by Jane Torvaney, Tayport, Fife, Scotland
Following the recent allegations about Serge Benhayon and how he has been portrayed in the media, I have been asking myself the following questions…
1. Has my life really changed since meeting Serge Benhayon and attending Universal Medicine workshops?
2. If so, what has changed for me?
3. What is it about Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine that has allowed any change to occur?
So, to answer these questions…
1. Has my life really changed since meeting Serge Benhayon and attending Universal Medicine workshops?
Yes, my life has changed – and infinitely for the better. Before meeting Serge everything on the outside looked sleek, ordered and smooth, yet on the inside, I felt a mess. I lived life feeling like a square peg in a round hole, using enormous amounts of energy just getting by. All the energy was put into keeping the façade of order on the outside, and yet the reality was the opposite – life was chaotic, stressful and disorganised. Needless to say, I was carrying all that disorder into my relationships too, putting oodles of energy into keeping the outside looking rosy while on the inside I was in turmoil and completely disconnected from those around me.
I had been looking for ages, without success, for something to help me. So when I first met Serge in 2006, when he came to Scotland, I remember feeling how extraordinarily ordinary it all was. There was no chanting or bell ringing, or feeling the need to ‘worship’ this man. All I felt, for the first time in decades, was that I could just be me. There was love and an ‘equalness’ between us, and it was simple and beautiful. It all felt very natural and just how it should be, and I left feeling simply me – something I had not felt in a long time. Not a blissed out, super-relaxed, ‘angels singing’ kind of state – just a practical, easy feeling of having been met and supported by someone who knew about love, who was living it, and who had inspired me to be the same.
Thus began the love affair with myself… and ever since that meeting I have been using the workshops and presentations as a way to help me let go of the destructive ways I had been living, and instead find ways to build something which cared for me and others so much more.
So, if my life has really changed for me…
2. What has changed for me?
Many things. For example:
- I feel that each day has an easier flow to it now; before it felt chaotic.
- I feel extremely healthy and energetic; before I felt constantly anxious, drained and exhausted.
- I laugh and giggle a lot more.
- I pay attention to how my body feels. Before, I would push myself hard just to get the job done, or to help another.
- I say no if I don’t want to do something (this has taken time – I hadn’t realised how much I like to please other people, but I am beginning to really enjoy saying no because it helps me!)
- My diet has changed and I am now enjoying food hugely!
- My relationships are easier, more rewarding and more enjoyable.
- I have lots of moments each day when I appreciate simple things around me.
So, given change has occurred…
3. What is it about Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine that has allowed these changes to occur?
My willingness to see that it was my responsibility to make changes in my life was the first step to making those changes.
By attending workshops and presentations I found lots of different ways to take care of myself deeply. It has not always been easy to change old ways of doing things, but it has been very worthwhile. Although there will be many who attend the classes using similar ways to take care of themselves, I feel my own ways are unique to me, and I find I am going through an interesting process of getting to know myself more and more as I try different things out.
Things are constantly changing and I am adding new ways to support me along the way, but for the moment, here are some of the things that have helped me so far:
- Going for a gentle walk each day and enjoying the feeling in my body as I do this.
- Being aware of my hands lots – e.g. feeling how gently I can use my fingers and hands to do things such as vacuuming, picking up the kettle or opening doors. I am having fun with this.
- Going to bed early.
- Being in a daily routine that suits me.
- Giving myself enough time to do things so I don’t rush.
- Giving people my complete attention when in conversation.
- Having my slippers at exactly the right spot so when I get out of bed in the morning I can just slip my feet into them.
- Constantly reviewing and, if necessary, changing my diet to suit how I feel.
- Always having flowers in my bedroom.
There are lots, lots more examples – these are just a few.
However I do, at the moment, regularly slip up. Sometimes I reach for a food that will comfort me whilst knowing my body will feel ‘yuck’ after eating it. Sometimes l rush at tasks to get them finished, or go into overdrive to try to get more than one thing done at a time, and I lose the consistency of my rhythm.
