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The Cult Dossier · No. 123 · Commercial / Therapy / Lgat

Universal Medicine

the Way of the Livingness

1999 – present · Goonellabah, New South Wales, Australia; Somerset, England

XII. THE WIDER FIELD — CONCISE ENTRIES

Religious claims; denied charity status as a religion in the UK

Who led it

SERGE BENHAYON, a former tennis coach and bankrupt with no medical qualifications, who says he received an energetic impress in 1999 while on the toilet, and that he is the reincarnation of Leonardo da Vinci, among others including Pythagoras and Saint Peter.

What it worshipped and taught

Esoteric healing modalities — esoteric breast massage, ovary massage, chakra-puncture — sold at high prices, combined with an extremely restrictive diet (no dairy, gluten, sugar, alcohol or caffeine) and teachings that cancer and other illness result from a person's own energetic choices, including in past lives.

Who was in it

Serge Benhayon; Esther Rockett, the blogger he sued; the New South Wales Supreme Court jury of 2018.

How it ended, or where it stands

Active; comprehensively discredited in an Australian court.

The dead

— (the jury found he preys on cancer patients; no death has been established)

Of note

The rare case where a civil jury made an explicit finding of fact that a named organisation IS a socially harmful cult. That makes it unusually citable.

Its timeline

  1. 1999 Universal Medicine founded.
  2. 2011 The Way of the Livingness is DENIED CHARITABLE STATUS IN THE UK as not meeting the test for a religion. It is not registered as a religion in Australia either.
  3. 2015 Benhayon sues Esther Rockett for defamation.
  4. 15 OCTOBER 2018 A FOUR-PERSON JURY FINDS AGAINST HIM, holding that Rockett's imputations were substantially true — including that Benhayon RUNS A SOCIALLY HARMFUL CULT, that he is a charlatan who makes fraudulent medical claims, that he has an indecent interest in girls as young as ten, and that he intentionally touched clients indecently. Some imputations, including that he was delusional, were not found true. He is ordered to pay her costs on the higher indemnity basis, about 1.2 million dollars.
  5. 2019–present The organisation continues to operate.

Its people

Serge Benhayon

—

Founder, Universal Medicine · — · active 1999–present

A former tennis coach and bankrupt who says he received an 'energetic impress' in 1999 while on the toilet, and that he is the reincarnation of Leonardo da Vinci, among others. He has no medical qualifications. In 2015 he sued a blogger, Esther Rockett, for defamation and in 2018 lost comprehensively — the jury found the imputations substantially true, including that he runs a socially harmful cult and has an indecent interest in girls as young as ten.

Before the law. NEVER CRIMINALLY CHARGED. But a New South Wales Supreme Court jury made an explicit finding of fact that he runs a socially harmful cult — a rare and unusually citable outcome.

Where things stand. Living. The organisation continues to operate.

  1. 1999 Founds Universal Medicine.
  2. 2011 His Way of the Livingness is denied charitable status as a religion in the UK; it is not registered as a religion in Australia.
  3. 2015 Sues Esther Rockett for defamation.
  4. 15 OCTOBER 2018 THE JURY FINDS AGAINST HIM. Imputations held substantially true, including that he runs a socially harmful cult and is a charlatan making fraudulent medical claims. He is ordered to pay her costs, about 1.2 million dollars.

Checked 2026-09-16 · living: health details are kept at home

Esther Rockett

—

Universal Medicine whistleblower · born c.1966 · active 2005–present

An Australian acupuncturist and former client who began blogging about Serge Benhayon's Universal Medicine and was sued for defamation. Rather than settle, she defended the action — and in October 2018 a New South Wales Supreme Court jury found the imputations substantially true, including that Benhayon runs a socially harmful cult, is a charlatan making fraudulent medical claims, and has an indecent interest in girls as young as ten. She is the reason a court finding of fact on that question exists at all.

Before the law. DEFENDANT WHO WON. The verdict is one of very few judicial findings of fact that a named organisation is a socially harmful cult.

Where things stand. LIVING AND ACTIVE — confirmed to 2024, and this file badly understated her. It read only 'Living in Australia'. IN OCTOBER 2018, AFTER A FIVE-WEEK HEARING AND A WEEK OF DELIBERATION, A JURY IN THE SUPREME COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES THREW OUT SERGE BENHAYON'S DEFAMATION ACTION AGAINST HER AND UPHELD HER DEFENCE OF TRUTH ON 37 SERIOUS IMPUTATIONS. A cult leader sued a lone blogger for defamation and a jury ruled that what she had written about him was simply true. She published a memoir of the fight, UNIVERSAL PREDATOR, IN MAY 2024, and was still speaking about it publicly that July.

  1. 2005 Attends Universal Medicine sessions as a client.
  2. 2012 onward Begins publishing critical material online.
  3. 2015 Benhayon sues her for defamation.
  4. OCTOBER 2018 THE JURY FINDS IN HER FAVOUR, holding the imputations substantially true.
  5. 2019–21 Benhayon's appeals dismissed.

Checked 2026-08-24 · living: health details are kept at home

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