In 1994 the Tibetan *lama*, family name Lakar, known os Sogyal Rinpoche, was sued by an American woman known as Janice Doe for sexual harrassment, coercion and physical abuse. The lawsuit was sttled out of court, with an undisclosed sum paid to the plaintiff.
During the 14 years since this happened, Sogyal has built himself a money-spinning global empire. He certainly has charisma and chutzpah. but apart from that very little in the way of authentic training as a Tibetan Buddhist lama.
He is a sexual predator on a grand scale. He cultivates a personality cult which goes way out of whack from the Tibetan Buddhist principle of guru devotion. Various cultish pressures are applied to members of his organsiation, Rigpa, including threats of dire psychic consquences if they speak out of school or offend the boss. Largely this seems to have worked -- until now. The link below will take you to a thread on a blog which is in French except for contributions from me. If you can read it, it will update you on Sogyal's ongoing sexual and financial exploitation and abuse.

[troismondes.canalblog.com]

There are now several women willing to testify against Sogyal and it seems that the momentum to put a stop to his activities is gathering pace. If this happens, the ensuing scandal will refelct very badly on Tibetan Buddhism as a whole and the Dalai Lama in particular. I have profound respect for HHDL, but I question his judgement in relation to Sogyal. For the past 2 visits of HHDL to the UK, Sogyal was a guest speaker at the Kalachakra ceremonies. HHDL visited Sogyal's centre in France, Lerab Ling, on two previous occasions and this year opened the Lerab Ling temple -- another of Sogyal's grandiose projects -- in the company of Carla Bruni Sarkozy and the French Foriegn Minister Bernard Kouchnar. HHDL and his advisors are probably naive, but I can't help wondering if Sogyal (a personal multi-millionnaire from the sales of The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying) has bought himself into favour.

There have been 251 hits on this thread -- but no postings apart from mine. Have YOU a story to tell about Sogyal and/or his organisation Rigpa? Did you leave Rigpa because you were unhappy about the way it operates? Were you one of the people who left the Lerab Ling 3 year retreat because of doubts about its authenticity? Were YOU sexually exploited/abused by Sogyal? If the answer to any of these questions is YES -- please respond to this post.
Any further contact between you and me will be in strict confidence and without prejudice.
In dharma
Pema

Hi Pema -- I am interested in contacting you about this subject but your mailbox is full and won't accept messages. -- Thanks.

Since autumn last year I have been in touch with a young woman who was thinking of starting legal proceedings against Sogyal -- but as happens in circumstances involving sex and spirituality -- she has decided not to proceed. She has, however, provided updated evidence of Sogyal's spoiled brat lifestyle. Evidence which not only corroborates testimonies given by women involved with him around the time of the 1994 Janice Doe lawsuit, but also reveals Sogyal's descent into ever deepening levels of depravity and self indulgence. She confirms that Sogyal never meditates, never does retreat and is barely literate. She confirms that when not on public view he spends his time in sexual activity, eating and watching TV. She confirms that he is violently abusive with members of his harem and that they suffer from sexually transmitted diseases. She spoke about daily beatings and stomach-churning tasks that include scatology. I hope that eventually someone will have the courage to deal effectivly with this loathsome little man. Sometimes I feel pity as well as disgust when I think about Sogyal. He is so far out of his depth, so unhappy and so alone -- despite being filthy rich and surrounded by mindless zombies who have been brainwashed into submission.

This thread has not taken off as I'd hoped -- but the action is at
[troismondes.canalblog.com]
Where you can read many insightful posts if you happen to be fluent in French. Latest news on Sogyal is that he is *in retreat* in Australia. This is excellent -- seems we might be getting through because the last time he went into *retreat* was when the Janice Doe lawsuit went public in 1994. He had to cancel an appearance at The Living and Dying Conference in New York -- which must have hurt a lot because it was seriously high profile. Someone pointed out that it may not be a coincidence that Australia is currently experiencing the worst bush fires in living memory -- hell hath no fury to equal a disturbed wrathful protector...

Quote
pema
She confirms that Sogyal never meditates, never does retreat and is barely literate.

Well I don't know Sogyal Rinpoche, but he sure is not barely literate, in fact he can read quite well, you can even see video on youtube of him reading his speech at one conference.
As for his training it is well known that Sogyal Rinpoche received his education from many high tibetan lamas, such as Dzongsar Khyentse Chokyi Lodro, Dudjom Rinpoche and Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, so I would not say that he has very little training.
As for the rest of things presented here I don't know and I will not comment on that. My personal feeling is that much of it is just a gossip, but that is just my feeling not that I want to present it as a fact.

He is barely literate? Didn't he write a book called 'The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying"?

I guess Sogyal can read Tibetan and by now, after more than 30 years as a showman, I guess he can cope with cue cards. S claims he received teachings from the great lamas you mention, but has never been able to provide substantive proof of this. It is also well known that the late Dudjom R was not at all happy about Sogyal continuing to *teach* after S refused to obey a request by Dudjom R and other senior Nyingma lamas to return to India in the late 1970s in order to *ripen his practice*. Sogyal's response to this request was to remove Orgyen Choling, his London centre, from the Dudjom mandala and change its name to Rigpa. There is certainly a lot of gossip around Sogyal's depraved personal life. Most of it is true. How do I know? I suggest you catch up with my posts in English on Les Trois Mondes.

No, Sogyal did not write The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying. Christine Longaker had the idea, Patrick Gaffney assembled the material and Andrew Harvey wrote the book.

Very interesting. I have a copy of The Tibetan book of Living and Dying. On the front cover it says Sogyal Rinpoche, but inside it says "Edited by Patrick Gaffney and Andrew Harvey", yet it also copyrighted exclusively to Sogyal Rinpoche. Do you have any more information regarding this. It interests me as I have this book!