Quote
karam-mudra
...who share his positions is radical, inhumane and unteachable.

Studies of authoritarianism/conservatism suggest that "ideological stubbornness" may be explained by a number of combined factors…

- Deferral to perceived legitimate authority rather than open mindedness

- A tendency to compartmentalized thinking, and not noticing contradictions between compartmentalized beliefs

- Identity politics which resist change and justify inequality built around the "good us"/"demonized them" dynamic

- Manifestations of tribalism/cultism: group cohesiveness and `loyalty' are core values, gender roles serve to keep people in their place, religion serves the purpose of tribal unity and self-justification

It should be noted that these are not seen as fixed variables, but rather as a dynamic response to a perceived external threat which attempts to manage uncertainty by addressing the needs for security, dominance, self-esteem, and anxiety management.


A cynical view may well see Nydahl as using the threat of Islam to manipulate these variables in order to establish a strong group identity, however the fact that he actually mentions certain points - such as the Buddhist ideals of self-reliance, openness to experience, etc., and the fact that he himself seems to rely more on claims to legitimate authority rather than being able to think for himself suggest to me that he is as caught up in these contradictions as his followers - to borrow a phrase, the 16th Karmapa gave him the ball and told him to run with it, unfortunately he left the field and even the stadium.

Re:Youtube takedowns.

What a rediculous set of circumstances where a group has to censor it's own leader in order to maintain an image of legitamacy. You're too late, Diamond Way cult. It's been mirrored on many other sites. The cat is out the bag, just like when your secret teachings (at £10 per book) leaked onto the net.

I was in Dublin when the diamond way started. It was years ago but I want to share some observations which will hopefully contribute to this blog.

Ningma versus Kagyu

I remember that every diamond way teacher who would come at that time would start with something of that kind: "Ningmapas are very strong in Ireland".
I couldn't understand why it was important.
I remember one of these teachers in particular, a Polish guy Daniel Wysocki. Unlike other teachers who were just visiting, Daniel actually moved to Ireland. He couldn't speak one world of English (at the age of forty and something).
Initially he lived in Dublin and in my humble opinion he contributed to the situation there big time.

One day I was visiting the house where he at that time lived. Daniel was in his bedroom on the computer, I had an impression he was on Skype. Suddenly I saw him running out of the bedroom, waving his hands above his head and shouting with enthusiasm. He said he had finally found an answer to his situation and he was going to move to Killarney.

If you look at the map of the West Coast, Killarney is 1hr 30min drive away from Dzogchen Beara, Sogyal Rinpoche's main seat in Ireland. Sogyal Rinpoche as we all know supports Urgyen Trinley. Killarney is the biggest city closest to Dzogchen Beara.

Daniel moved to Killarney where he opened a diamond way group. He moved with his girlfriend, the other fellow named Daniel who also took his girlfriend with him. All Polish. So there is four of them moving. Four Polish diamond way buddhists going to a city where literally no one is interested in diamond way. They move in and start a group. Daniel is no offer to the local community as he cannot communicate, so they invite other Poles to move to the house with them and convert them.

And, BANG, this "group" immediately appears on all Ole Nydahl's and Karmapa Thaye Dorje's web pages as "a Diamond Way group in Killarney". Straight under Sogyal Rinpoche's nose, 35 miles away from his biggest centre in Ireland.

And I mean this is over 30 years of Sogyal Rinpoche's work in Ireland where he worked with the local community.

So now everyone who lives in Daniel's house becomes a diamond way buddhist. People who are emigrants will do a lot to belong to some type of community. They will do what it takes to belong somewhere. This is how this organisation spreads. Polish emigrate everywhere and they take this religion with them. Nydahl totally uses this dynamic to multiply his centers.

Soon after two new groups arose in the West Coast, interestingly both of them very close to Dzoghen Beara too. One in Cork (2 hours drive from Beara) and one in Dingle (2 hours 30 min drive from there).

Quote
kartik
Hi folks,
Been following this thread for a while now. I've just come across this video on youtube:[www.youtube.com]
Ole Nydahl suggests the way to treat moslems. The recording appears to be quite recent. Hard stuff.

