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"Are you seriously trying to ostracise Mary Finnegan because she wrote that somebody is a respected lama who is on the side of Shamar Rinpoche and Thaye Dorje?"

No.

Alexander Nevsky wondered why MF did not criticise Ole Nydahl. I merely suggested that she may have a link to a teacher who is friendly with Ole and maybe this explains why perhaps she doesn't - despite her emphasis on writing about the more scandalous aspects in Tibetan Buddhism. It may also be that she is simply not interested in the issue.

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First of all, she used the word "respected", which is a descriptive term, as opposed to "respectable" which would be an evaluative term. Secondly, you seem to imply that everybody in contact with Shamarpa and Thaye Dorje is per se not respectable. This is a form of outlawry which has nothing to do with constructive rational criticism.

You seem to be doing a lot of implying here. From what I know (albeit second-hand) the Dechen community is a respectable organisation, very traditional, and Jampa Thaye has the respect of several Tibetan teachers in both the Sakya and Kagyu traditions. Certainly he and his organization appear to be very different in style from Ole and Diamondway. In fact all they would seem to have in common is their allegiance to Thaye Dorje.

True, I do not have much time for Shamarpa but I do not believe everyone who follows Thaye Dorje is evil. Although some - like Ole - are people I could not recommend.

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If you don't agree with some of Mary Finnegan's theses, why don't you just open a new thread about her articles and discuss her theses rationally instead of going ad hominem with unfounded insinuations and attemts to ostracise her?

No, I don't think I will as I think you read waaay more into this than was actually there. Mary Finnegan's articles on Sogyal are good work. I do not like her tabloid style - simply.

And perhaps you should consider that not everyone who disagrees with Shamarpa does so unreasonably. That too is a form of outlawry which has nothing to do with constructive rational criticism.

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warrenz

Her latest article in the Guardian (cf. Mary Finnigan on Kalu Rinpoche) I note quotes "respected British Lama Jampa Thaye". He is the founder of the Dechen community and teaches in the Kagyu and Sakya schools of Tibetan Buddhism. He is a supporter of Shamar Rinpoche's candidate and I think cooperates with the Diamond Way organization in sponsoring visits of Thaye Dorje to the UK (cf. Ole Nydahl and Jampa Thaye).

It maybe that Ms. Finnigan has her own ideas on Ole and the Karmapa or has got these from Jampa Thaye. From her Guardian articles she does not seem to have written anything overtly critical about Karmapa Orgyen Thinley Dorje. However, how she has managed to stay away from Ole's shennanigans is a mystery. I would have thought she would have jumped at the chance.

Oma Desala,
This is a valid comment, very relevant to this particular blog which deals with Ole Nydahl and diamondway.
What we are trying to understand here are diamondway inner workings, their system of support as well as how they placed themselves in the field of Tibetan Buddhism politics.
We would also be interested to see which politicians and media support them to fully understand the network they operate in and their set of connections.
We need to take each comment into account and value each single angle of analysis. In this way we can build up a big picture. Brick by brick.

A very interesting blog by Mr. Sean Creighton
[historyandsocialaction.blogspot.com]

I am sure that Mr. Creighton is a decent and well meaning person; nonetheless a few pieces from this blog are worth quoting:

1. "Diamond Way Buddhism is also a totally non-political organization; it does not hold any views on political parties or other religions."

2. "Whoever comes to a Diamond Way Buddhist centre is welcome"

3. "Diamond Way has contributed to the Camden Faith Leaders Forum"

I just don't even want to comment on that.
Naive good people.

By the way by practice diamondway is not a charity. It is a corporation and it should legally be treated as such.

Just checked your link provided above , what is DWP? Is this person still talking about Diamond Way, if he is what P stands for? Party ?
I copied this part of the blog:
"For me both these statements closes the issue of concerns over DWP UK based on the alleged views of DWP’s international ‘leader’. It appears that much of the criticism is circulated by non-DWP Buddhists elsewhere in London – part of a spat within the fractured Buddhist movement not dissimilar to those in other religions. As far as the ‘leader’ is concerned he seems to be more of ‘a missionary’ and apparently has no role in the governance of DWB in the UK."
Is he talking about Ole here? If he is ,he has no qlue what he is writing about, with out Ole there is no major decision made and all DW centres are under Ole's "management ". Before every big step in running (any)DW centre people seek Ole's advise and usualy that advise is followed . Unless something changed in DW uk and they became some weird separate "church" of Buddhism?

Another important thing to look at would be a diamondway business model. The property business model in particular.
How they avoid paying taxes. Ole claims he doesn’t pay taxes himself (I definitely remember him claiming that many times). Traveling extensively he enjoys a tax exile status. If you don’t stay in any country for any extended period of time by the law you are a tax exile and you don’t pay taxes anywhere.
[www.taxcafe.co.uk]

Ole has also said (I remember that clearly) that Cathy Hartung’s family runs a property business. So Cathy is a property business manager from home.

It is tough, you know, but for all of us who were or still are a part of diamondway it is important to understand how this organization works and what we were/still are a part of.

I don’t know about Sogyal Rinpoche. Shouldn’t our government be interested in how big religious organizations are being financially managed? And shouldn’t government’s reports on that matter be available for commoners like us. If you know about any such initiative, please let me know.

In these austere times, tax exempt fiefdoms are a luxury we can no longer afford.

@Alexander
I don't know about Ole's private property - he has written several books which his disciples buy. I dimly remember that he claims not to have kept the rights. If he still does have the rights, it's likely he is moderately wealthy and does have to pay taxes.

=>financial management of his religious organization
I think I linked to it earlier in the thread. At least the german foundation is watched by the government, because it has to keep up rigid standards. [www.buddhismus-stiftung.de] is a link to their year-end financial statement 2010. They had about 12.000.000 € capital, most of it bound in real estate.

I definitely remember Nydahl claiming he doesn't pay any taxes. Definitely remember that.

Charity donations are tax deductible. So who ultimately pays for Ole’s life style?

For those who feel that diamondway had a distressing effect on their lives or the lives of others.

How to lodge a complaint against a charity:
[www.charitycommission.gov.uk]