Ancient Twisted Karma -- Mipham Rinpoche Reportedly Pulled Assistant Cook into Bathroom and Attempted Assault -- in 2002

Halifax Shambhala leader accused of sexually assaulting cook at Chilean dinner party

New report alleges Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche locked a woman in a bathroom and attacked her

Brett Bundale · The Canadian Press · Posted: Jul 11, 2018 8:36 PM AT | Last
Updated: July 11

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The Project Sunshine update quotes the Kalapa Council as initially responding, “Regarding the rape allegation in Chile, we have reason to believe that it is not true because we have actually heard from first-hand witnesses.” Merchasin notes that the statement is technically true but “misleading.” The woman’s account describes her successfully fighting off the Sakyong’s alleged assault, meaning that it would not legally qualify as rape. Merchasin suggests that this is evidence of an attempted cover-up by the council.

A Shambhala spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the latest allegations.

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The spiritual leader of one of the largest Buddhist organizations in the Western world is facing more sexual misconduct allegations as a Halifax law firm prepares to launch an independent investigation into claims against him.

A Chilean woman alleges Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche dragged her into a bathroom, groped her and tried to remove her clothes during a dinner party in Santiago, Chile, in 2002.

For the rest of the story which includes interesting details,read here:

[www.cbc.ca]

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The spiritual leader has stepped back from his duties pending the outcome of a third-party investigation.

The Kalapa Council, the leadership body of the Shambhala organization and its more than 200 meditation centres worldwide, will also be stepping down through a "phased departure."

A source close to the organization confirmed that law firm Wickwire Holm has been contracted to conduct the third-party investigation into claims of harm against any Shambhala teacher, including Mipham.

A lawyer with Wickwire Holm did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

New Accuser Claims Shambhala Head Cornered and Sexually Assaulted Her

The latest allegations against Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche claim he locked a woman in a bathroom and forced himself on her during a 2002 trip to Chile.


By Matthew Abrahams
Jul 11, 2018

[tricycle.org]

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On July 10, the Sakyong sent an email to Shambhala members

[tricycle.org]

admitting that he “fumbled with unhealthy power dynamics and alcohol” in the years after he assumed leadership of Shambhala, when these allegations were said to have occurred. “I failed to recognize the pain and confusion I was creating,” he wrote, adding that he has “committed” to “personal development” and “improving my relationship to alcohol as well as trying to improve my general behavior and my relationship to others as a teacher and as a person.”

Winn said she was concerned by the focus on his alcoholism. “He is sexually violent to women,” she said. “Period. It is not caused by the alcohol. Many people get drunk, and they don’t abuse women.”

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/15/2018 05:04AM by corboy.

The ‘King’ of Shambhala Buddhism Is Undone by Abuse Report

By Andy Newman
July 11, 2018

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The downfall of a Buddhist leader in the West accused of sexual impropriety has become its own sorry tradition. Last year, Lama Norlha Rinpoche, who founded a monastery in Wappingers Falls, N.Y., retired after allegations of sexual misconduct.

[tricycle.org]

So did Sogyal Rinpoche
[tricycle.org]

author of “The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying,” who was accused of decades of sexual assaults and violent rage.

[openboeddhisme.nl]

In the Zen tradition, fallen masters include Joshu Sasaki

[www.nytimes.com]

and Eido Shimano

[www.nytimes.com]

two of the leading proponents of Zen in America.

In Shambhala, bad behavior runs in the bloodline. The organization was founded by the Sakyong’s Tibet-born father, Chögyam Trungpa
[www.nytimes.com]

a wildly charismatic man, brilliant teacher and embodiment of the concept known as “crazy wisdom” whose alcoholic exploits and womanizing were well known. He died in 1987. In between Chögyam Trungpa and the Sakyong, Shambhala was led by an American-born Buddhist who is mainly remembered for having sex with students even after he knew that he had AIDS.

[www.nytimes.com]

The hyperconcentration of authority in the most revered teachers of Tibetan Buddhism lends itself to abuse, said Lama Tsultrim Allione, one of the first American women to be ordained a Tibetan Buddhist nun and a former member of Chögyam Trungpa’s group who knew the Sakyong when he was a child.