Kartik this comment is actually mild and mellow in comparison to what Ole is capable of. In my impression he suspects a set up and actually restrains himself. He doesn't let himself go.

Back to Daniel Wysocki though.
I visited Killarney group several times. Every time I was there, straight after the meditation, Daniel would show to the gathered crowd a youtube movie with Polish James Bond. The movie was supposed to be a parody and a main entertainment of the evening. Daniel actively popularised it also by sending it to his friends.

Nevertheless in the movie Polish James Bond makes a sexual offer to a child. That was supposed to be super funny. Daniel was laughing his head off.

Maybe Polish readers of this blog can translate this conversation for us. It's in the part one of the movie.
[www.youtube.com]

It shows what is funny in certain circles.

Maybe it's worth reminding that Ireland is a country where thousands of children were sexually abused by clergy.
[en.wikipedia.org]

Maybe it's also worth noticing that while he stayed in Ireland, Daniel taught in the London Diamond Way Centre.

@Corboy
Your post summarises my own concerns about Vajrayana very well.

@jamgon
=> Links
Thank you for the new links. This is not what I asked for, however. I do not believe that 90 to 100% of rapes/assaults are commited by immigrants (100% especially is unbelievable, this would mean there was not a single Western rapist in Oslo). I would propose to use Google Translate to get around the language problem.

=> Media Bias
I don't think this kind of bias exists. You quoted from mainstream media that did not shy using racial and religious denominators - the Daily Mail, for example, is the second most printed british newspaper.

=> YouTube Takedown
The official reason given is that the talk by Nydahl isn't freely distributable, but his intellectual property. Thus, his foundation decides wether it is allowed to be published.

Quote
suenam
A cynical view may well see Nydahl as using the threat of Islam to manipulate these variables in order to establish a strong group identity, however the fact that he actually mentions certain points - such as the Buddhist ideals of self-reliance, openness to experience, etc., and the fact that he himself seems to rely more on claims to legitimate authority rather than being able to think for himself suggest to me that he is as caught up in these contradictions as his followers - to borrow a phrase, the 16th Karmapa gave him the ball and told him to run with it, unfortunately he left the field and even the stadium.

It's a classic cult characteristic to have an external threat which the leader will save you from and which the righteous must battle against. DWB has two - Islam and Ogyen Trinlay. When the Karmapa controversy kicked off, it was no surprise that Nydahl chose the smaller faction. Even if the choice was not coldly calculated, siding with the underdog made him the big fish in the small pond. Ole's inherent white supremacism means that he has always had a certain dislike of the Tibetans. This conflict allows him to express that dislike but justify it as a crusade against corruption. The lamas from who he gets legitimacy are in a weak position and so do whatever he asks to further their own ends. Even though he could never be a rinpoche himself - he has the next best thing - lineage heads who defer to him. De facto, he is the head of the Shamarpa/Thaye Dorje wing of the Karma Kagyu lineage.

His hatred of Islam plays into the hands of white supremacists in Eastern Europe. Ole was among the first to start evangelizing the former Eastern Bloc counters after the fall of the Iron Curtain. Many Eastern European countries have seen a flow of immigration which they were historically not accustomed to under the Communists and it has given rise to radical right wing reactions. I don't think that this is a cynical ploy, it's just an aspect of Ole's character which chimes with some elements in Eastern Europe.

I do hope someone has downloaded the offensive video and that it makes an appearance again. As Kate says, the cat is out of the bag for DWB. Several Muslim and Christian groups have them on their radar and are now protesting when they try to set up new centres - as happened recently in London. I don't think this is going to stop.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/04/2012 02:24AM by warrenz.

Quote
Exodus
I was in Dublin when the diamond way started. It was years ago but I want to share some observations which will hopefully contribute to this blog.

Ningma versus Kagyu

I remember that every diamond way teacher who would come at that time would start with something of that kind: "Ningmapas are very strong in Ireland".

