Dear Pema,

Are you Jeffery Bowes? Do you realize that you are responsible for the very thing you have accused another of on this website... playing an identity to get others to confide in you to further your own goals? If you are trying to ruin someone, at very least you should try to behave better then you are accusing them of. Makes me wonder how much of this is actually true... it's hard to know on the internet who is really who they say they are and who is not. People claiming identities is not an uncommon thing. As a general rule take information away that is valid without a background story. If on the internet it requires someones unverifiable story to be valid then you should always treat it with caution. Same goes for a teacher. Its up to people to decide if they are placing there respect on this man based on his story or on what he has actually done. Maybe the story is not necessary for him to be what he is. Whatever you see that to be.

I realize you are a spokes person for Tibet and maybe you have done alot to further that cause, but you made up your mind about Christopher before you ever had contact with him.

In your letter you wrote [christopherhansard.blogspot.com] you state: "That said there are some who would carve a career for themselves upon the corpse of Tibet, I myself have met such individuals, often they appear driven by a merciless self-promotion, aided by a cold-hearted ability to shunt any unpleasant ethical considerations about Tibet into some dark and distant siding, far away from any interfering conscience. "

You have obviously made up your mind before you ever even spoke to the man himself. As a side note, have you ever actually read Carlos Castaneda, a man you also discredit in your letter? Regardless of wether or not his story can be verified or Don Juan identified, he might still have many valid things to say.

You seem to me to be a bit of an scholar, what is your own scolarship and qualifications? you seem to be relying on name dropping, do you have any formal education backgroud and research published through the proper scholarly means with which to back yourself up? You have not made any claims that can be anymore verified then Christophers. You simply back up all of what you have to say with, I know someone who says this is not true. That is not a valid argument in any scholarly circle. I can find more referance to Dur Bon through Google Scholar then you mention in your letter, and that is the bottom rung of research. Dur Bon which is a funerary cult, something Christopher himself claims if you care to ask him.

I am not claiming Christophers story is true, nor am I defending him, I am simply pointing out that your story is false. You have no comment in your letter around the concept of oral traditions, which is something you should look into if you are trully trying to have a greater understanding of this lineage. Besides it's a fascinating subject.

I am not sure what your personal vendetta is, but if you are looking for Truth in the world the first place to start is yourself. Why are you doing this? Your actions towards Christopher and others associated with him are not those of someone wanting to understand. You seem to have an idea you are trying to prove right at all costs without looking to see what other possible explinaitons there might be.

I have been researching this man's fantastic claims for some two years and have challenged him over a number of issues and misrepresentations surrounding his supposed Tibetan medical training and background. There are indeed serious questions which surround his lucrative activities.

For more information please visit

[christopherhansard.blogspot.com]


It would help if this blog was given the widest possible circulation, do pass it on to friends and colleagues. Many thanks. Jeff Bowe

Its a bottom of the barrel ploy to challenge identity when all else fails to stop the flow of truth. Fails to extinguish the light of experience. There are at least three posters on this thread who know I am not Jeffrey Blowe. His existence was unknown to me until I picked up his blog from my Google Alert. Perhaps Jeffrey and I should collaborate from now onwards. I am not going to reveal my real name here, but I will tell you I am female, late middle aged. I live in Bristol, UK. I have been a working journalist for my entire adult life.
Pema

In reply to Blossom in particular Can I just suggst people wait for an answer to a question before launching into what may turn out to be falsely based accusations? You ask if Pema is Jeffrey Bowe and then proceed with the main thrust of your message on the assumption that he/she is! I consider this to be reckless at best and a waste of your energy. It is not helpful in this kind of debate.

Jeffrey I am pleased to see you in this debate. Thanks for contributing. Like you I think there are questions about CH we would like to have answered. On the one hand I don't care if CH has qualifications or not if he is 'effective' in helping people so be it. What I do find offensive is the thought that he has false claims to qualification and has duped us to part with money and our time. I still stand my ground on the inappropriateness of some of his behaviours. I don't feel they can be excused. He would be struck off if he was 'qualified and registered'

Shamanically speaking, for those that are interested, dur bon (deviating bon) was primarily focused on funeral rites, which was the second phase of development in bon. The first phase was call jol bon and had to do with various methods for overcoming hostile forces in the world. Thus, various medical practices and survival techniques and methods of fighting would have developed then. Also, during the early stages of bon there was only two realms: earth and the underworlds. The concept of heavens, or g'nam or sky, came much later.