“One is told that one must see the lama as the Buddha and that anything the lama does is perfect and that whatever might seem wrong with it, that is your impure vision. This can be a transformative practice, but only when the lama is truly awake,” said Lama Tsultrim

For the rest of the store, read here:

[www.nytimes.com]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/23/2018 09:59AM by corboy.

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Joe yohka
NYCJuly 12
the author writes "sole holder of the most sacred teachings in a custody chain that goes back centuries, the only one who can transmit them, according to the traditions of his lineage." Nope, this lineage only goes back as far as the founder, one generation ago. He split from his teachers and Shambhala never acknowledges that lineage nor honors them.
Shambhala was made by the founder for consumption by Americans during his 1960 romps, he found a ready audience.
This is not a branch of Tibetan Buddhism that is ever heard of in Tibet.

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JJ (Name edited to initials for privacy - Corboy)
Portland, OregonJuly 12
I was a member of the Shambhala community in Minnesota and took Buddhist vows ten years ago. I became very suspicious after two years of paying thousands of dollars to take all ten "warrior" levels of full weekend training and other workshops. When I realized the next training was on the East Coast and would cost another $1,000.00 I quit. I also couldn't trust the secret chants some members were doing in another room that I couldn't participate it because I wasn't "there" yet. The drive to become a spiritual warrior was very inviting but aside from the huge financial expense something just felt really really wrong about the whole organization. All of us heard about and knew of Chogyam Rinpoche's exploits. If this community is to survive and heal a full Western reckoning of truth and justice needs to examine and totally reorganize the spiritual practice, without a male hierarchy and hopefully without a hierarchy at all.

Darcy
NYCJuly 12
I studied at the Shambala center in NYC for about five years. I had heard of Shambala wives, but I had no idea what they were, so I asked a teacher during a class. What I didn't know was that the teacher's wife was a Shambala wife, which meant she had sexual relations with Chogyum Trungpa, the founder of Shambala training, and this was a sore point in their relationship. There was a gasp in the class -- which I didn't understand -- and no answer was forthcoming. In a class a few weeks later, led by the Shambala wife who I had inadvertently embarrassed, I was verbally attacked and essentially thrown out of Shambala training for asking pointed questions. At the time I was devastated. This is not to denigrate what I learned at Shambala Training, the teachings were profound and I still meditate, but I learn from many different sources now. People run institutions and power often corrupts. I'm glad I was thrown out.

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Anne R
NYCJuly 12
I attended classes and meetings at the Shambhala Center in NYC for a few years. I enjoyed the community and many of the lessons of meditation. I found myself better able to appreciate my life moment to moment, which had been especially helpful during recent trying political times.

One evening another student said to me, “Whatever you do, don’t google the founder of Shambhala”. Naturally, as soon as I got home, I did. I was distressed to learn of his alcoholism and allegations of abuse. From that point on, the frequent reverential mentions of him in classes confused me because I was truly enjoying the teaching. Often, in between meetings, I agonized over this. Over time, I went less and less often.

My heart breaks thinking of the people in that community and what they must be going through, now that the founders’ son had also been shown to be a drinker and abuser. So many of them are kind, smart people with good intentions. However, the truth had to be revealed. Power corrupts.

73 Recommend

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intin
MidwestJuly 12

Many years ago my dad went to the Naropa Institute in Boulder, Colorado, to hear Chogyam Trungpa, then the lead teacher of Shambhala. A couple of minutes into the talk, he turned to the people seated next to him and said "He's drunk". The reaction he received from those around him was glares and disdain. People were there to worship, not learn, and he immediately left.

I became involved in the mindfulness meditation community for a while in the 2000s. There are good, common people in that community, but there are also a number of big names who have become corrupted by their own success, absorbed in their rock star status far more than they are committed to the teachings of the ancient practice. While the corruption in the mindfulness community is not the same as the abuse profiled here at Shambhala, or what has been revealed in the Catholic church and many other Christian communities, it nevertheless points to the dangers inherent in people's desire to be "led" into various forms of awakening.

The seductive power of admiration and wealth that draws spiritual or meditation teachers into corrupt uses of ostensibly healthy practices is, like a winning lottery ticket, difficult for anyone to resist. The result of such corruption is a form of gaslighting where the very path sought by those seeking insight becomes yet one more commodified scam aimed at fulfilling the interests of the guru or teacher at the expense of the student.