Hi Exodus,
Many years ago I visited a Kagyu centre in Dublin which is connected to Ogyen Trinlay. I don't remember anyone mentioning Diamondway there (possibly this is before a DWB centre opened in Dublin). If I remember it had people of many nationalities - including Eastern Europeans. Was there any conflict between Ole Group and the other Kagyus in Ireland?

Quote
Exodus
I was in Dublin when the diamond way started... contributed to the situation there big time.

Hi Exodus, thanks for contributing, I'm curious to hear your take on these events.

Quote
Sceptic Watcher
@jamgon
=> Links
Thank you for the new links. This is not what I asked for, however. I do not believe that 90 to 100% of rapes/assaults are commited by immigrants (100% especially is unbelievable, this would mean there was not a single Western rapist in Oslo). I would propose to use Google Translate to get around the language problem.

=> Media Bias
I don't think this kind of bias exists. You quoted from mainstream media that did not shy using racial and religious denominators - the Daily Mail, for example, is the second most printed british newspaper.

btw, the Daily Mail perpetrates the idea that global warming is a myth, so while it may be popular it is not without its quirks.

As for the 100% figure [en.wikipedia.org] it seems that refers to 13 cases, which given the estimated 100,000 Muslims, equates to 0.013% - hardly an epidemic which justifies a total indictment of the whole religion.

Warrenz:

It's a classic cult characteristic to have an external threat which the leader will save you from and which the righteous must battle against. DWB has two - Islam and Ogyen Trinlay.

You will be surprised that the Karmapa issue has zero presence in DW (it is ok to be with Orgyen Trin-lay!). New people are advised to check on the internet what the controversy is about but otherwise the focus is on the 16K guruyoga, ngondro, TT program etc. I do not remember the issue being discussed even once in the last 5 years. Not that it was suppressed but because no one brought it up. I understand (second hand account) that Thaye Dorje was repeatadly asked in Singapore few months ago about the split and he simply said "it is ok, do not worry about it". This is precisely what happens in the DW centres I visit - no one worries about it. I even remember a letter from either TD or Ole (not sure) when the investigation into the finances of OT got under way in India. The message in the letter was do not jump to conclusions, judge or speculate - just focus on your practice.

When the Karmapa controversy kicked off, it was no surprise that Nydahl chose the smaller faction. Even if the choice was not coldly calculated, siding with the underdog made him the big fish in the small pond.

Ole was perfectly clear why he chose to side with Shamarpa and this was explained in a letter distibuted to all centres. I am sure you know what his arguments were.

Ole's inherent white supremacism means that he has always had a certain dislike of the Tibetans. This conflict allows him to express that dislike but justify it as a crusade against corruption.

Yes, Ole's view of the Tibetan politics and inbred culture is similar to Shamarpa's:

[www.shamarpa.org]

The lamas from who he gets legitimacy are in a weak position and so do whatever he asks to further their own ends. Even though he could never be a rinpoche himself - he has the next best thing - lineage heads who defer to him. De facto, he is the head of the Shamarpa/Thaye Dorje wing of the Karma Kagyu lineage.

I do not think Ole worries about the worldly position of the Lamas who support him - if he did he would have gone with the majority Kagyu view. Your comment that he is a de facto leader of the TD faction is an overreach.

His hatred of Islam plays into the hands of white supremacists in Eastern Europe.

Ole's views on Islam attract certain skinhead element in the Eastern Europe which saddens me.

Ole was among the first to start evangelizing the former Eastern Bloc counters after the fall of the Iron Curtain. Many Eastern European countries have seen a flow of immigration which they were historically not accustomed to under the Communists and it has given rise to radical right wing reactions. I don't think that this is a cynical ploy, it's just an aspect of Ole's character which chimes with some elements in Eastern Europe.

Ole started teaching in Eastern Europe when no one else bothered because the currencies were not convertible and there was no money to be made.

I do hope someone has downloaded the offensive video and that it makes an appearance again. As Kate says, the cat is out of the bag for DWB. Several Muslim and Christian groups have them on their radar and are now protesting when they try to set up new centres - as happened recently in London. I don't think this is going to stop.

Following Suenam's logic Muslim and Christian groups have vested interest in bagging Buddhism so this is not surprising.