Hiya Jah.

I am of the opinion that the women who are flirting and having sex with Ole are doing so because they do see him as a cool guy. Do you honestly believe they would be interested in him if he wasn’t the head of Diamond Way Buddhism and was perceived as just another elderly man? Nydahl has charm and charisma, I’ve met him on several occasions and it’s quite easy to be won over by his easy, relaxed and friendly manner.

Quite clearly from the video clip (and from the numerous course I attended) he is able to generate great devotion and inspiration from his followers. They clearly love him. This in itself isn’t that harmful as long as the motivation and message from the source of that inspiration is good.

He has turned many people onto Buddhism, something I applaud him for. I just doubt his motivation when he is accepting the advances of these “young” women. He claims a bodhisattva should be able to bring people highest joy during the night-time as well as the day-time. I believe this is his justification for having sex with his students (Riding The Tiger, Page 111). I think the reality is that these women are “star struck” by his role as the head of DWB and much like other pensioners of the same era, Mick Jagger for example, exploit their position in order to enjoy the advances of these young women.

Just being charming and inspirational are not always the best qualities to look for in a teacher or inspirational guide. I think it could be argued that Hitler was perceived as both charming and inspiring by those he attracted (I don’t want anyone to think that I’m claiming Nydahl is a modern day Hitler. I just want to make the point that after the initial attraction one should carefully examine their teacher).

The point is that within DWB there is an attitude of “monkey see, monkey do”. So if Ole does it (casual sex, taking snuff, jumping out of airplanes, driving at speeds that make you a danger on the roads with little regard for the consequence of your actions on others, and making comments that appear to hint at racist tendencies) then it must be OK for his students. He once criticised his students for coming to him to ask if they could perform a “marriage” ceremony for them only to find the same students approach him several months later to marry them to someone else. He clearly didn’t approve of their casual attitude to their commitment to each other (and I applaud his intervention). But to then see him cavorting with a number of his own students is a contradiction. No wonder there are confused moral and ethical views among some of his students.

S

In response to Outsider.

I don't believe religion should be taught in schools. Not Buddhism, not Islam, not Christianity. You can inspire children to grow into to compassionate, loving and intelligent adults without religion.

The centre I attended did once send a couple of practitioners into a school to teach kids about Buddhism. One of the people I have a great deal of trust in and the other was a "flakey" individual who believed in the paranormal!!

I was brought up in a Catholic school and from around the age of 12 I came to the conclusion that it was all a fiction. I looked at Buddhism and found many of the core teachings are useful and have been a huge inspiration. I just reserve the right to dismiss ideas such as re-birth as a fiction in order to impose some social control (much like if you're bad you get punished in hell, Buddhists talk of Hell Realms and re-birth in lower animal realms etc).

As with everything we expose people to, if our motivation is to benefit as many beings as possible then it's a good thing..... as long as you've spent enough time in self reflection to really know your own mind and you motivations.

S

I agree with SteveLpools opinion, Do you think that if Hugh Hefner wasn't a millionaire and was just some common elderly guy all these playmates would follow him? Same thing with Ole. All these girls just want him because of the fame and power he has as head of DWB, not to mention the "spiritual power" he gives to them through sex, according to him.

zara11:

Does that mean that he uses his supposed "spiritual power" just to get laid?

I personally believe that the greatest abuses of power within DWB are not those of Ole in bed with his followers.

(This sort of behaviour is not exclusive to DWB, and at the end of the day we are talking about consensual sex between two consenting adults. What I do find telling is DWB's response to such accusations - Whereas the social norm is to hold one's hand up and apologise humbly - Ole's response is instead a brazen defiance hidden behind a jocular and immature "nudge and wink".)

The fact that these abuses of power manifest themselves sexually is merely one aspect of this wider ideology.

It seems quite “cool” in a school-boyish sort of way to poke fun at political correctness, but it is also quite obvious - who in their right mind would not laugh at some of the sillier aspects of this when taken to absurd extremes? - this is not to say that this is a good reason to fall back on some type of neo-feudal type of exploitation of social inequalities in the name of some sort of fatalistic misunderstanding of the meaning of Karma.

Part of Buddhism’s appeal these days is partly due to the fact that the ideals of tolerance and even celebration of diversity would seem to many to be the direction that they want to go in. This is what makes Ole’s type of Buddhism slightly embarrassing - Ole is still a rebellious teenager at heart who has repressed it in a rather clumsy and obvious way. On the one hand we have this “never surrender” attitude, and that is quickly followed by a, “haha, of course that’s not meant to be taken literally” - it represents our fight against ignorance.

First there is a gesture - Ole picks up the gun…
followed by the explanation… - well, of course, it’s a metaphor, there are many images of weaponry in Buddhist icons, representing the wrathful aspects of those fiercely protecting wisdom…

And so we never actually learn exactly where Ole stands on certain issues because this “explanation” was in fact an equivocation - it was a denial.

So Ole makes the gesture - picking up the gun, sleeping with the attractive young lady, hurting himself in daredevil stunts, or even making certain inflammatory political comments - and this is followed by… “ah, but you see - it’s your view that needs adjusting, not mine” (… because I, Ole, am the self-appointed protector of wisdom...)



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 06/01/2010 01:59AM by suenam.