90 Recommend

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DA
Los AngelesJuly 12
The cliche is that Buddhism is "wise" but in reality it has a lot to learn from Western social progress.

I read one or two of Chogyam Trungpa's books years ago and was thoroughly creeped out by them. They were clearly psychologically twisted and required a level of passivity on the part of "followers" that seemed intended to train people to be exploited.

You can try to pass "crazy" off as "wisdom" to naïve people but eventually the truth comes out that it was just a manipulation tactic for personal gain and exploitation. I feel sorry for the people still caught up in the mental game of it.

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GAonMyMind
GeorgiaJuly 12
I stopped attending Shambhala in Atlanta about 20 years ago because of their strong hierarchal bent and their obvious rationalization for outrageous behavior. For a group who stresses awakening, they seemed to be in some sort of mass denial. I was told by one of my meditation instructors that the Sakyong's father, Chogyam Trungpa, died of cirrhosis of the liver. When I asked her how she dealt with this - the idea that a man who taught meditation (and who started Shambhala) and preached not harming others could drink to the point that he killed himself, her response stunned me. I was told that she thought "he drank for the benefit of others." That he wanted to experience this disease so that he could help others deal with alcoholism. They called his behavior "crazy wisdom." This from a woman who had been on year long retreats - whose 'day job' was meditation instruction, and who had been with the organization for over 20 years.

I left the organization shortly after, but it did teach me a valuble lession. Although I still meditate, I realize you can spend your life meditating and still be very much in denial. It's only one of many tools. Unfortunately, there will be many who are unable to walk away. They've invested much of their lives in the community and their entire support system is there, and of course, being taught by Shambhala instructors, they will be adept a rationalizing this away.

143 Recommend

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Upside
DownsideJuly 12
Essentially, Shambala and other organizations centered around gurus are merely cults, dressed up in high-falutin' Buddhist religious names and titles that allow them and their gurus or maters to fly under the radar of the law.
While essentiallly the same brain-washing as Scientology or Branch Davidians is their MO, the truth is that it's even worse for followers. If they decide to go public or leave they are subject not only to the usual dire threat and harassment techniques, but told that they are betraying Buddhism and the Buddha.
the Buddhist community has known about Sogyal and Sasaki for decades. They were aided, enabled and hidden by senior cult members who sacrificed decency in the hope of being enlighted by a predator.

There is no excuse in the world for these miscreants. Leonard Cohen, who was Sasaki's disciple, when asked about his predation, dismissed it as an old man being playful with his students. Denial and enabling of criminal conduct by celebrity cult members evidences the opaque penumbra Sasaki's followers mainained under oblique and open threats of this guru to withhold "enlightenment".

As said, serial predation by so-called enlightened masters is well known in the Buddhist community. The ones exposed thusfar are merely the tip of the dharma iceberg.
If the Dalai Lama is analagous to the Pope, he must immeditatey address this horror and "defrock" those engaged in predatory conduct.

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T.E.N.
AlbanyJuly 12
Hah! This is also how I happened upon Shambhala...affordable retreats in lovely settings! I would also say that for many years, my local city center was a lovely community, excellent programs and welcoming to all. It really was an oasis. (I say was b/c I become less involved for a lot of reasons, mostly time, but also a shift in the vibe there). Shambhala has a lot to offer, and decentralization is likely the key. The hierarchy feels very much at odds with its own teachings nowadays. For may lay practitioners, Pema Chodron is also their way in, and her feminine energy and leadership is far more impactful. So as someone who has been Shambhala adjacent for many years and not knowing the history deeper, it is really eye opening to realize how many layers of power there are, and just what an enormous INSTITUTION it is.

9 Recommend

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Kai
OateyJuly 12
The sophistication, refinement and depth of the practices that the tiny country of Tibet (a few million people) managed to preserve over more than a thousand years are amazing. this took place in a rigidly hierarchical container where reincarnated "living gods" like Mipham served as transmitters across generations. Within a Tibetan context, Mipham would have been surrounded by his teachers, advisers and a lot of ritual pomp, and his capacity for mischief would be constrained. Not so in the West, where the man's narcissism and power hunger were not checked by anyone. This was simply a matter of time.

