Q&A - Misuse of "Rinpoche" title, fake generosity, sexual exploitation history
The following Q&A is repurposed from enquiries to the Pathgate Survivors blog. The answers cover important points that is beneficial for current and ex-members of Pathgate who wish to make sense of their experience. Names and details have been changed to protect identities.

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Questions:

I feel very confused after reading what is written on the website.
I am not saying your claims are not true, but how can you prove them?
You say that Peter Yeung is not a Rinpoche but how do you check this?
I am a student from [201x], Peter Yeung has never yelled at me, and his advice has always been “doing good for others”, and has taught that “everyone has goodness within them”, which I understood mostly. He has also sponsored different projects.
Peter’s students had travelled to [Namdroling Monastery in] India to make a film, and those were really monks from the Monastery, even though they didn’t know who Yeung was.
When he visits foreign countries, he always leave monetary offerings behind.
I have seen him him wearing luxury brand items as you claimed.
How is “Tanya” related to him?

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Answers:

Feeling confusion is the first step towards re-evaluating one’s involvement in a questionable organisation. I will answer your questions and statements one by one. I am also using “followers” in place of “students” because I do not consider Peter Yeung a teacher.

Q. I am not saying your claims are not true, but how can you prove them?

It is common to believe the words of the people we trust; but it is a bias that all humans have. It’s good that you’re activating your critical thinking to investigate if what Peter Yeung has been saying is real or not real. Blind faith and submission is not the Buddha’s way.

There is no reason for me to deceive you. I do not need your worship, your time, your energy or your money. Many ex-members have wasted years of their lives following a fake teacher and I don’t want the same for you and your family. I’m telling you the truth without any hidden agenda, in the hope of freeing you from Peter’s harmful influence.

Q. You say that Peter Yeung is not a Rinpoche but how do you check this?

This is a great question. First you need to understand the word Rinpoche and how it is used. While you may have been told that it means “precious one”, you would not have been told that when a teacher is called “Rinpoche” it usually means:

1. They are a tulku, who has been recognized as the reincarnation of a prominent master.
2. He is trained from childhood in Buddhist study, practice, and ritual, and takes over the responsibilities of the previous incarnation when the training is complete.
3. Occasionally, exceptional practitioners are given the title Rinpoche later in life to honour their accomplishment (and are often retroactively recognized as tulkus). [[url=https://www.lionsroar.com/what-does-rinpoche-mean/]Source[/url]]

Peter is none of the above. While Peter may have spent some years being associated with Palyul,

1. He has not been recognised as a tulku.
2. He has no formal training in Buddhist study, practice, and ritual; and definitely not from childhood.
3. He has not been given the title Rinpoche by Palyul, or any authority for that matter. He gave himself the title.

This is why Peter is not a “Rinpoche”. He is misrepresenting his actual status by calling himself that; this is a form of deception.

It may also be helpful for you to know that when I met Peter in 2008, people were calling him “Sifu”. Then over time it became “Sifu Rinpoche”, and then it became only “Rinpoche” from around 2015-2016.

For further understanding, I suggest looking up the difference between the words “title” and “honorific”.

Q. I am a student from [201x], Yeung has never yelled at me, and his advice has always been “doing good for others”, and has taught that “everyone has goodness within them”. He has also sponsored different projects.

I see three valid but faulty beliefs here which I will debunk:

1. He never yells at you so he must be good.

You would have noticed that Peter only yells at long term followers. He usually treats the recent followers well because this is how he builds trust and loyalty. It is only after they are totally indoctrinated and committed, then he will start his exploitation and abuse. Unfortunately, by then, it would be very difficult to leave.

Also, because English is not your first language, most of the “yelling” is lost in translation. You may think he is just “yelling” at followers, but in reality his words cause a lot of emotional harm. It attacks people’s dignity, self-esteem and confidence. It is brutal and dehumanising. So it is not yelling, it is verbal abuse. A Buddhist teacher, or anyone in that matter, should not be engaging in this harmful behaviour.

2. He gives good advice and teachings such as “always others first and everyone is good”, so he must be good.

All authentic spiritual paths talk about these things. If Peter does not make valid and reasonable points, then no one would follow him. He is using valid spiritual teachings as a bait to keep you hooked. Just because someone says something good and true, it does not mean everything they say is true.

Moreover, Peter preaches “others first” but if you examine carefully he does not practice this himself. Every good deed that is performed by Peter is to gain your trust and loyalty, so this is corrupted. Just because someone says some good things, it does not mean they practise them, and it does not make them trustworthy.

3. He is generous so he must be good.

It is true that Peter can appear very generous. However, it has been observed time and again that it is his method to buy devotion and loyalty. In this sense, it is not real generosity, it is manipulation.

How do you check that if it is real generosity or manipulation?

a. Even though it appeared like a good deed and you feel gratitude, did you also sense that there was something unnatural about it that made you feel uneasy?
b. Did the act of generosity feel intrusive, imposed or overbearing?
c. Did you feel that it was difficult to say no to him, or that there will be consequences for saying no?
d. Did you get the feeling Peter was performing/acting?
e. Has he criticised followers for declining his offer to help?
f. Does he seem to talk about his generous acts often, especially in public?
g. When he talks about it, do you get the feeling that he is boasting or showing off?
h. Do you get the sense that he is reminding you not to forget what he did?

If you do notice these thoughts and feelings, it means that the generosity is conditional, and he is asking for something in return. Acts of generosity can be used to gain power and control over you.