The wonderful thing when this happens is that I can instantly feel there is something not right; that I know there is a much better way for me to live and that I have numerous ways, both large and small, to bring myself back to be more caring and more loving. It is by being aware and being honest with myself at all times that I can still see it is my choices that really allow my life to flow easily… or not.
So UniMed taught me all about self-love, and from that I have developed how to care for myself in the way I live, with the food I eat, and how I interact with others. In caring for myself deeply I am finding my care for others and my connection to others has also deepened. I no longer see people as greater or lesser than me, but as equal. It feels like as I do this, I drop my guard and everyone gets to see who I am and what I am like. This then inspires others to do the same.
This feeling of equalness is at the heart of Serge’s teachings, and I can feel that equalness with Serge and his family when I attend workshops or listen to his presentations on audio. When a group of people come together in this equalness it is something to be celebrated.
If Serge Benhayon were a guru and I belonged to a cult, then surely I would be worshipping him – I certainly wouldn’t be feeling the sense of love or equalness that I do. I would feel separate, and deep down, if I were willing to admit it, I would feel disconnected to others around me. And yet all I feel is that we are all equal, and everything Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine do is to inspire, more and more, that equalness in us all.
So, a huge thank you to Serge. His love is a constant inspiration to me.
The Truth about Serge Benhayon 
Jane your description of “searching for something” is felt by many, I feel for the majority of humanity. I could never follow one person but there was always that one that I wanted to find, that could never be found…Until one day I met Serge Benhayon, Universal Medicine and his family too. What an inspiring family, so loving, so supporting and to be seen as all equal no matter what credentials or status we carry is beyond words.
It is through self-caring for myself that my life has changed. It is far from perfect but a one life that I would choose any day than how I used to live in the past. The one life I will continue to build until I am walking the same footsteps as a master of life.
It’s true, to worship another I have to make myself and/or others as less than the one on the pedestal. But I don’t feel that with Serge, it’s not expected nor welcome to be less than equal.
I always use to give my power away to another who I thought had more knowledge or more wisdom then me and yet, I felt no more knowledge or more wisdom then them. It’s a no wonder I would become angry always projecting it upon another when I had to be honest, it was upon oneself.
There is no need to put anyone on a pedestal, as when we observe everyone as an equal then, we meet everyone as one.
It’s not just Serge Benhayon anymore; yes he was the catalyst to support people to make the changes always their personal choice of course. There is now a ground swell of students who support each other these people live all across the world. There is always a starting point but now it’s self-perpetuating as we all learn from each other and grow in our awareness it naturally follows that others by reflection decide to make more loving choices for themselves. This is how the world will change without the need to protest or march on masse.
Jane I love how you have broken up responsibility into simple terms such as looking after yourself and being gentle and loving. We think sometimes it is really difficult or complicated to be responsible but in truth it is simple and simply something for us to embrace and live rather than try to work out or get a degree in.
Responsibility is a key word in empowerment – when we take responsibility for ourselves and our body we empower ourselves.
Serge Benhayon does not ask to be worshipped. Nor does he ask anyone to give their power away to him or anyone else. He simply lives in a way that inspires another to empower themselves.
Actually one of the biggest reflection for me is that we are all equal. I have always known this however there is a difference between the knowledge of it and actually feeling it in my body. Now when I am talking to someone I look into their eyes and see that they to have this natural quality to love themselves and others deeply they are just not aware of it.
“I do, at the moment, regularly slip up. …… The wonderful thing when this happens is that I can instantly feel there is something not right ….” Developing the awareness to know when something is ‘not right’ and the tools to re-connect oneself, work out why one has ‘slipped’ is tremendously empowering as one can then choose to change one’s way of being with the result the consistency of being in harmony deepens. That is what Serge Benhayon presents and shows by his lived example.
“My willingness to see that it was my responsibility to make changes in my life was the first step to making those changes.” There is no truer starting point.