I blame the Tibetan hierarchy (including HH the Dalai Lama) for sitting on their hands despite ample information about the Sakyong gone off rails. They did nothing with Trungpa and Sogyal either, in my view compounding the damage and tacitly encouraging subsequent abuse.

Shambhala is a true cult, i 've lost friends over mocking their starry eyed devotion to this narcissist. The influence he had - just like Trungpa - over overeducated white devotees can not be overstated.

Interestingly, Tibetans themselves often seemed to know better but were disinclined to go against one of their own.

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Franck L (Surname edited for privacy_ Corboy)
New JerseyJuly 12
Same here, I was seriously turned off by Shambala's sect like atmosphere, with military titles and garb. What shocked me also was how influential, and powerful Shambala was (is) in American Tibetan Buddhism. Another way to look at it would be how power hungry the organization was (and raking dollars at the expense of American Buddhists.) Allen Ginsberg must be turning around in his grave.

21 Recommend

1 REPLY
raftriver commented July 12
R
raftriver
Pacific NorthwestJuly 12
My visit to Shambala Mountain Center in Red Feather Lakes opened my eyes to the whole militaristic thing that is a remainder of Trungpa's leadership. That, and the exposure of many abuses in the Zen tradition, has led me to be solitary practitioner and meditation.

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reb
La La LandJuly 12
Back in the 'Hippie Days' I met and studied with many of these various 'teachers', from Zen and Buddhism, Hindu, Tibetan Tantra (the Dalai Lama's interpreter), Yoga, to even the guy who helped found Scientology. They all had one thing in common - they wanted guys to pay and wanted to have sex with all the girls. With excuses such as 'we are having sex for world peace' to 'it's the way of karma', etc. I warned my friends, but to no avail. They were believers. I didn't get involved. It was just too obvious, plus I wanted all the girls, too.

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Zier
New York CItyJuly 12
The recent scandals in the western Tibetan Buddhist community are based on very long standing problems that were well known publicly or within their given communities. The sex abuse aspect is a symptom of the bigger picture of corruption that, it would appear, finally needs to be addressed in Buddhist communities.

Clearly, underlying the culture of too many Buddhist groups is a psychology that allows for the creation of and sustains such abuse and corruption. Unless this is directly addressed instead of change, what will emerge is a younger hipper form of artifice — new faces in power and authority who talk the talk, but don't change much of anything — masking the same intensity of human materialism, aggression and ignorance that is at the root of these recent scandals, rather than a spiritual community meant to address such poisons and generate true compassion.

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Tortuga
Headwall, COJuly 12
Shambhala International has long had a tawdry reputation in Boulder. No surprise then that the current Rinpoche is under investigation. It is too bad as the spiritual aspects of Shambhala are admirable.

15 Recommend

Jigme commented July 12
J
Jigme
New YorkJuly 12
I am Tibetan and I am Buddhist , I honestly feel Rinpoche has tarnished Buddhism and Tibetan beyond his imagination. He should be locked up and who ever helped him cover up his crime

29 Recommend

JS commented July 12
J
JS
Portland, OrJuly 12
I speak as a former member of a Shambhala community. Sakyong Mipham and some of his followers are trying to rationalize his behavior by citing his struggles with living up to his father's legacy and with his own alcoholism. Neither of those things have anything to do with his abuse of young women. This is another example of the deeply rooted sexism that women live with everywhere and in all areas of their lives. Men who feel that women exist for their benefit as opposed to being fully human in their own right are in women's homes, workplaces, doctor's offices and places of worship. Thank the goddess for #MeToo

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NR
New YorkJuly 12
It rankles me when westerners I know make claims that Buddhism is somehow purer and less corrupt than Western religions. This story shows that Buddhism is like any other religion--as does the persecution of the Rohingya in Myanmar, where the folks who give the most gifts to at the Buddhist temples are almost always corrupt military men.

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T SB
OhioJuly 12
At its heart, Shambhala Buddhism is nothing but toxic masculinity.
It's a shame that Pema Chodron does not speak out against this. Her ties to Chogyam Rinpoche taint an otherwise wonderful reputation.

