Dear Dorje

This is from Chris Farmer and I can assure you that is my real name - not a CH reinvention. I registered the name tibetanway.co.uk on behalf of clients and then developed and now administer the site for them. I can assure you that CH was not one of those clients and has absolutely no involvement with the site.

The design is not the usual 'classy' Hansard because it wasn't developed by CH or his supporters. It was developed by me in accordance with the remit given to me by my clients and it was therefore designed to be functional, simple to use and secure rather than something 'classy' with no substance.

Thank you for your kind comments regarding it being cleverly set up with regard to search engine optimisation. However that is just part of the job of a web developer as a website that cannot be found is of little use. As regards your statement:

"to sell products on the back of Tibetan culture."

I would suggest that rather than simply looking at the products area you also examine the Tibetan Portal area. That is where a guide to Tibetan / Buddhist websites is slowly being put together by committed Buddhists. The reason that work is progressing slowly is that everything is being written and reviewed by human beings rather than simply lifting long lists of links from other sites or search engines. As a result there are not many links pages there at the moment but there will be more going live within the next few days.

In the Portal area you will also find some of the more 'classy' web programming that you are seeking as there are self updating news pages on Tibet and Tibetan Buddhist lineages that have been coded using some of the latest Web 2.0 techniques. The same is true of the User Community and the reason for there only being "a handful of members" is that the Community pages are still in beta test.

The User Community area states it's intent on the opening page where is says:

"The Tibetan Way community area is for you to use as you wish. While this is a Tibetan Buddhist site we welcome Buddhists of all schools and philosophies, free thinkers and all those who see the sense of the Buddhist principles of ethical living."

I would suggest that were my clients merely intent on using Tibetan culture to sell products then they would not be funding all of these additional pages using state of the art and, therefore, expensive web technologies for the benefit of Buddhists. I would also point out that some of the revenues from the site are being used to sponsor various projects for the Tibetan people in Nepal.

You will also note that the Portal area does not contain any pages that refer to Bon which is because while the Dalai Lama has confirmed that Bon is a genuine tradition / lineage within Tibet we do not know anyone with sufficient expertise to write any pages on that topic.

I have skimmed through the pages of this Forum and will read all of those pages in detail when I have time. However it is already clear that all of CH's claims revolve around Bon and I have also seen suggestions that he did not hold Buddhism in very high regard.

Given the foregoing had you or thewayishere read through the entire Tibetan Way website I think you would have found that it quite obviously has no connection with CH and is not simply a money making commercial undertaking. In the very near future the Portal and User Community pages will greatly exceed those devoted to selling products which - I hope you would agree - would be a somewhat strange business strategy for a purely commercial venture.

As to the products being sold on the site I am but a humble web designer and am in no position to comment on them from a medical point of view. However I have used some of the products and to paraphrase the TV ad "it does what it says on the box." What I do know is that the intention is to massively increase the range of products on sale which will dwarf the range that you are currently commenting upon. In the case of many of these additional products all sales revenue will be going directly to various Dharma centres - once again a somewhat odd business model if the site owners were only interested in making money.

It would seem from some of your posts that you are genuinely concerned about CH's activities and the harm that those activities may have caused. Having read some of the postings here in detail those who have been harmed in any way have my deepest sympathy. What I find extraordinary is that you should then use my name and personal details in this forum without bothering to check your facts first. You have clearly carried out a whois search on tibetanway.co.uk so you could have written to me and checked the facts before you posted. You are also aware of the User Community on the site so if snail mail was too slow for you then you could have contacted me via email on the site; as you have my name I would have thought it obvious that the founder member in the User Community - chrisf9 - would be me.

The owners of Tibetan Way are attempting to produce a different type of website that is of benefit to all Buddhists and Tibetans - both in terms of useful information and by using a substantial part of the revenue generated to provide real help to the Tibetan people and to the Dharma. A number of people posting in this forum use Tibetan user names so I would have thought that people here would support such a venture rather than making sneering comments based on personal assumptions that have been reached without checking the facts.

I welcome your response.

Chris Farmer

Dear All

With regard to Mr Bowe's tibetan-way.blogspot.com advert in this forum I have today posted the following comments on his Tibetan Way blogs:

"Mr Bowe

This is the "so-called" Chris Farmer and I can assure you that I am not Christopher Hansard and that he has absolutely nothing to do with Tibetan Way.

In fact only yesterday we received a threatening email from bonmedicine.com - which is, unquestionably, linked with Christopher Hansard.

As you have correctly stated I am only the website administrator but I will be contacting the owners of the site regarding your comments and - no doubt - their advisors will contact you with regard to the products being sold via the site.

I have also registered with the Rick Ross Forum using my real name - Chris Farmer - and I am awaiting activation of that account by the moderator so that I can post there.

