85 Maum Cultists Denied Entry to US

[Peter]

I've been meaning to explore Maum Meditation for a while now as I've heard from several former members over the years, but beyond some bookmarking and one little Kindle purchase, I've have failed to find the time.

This little incident in the US provided me the opportunity to finally start a thread about the group here. And that Kindle purchase is the creepily titled Stop Living In This Land, Go To The Everlasting World Of Happiness, Live There Forever.

I have only just skimmed the early pages, but I think I might now read the rest sooner rather than later. Those early pages certainly gave off a clear cult vibe, as did the title. Just skimming the reviews just now, this one caught my eye as most reviews seem to have been written by members:

STOP LIVING IN THIS LAND... is the most repetitive, brainwashy, culty thing I've ever read (except for the Holy Bible). On nearly every page of it's nearly 400 pages it repeats this simple message: "You were born a sinner and the current state of your hellish life is meaningless and you must wake up to live forever in bliss or die forever and ever to never NEVER get another chance and the ONLY way to wake up is through Maum Meditation." There, now you don't have to read this book. Literally, that is all Woo Myung has to say in this book! Oh, except when he sings his own high praises towards the end, describing his glorious self as a divine teacher in possession of the ONLY WAY to spiritual salvation and that is, once again, Maum Meditation.

And now to the articles that rekindled^ my interest in this group:

Nov. 22, 2017: 85 S. Koreans Denied Entry to US Due to Travel Document Complications (The Korea Herald)

Meanwhile, the US edition of Joongang Ilbo reported that the group was on their way to participate in a meditation program hosted by a South Korea-based organization, Suwanee Mediation, through a travel agency.

This recent Reddit ties "Suwanee Meditation" to Maum.

Suwanee is the name of a US town, obviously not the name of the parent Korean group.

While the Korea Herald piece does offer "Suwanee Meditation" as the name for the group, in this Yonhap piece, a Ministry official refuses to name the group. That caused a chuckle as determining the name of the group from the name offered in the Korean Herald article took less than a minute.
http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/news/2017/11/22/0200000000AEN20171122006200315.html

He, however, declined to disclose the name of the organization and the identifications of the individuals for protection of their privacy. He also did not provide the purposes they stated in their entry review process at the airport.

Here's a thread on Rick Ross's cult awareness site about the group.

[Peter]

http://suwaneemeditation.org/ doesn't mention Maum.

Its "About Meditation" page is the same as Auckland Meditation's About page, which was listed as a Maum site at this older link:
https://www.eventfinda.co.nz/venue/maum-meditation-centre-forrest-hill

That link (besides having the word Maum in it) also links to Maum's earlier US site which is now offline.
http://www.meditationusa.org/
Archived here

It looks like the group recently dropped the Maum name - probably due to cult allegations; instead, they now simply add the name of a branch's town/city to the word meditation.

[Peter]

One former member I know suggested the deportations may have been because the 85 members traveled to the US to work as free farm laborers.

Here are a couple of tidbits that don't exactly shoot that theory down.

Aug. 21, 2015: First Suwannee County Business Incentive Grants Awarded (Suwannee Democrat)

One of the first business incentive grant applications came from a new business, Ease Land Organic Farm, which is owned by the nonprofit Maum Meditation House of Truth. The farm qualified for the tax grant based on their plans to build a 14,000 square foot facility; create 14 new jobs with average annual wages of $62,500, including benefits; and add $11.87 million in capital investments.

The 300-acre farm will be located off CR 136 on 147th Road near the Hidden Oaks subdivision. According to Ease Land Organic Farm’s business plans, they will produce organic vegetable powders, which are sold as nutritional supplements, along with organic produce from an orchard and small farming operation. Visitors can purchase products on site at a retail store, and they can even take part in a farming experience where they can farm the land, practice yoga and meditation, and take part in classes on subjects such as nutrition and weight loss.

Commissioners approved Ease Land Organic Farm to receive a maximum grant of $381,890 to be paid out over four years.

The second tidbit is a reference to "active meditation" on a Maum site. Unfortunately, I've misplaced the link, but I'll find it soon I hope^