23 Recommend

4 REPLIES
sRh commented July 12
S
sRh
San franciscoJuly 12
Agreed: a comment from Pema Chodron would go far to allay the tensions that must arise in any practitioner upon learning of abuse by the teacher, who has undoubtedly affected his students in very deep ways. You feel so good about your practice and your devotion to your teacher, your sense of goodness must be affected when you find out this teacher has molested people.

1 Recommend

sRh commented July 12
S

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Yabasta
Portland, ORJuly 12
The Sakyong was intellectually unequipped and temperamentally unsuited to succeed his father. Nevertheless, he initially did a pretty good job of holding together a sangha in crisis.

By 2000 or so, however, something had changed. For whatever reasons, he began to jettison traditional Buddhist teachings, in favor of his own undistinguished creations. Disastrously, he also began systematically alienating the holders of other lineages of Tibetan Buddhism and barring them from teaching at his centers. (HIs father had sponsored the teachings of a wide array of important Tibetan masters.) By 2005 or so, Shambhala was in essence a breakaway sect, and the Sakyong had no peers left to confer with or to check his increasingly cultish behavior.

The Sakyong is clearly a deeply troubled man. According to the teachings on karma, he is also a man facing grave peril. He has harmed many people and shows little understanding of the ramifications. The kindest thing his students could do would be to relieve him permanently of his duties so that he could begin the work of uprooting the causes of this karma and atoning for its effects, which will likely take the rest of his life.

Meanwhile, the Shambhala community could turn again to the holders of the true Tibetan Buddhist lineages for help in restoring a genuine path of dharma. I hope that's what they do, and I wish them the best of luck.

Was reading about another meditation teacher who reportedly violated trust.

One person described the hazards of public exposure and the risk that this "over mirroring" leads to
ego inflation in those who are objects of abnormally concentrated emotional attentiveness due to a multitude of onlookers.

A journalist who covered social justice issues told me that over the years, he saw many kind and humble people change into
narcissistic louts when, after being private citizens, they were in the public eye for long periods of time.

[www.reddit.com]

Anachemowegan 1 point 3 months ago

Top of Form

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I appreciate your thoughtful response. People with any sort of recognition are "overmirrored" in culture - I have been surprised (and this is off-topic and clearly has nothing to do with Levine) that the shooter at Stoneman Douglas school has received money from strangers for his prison account and a lot of letters from young women.

Anyone who is seen/viewed publicly in society suddenly reflects and refracts on some sort of deep, scary level. Where the dharma and celebrity meet resides probably nothing but trouble. .....

and

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Thanks for sharing that. The title reminds me of some of what Daniel Boorstin wrote in The Image: A Guide to Pseudo-Events in America, where he talks a little about celebrity. One of the points I always remember is this difference between mass culture and folk culture. People in mass culture mostly only listen, while a few stars have a voice - but the folks in the traditional folk culture had a voice, which is evident in folklore, folk song, folk dance.
I think the latter is the basis for real sangha as it's based on real relationship, authentic communication and self expression. You actually know each other rather than just like the same stuff from a given "star system" whether that be entertainers or a select few dharma teachers.

Thank you for posting all this, cowboy. Just a quick note with regard to Shambala's fallen leader (the latest in the series); I looked into why of the several sons of CT, THE Sakyong (whatever that means; is it a title, or is it his name?) was the one chosen to head up the empire. I was curious, because his brother, Gesar, has said he and the others are estranged from their oldest brother. It turns out, that S.M. is a half-brother, born of a Tibetan woman, with whom CT crossed paths (and whom he got pregnant, while he was a celibate exiled head of a monastery back in Tibet), when he first came out of Tibet. So he's from the same culture as his father, and clearly is fully invested in it. Has no concept of ethics, obviously, nor of sexual assault being a prosecutable crime.

It's so curious, but ultimately sad, tragic, that so many people are "shocked" that a "Dharma King" would fall so low. What "king"? The whole so-called lineage created by his father was all make-believe; it was a "pretend" lineage he made up, to create a platform for himself, and a pliant population among whom to play out his indulgences and debauchery.