Lovely to read of the many benefits you are experiencing as a result of attending some Universal Medicine presentations, ‘ UniMed taught me all about self-love, and from that I have developed how to care for myself in the way I live, with the food I eat, and how I interact with others. In caring for myself deeply I am finding my care for others and my connection to others has also deepened. I no longer see people as greater or lesser than me, but as equal.’
“Thus began the love affair with myself…” I like what you share here about the inspiration Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine provided for you, it was the same for me. It is absolutely not true that we worship Serge… we are too busy getting on with loving ourselves!
You ask some great and at the same time obvious questions and I can say that since meeting Serge Benhayon and attending Universal Medicine presentations I have become a lot steadier and am able to accept a lot more than I used to as I’m coming from a place of strength, not given-up-ness. Although still quite anxious at times I am more understanding of myself and others, especially as I become more aware of the energies that are at play.
Understanding ourselves as a student, and that we are just learning allows us to just experiment and move in ways that may seem ‘wrong’ to the logical mind yet makes total sense somehow to the body, and it’s just a most beautiful and joy-full process that we can engage in, and in that, nobody can tell us what to do. Ever.
Love it Fumiyo – the allowing of being a student of life!
To me the gist of what Serge Benhayon presents is that we do not love ourselves and that actually if we start to look at the way we treat ourselves it is not very loving at all quite abusive in fact. That we have fallen for love in the emotional sense and not in the true sense of the word is because there are actually not that many people who truly love themselves so there are very few role models in our society.
There is something deeply settling in reading this, and feeling someone who has come to a place of understanding who they are and taken that to a deeper level in how they are with themselves, no drive, just a willingness to be themselves around others.
What I love about what I’ve learned from Universal Medicine is that I now know in me so much more clearly what supports me and what doesn’t as I’ve developed and continue to develop a way of being which allows me to more deeply care for and love me, and it feels delicious, and awful when I step away, and so each time I step back to me, get honest and feel those points where I can develop me … it’s an ever deepening relationship with me and all around me.
There is this myth or false belief that to change our lives we have to go OUT of our way, when in truth we can only change it if we go OUR Way.
That is a really great point Eduardo, and it exposes that it’s not hard, a drag, or difficult at all to self love, it’s more that we want to go in a way that is against our way!
This is an excellent question Jane and your answer is in practical detail.
I used to put people on pedestals those I admire musicians, sports stars, etc. It was a false admiration based on comparison (I can’t do that but I want to). It was always seeing myself as lesser and my idol to be greater. It was suggested to me that I couldn’t love or adore anyone unless I love and adore myself. Like Jane now that I am loving myself I Love everyone and I don’t love anyone else more or less because I know love does not work like that because love is for all.
To encounter something so deeply life changing which does require any kind of particular singular worshiping of another person is very profound. I love the practicality of how Serge Benhayon presents love in a way that is not designed to convince you to give your power away to him, but rather to simply live it for yourself.
Well said Shami – no worshipping required when we live the love we are as we can feel we are all equally magnificent.
Forget Casablanca, or Gone with the Wind…. “thus began the love affair with myself” – this is the greatest love story ever told!
Worshipping or following anyone is very disempowering for both parties. Within we are all the same and express with different qualities and ways that support the whole. When we put someone up above us, we don’t walk together but behind them, hence not getting on with what we are here to reflect.
Absolutely Aimee, we are all equal, and it is very disempowering to put another higher than ourselves, ‘This feeling of equalness is at the heart of Serge’s teachings, and I can feel that equalness with Serge and his family when I attend workshops or listen to his presentations on audio.’
From spending time at presentations by Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine, I have found that when we hold each other as equals any judgment or comparison disappears, especially in the work place, it seems almost criminal now to even think of worshiping another or holding another higher than anyone else because we are all equal from the inside out.
” And yet all I feel is that we are all equal, and everything Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine do is to inspire, more and more, that equalness in us all. ”
This is so true Jane , the equal-ness of presence that Serge Benhayon and others stands in , lets one know the truth of the equal origins of us all.
