@OleNydahlIsAFraud: Good luck with your website (you will receive a "cease and desist" order from Ole's lawyer, as soon as your site's discovered by Ole. However, the photos speak for themselves, don't they! Very eloquently) and your Wiki campaign. It's not always so easy to have one's "corrections" to Wiki pages accepted, I've found. And btw,
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

@Mary Lou Being all ego and no compassion seems to be a hallmark of cultic Buddhist groups. The same has been said of Shambhala/Chogyam Trungpa's groups, and also Dzongsar Khyentse's. Obviously, it's fake Buddhism; the groups exist mainly for the gratification of the cult leader.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Speaking of "unreflective use of Tibetan honorific titles", Nancy Steinbeck posted on a Shambala survivors forum, that the title Simmer-Brown and others used for Trungpa, "Vidyadhara", is the lowest title one can bestow, not an acknowledgement of high attainment. Remski glosses it as "awareness-holder", not "teacher", "tantric adept" "wisdom
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Exdwgirl, I'm sorry your boyfriend didn't take your concerns seriously. Probably now you can see, that he was already cultified, i.e. heavily invested in the cult, by the time you joined. You were fortunate overall, because there have been quite a few women, who felt that Ole coerced them into sex with him, and one even said he used some kind of hypnosis, to try to coerce her into havi
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Thank you for posting, and congratulations on leaving DW! and your abusive relationship! I hope you're feeling better now, more grounded and more confident and stable. The important thing to learn from this experience, I think, is to trust your own instincts. You got a bad feeling, when you first visited the sangha. Your first reaction was the correct one. Sometimes, especially as women,
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Thank you for this important information and update on Ole Nydahl! I can't help but wonder why this lawyer, Jan Weber, is interested in defending Ole. I suppose he or she is paid well, but the question arises: is the lawyer part of the cult? It doesn't sound like his Alzheimer's is too advanced, if he's still able to pursue lawsuits, and is still in charge of his cente
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

UPDATE: According to British journalist Mary Finnigan, French police are now involved in investigating Sogyal and Rigpa. Acting director of Rigpa, Dzongsar Khyentse, stated in his recent address to the Rigpa board on the topic of the Lewis Silkin (independent) report on abuses of students and retreat participants, that Vajrayana gurus are "above the law". It would see that the Fr
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

As any beginning student of Buddhism knows, ethical discipline is based on refraining from the ten nonvirtuous actions of body, speech and mind Good point. Trungpa, like Sogyal and others, succeeded in bamboozling his students into believing that someone who tramples on the Buddha's basic precepts, and exercises no discipline at all in daily life, instead being prone to all manner of exce
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Here's a quote from one of the Guardian articles: Winn, who said she had been subjected to abuse herself, investigated the subject for a year, saying it ad been suppressed for a long time. The report claims: “Known child abusers are freely active within the Shambhala community, some are even senior teachers. Meanwhile, many who have been abused have been left with no recourse but to lea
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Thank you for posting all this, cowboy. Just a quick note with regard to Shambala's fallen leader (the latest in the series); I looked into why of the several sons of CT, THE Sakyong (whatever that means; is it a title, or is it his name?) was the one chosen to head up the empire. I was curious, because his brother, Gesar, has said he and the others are estranged from their oldest brother.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

You make a good point. Why don't female geniuses get a free pass, outrageous-behavior-wise? I've never understood that whole idea; that genius for some reason merits a free pass, and shouldn't be expected to abide by moral and social norms. Doesn't that simply encourage boys to behave badly? Do we really want to foster a criminal class?
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Corboy, I don't understand a few things about the "indoctrination" methods in Tibetan Buddhism. For example, you mention the instilling of fears of demons, Vajra Hell, and the like. Why would anyone believe this? Why would anyone coming from an atheistic background, or a Christian background that they had rejected, take any of this on? That makes no sense to me. Then, there
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Meditation isn't for everyone. Some people experience adverse affects, OP. You're not the only one. It can destabilize people. Also, meditation is not to be used as a substitute for mental health care. Panic attacks and depression are serious matters. There are psychotherapists out there, who can help you overcome those issues naturally, without medication, but it's a challenge
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