It's very telling, that in his autobiography, CT states, upon meeting a regional king back in Tibet, who was a former monk required by circumstances to give up his robes and assume the throne left vacant by a prematurely-deceased brother, that once highly-disciplined monks leave the structure of the monastery, they fall into a life of extreme indulgence. At the time he originally made that observation, CT was a monk/tulku, in training to take over the leadership of his monastery, eventually, so we're lead to believe he was still living a disciplined life. What was really going on behind the scenes is unknown, but if the senior Kalu Rinpoche's behind-the-scenes life is any indication, we can reasonably assume that the celibacy was just a facade. As Ole Nydahl, another bad-boy of the Dharma scene, learned directly from the 16th Karmapa and Kalu Rinpoche, both; Kagyu practice is all about "the Great Bliss", yab-yum, tantric sexual practice as the supposed "quick path" to Enlightenment.

I'm told by someone who spent many months attending lectures at the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives in Dharamsala in the early 70's, and knew the director, Geshe Ngawang Dhargyey, well, that the Geshe, and other senior monks/teachers, including the Dalai Lama, took a very dim view of CT, having heard much about his behavior and teachings. He wasn't considered a serious, or legitimate, teacher at all.

When laundry is hung out to dry, it cannot freshen unless hung out to dry
outdoors.

Try and hang wet laundry to dry in private, indoors, away from the public gaze. The result is not nearly as good.

(Disgusted)

As Prince Hamlet would have said, that "the Geshe, and other senior monks/teachers, including the Dalai Lama, took a very dim view of CT, having heard much about his behavior and teachigns" --

that was just words, words, words.

Those senior figures did nothing effective to speak out and name names.

When anyone, including a lama, is brutish enough to abuse money, sex and power, the only thing he or she understands is FEAR -- fear of PUBLIC EXPOSURE.

Traditional Tibetan Tact is not enough.

Traditional Tibetan cultural controls is NOT enough to restrain or even prevent
lama abuses of power.

By contrast, American style protest proved effective at San Francisco Zen Center
when Richard (Dick) Baker abused his prerogatives as abbot.

It took some years, but at last the board of directors balked. Baker made one too many requests for expensive purchases. Unlike TIbetans, these Americans
had limits. And Japanese Soto Zen is more austere than the gaudy gilded brocade
and gold lama crowns favored by the Tibetans.

It was in that context that persons who endured Bakers sexual predations had an opening and spoke up.

American social norms, which are jeered at by Tibetan teachers as egotistical, turned out more effective at ousting an abusive leader than the smiling tact of
the Himalayas.

We have had over 40 years of Vajrayana teaching outside of Tibet and 40 years of
abuses of money, sex and power within Vajryana teaching outside of Tibet.

In four decades we have seen that the traditional Himalayan methods of behind the door diplomacy will not restrain greedy, selfish lamas.

The only effective remedy to abuses of money sex and power is public exposure.

When dirty laundry is sufficiently toxic, it needs to be air dried in public.

The Tibetan method of drying dirty laundry in private, indoors, leaves the filth untouched.

Google mipham rinpoche "royal baby"

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Royal Baby For Halifax ~ Buddhist Celebrities
buddhistcelebrities.blogspot.com/2010/07/royal-baby-for-halifax.html
Jul 30, 2010 - Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche and the Sakyong Wangmo Khandro Tseyang, the king and queen of Shambhala, a worldwide network of urban ...

Embraced by the Kalapa Court | Shambhala Times Community News ...
[shambhalatimes.org]
Aug 15, 2010 - ... the newborn baby of Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche and the Sakyong

... Halifax Sangha Welcomes Royal Baby · Video of Halifax Welcome ...

Google - mipham rinpoche royal baby

[www.google.com]


If Google is any indication, these Halifaxians have been referred to as a
Royal Family for some time.

This is Pema Chodron's turf, my friends.

Halifax, Nova Scotia. Gampo Abbey.

[www.google.com]

Does Pema Chodron prostrate to Sokyong and his missus?

Does she prostrate to the Shambhala Royal Children?

If Pema Chodron prostrates routinely to the Royal Family of Shambhala, does she TELL her students that this veneration of the Shambhala Royal Family is part of her practice?

That her practice is *more* than doing Tonglen?

What does it do to the inner life of someone acculturated as a citizen in
a participatory democracy, in a nation whose identity was created by
ousting a crowned monarch if that person in the name of liberation,
spends life bowing to, even prostrating in front of a "King" -- or pictures of this "King"?

