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Stoic
'He seems to really believe that he is simply an instrument of some higher power, a discourse which is reminiscent of Stalin's.'

Yes, and like Stalin, I would say that he is equally deluded.
The fact that this idiot might believe in his own grandiosity is no reason for anyone else to believe in it, or give it any credence at all.

On a rational level I agree, but DWB has a very strong identity which creates a sense of belonging, as if members believe they can share in this secret magical power.
There is much talk with DWB members about powerfields and other such mystical obfuscations, and the idea that one can buy into that shows just how a deluded individual can become a cult leader.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/09/2011 05:28AM by suenam.

I guess that all we can do here is provide another, different take on the supposed 'powerfields and other such mystical obfuscations' and hope that anyone who is thinking a little bit critically will take heart and turn a deaf ear to Nydahl's nonsense.
There are plenty of more sane and balanced teachers out there, once you are clear what you are looking for.

BTW, I would treat the 'siddhis' as a distraction and something to avoid if at all possible. Smart people don't need psychic powers to navigate through this life.

I've seen quite often where one person has developed a more subtle insight and understanding, and they can appear to others as if they have magical psychic powers.

Buddhism is the one "religion" which claims to move beyond the "mysterious" in favour of an explicit understanding, but this can still give rise to superstition.

I remember a story told by one of the travelling teachers about one of Nydahl's lectures, where a guy was making a nuisance of himself and Nydahl asked him to leave as he was being disruptive. Then, another man who was similar in appearance arrived late, and Nydahl mistook him for the same guy and yelled at him to leave. This second guy was known to the sangha, and yet no one had the courage to tell Nydahl that he had the wrong guy.

The travelling teacher attributed this to his "karma", mistakenly meaning "destiny". It seems they could not admit the truth to themselves about Nydahl's intolerance at being interrupted, nor his anger directed at some innocent guy, but instead had to attribute it to this guy's "bad fortune".

A similar story concerning the London sangha happened a couple of years ago where a female member was having mental problems and went to the sangha leaders complaining that her ex-boyfriend was using black magic against her. Instead of helping her to get treatment, they took her paranoid delusions seriously and started targeting this guy, going to the police with false accusations and then trying to fabricate evidence against him. Dafydd Morris lied to the police, telling them that this guy had called her on a number that he didn’t have, and then sent emails to all dwb members informing them he was sick and dangerous. The police investigated this thoroughly and (unsurprisingly) found no evidence, yet DWB members continued to target him and he was verbally and even physically assaulted by them.

It's like they jumped at the chance to “protect” this woman, revealing their skewed view of gender relations leading them to reveal their clear prejudice (a poor helpless, but attractive, female, and predatory sex-obsessed male... etc.), again, an externalization and projection of their own “fantasy”.

In both cases one can see the clear signs of the hierarchy at work and the abuse of power that stems from this, but what seems really telling here is their need to externalize any of their self-doubt, regardless of correctness, in order to maintain a very neat “black and white” view of the universe. It seems that superstition and prejudice have taken the place of insight and truth to the point where conventional morality is ditched in favour of some form of "magical intuition" which only serves to reinforce their own warped viewpoint.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/09/2011 06:33PM by suenam.

'In both cases one can see the clear signs of the hierarchy at work and the abuse of power that stems from this, but what seems really telling here is their need to externalize any of their self-doubt, regardless of correctness, in order to maintain a very neat “black and white” view of the universe. It seems that superstition and prejudice have taken the place of insight and truth to the point where conventional morality is ditched in favour of some form of "magical intuition" which only serves to reinforce their own warped viewpoint.'

Yes, and when an empire needs to be consolidated it is in the interests of the empire builder to foster a continuance of this 'black and white thinking,' superstition, prejudice and belief in magical intuition amongst the followers.
For me buddhist teaching is the most rational as it insists that each person works, to the best of their ability, to encourage and develop insight and truth, not get mired in hand-me-down myth, superstition and magical intuition.

The acceptance of the hand-me-down myth, superstition and magical intuition is a lot easier of course, and if it is encouraged in the followers, creates the typical unthinking, adoring followers worshiping the superhuman, exalted leader.
Nydahl may or may not be conscious of what he is building here but either way the result is the same. It also beggars belief that such a mature and exalted 'buddhist' would allow himself to remain unconscious of the result of his actions if he is truly practising what buddhism teaches.
The power has gone to his head and is now driving him, IMO.

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It's like they jumped at the chance to “protect” this woman,

There may be something else.

In genuine Buddhadharma, anger is considered one of the three afflictive emotions and a practitioner is called on to examine personal anger.

Going further into the Bodhisattva Precepts, which all in the Mahayana traditions (including Kagyu) are supposed to take seriously, the vows one takes if one commits to guiding ones practice by these precepts include:

To beware of harboring (clinging) to grudges. This does not mean forgetting lessons learned for a bad relationship. This means that one cannot cling to grudges or organize a long term revenge campaign directed at someone designated a threat to the group.

Buddhadharma is supposed to get us to examine mob mentality and to beware of becoming trapped in it.

But there are a lot of people who do not want to give up life long patterns of thug behavior if that behavior has gotten them goodies in life.

They will eagerly follow a leader who claims to be a Buddhist but who makes it seem that they can continue to enjoy mob mentality and thuggism AND call it Buddhist behavior.

A leader like that, who can give outlets for herd mentality and claimn these outlets are in service to an ancient Buddhist tradition (when in fact they are not) is someone who trained the bully boys who did the street fighting for Oswald Mosley's British Fascist Part in the 1930s--a way for big bullies to follow their already thuggish inclinations and to feel noble about it, and enjoy fatherly approval from the organizer who ran their clubhouse.


