good role models, not people I felt that I would like to emulate or be associated with. The yoga instructor who had a great body and was highly flexible but did not feel or look healthy, he would work up a sweat just walking up the stairs of the yoga hall – how could this be when he appeared so fit? The tai chi instructor who said it’s all about energy and being calm while he was overweight and had road rage issues. The spiritual new age proponents who say all is love. I look around me and clearly I can see that all in the world is not love.
When I first met Serge Benhayon and attended Universal Medicine presentations I could immediately feel that this was different to what I had previously found. This man felt like he did not want anything from me, he felt like he was not trying to convince me of anything, he didn’t say that he had all the answers and that his way was the only or best way. What he did was to present what he has felt, learnt and discovered and then challenged me to discover this for myself. He encouraged me (and all other attendees) to test it out for myself and see if it felt different. He repeatedly said, “don’t take my word for it, feel it for yourself”. I remember being at a presentation when Serge had talked about entities (spirits, ghosts, non-physical beings etc) and someone put up their hand and said that they were not convinced; he replied that that was fine, his role was to present and not to try and convince anyone of anything but allow attendees to feel for themselves as to whether what was presented was true for them or not. I had never experienced this before. In my previous experience with similar situations, the presenter would always go on to re-explain or try to convince the sceptic, and came from the standpoint of what they were presenting was absolute, for all and had to be accepted. Serge also challenged us to show him a philosophy, approach or way of living that was greater than the joy he felt every day from living the way he does. Again, no other person involved in any of my previous experiences had been this open or offered this as a possibility.
On eating, diet and exercise
Before meeting Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine I had some health issues where I realised I was reacting to certain foods, particularly gluten and dairy, and had not had these foods for years. My diet however was still not great. I still ate foods that, while not containing gluten and dairy, made me feel sick after eating them, or I ate too much. I would continue to eat these foods because they “tasted good” in my mouth, regardless of how they made me feel after eating them. I would then use exercise as a way to compensate for the amount I ate – if I ate too much during the week I would exercise more the following week. This allowed me to maintain a healthy weight without really looking at what and why I was eating the way I was. I would also use food for stimulation or to help me get through something I did not want to do, e.g. snacking while trying to study, write reports or do work.
I would also use exercise as a mechanism to change the way I felt about situations or actions. If I was upset or angry I would go for a long run and feel better by the end. If I had to work a night duty I would go for a long run to exhaust myself in the morning so I could sleep during the day to be awake for my night duty. I would also use exercise as a form of punishment, if I felt I had eaten too much, made a mistake at work or upset my partner I would take out the frustration on my body through exercise. This led me to being exhausted after exercise and never truly dealing with any of these issues, rather burying them in the physical pain and exhaustion of exercise.
Since discovering the esoteric philosophies and wisdom as presented by Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine at the various courses and workshops I now pay much more attention to what I eat, how I eat it and importantly how I feel having eaten it in the way I have eaten it. I can feel whether I am eating because of boredom, or the need for stimulation, or so that I can avoid doing or feeling something I don’t want to. I have also discovered that I eat less now that I pay attention to how I feel when I eat and as such I no longer need to punish myself with exercise. Now I exercise more gently as a means of feeling my body express in movement. I feel how it feels to walk and move rather than pounding along the pavement to numb myself to what is going on. If I have issues with work, relationships, anger or food I try to feel out these issues and deal with them, and once sorted I can then exercise and feel the beauty of my body in movement rather than the harshness of punishing it for the indiscretions of the mind. I am not perfect in this, but after several years of this approach involving constant refinement and adjustment, I have not gained weight, I feel healthier and I feel my body is more capable to handle the daily stress and activities of life.
On relationships, love and sex
I was blessed to have a beautiful loving wife and a relationship that was admired by our friends prior to experiencing Serge and the teachings of Universal Medicine. Indeed I had friends who had commented on the loving relationship that my wife and I had and how well they thought we were suited to each other. Our relationship was not perfect, we still argued at times, but we loved each other. Since discovering the esoteric both my wife and I have redefined our relationship, redefined what we consider love, and redefined sex and making love. My wife was the person who introduced me to Universal Medicine; however, our changing and unfolding relationship has been a mutual discovery as we find ways to deepen our connection with ourselves and each other. My wife never forced anything on me. She shared her discoveries with me as I did my discoveries with her. The love and connection that we have for each other and ourselves now makes our earlier relationship seem barren and empty. Sex, which used to be about pleasure and orgasm, is now about love and connection, and orgasm is the natural result of this connection, not a goal or achievement. The beauty of this connection is that it can exist with just a look, a simple gesture or touch as we pass in the hallway going about our busy days. We are not perfect with this and we still disagree on some things, but all aspects of our relationship have deepened since discovering the esoteric philosophies, and all during a period of our lives when we have two young children.
For me, in my life, my experience of Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine has been a revelation. I have had the opportunity to experience and explore new concepts and ways of being that have made a real difference in the way I live my life, the way I treat my body and in the relationships that I have with my wife, colleagues and now my children. I have had the opportunity to feel for myself what works in supporting my life and will continue to unfold as the love that I am.
By Lee Poole, Clayfield, Australia