Everyone Serge Benhayon meets is met in the same equal quality he holds for himself, there are no special people, no one that he puts higher than others and no special treatment for his family either, everyone is beautifully treated equally and that is a very inspiring thing to see and to be part of.
The changes that come with the Ageless Wisdom teachings are paramount. Yet, in simple words, it is all about working into the pattern of movement in life that brought you to where you are. Understanding it, healing what has to be healed and re-imprint it to walk in a way that is much truer to you.
Every time I make myself less I dishonour the fact that I am a son of God. Whenever I dishonour who I truly am and make myself unworthy I inevitably dishonour and lie to another as I am hiding and not bringing the true me to the world. With the enormous support from Serge Benhayon and Univerdal Medicine I am very gently uncovering the ‘real’ me, playful and full of joy to all that comes my way.
That’s an important, and lovely, point to share Caroline, ‘Every time I make myself less I dishonour the fact that I am a son of God.’
I too have discovered through the presentations and lived ways of Serge Benhayon that we are all truly equal. It is an equalness of essence, a pull up for us all to be who we truly are rather than an equalness of being less.
Isn’t it peculiar how the most extraordinary and longed for thing is for us to just be ourselves. How incredibly extraordinarily it is to meet an ordinary person who is simply themselves in a world full of people trying in one way or another to be everything but who they are whilst so deeply longing to be who they truly are – figure that one out if you can!
That is so true Nicola, and it does sound crazy where we are trying to be everything but who we truly are. So beautiful that we have met a man who has shown us how to live our extraordinary self in a most ordinary way.
Yes and not only is it crazy to try to be anything other than who we are but it is also exhausting and harmful to us and everyone else.
The love affair I have with myself is deepening every day. Who would have thought I could fall in love with myself? – certainly not me before I came across Serge Benhayon, in fact to even consider a romance with myself would have been out of the question! And the by-product is that I get to fall in love with the people in my life.
“If everyone is equal, how could I worship another?” – too right, Jane. And if esoteric is all about reconnecting with our own inner-most and live from that space to outward, how can we possibly follow another? I know there are so many phony teachings around that would say one thing and do another, but with Serge Benhayon, you get what you see. There really is nothing like it.
And in all the years I have known him he has never allowed me to give my powers away. He has always stood there completely equal and honouring my free will without an ounce of judgement. This has supported me massively with myself and others. When I find myself getting frustrated or annoyed I remember there is another way and there must be something for me if I am reacting in the way I am.
Thank you Jane, I enjoyed the simplicity and practicality with which you described the changes you have made. This was a great point for me “I pay attention to how my body feels. Before, I would push myself hard just to get the job done, or to help another.” This is something for me to really review, especially as it’s been a pattern to place others before myself. I find the body awareness wonderful, as it always supports me to feel exactly where I am at and make changes to support myself. This is particularly helpful when I’m in an old unhelpful pattern that feels familiar but is actually not good for me. The body expresses the truth about it all so clearly.
It’s great to come to a place where we see everyone as equals. For years I would put people either above or below me, depending on how confident I felt. Serge Benhayon has been an inspiration for me in that regard.
There is such an equality in what Serge shares with all he meets and he inspires that in others, and to hear your experience Jane and how that meeting rippled out and impacted on your life due to the changes you’ve implemented and experimented with over time is very inspiring. I just feel a deep settlement in you, in how you live and I feel that is what you offer to all you meet, a space to meet them as you’re more settled in you.
In my view it would be an odd thing for a God to create billions of children and then expect them to worship him. He would surely be quite a self-absorbed deity. Perhaps the truth is that worship is more about appreciating and celebrating the love that is innate within us all and hence supporting the expansion of it through our expression.
That’s very funny Richard about the self absorbed deity! It definitely doesn’t make sense at all. We are here to become all that we are born from.