Also, think about whether you would perceive Peter the same way if he had not been so generous. If you knew for sure he had done bad things and had not sponsored anything, would you still follow him? Acts of generosity can be used to cover up bad behaviour.

Q. Peter’s students have also travelled to [Namdroling Monastery in] India to make a film, and those were really monks from the Monastery, even though they didn’t know who Yeung was.

It is true that he sent two followers to India’s Namdroling Monastery to shoot some footage. This is because he did visit that place multiple times over a period of years. However, there is no correlation between that and Peter being a “Rinpoche”.

From my memory, the two followers who went to India faced problems when they first arrived at the monastery because the monks in India did not know who Peter was, until Peter personally rang up old contacts for help. If Peter is supposedly a “Rinpoche”, how come hardly anyone in Namdroling Monastery knows him?

Q. When he visits foreign countries to teach, he leaves the monetary offerings behind.

This is a very common thing he would say: “I always leave money with the students in so and so country”. We heard it all the time. Unfortunately, this is one of the ways he tries to paint himself as generous and kind. That’s why it is so confusing.

The actual reasons are:

1. Practically, it is more troublesome for him to bring foreign currency back to the UK. Once you have a lot of foreign currency cash on you while you are travelling, you need to declare it at customs. If he is found to have all this cash, he needs to explain how he obtained them, which will get him into trouble because foreigners need to declare income they obtained overseas.
2. He often instructs followers to remit the money back to the UK through electronic bank transfer anyway.
3. He knows the followers will make donations back to him when they visit the UK, often more than what he left behind.
4. If he is truly generous and kind, he would not constantly remind followers about what he did. These “acts of generosity” should not be even be something to be talked about.

The above reasons indicate that Peter is not being generous and kind, but is painting a misleading narrative to enhance his image; this is a form of deception.

Q. I see him wearing luxury brand items.

There is nothing wrong with wearing branded items in itself. However, Peter’s luxury items are paid for through “offerings” in cash or as “gifts”. Followers have been indoctrinated to associate splurging on the lama as a good thing i.e., “generating merit”, but this is actually very corrupt and wrong.

Q. How is “Tanya” related to him?

[TRIGGER WARNING: Description of sexual abuse below]
Good question about Tanya, and one that many people have asked. I’m sure you have wondered, “Why does a Buddhist teacher have a young attractive woman to travel and do everything for him, instead of an ordained monk or nun?”

Tanya is a follower from Europe who joined around 2010. People would describe her as Peter’s “personal attendant”. She is not his wife or girlfriend, but I would not be surprised if Peter had sex with her, due to his history of sexual exploitation. She was a successful businesswoman but depleted all her resources through her “faith and devotion” to Peter. Her parents are financially wealthy, and I have observed that Peter is trying to groom them.

Before Tanya, there was another young European woman named Chime (2009-2011), travelling with Peter, attending to him and translating for him. She wrote to us in 2019 to tell us that she was sexually exploited by Peter. Her story is here.

And before Chime, there is yet another girl Alice F. (1999-2001) who also reported being groomed for work and sex (her statement here). This was before Peter started acting as a Buddhist teacher. Therefore, there is a track record of Peter grooming women for sex from a long time ago.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 02/13/2022 08:11PM by karmicwind.

Q&A [2] – Audience with a senior Palyul official

Two Pathgate ex-members were granted an audience with a senior Palyul lineage holder in 2018 to seek clarification and advice regarding their experience in Pathgate. Identities have been withheld due to the sensitivity of the matter. The Palyul Rinpoche spoke in Tibetan and his replies to our questions were translated by an attendant.

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Q: We are here on behalf of other ex-Pathgate members. While we acknowledge Dondrup Dorje's contributions to Palyul over the years, we also experienced and observed the abuse of students by him.
A: Buddhist practice begins from the mind. There are the outer, inner, and secret aspects.

Q: Our observation is that we were abused in the name of guru devotion practice.
A: In Vajrayana, reliance on the teacher is very important. Also, as Vajrayana practitioners, our capacity to accommodate others needs to be bigger than others.

Q: We have not taken any Vajrayana vows. With this teacher, we were told we have not even entered the path. To be honest, we don’t even know which stage we are at.
A: In the beginning, take your time to investigate the teacher. Nowadays there is much information out there such as the internet regarding different teachers and types of teachings.
(Rinpoche mentioned several times throughout the audience of the importance to continually observe and check the teacher.)

Q: How do we know whether a teacher is qualified?
A: In this end age of Dharma, we cannot find anyone who possesses all the pure qualities of the Buddha. If you would like me to indicate to you who is a qualified teacher at this moment in time, I cannot.

Q: if we wish to continue on the path, what can we do?
A: You are still young, it is OK to change [look for a different teacher / method].

Q: We observed that Pathgate students appear more and more confused and unhappy over the years.
A: The Buddhist practice starts from the heart (mind); if you truly practise from the heart, all questions / doubts will resolve by themselves.

Q: We were attracted by his special powers, but we observe that his behaviour does not match the teachings.
A: It is good that you are using your critical mind to analyse the situation.

Q: We do not want to criticise anyone, and we are grateful for him bringing us into the Dharma. If students approach us in future regarding him, we will simply tell them what we have observed with this teacher.
A: It is good to maintain this attitude.

Q: We would like to help our Dharma brothers and sisters who are suffering from psychological trauma as a result of their time in Pathgate.
A: Good deeds are worth doing. From the few of you, you can reach 10 people. From 10, to 100.

(Blog Post)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/20/2022 10:56PM by karmicwind.