In the meantime I would point out that using Tibetan Way's trading name in the titles of two of your blogs raises certain copyright / ownership issues that you may wish to consider.

I have also read the contents of the Rick Ross Christopher Hansard Forum and on several occasions people have asked you to state your credentials for your seemingly authoritative postings on Bon. I note that you have never answered those requests and have made no attempt to demonstrate the foundations of your knowledge of Bon.

You have used Christopher Hansard's image in some of your blogs so you clearly know what he looks like. As you now appear to be implying that I might be Christopher Hansard I would be more than happy to meet with you face to face to demonstrate to you that I am not Christopher Hansard.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Chris Farmer"

And:

"Mr Bowe

I have already left a comment on your Tibetan Way Blog. I won't bother to repeat it here but I would reiterate that Christopher Hansard is not involved in the Tibetan Way website.

The image on your site states:

"This company may well be associated with Christopher Hansard"

As I have stated above Tibetan Way is not associated with him and, given the contents of the Rick Ross Christopher Hansard Forum, your suggestion of his involvement might well be construed as defamation.

You have hidden your allegation inside an image so that it cannot be found by search engines but I have a copy of that image and will be passing it on to the owners of Tibetan Way.

Now that I have made it clear that Christopher Hansard is not associated with Tibetan Way I would expect you to remove the image from your blog.

I would also suggest in future, before making unwarranted allegations, that you check your facts. As you have clearly carried out a whois search on Tibetan Way you could have written to me, or emailed the website, to check your facts.

The fact that you did not bother to check the facts before setting up your blogs leads me to question the veracity of your statements regarding Bon on your various blogs and on the Rick Ross Forum.

I look forward to your response.

Chris Farmer"

In response Mr Bowe has added postings to his blog referring to the EFF and defending himself with regard to my comment about copyright issues but completely failed to address the main points of my comments. As a result of his additional posting I then posted this comment to both his blogs:

"Mr Bowe

I see that you have read my comments on your blogs. Unfortunately you have chosen to focus on a very minor point from my comments rather than replying to the more serious points I raised.

I think you will discover that the EFF does not exist to protect people who make spurious and unfounded allegations. Furthermore if you check their legal FAQ you will discover that the web pages they point to with regard to the use of trademarks -[www.compupix.com] and www.bosleymedical.com no longer exist.

I have informed you that Christopher Hansard is not involved with Tibetan Way and I have offered to meet with you face to face to demonstrate that I am not Christopher Hansard. As a result of this you are now aware that the allegations contained in your blogs regarding Tibetan Way are untrue and possibly defamatory.

In view of this I would formally ask you to remove these comments and images from your blogs. If you refuse to do so then you will clearly be attempting to damage Tibetan Way's reputation and it's ability to trade. I think you will find that there is an ever growing body of case law that suggests that you would be found legally liable for such behaviour via the Internet.

With regard to the products being sold by Tibetan Way I would ask you, as so many have before, to produce some evidence of your knowledge of medicine; Tibetan Medicine; Bon; your teachers; your lineage. If you are unable or unwilling to provide this information then I can only conclude that providing you with any further information regarding the products would be a waste of time as you are not qualified to make judgements in any of these areas.

I await your reply.

Chris Farmer"

As yet I have had no response to my last comment and Mr Bowe has chosen to leave his allegations on his blogs.

Having given Mr Bowe the hard facts which he requested he has chosen to ignore my request that he remove his unfounded allegations from his blogs so I leave it to the readers here to draw their own conclusions.

Chris Farmer

I offer one more thing. There is a Tibetan practice of Tantra, where sex and sexual contact is used to gain enlightenment and for healing. I dont know enough about this or even have an opinion as yet. I ask- do the people who know about this and/or about CH think this is what he is practising to achieve his own enlightenment and to "heal" others? Would this explain his apparent lack of remorse and constant re-invention along the same lines. I put this out there as an idea that I have read about and NOT one I am supporting I may add.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/26/2008 01:55AM by thewayishere.

Thewayishere

Thanks for bringing to light Tantra.

I think you will find that an client wanting to have an intentional 'tantric sexual experiance' would have gone to a person offering to teach them the process. If you are physician or claim to be as such, 'tantiric sexual practice' is not on the usual prescription. If CH was using 'tantric practice' on people unwillingly or unknowingly it is still uncalled for sexual contact. Give the amount of accusations in the past and present he should have healed himself by now! CH had called himself a 'physician' he should be judged as such and should be subjected to the same malpractice laws as any other physician registered in the uk, tantric or no tantric practice.

As for Tibetanway I have sent them an email asking for the relationship between them and hansard. Its a bank holiday weekend so dont expect to recive an answer until next week.

