The Lodge

In a world obsessed with wellbeing - would you put your health in the hands of a cult? A cautionary tale about the consequences of going alternative, when wellness becomes a matter of life & death.

Hosted and produced by Phil Vine

Image of a smiling woman with her hands raised in the air in a "praising" style. The words "The Lodge" appear above her hands. Her eyes are covered with a teared page rip across her face and across the image below. There are mountains in the distance behind her. The image is in a purple wash.

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Episode shared with you:

Distant Bells

Episode 1
Phil Vine explores the fall and rise of a therapeutic community – or cult – led by a charismatic guru, who promises to teach followers how to fly and heal without medicine. Followers share their bizarre experiences and the dangerous depth of their convictions, and we discover how this story connects to the modern wellness industry and the allure of alternative healing.
Distant Bellsshared with you
Image of followers at Takaro Lodge

All episodes:

Distant Bells

Episode 1
Phil Vine explores the fall and rise of a therapeutic community – or cult – led by a charismatic guru, who promises to teach followers how to fly and heal without medicine. Followers share their bizarre experiences and the dangerous depth of their convictions, and we discover how this story connects to the modern wellness industry and the allure of alternative healing.
Distant Bellsshared with you
Image of followers at Takaro Lodge

Quiet Death Toll

Episode 2
Phil delves into the enigmatic world of Takaro Lodge, a wellness retreat in New Zealand that doubled as a high-end luxury resort. We uncover the mysterious practices of its founder, Chinese grandmaster Aiping Wang and meet Warwick, a Kiwi actor who’s hoping that Aiping’s energy treatment will cure his HIV. From Fiordland National Park to the guru’s energy clinics in Europe and the US, how far will people go and what will they believe in the pursuit of wellness?
Contains strong language, discussions of sex
Followers performing crazy exercises.

Dealing With Magic

Episode 3
Warwick's story unfolds, and we discover if his six-month energy treatment in London has produced a miracle cure for HIV. Phil learns more about the ambitious nature of the wellness cult and its plan to reform all of society. We hear of the tragic tales of two other believers, Sharon and Yanis who died while following Aiping’s teachings and how other followers at the Lodge watched and took photos as a giant melanoma grew on Yanis face.
Followers Sharon and Yannis looking at camera.

Being There

Episode 4
We hear from the guru herself, Aiping Wang in a rare interview recorded for a 20/20 television documentary, The Grandmaster. The guru explains “Qi”, what she calls “Universe Energy” and how it can bring happiness, wealth and health, including curing serious diseases. She explains her teachings and we find out what happened when she started out as a guru back in Slovenia.
Image of Aiping Wang.

Quite Surreal

Episode 5
A bomb threat in 2005 shuts down central Tauranga, a city in the North Island of New Zealand, and Phil discovers that the bomber has a connection with the Lodge. After coming under public scrutiny Aiping, her family and followers go international, opening clinics in Europe and the States. We learn what some of her followers were paying for her Life Technology teachings and how others are profiting from them.
Aiping Wang sitting on a couch on a stage talking to an audience.

Ahead Of Her Time

Episode 6
We catch up with cult survivor and former zealot, Suzanne. She and her mum gave $1.5 million to Aiping to be life members at the Lodge, before her mum died what Suzanne calls “a horrific death”. Twenty years on, what does Suzanne believe now, what has she learnt, and what can her experience teach others?
Closeup image of Suzanne

The Ultimate Price

Episode 7
Remember Warwick the Kiwi actor? We follow his treatment at the Energy Bank in London, his special invitation to New Zealand for a one-on-one with Aiping Wang and find out how his story ends. Phil discusses the appeal of alternative medicine but also speaks with wellness experts about the dangers of exclusivity, where health gurus tell their followers it’s my way, or the highway.
Image of Warwick.

Burning Questions

Episode 8
Phil seeks an interview with Aiping and her family to find out what’s going on now at the lodge and the story behind those energy clinics. Arriving in Te Anau, he speaks to a neighbour about what’s going on these days, and as he tries to get an audience with the guru, is in for quite a reception.
New episode
An image of the gravel driveway leading to the lodge. Taken through a car window, there is wire fencing blocking the car.

Introducing: The Lodge

Trailer
What began as a promising sanctuary for healing in one of New Zealand’s most beautiful locations - became the epicentre of a double tragedy, a cautionary tale that goes straight to the heart of the modern wellness industry. Join award-winning RNZ journalist Phil Vine as he reopens the file on a mysterious cult that operated from a 1960s hunting lodge near Te Anau. Chinese guru Aiping Wang promised her followers supernatural powers—the ability to fly, see the future, and heal disease with “Universe Energy”. What began in a converted cinema in Slovenia and grew in the forests of New Zealand, has spawned a global empire of energy healing clinics and had a massive, sometimes traumatic, impact on the lives of followers.

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