In response to rrmoderator, I think yes, he uses his "spiritual power" to get laid. Ive been around the diamond way environment and you quickly get the feeling that people believe that if you get near the Lama you will get a blessing and it will help your development. Once, I even asked a guy I was going out with(who si a diamond way practitioner, by the way) if he thought it was ok if I gave a kiss to Lama Ole. And he said: "Well, he is the Lama, so I see no problem with that".


I found this on a website (http://diamondwaycult.blogspot.com/) which helps to elaborate my point:
Quote:
"In Schawinski he boasted of having had sex with more than 500 women.

But the glory of Ole Nydahl quickly rubbed off for Marianne Huber. His handling of sex and women was intolerable to her: she has noticed in a summer training camp as Nydahl in addition to its two official women who take turns at the side of the Lama. In six months, he had sex with many of his female students. "These women should still be happy because they were in contact with him", Nydahl told her when she criticized him.

The same has also seen by ex-follower Anne Dietrich. "These young women were allowed to accompany him on his travels and sit at his feet when he lectured." Nydahl told her this would help their development. Dietrich accuses him of abuse of power, because such relations are problematic among equals, but inexcusable in a teacher-pupil ratio. "

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rrmoderator
zara11:

Does that mean that he uses his supposed "spiritual power" just to get laid?

I guess, Zara11 talks about tantra. a perfect excuse to get laid with a wife, daughther, sister and girlsfriend, to theach them grow spiritually , manage his energies and chackras.

Well, if it sounds sarcastics, because it is !!!.

There are better ways to grow spiritually, and definitely not recieving a sacred semen or other improper touching.

Suenam sums it up quite nicely; “at the end of the day we are talking about consensual sex between two consenting adults”. I don’t believe anyone is being forced to sleep with Ole although I do feel as though he is abusing his position of power in indulging himself.

As I’ve tried to reflect in my previous posts it isn’t really Ole Nydahl I have deepest reservations about. I do not deny that he makes some over generalisations regarding Islam. His comments at an event in London last year where he thanked his white congregation for having children because he feared our Western cities were going to “look like North Africa” were racist beyond doubt.

It’s the organisation, his students, that I have the gravest doubts about. Nydahl just gives his audience what they want to hear and in this way he receives the adulation he so clearly thrives upon. It’s a self perpetuating loop. He’s found himself popular with a group of young “idealists” (this is what he tells them) many of whom have a problem with people of colour. I’ve speculated that perhaps this is because the racial mix in Eastern European countries isn’t as diverse as it is in Western Europe particularly with people of colour. Many of Ole’s students are from Eastern Europe. So they hear the message that it’s OK to be suspicious of radical Islam and this is distorted into the anti-Islamic rants I’ve heard by his students and travelling teachers. I was even told by one of his travelling teachers that we should be blowing Mosques up with Muslims in them!!!

It’s the fact that nobody within DWB has the courage to question and challenge the man. If you do question his views you are perceived as lacking maturity. I’ve seen it suggested that if you don’t accept Ole’s views 100% then you haven’t meditated enough. If people do see him behaving in an inappropriate manner I’ve heard people wax lyrical about how his wisdom is greater than ours and that he does these things to help us break free of stiff ideas.

Utter nonsense!!!

Nydahl claims to want critical free thinkers but if you use your critical mind to debunk his views then this isn’t OK. I was in contact with several “educated” individuals, doctors, scientists and university lecturers included whilst attending DWB centres. For all this supposed accumulation of knowledge I was astounded how their critical faculties were suspended when it came to analysing Nydahls’ instructions. But then maybe I shouldn’t be so surprised as I know several acclaimed physicists still have an unshakeable belief in God without any tangible evidence to support that claim.

I remember attending a Phowa course with a friend. He sat in line and had his head checked for the small “blood blister” which is said to manifest after the successful completion of the meditation. Ole and Caty came and verified he had the sign on his head. As he trusted me he asked me to check his head for the mark and I had to admit to him I saw no mark or blood blister (he is bald so it would have been easy to identify). I raised this with one of the centre founders and the curt response was that I wasn’t qualified to spot a blood blister on someone’s head!! If Ole said it’s there then it’s there…..

Well I used my critical mind and concluded that DWB is not the best Buddhist group you can attend if you want to have the freedom to fully access your critical mental faculties.

Once again I want to stress this is not a criticism of Buddhism. I still practice and I still maintain the benefits of meditation. Find yourself a good teacher.

S

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rrmoderator
zara11:

Does that mean that he uses his supposed "spiritual power" just to get laid?

- I suspect that it is the other way round - that Ole uses getting laid as yet another proof of the manifestations of his power - (and without any clear division between sprirituality and physical virility).



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/02/2010 06:18PM by suenam.

- picking up on what SteveLpool wrote...

I have witnessed times when people have tried to question Ole - but he clerverly sidesteps any attempts to pin him down.

Ole tends to use the language of politicians - he speaks using broad terms which may be interpreted in many ways, and which appeal the largest possible audience because there are so many different possible interpretations.

I remember once Ole suggested that we should provide concrete bunkers so that suicide bombers could happily blow themselves up without it affecting anyone else.

Now - this comment is quite angry and inflammatory, but it is phrased in such a ridiculous way that one questions just how seriously to take it. No doubt many DWB members will say - oh, he being ironic, however as both SteveLpool and myself have experienced - there are members who do take it at a literal level.

As for Ole - he remains slippery on the issue, after all - who knows what the future may bring...