by Nicole Twist, Newrybar, Australia

I don’t know much about cults, but the little I do know is that there is an expectation of allegiance – surrender to the cult leader and to the doctrines of the cult and if you do not tow the line, there are what I would expect to be unpleasant consequences, punishment or even banishment.

Well, Universal Medicine is not a very good cult then, because the ‘doctrines’ presented are about developing love and truth in your own life, at your own pace and in your own way from listening to yourself and no one else.

At various points I have resisted listening to and developing this for myself, sometimes acting in a way that is completely opposite to love and what I know to be the truth within my own being; sometimes as a result, I will express harsh and unloving words and actions which affect my family and friends as well as myself.

Even though I do this, and sometimes this is on a day to day basis, the doors are still open for me to attend the presentations and talks and workshops. The doors are open and there is no judgment, no feeling of ‘oh, what a bad person you must be as you haven’t followed the teachings’ – no punishment or ‘consequence’.

Instead I have received total understanding and support from those who have committed their own lives to developing a deep understanding of love and the human condition, and simply remain open to share from their own experience.