Do Shambhala teachers tell visitors up front that if they become Shambhala students they will find themselves looking up to a "King" and "Queen"?

How many self respecting Americans would go near Shambhala teachings if they were told this up front?

And -- tax payers are owed some respect. After all, because we pay tax and Sakyong and Shambhala do not pay tax, those of us who pay taxes indirectly subsidize them - and subsidize their pretensions.

Chogyam expressed contempt for American democracy. He liked our dollars, though.

He also very much liked our women.

He liked our money. He liked our females.

He failed to respect our nation's principles -

All in all a shabby return for America's hospitality to him.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/26/2018 08:26PM by corboy.

Buddhist group admits sexual abuse by teachers
Shambhala International leaders promise to take action against ‘abhorrent sexual behaviour’

[www.theguardian.com]

The feature story is on current scandal at Shambhala. But two researchers are quoted
saying they're getting more queries about Buddhist groups these days.

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Suzanne Newcombe, a research fellow at Inform, an LSE-based charity that monitors new religious movements, said that many Buddhist groups were having discussions about consent and sex and power imbalances in light of the #MeToo movement.

“They are looking at their internal processes on how they deal with allegations of sexual assault or complaints against leaders and unethical behaviour in these groups. This is largely being led by victims and then organisations are determining what procedures to take,” she said.

Newcombe said other groups who were looking into this included the Triratna sect, which has faced controversy .

[www.theguardian.com]

Newcombe said a lot of the calls they received, including reports of abuse, were about Buddhist groups in the UK. “We used to get a lot of requests [to investigate] about Scientology but now the majority are about Buddhist groups because some of them [with problems] have not been outed in the same way and have effective PR. People contact us because they cannot find out much about them online.”

Sarah Harvey, a senior research officer at Inform, said: “The majority ofof our inquiries at the moment concern Buddhist groups. I think that this is due to a number of inter-related factors. Obviously there is a current popular interest in the practice of mindfulness which has Buddhist roots which we receive some inquiries about.

“But also, to generalise horribly, I think there is a popular assumption that Buddhism as a whole is unproblematic

[www.theguardian.com]

and people are surprised when they do encounter controversies or have negative experiences.”

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/30/2018 12:38AM by corboy.

"Lodro Rinzler is the second senior Shambhala teacher to be accused of sexual misconduct"


Ripples of Shambhala Sexual Abuse Scandal Continue to Spread amid New Allegations

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SEATTLE—Following the emergence of new, detailed allegations of sexual abuse by Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, the former head of Shambhala International, another prominent former teacher, Lodro Rinzler, has also been accused of sexual misconduct within the community.

[www.buddhistdoor.net]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/20/2018 01:08AM by corboy.

Here's a quote from one of the Guardian articles:

Winn, who said she had been subjected to abuse herself, investigated the subject for a year, saying it ad been suppressed for a long time. The report claims: “Known child abusers are freely active within the Shambhala community, some are even senior teachers. Meanwhile, many who have been abused have been left with no recourse but to leave the community to heal and move forward as best they can.”

"Known child abusers" among the teachers. There was a lawsuit by one couple against a teacher, who sexually abused their 10-year-old daughter. The case was settled out of court. Of course, predators can observe that complaints of abuse general are swept under the rug, and victims are expelled from the group, so this creates a very encouraging environment for predators. They know the organization will protect them, and their accusers will either leave or be shunned.

And the problem is, the Western teachers can look up the old tantric literature, and see that the texts specify sex with a 9-year-old, or a 12-year-old. So they can try to convince their followers that this is the religion, and the ask the parents to gift the lama with their daughter, as used to be done in the old days. Some parents are so far gone, so cultified, they actually follow through. There was an instance of this with Sogyal, and the teenage daughter of two members of his group, and there was an example of that in Shambala, as well, with a North American teacher.

But I doubt that this sudden self-examination and confession by Shambala was motivated by the #metoo movement. I think it was motivated by a court case involving Rigpa (Sogyal's organization) in France earlier this year. I think that sent shock waves through the TB community, causing several organizations to preemptively admit to harboring sexual predators, and taking advantage of trusting followers, breach of fiduciary duty.