Beautifully said Jane. Hearing Serge Benhayon talk about equalness for the first time was one of those moments when my whole being came into alignment and said Yes! I felt my whole self ‘sigh’ with an ahhh of appreciation for the truth spoken with no holding back. If we are to worship anything, rather than any one being in particular, it should be the Oneness that is all of us in pure equalness…as we were co-created to be.
It’s interesting that we put so much energy and emphasis on our image, what our life LOOKS like and how that fits into a desired picture – all at the expense of having a true relationship with our internal world, which at the end of the day we need to live with constantly, no matter what life looks like.
With laser like focus Rachel – you hit the bullseye. That internal world is there every day, every moment and while we might try to look away or create a picture of something else, nothing is going to work unless we first address this inside ourselves.
I can relate to feeling absolutely equal around Serge Benhayon and able to be yourself because of the deep love he holds you with, and there is no feeling of him being more, just a huge respect and appreciation for what Serge is bringing for us all.
I am discovering that true love never comes in a way I would expect it.
Inspiration is in bucket loads when you are at a Serge Benhayon presentation. Inspiration from what is being presented, but also in the faces and sharing of the other people attending. Their faces show that life is much more that most of us previously thought it was.
Appreciation of how far we have come and all the changes, growth and evolution we have chosen for ourselves in life is so important so thank you Jane for sharing your appreciation of yourself and your life with us all.
Reading this lovely blog it occurs to me that the more we love ourselves the more equal we feel with everyone else because we are not seeking anything from anyone as we are complete as we are. We simply share and express the love we have already inside us with all with no other agenda or imposition on anyone or anything. This is what is truly inspiring about Serge Benhayon in my opinion as he has mastered this.
Jane, you have captured how many of us felt and the changes that have occurred since meeting Serge Benhayon. I was also surprised by how ordinary he seemed when I first met him, as I was used to the ‘new age’ image of a healer. The fact that he allows people to ‘just be’ and feel at ease with themselves is massive and the ripple effect this has is not to be underestimated. If you think about how many people truly allow you to feel this it may be none or a few. We may feel superficially at ease with those we are ‘comfortable’ with, but Serge allows you to just be all of who you are, without any toning down or shyness. This allowing out of the true self is what is the real catalyst for change, as not being ourselves is hard work and draining to the body.
Jane you describe meeting Serge Benhayon as ‘…just a practical, easy feeling…’ and that captures it beautifully. Serge has never incited anyone to feel anything, and places himself on no pedestal. He has returned to who he really is, and at most encourages us to do the same.
Serge Benhayon inspires me to grow my awareness rather than to shut it down or tune out from it. As we all do feel everything all of the time, this is an exhausting way to live as you have to keep yourself distracted, numbed out with food or drink, or in a story pretending that you didn’t feel what you felt or as in my case take on being the ‘victim’ to the energy that was flying around. Serge presented how to observe and not absorb and how to discern energy and this has completely changed my life.
Serge Benhayon is a constant inspiration to deepen my awareness of all that is in the Universe and my responsibility for the part I play in it.
It’s always great to read what others use as a foundational support to live more awareness of who they truly are. There was a time when it was almost like I was standing on nothing, I simply didn’t know what I had, how to take care of it or how it all related to life. Universal Medicine and Serge Benhayon continue to bring that understanding and support people to grow their awareness to what they are truly seeing and how this practically relates to life.
I totally agree with you Jane. The changes I have made in my life due to accepting that I’m worth it have been huge, and like you, I have only experienced inspiration from anything that Serge or Universal Medicine has presented and have never once felt to worship him or anyone else for that matter. The mere thought of worshipping someone makes me cringe, as I know that no one is higher than anyone else.
We are equal and it is lovely to feel that, ‘All I felt, for the first time in decades, was that I could just be me. There was love and an ‘equalness’ between us, and it was simple and beautiful.’ Gorgeous
This is really beautiful Jane, ‘Thus began the love affair with myself… and ever since that meeting I have been using the workshops and presentations as a way to help me let go of the destructive ways I had been living, and instead find ways to build something which cared for me and others so much more.’