BLOCKBUSTER NEWS! Dzongsar Khyentse has been appointed to replace Sogyal, as head of Rigpa! Can we deduce from this, that Rigpa management liked his shockingly callous posts, making fun of the teacher abuse issue?
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Dzongsar Khentse, the great apologist for sexually predatory Tibetan teachers, is BA-A-ACK in the spotlight, with his latest volley in what one follower of Buddhism has called "the f*** Follies! Today, he posted this photo of himself, smiling smugly, over crossed arms, in defiance of anyone who would dare accuse teachers of sexual misconduct, not to mention--rape. (image would not reprod
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Thanks for reviving and updating this thread. I couldn't make it through the wall of text at the end, but regarding a someone at Chicago Divinity School saying Nydahl has "a genuine relation with the Kagyu School", what does that mean? He took some teachings from the 16th Karmapa and Kalu Rinpoche. That does not qualify him to teach, and to call himself "lama". Years of
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

ollaimh Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > he is appointing tuklus now himself. he has done > 180 turn and is mad that followers aren't comming > along, at least western followers. however he has > major following now in asia and major donors so he > probably doesn't care. > > here's a zinger when i was at the last lyn ev
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

I just wanted to add a piece of information. Patrick Gaffney is very invested in Sogyal and Rigpa's success. He co-authored with Andrew Harvey Soggy's book that put his career into overdrive and resulted in the birth of Rigpa. Unlike Harvey, who struck out on his own long ago, Gaffney remained at Soggy's side, as a teacher for Rigpa. He's still enmeshed, and obviously, still b
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

corboy Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Sexual assaults and violent rages… Inside the dark > world of Buddhist teacher Sogyal Rinpoche by Mick > Brown > > > Thank you for posting this. I'm going to have to read it in segments. It's too much to deal with, all at once. From the article: To see the master not as a human
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Here's an essay he wrote last year, in which he discusses the need for changes in the Tulku system, the way the child tulkus are raised and educated, and so forth. This is interesting, bearing in mind the fact that he said the Tulku system should be done away with, in one of his films. Hard to believe that someone who sounds so reasonable in an essay like this one, is the same person
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

corboy Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Has sarcasm become skillful means? > > Guess it is, if one is a tantra adept. Sarcasm is the preferred verbal weapon of choice of rebellious teenagers, dontcha know? :p
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse, folks, out comes Dzongsar Khyentse with another zinger! His Cluelessness made a post on his Facebook page, riffing on criticisms he has received for his previous two posts (the most inflammatory of which he took down within hours, but it's been kept alive on the internet: his "insurance policy against abuse lawsuits" joke). It a
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Corboy, in Stephen Butterfield's book on life in a Trungpa community, (The Double Mirror), which community was he discussing? Was it the one in Halifax, Nova Scotia, or one in the US?
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

I looked it up on the internet. There's a warning review of it on YELP. Also, there's another listing, called "Leadership Foundation Academy", which seem to be the same thing, located in the San Diego area, like ALA. Two reviews there state plainly that it's a cult, and they will start demanding thousands of dollars, telling their participants they have major issues to wo
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

This is what some of the monasteries in Bhutan look like. Bhutan's saint is Drukpa Kunley, a supposed yogi known for spending his career womanizing all over the country. He was considered a saintly madman, and the mythology states that the thousands of women "blessed" with his "gifts" were grateful for his attention. Notice that the imagery depicts ejaculation, alth
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

corboy Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Andrew Cohen > > > > Gurumayi - SYDA Yoga > > Corboy, isn't there an older thread on this forum, that was all about Andrew Cohen? From a few years ago? If so, could you link it here?
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

ollaimh Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > having been at his teachings for seven years and > part of an inner practice group, i now think he > realized he couldn't get his movies made or live > like a king unless he took up his lineage. he was > before that saying he wouldn't teach the lineage, > then that he didn't believe in
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Thank you for doing that research, corboy. I've always wondered how Buddhism got from 1 Buddha, the historical, human Buddha, to a pantheon of Buddhas: the Medicine Buddha, Manjushri, Avalokitishvara, and so many other Buddhas. My original attraction to Buddhism was that it was very logical, it wasn't faith-based, but Mahayana, and even more so: Vajrayana, are very faith-based. Even T
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

There's a small but growing buzz among Buddhists online, in response to Dzongsar Khyentse's two posts about abuse issues. They're talking about Tibetan Buddhism as a rape culture. I think June Campbell pointed it out first, in her book, "Traveler Through Space". But DKR, in the wake of many abuse scandals over the decades, has sealed the deal with his cynical and callous
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

corboy Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Background on Trungpa and his own non sectarian > tradition. > > Trungpa was from the Ri Med sect - one studied > with many teachers. > > Trungpa discouraged his own students from studying > with anyone but him. > > A control freak, full of attachments from the > beginning. >
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"