James

Agreed. From what I can see Tantra is something that people want to be involved in,its meant to be loving and involves most importantly consent! If anyone on here has had CH ask them to take part in a tantric initiation or become a "consort" it would be interesting to hear about, not to upset anyone, but just because it might shed some light on how he manages to get away with this time and again and how he operates. My meaning being it SEEMS like the man and his supporters believe he is only working for the greater good. Is this something he has picked up along the way,is this part of him being a "shaman" or can he just not keep his hands off women!
Also is he calling himself a "physician" now? He was at Eden so it seems, from his new website he seems to be calling himself a "healer" and as one can see, "healers" are often able to use unorthodox methods in the name of "alternative therapy". Does anyone know if he is regulated now? We shall wait to see what response there is to the email James. Well done!



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/26/2008 04:41AM by thewayishere.

One final thing- this fellow interviewed him yrs ago,maybe some of the women on here would like to drop him an anon email with a follow up to the story?
[www.guardian.co.uk]

Quote
Chris_Farmer
Dear thewayishere

You state:

"Tibetan "medicine" is being sold by the man called CH people here are talking about- its on www.tibetanway.co.uk and there is a forum too."

I am afraid you are incorrect. CH has no involvement with Tibetan Way and he is certainly not selling anything via that website.

I would however suggest that CH and / or his supporters are monitoring this Forum as only yesterday - presumably as a result of the postings here - we received the following email:

"Hello

I have noticed that on your site, you have copied and taken product

descriptions of products that you neither own or made or hold the

copywright to either formulations, name descriptions of either brands,

product names or product descriptions. You have done this illegally and no

legal claim in any form to those descriptions, and you are informed that

you are been investigated and all any associations of which you are

associated with will be informed of your activities. please note that the

writer and others know the exact history of these products, which you do

not and if you continue selling these products you will find action taken

against you,

thank you for your time.

One of the product developers"

This came from the email address info@bonmedicine.com and viewing bonmedicine.com it is a website that was either created by CH or by his supporters.

As you have stated; there is a forum on the Tibetan Way site so you could have checked your information via email before posting your untrue statement regarding CH's involvement with Tibetan Way.

As there is a far longer posting about Tibetan Way later in this forum you will find a more detailed rebuttal of your comments in my reply to that posting.

Chris Farmer

Dear Chris

You will find I never mentioned your name, I implied it may be linked to CH. I agree naming people on the site when they are not involved in any way we know is very unfair, as well as saying where they live. I would ask the moderator in the spirit of fairness to edit the comments that mention names and addresses of people.That is very unfair. With Peace

Quote
jeff bowe
Speculation as to whether Hansard abused people in the past, or is not engaged in such odious actions presently, with respect, is a redundant debate, he deliberately misrepresented himself as a qualified physician of Tibetan medicine (Bon or othwerwise), mercilessly exploited Tibetan Bon culture, and invented a bogus account of his supposed 'training' and 'lineage'. This has been thoroughly researched and publicly exposed as a complete fraud.

In the process according to a number of reports, some featured in this discussion, he was alleged to have abused both clients and associates for a number of years. In light of such behaviour, self-serving deception and cultural parasitism there is no balance, no redeeming information or juxtaposition between past and present that absolves Hansard of responsibility for his actions. Meanwhile, those who may have suffered, witnessed, or were cognisant of such alleged abuse, maintain a silence of complicity that shields the Master of Durcon from legal action.

I am new to this. I wanted to say that its probably more fear and shame and pain that keeps victims from coming forward and not complicity as you say and that really having your trust abused like that is not a redundant debate- it is the debate. I think a bit more respect for the victims here would be a good thing. And leaving the row of the tibetan culture to maybe another forum. This is a place for people's experiences of unhealthy practices calling themselves healing and not about the Tibetan culture, well from what I can see anyway. Thankyou

Chris Farmer, for all I know you may well be the completely innocent and well-meaning administrator of the tibetanway website. Perhaps I can help you understand why your activities have attracted such suspicion.

You registered the tibetanway website 11 December 2006. This was three months after Christopher Hansard’s eponymous website was taken down.

www.christopherhansard.com was selling, amongst other things eight health programs. Your website is selling eight health programs with exactly the same names.

I find the coincidence remarkable. Clearly so does Christopher Hansard if, as you say, he sent you that fairly weirdly worded email.

You don’t mention who actually owns tibetanway and who is behind the products. However, I notice a link to tibetanway from here:

[www.rodericklane.co.uk]

Interestingly, both Roderick Lane and Stephanie Wright were deeply involved with Christopher Hansard. I guess they may have fallen out with him and run off with the formulas.

Does that help?

Why is it the CH website and the Rod Lane website look so similar? Bit of image at the top for both, same lettering style on the side. Its an observation.