Why Kenja is not a religious group or a cult

Labelling an organisation as a ‘cult’ is the quickest and most effective way to smear it, and even in the absence of a scintilla of evidence will still poison the minds of all who hear it. Just as one may throw mud at a person and stain a white shirt, so it is almost impossible to erase the mark of the epithet ‘cult’. But let’s try anyway.

The online dictionary gives this definition, which is relevant to our discussion: ‘A relatively small group of people having religious beliefs or practices regarded by others as strange or as imposing excessive control over members.’

A moment’s reflection will reveal that this definition is completely without meaning. Who are these ‘others’ and by what divine fiat does their looking upon the practices of other people as strange make the group undesirable? Anything which is new will obviously appear strange to those who encounter it for the first time. Every major new scientific discovery faces resistance from those still wedded to the old paradigm of the universe.

Naturally, every group will be ‘relatively small’ in its early stages. It takes time for any organisation to grow. No doubt Jesus and his followers were a ‘relatively small group of people’, and would have been labelled a cult by this definition.

What about the last part, ‘imposing excessive control over members’? Once again, the statement appears logical, but in reality is devoid of meaning. What is excessive control? A sergeant in the army has complete control over the enlisted soldiers, but this is regarded as appropriate where they face situations of life and death.

In truth, the word ‘cult’ has little meaning other than as a pejorative term to describe a group that you don’t like, and which is probably small enough that it can’t defend itself effectively. For the word ‘cult’ does definitely carry a strong significance of something at the very least undesirable, and at worst, evil.

What, then, is the motive for describing Kenja as a cult?

We live, supposedly, in a democracy, where people are free, within the limits of the law, to do what they want and to believe what they choose. In practice, various institutions still seek to gain power over the rights of others, in particular, over the freedom of belief. On one side there is what we might call the ‘cult of scientific materialism’, which seeks to reduce mankind to slavery by propagating the idea that the material world is all that exists, since it is all that can be proven by scientific instruments.

And on the other, fundamentalist groups of all religions, who believe dogmatically that theirs is the only path to Truth, and seek to prevent others from making their own explorations. Small groups form an easy target, while larger ones are generally more difficult to attack. Yet history is littered with illustrations of the horrors that are unleashed when religious authorities get their hands on the machinery of State, but we don’t need to look further than our own time to see plenty of examples - the Islamic theocracy of Iran, the resurgence of Hindu nationalism in India, the collusion between the senior Buddhist hierarchy and the junta of Myanmar, and the rather more subtle - and therefore more pervasive - influence of fundamentalist Christianity in the United States, Australia and other Western democracies.

But why attack Kenja? The answer is simple: Kenja helps people to learn to think for themselves. This is a threat to those who desire to control how other people think. Freedom to think exists only to the extent that one knows one’s own mind and the forces which control it. Energy conversion, the technique of meditation developed by Ken Dyers, enables people to become aware of the influences to which they have been subject, sometimes from an early age. By becoming aware of them, we are able to do something about them. This generates greater self-confidence and self-determinism.

Those who seek to control others perceive this as a threat to their power, which it is. It is not, however, a threat to the well-being of others in society. People who become more aware of themselves, naturally become more aware of their connection with others and of the world and society generally. Self-awareness is the key to all knowledge. This leads to a greater concern to help both individuals and society as a whole.

The work of Kenja is deeply rooted in the wisdom of the ages. Yet it is not necessary to study ancient philosophies (which were written in a different culture). One of Ken Dyers’ exceptional skills was to present what one writer has called ‘Ageless Wisdom’ in modern, everyday language, grounded in his own experience and contemporary Australian culture. It is thus incredibly practical, enabling any person to grasp a concept that is relevant to them, take it and apply it immediately to any situation in their lives, with positive results.

The concept of spirituality discussed at Kenja is not aligned to any religion. Nor does it conflict with religions - apparent when you realise that people of diverse religious beliefs do the Kenja training. Neither is Kenja a cult. People doing the training come and go as they like and have widely varied lives - some are extremely high achievers, others are just happy to create more balance. It is entirely up to each individual how much of the Kenja training they apply to their life. Kenja is in fact, the opposite of a cult - which by definition eliminates self-determinism. Kenja training views self-determinism as an imperative for personal growth.