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Sceptic Watcher
@suenam
Thaye Dorje is the patron of Diamond Way. He and Sharmapa do have political power over Nydahl. While their power base is small, they can exist independently from Nydahl - especially Sharmapa has worked on getting followers in Europe. In any case where they strongly disagree with Nydahl, they could threaten to renounce the patronage and effectively end Nydahl's career. As they don't, I suppose they are ok with his overall impact.
@karam-mudra
Google Cache still has some of the discussion:
[webcache.googleusercontent.com]
Translation of the relevant part:
"If concrete evidence for the validity of your accusations
should be available, you are invited to contact me directly
and the DBU will review the 'case' (if there is indeed one) and may draw conclusions from it. At least the DBU will then allow a public discussion of the allegations on the DBU website. "
Mrs. Riepe did not react to this offer. I have researched where and how she raised her accusations on the Internet - they are on a lot of sites. The most specific allegation that I have found is the following (emphasis added by me in uppercase):
"When I saw Nydahl in Poland in 2005 after he had opened my kundalini, he
offered me to his teacher by making the offering-mudra while he was looking at me, crying many tears and counting his teacher's blessings, what he was saying.
Later, AT HOME, I had such STRONG VISIONS # in which I had to have sex with
The young Karmapa! I was crying and saying: I can not do that. The IMAGINATION was so strong! It FELT LIKE to be raped. "
At least in this text by her she does NOT talk about physical acts, but of visions and ideas. Mrs. Riepe's allegations are based out these visions and ideas are from the outside (specifically, by Ole Nydahl and Trinley Thaye Dorje) was induced in a magical way.
My comment on that:
Firstly, IF such a thing should be possible, then at least it is not criminally relevant. Allegiations of sexual abuse or rape without PHYSICAL evidence are [criminally relevant]. Therefore, it is the duty of Board operator to prevent such allegations - partly to protect the person who expresses these allegiations against the potential legal consequences.
Secondly, there are also Buddhists, a lot of people, who do view such a thing as absolutely impossible. A discussion of the allegations in this forum would almost inevitably lead to questioning the mental health of the accusing party. NO internet forum is the right place for this [kind of discussion], including this one.
For these reasons, the discussion of Mrs. Riepe's allegations has been suppressed here. And they will also not be resumed.
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karam-mudra
Suanam,
I have a totally different view on Nydahl due to my experiences. When he says "all boys loved to chase after girls" he says, that he is working with desire to overcome it and he wants students following that way. When I read Gendun Ringpoche he wrote about that path, it would be only for a few. Nydahl went that path more or less and he follows his experiences. That is what he makes him a yogi and not a monk. He followes the left-handed path and made his samayas in a specific form and due to this samyas he is obligated to have sex everyday, specialy with young girls, but also with older women. And he does. Not for his personal pleasure or desire but for the reason of the tantric rules or ideology to spread the transferences and to gather female energy.
When you write (tantric-tibetan Buddhism) is a philosophy which aims at transcending dualistic desire, than you forget to determine the experiences on which this "philosophy" is grounding.
So let me quote the Dalai Lama:
“When we experience subtler level of minds, this level of consciousness can then be transformed into wisdom that understand is emptiness, selflessness.In order to do this, first the practitioner has to stop the grosser levels of consciousness,and to do this, it is necessary to bring about the change of the movement of the white and red basic constituents. This is where sex becomes involved. The strongest change in the level of consciousness that can be utilized by a practitioner occurs during sex. Because of this fact, sex is used as a technique of tantric path.”
He says here, the strongest change in consciousness happened during sex, not during philosophy. This is the core of Lamaism and the condition for enlightment in one life.
To expose someone like Nydahl it is at first essential to understand him.
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jamgon
Suenam:
Yes - I think given the quoted 2013 date, the dodgy signature, and the totally different style, I think the letter is questionable.
No, it is not. Shamar Rinpoche has two signatures - one in Tibetan script and one Western - and uses them interchangeably. For an example of Shamar's "Tibetan" signature see:
[www.kagyuoffice.org]
The linked letter was witnessed by Urgyen Tulku so I do not know how one would question the authenticity of the signature. In any case - had the letter been forged do you not think that Shamarpa would have gone public to expose the fraud?
I notice Shamarpa's take on Islamic extremism, "...just as we should show compassion on the victims, we should also have compassion on the terrorists due to their ignorance." is also radically different to Nydahl's patronising, dismissive, and dualistic approach.
The intent of the letter is very clear and does not require your re-interpretation:
Until today Lama Ole is a genuine teacher, passing on the teachings exactly as he himself has received them from the late 16th Karmapa, Kalu Rimpoche, Tenga Rinpoche and myself.
(…)
I want to express appreciation for Lama Ole’s forty-year-long work to transmit the Buddha’s teachings to the West for the benefit of all beings. I make wishes that Lama Ole’s activity continues to grow.
There is really not much to add - Lama Ole enjoys Shamarpa’s full support. You may not like it but coming up with a theory of the forged letter which somehow (despite being forged) proves that Shamarpa disagrees with Lama Ole is a bit desperate.
Peace.
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karam-mudra
But really funny is the behavier of one member of the leader-board who is Zen-Buddhist, not a follower of Nydahl. He and some others discussed my story on the DBU-forum and he had such wonderful phantasies about the way I should be treated. I cannot repeat his proposals because of the complicated legal register he used and since they discussed about me, the forum is damaged as a result of technical problems, otherwise I would have posted the link.
No one claims that the letter is a forgery, simply there is no date on the official letter and his signature is different to his previous letters.I would never suggest that people who run official line of DWB would be that stupid and put a forgery online for everyone to see.Quote
jamgon
dariusb:
Most probably the Shamarpa's letter genuine it is just interesting that Shamar Rimpoche in English language letter would use his Tibetan signature?
Of course the letter is genuine which we should all acknowledge and move on to discuss its implications. To make up conspiracies based on a false assumption that the signature is forged is silly. I do not know why Shamarpa signed this particular letter using Tiberan script but it is not particularly relevant - the issue is whether the signature is his or not. However, here is another letter in English Shamarpa signed using Tibetan script so maybe this is not as unusual as you think:
[www.zhaxizhuoma.net]
Plus your given link does not provide with his signature unfortunately and knowing the controversy and resent development with the court cases there is not much of credibility in example given above.
I am not sure what you mean - it links to the letter with a signature identical to the one on the recent letter for Lama Ole's 40th anniversary, and which was witnessed as having been signed by Shamarpa. The controversy you mentioned actually adds credibility to the signature. This letter is very important politically and had the signature been forged Shamarpa would have come out to disown it.
Claims on this forum that Shamarpa's letter of support for Lama Ole is forged are absurd.
Peace
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jamgon
There is no need to second-guess what Shamarpa thinks about Lama Ole's teaching activity - he stated it very clearly himself.