Mr. Hansard often scares people because they feel he comes from the former, not the latter.

Of course, whether or not it is all a story, who knows. There are memes at work and Hansard has tapped into those, and transmits them accordingly. His behaviour, as reported on this site and by others, suggests someone who has NOT been properly trained to do so, or else some of the memes themselves are simply demonic enough that they overtake him.

Of course Hansard himself is probably not honest enough (or self aware enough) to explain why he lies, has periods of alcoholism, sexual harrassment, extraordinary levels of arrogance, total disdain for human beings, doesn't seem to understand boundaries, and loves secrecy.

Other times he seems like a gifted guy that cares about people. Go figure.

Gondolf, could you explain what you mean by the term 'memes' in your last posting?

Also, an issue about Christopher Hansard's last book (The Tibetan Art of Serenity - page 56) has recently been brought to my attention. There is a very obvious similarity between his 'Invocation to Awaken Serenity' and Oriah Mountain Dreamer's 'The Invitation.' This can be found easily through a google search.

Would any one like to offer a view?

There is certainly a strong sense in this debate that Christopher is a complex character who evokes a wide range of different emotions in the people who know him.

A meme is a unit of thought energy passed from one person to another, from the culture to the individual, from parent to individual, etc., like genes:

"As defined by Richard Dawkins in The Selfish Gene (1976): "a unit of cultural transmission, or a unit of imitation." "Examples of memes are tunes, ideas, catch-phrases, clothes fashions, ways of making pots or of building arches. Just as genes propagate themselves in the gene pool by leaping from body to body via sperms or eggs, so memes propagate themselves in the meme pool by leaping from brain to brain via a process which, in the broad sense, can be called imitation. ..."

It is not clear whether Hansard is pulling stuff from the wider cultural sources to which he has access and organising it himself, or the similarity to what he teaches and writes about is because the information that he claims come from his bon source is also information that naturally disseminated itself through the culture. This leaves three possibilities:

1. Hansard is clever but lying about having a lineage source and creating his own organisational structure.

2. Hansard is lying about a lineage source but pulling together from the wider culture and organising it intuitively the way it was once organised.

3. It is as he says it is and the reason there is similar bits all over the place is because of historical dissemination.

Taking Hansard himself out of the equation any one of these three possibilities could be true. Bringing Hansard into the equation, because of his personality and his behaviour, as evidenced when he came on this board and as reported by others, brings the authenticity and the safety of what he does into question.

Hansard is fond of controlling others on the basis of "integrity." Is it any wonder we are doubting his?

There seems to be a storm of thoughts and ideas currently swirling on this website. It is very difficult to know what is true, and what overall percentage of people are complaining. Although it is stated that people should make true and accurate posts, there is really no way of knowing how to validate those any more than believing what you read in a newspaper to be the truth.

I think the people who are unsure of the accusations they are making, and who they are judging, should remember that words are like swords. Are you comfortable wielding that sword? Are you absolutely sure of what you are saying? Are you absolutely sure that you have never hurt people in your life, and that you are free from blame? Let he who is without sin, cast the first stone.

I know that I for one am certainly not perfect, and perhaps all human beings in this world are not without their imperfections. Perhaps that is the chaos that generates life.

I believe life has a way of sending us the healing we need. In whatever imperfect, jagged form, it perfectly heals our wounds. Sweet poetry. How could we know, that the very thing that is our downfall, is the direct cause of another's healing? How could we know, that our imperfections, are life's perfect teachers. This is the mystery.

There is something bigger than ourselves at work here. We are small.

Think of your greatest lesson in life. Was it not learned through some kind of mistake?