Or the bosses of the more dangerous football clubs who go terrorise entire communities and cities, both in the UK and abroad, feeling patriotic about it all.

(Read Buford's Among the Thugs for more insights)

There is a bit of potential thuggishness in all of us and competition is part of mainstream culture.

Buddhist teachers are supposed to be bearers of a different kind of culture than that--not legitimize thuggery.

So long as DW generates this sort of mob mentality, it is my citizens opinion that their centers are best considered as mere clubhouses, like pubs favoured by Man United vs Chelsea and the other football clubs.

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a guy was making a nuisance of himself and Nydahl asked him to leave as he was being disruptive. Then, another man who was similar in appearance arrived late, and Nydahl mistook him for the same guy and yelled at him to leave. This second guy was known to the sangha, and yet no one had the courage to tell Nydahl that he had the wrong guy.

The travelling teacher attributed this to his "karma", mistakenly meaning "destiny". It seems they could not admit the truth to themselves about Nydahl's intolerance at being interrupted, nor his anger directed at some innocent guy, but instead had to attribute it to this guy's "bad fortune".

Genuinely great leaders own their mistakes. And create a setting in which others are not afraid to speak out.

The military services can do better than Ole.

During World War II, Spike Milligan describes his favorite commanding officer and what happened one day when 56th Heavy Regiment Royal Artillery Battery D was called out and a plane flew overhead.

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'Battery all correct and present, sir!'

The roar of a plane mixed with cannon shells all over the place-M.E. 109 rooftop, red propeller boss--panic, Battery as one man into ditch--not Major Chaterjack, M.C. D.S.O --stands alone, in the road--unmoved, produces a silver case, lights up a cigarette. He is smoking luxuriously as we all sheepishly rise from what now feels like the gutter.

'He addresses us: 'Very good--you realise you did the right thing and I the wrong?'

What can you say to a bloke like that?

Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall by Spike Milligan page 99

and this from the US Navy (PS I think 'rack' means your sleeping area, whether its a bed, cot, or bunk. the writer here is telling us he was going through hell with bedmakign inspection during training. POS stands for piece of shit)

The worst experience was that I had to cycle in a closet sized room for a couple of hours after a rack inspection showed I had way more than 6 inches of sheet at the head of my bunk.

I had to personally apologize for being a POS to each member of the company. This was my first rack inspection. On the second on, my CO started riding me again for the same issue. I was perplexed, I freaking KNEW I had it right. Come to find out he did not actually measure it, but he used a bar on the rack as a guideline. Also come to find out I had a rack with a bar that was 4 inches instead of 6 which gave the appearance of my sheet being to(sp) long.

Most valuable lesson I learned in the Navy shortly followed. OWN YOUR MISTAKES. He apologized for his earlier mistake and actually told everyone else he was wrong and I was not a POS.

Pretty stand up thing to do given the circumstances.

7/21/2009 10:01 AM

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http://bubbleheads.blogspot.com/2009/07/new-rtc-video.html

The best officers/leaders in the military services own up to their mistakes.

I am curious to know where Ole got the idea of powerfields. Ever since the work of Rupert Sheldrake the concept of morphic fields has been showing up in a lot of places. If you combine these morphic fields with meme theory you get an interesting alternative explanation of how cults expand and replicate their norms, as well as the thinking and behaviour of the leaders, often in ways that seem inexplicable to outside observers.

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jah
I am curious to know where Ole got the idea of powerfields. Ever since the work of Rupert Sheldrake the concept of morphic fields has been showing up in a lot of places. If you combine these morphic fields with meme theory you get an interesting alternative explanation of how cults expand and replicate their norms, as well as the thinking and behaviour of the leaders, often in ways that seem inexplicable to outside observers.

In tantric buddhism there is there idea of empowerment, the idea of directly transmitting the fast acting tantric method to actualize the mandala or powerfield by repeating the matra and using the seed syllable to actualise a particular buddha aspect and the energy, wisdom qualities, and activity using sound vibrations to transform one's internal energies on a subtle level.

It seems that to the somewhat less subtle mind this may become viewed in an exaggerated and externalised way, with the true power of such methods being completely overlooked in favour of imagining a Vegas style magic show. In the same way, such rituals as the repetition of matras may also become empty and the practitioner may become obsessively concerned with counting the numbers of repetitions of the mantra while failing to realise the true aim of such a method.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/11/2011 04:41AM by suenam.

here are some links if anyone wants to read further...

[en.wikipedia.org]

[www.berzinarchives.com]

Basically there are 3 stages; outer, inner, and secret or sacred, which show the true nature of the progression.

Interestingly, the level of the protector is the level of the outer practices of the body, and the one which Nydahl seems to be operating on. The misunderstanding which seems to have occurred is that, instead of the next level being seen as moving inward, it is instead seen as moving further outward; ie. controlling the weather, manifesting rainbows, defeating the "threat" of Islam, etc. at the expense of a devepment of inner balance, understanding, and self-awareness.

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On a rational level I agree, but DWB has a very strong identity which creates a sense of belonging, as if members believe they can share in this secret magical power.
There is much talk with DWB members about powerfields and other such mystical obfuscations, and the idea that one can buy into that shows just how a deluded individual can become a cult leader.

I transgress from the last few threads and head back to the above quote, just a few days ago I was shown Lama 24 by someone who was very eager that I should see their fleeting appearance on the video, this is totally in tune with suenam's observation.

I have to conclude with what I worked out very early on in my un-anticipated association with DWB, simple things please simple minds