The reality is, there is no us and them. In a way there is no me and you. Whatever healer, teacher, guru, scapegoat, baddie, conundrum - it is LIFE speaking to you. WAKE UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We all experience the world through different eyes. How different - perhaps we shall never know. I only know my own experience, and the experience of others that I feel and encounter directly.

In my experience, Christopher has been an angel in my life. If you want to know what I mean, go and rent the classic movie, Its a Wonderful Life. Look at the Angel in it. Notice also, how the angel is misunderstood and derided, even by the man whose life he was saving. So strangely viewed are those who are true to their own self, in the face of the everyday world.

I am just relating my experience. When someone saves your life, it is only natural to be thankful and full of wonder. And I know, that the manner in which my life was saved, could only have been done by a physician of immense and subtle skill. What strange coincidence, what magical occurence. I give thanks.

If a healer is capable of this, then in my heart, the place of all truth, I know he is coming from the right place. If such is the power of his intention to do good, can one knowingly cause harm? From this place all medicine flows.

I do believe I have received true medicine, soul medicine, the spiritual diagnosis that reaches to the root cause of suffering. This is rare. Rooting out the very depths of suffering is not pleasant. It is not comfortable! We all might think that we are prepared to do whatever it takes, let go of whatever is needed, on our path to healing. But when that one issue comes...... that one thing that we cannot cope with, cannot handle...... that one thing that has the power to hurt us like nothing else. This is when most of us give in. It is all too easy to stop at that point and scream all kinds of things, to give away our power.

I decided to stop being a victim. I will not give away my power to anyone. Whatever arises in my life, I accept, I take responsiblity for. (As an aside, I believe this is the Dzogchen view.)

There are healers in life, and there are teachers. We are all involved in the dynamic and subtle play. In my heart of hearts, I know Christopher to be a true healer and a great teacher. One of wild and sponaneous character, unexpected freedom and surprising gesture, but a heart of compassion, wisdom and truth. As they say, it's not what you do, its the way that you do it.

Perhaps if we were able to live more in our hearts, we would be able to perceive those who were also living from their hearts, and we would understand the spirit in which thoughts, words and actions were carried out. In this everchanging world, in such a state of flux and constant exchange, the only dynamic that is constant is our heartspace of truth. In this place there can be no lies, and no illusions when we look at others. I have seen enough illness and falsity, and enough clouding of energies by impurity, to know purity when I see it. I have felt enough negative energy, to know pure energy when I feel it. I also know how easy it is to get caught up in a whirlwind, and stirred up because someone is stirring your pot. This is giving up control. It is very easy to be affected by the weather - how easy is it to feel down when it is rainy?

All I would say is, to pass comment on someone's training, aptitude and skill, you probably need to have the same level of training yourself. Jumping on the bandwagon does not take much skill.

To those who are unhappy with their experiences, I wish you all the best and I wish you healing. I really do. I just wanted to relay my experience, in a forum where it is impossible to know the overall balance of truth.

Love to all, and I hope that peace will come to your hearts.

Meteorite,
It is truly wonderful that you had this experience. Were everyone's experiences as good, there would be no need for this forum. Imperfect though it may be, this forum offers a place where people with less good experiences can talk about them.

Let's introduce some discrimination to this gratitude. Accusations of rape and molesting are not just being "a baddie". Knowledge of CH's lying and betraying the trust of many is not just being " a baddie". This man held the trust of hundreds of people!

Of course, there is forgiveness. And the mirror reflection of what is dark in us all. However, many of us choose, sometimes with struggle, not to act it out. Many of us "WAKE UP" to the dark in us and choose differently - not wishing the forces of karma to teach us the hard way. The best teachers lead by example.

If I told those who trust me that they had to forgive those who raped or molested them, they would have this unconscionable, damaging invasion reinforced. You can't tell such people "not to be a victim"! I'm not saying 'stay in this mind-set for life' - but there is a time-line here that must be honoured, in order for healing to take place. People need to tell their stories and to come to forgiveness in their own time - and that may take a lifetime or more.

Possibly it is a valuable thing for Mr. Hansard to be reading the reactions to his actions. Could this be karma?
I wonder.