yourguruisproblematic

[yourguruisproblematic]

Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse

In August 2017, lama, filmmaker, and writer Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche (aka Khyentse Norbu), wrote a 10,000-word open letter that defended Sogyal Lakar’s clerical abuse (source: Patheos).

Points, directly quoted from the letter, include:

“However you describe Sogyal Rinpoche’s style of teaching, the key point here is that if his students had received a Vajrayana initiation, if at the time they received it they were fully aware that it was a Vajrayana initiation, and if Sogyal Rinpoche had made sure that all the necessary prerequisites has been adhered to and fulfilled, then from the Vajrayana point of view, there is nothing wrong with Sogyal Rinpoche’s subsequent actions. (By the way, ‘initiation’ includes the pointing out instruction which is the highest Vajrayana initiation, known as the fourth abhisheka.)“

“Frankly, for a student of Sogyal Rinpoche who has consciously received abhisheka and therefore entered or stepped onto the Vajrayana path, to think of labelling Sogyal Rinpoche’s actions as ‘abusive,’ or to criticize a Vajrayana master even privately, let alone publicly and in print, or simply to reveal that such methods exist, is a breakage of samaya.”

“There is no room whatsoever for even a glimmer of an impure perception.“

In the same letter, Khyentse also defends Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche:

“I found especially interesting the dynamics between the Tibetan lama, Trungpa Rinpoche, and his American students, all brimming with devotion and lacking in personal authority, and the parallel with dysfunctional family systems. Trungpa Rinpoche appears as a drunken, crazy surrogate for the dysfunctional families of the authors. The ploys used to keep the power differential operating in the community of Rinpoche’s followers mimic the betrayal and required secrets in the alcoholic family.”

Two months after this letter, Khyentse posted a 17-page “sex contract” for gurus and disciples on his Facebook page. The post (now deleted but preserved in screenshot form with the full contract), read:

I thought this might come in handy for Rinpoches like myself who are not omniscient, not omnipotent, and not well trained; who don’t give enough preparatory training on the prerequisites to their students; and who get carried away by their own self-agendas and, from time to time, by their hormones.

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[yourguruisproblematic]

Noah Levine

TW: Rape and sexual misconduct

In September 2018, Against the Stream — a nonprofit Buddhist meditation center in San Francisco and Los Angeles — shuttered after a 5-month investigation of its founder, Noah Levine, in the wake of allegations of misconduct. ATS’s website is still live; it lists in Noah’s biography, “Noah is currently on leave from teaching at ATS.”

Here’s what contributed to the sinking of Against the Stream:

Allegations of clerical misconduct made by “7 to 10 people” are largely unknown to the public but were made to Against the Stream in 2018. (Tricycle)

These reports included one allegation of rape. (Tricycle)

This allegation, made by “Witness 1″ who declined to share some details of her interactions with Levine in order not to compromise an LAPD investigation. Witness 1 states she had consensual sex with Levine twice prior to October 30, 2017. On that day, Witness 1 said, Levine raped her, which she clearly defined as having sexual intercourse with her without her consent. (Jezebel)

Another woman met Levine on Bumble. On a second date at her house, she reportedly led Levine to a couch in her living room and asked him to sit on the other side after an uncomfortable interaction on her bed. Levine asked her to take her shirt off, followed by a series of questions about “how she masturbates,” which she told him she was uncomfortable answering. At that point, the woman indicated to Levine that he could leave. At the door, with her not wanting him to “leave angry,” they kissed again, at which point Levine allegedly “stuck his hands down her leggings, touched her buttocks, and spanked her. The woman told [investigators] that Levine then pushed her down on the couch and put her hands down her leggings again: She pushed away and managed to physically roll off the: couch out from under him.” The woman emailed Levine’s ex-wife about the incident, as they knew each other through Instagram, then eventually contacted Valerie (also known as Vimalasara) Mason-John, the president of the Buddhist Recovery Network. (ibid)

Another woman met Levine on a dating app and went on two dates with him. After an “appropriate” first date, Levine allegedly pressured the woman to go home with him on their second date. In his car as they kissed, “ he’d climbed over the console on top of me and was getting really aggressive. I wasn’t scared, because I can take care of myself. But I was uncomfortable. I had to push him off me.” Levine allegedly said, “’Are you pushing me off?’ with some amount of disbelief, and ‘pretty reluctantly’ got off her. They didn’t go out again.” (Jezebel)

In March 2018, the Buddhist Recovery Network received a letter from a Zen teacher stating “that one of her students had filed a police report alleging sexual misconduct by a former BRN board member and a key figure in the Buddhist recovery movement. In the letter, she asked: ‘(does) the BRN ha(ve) a code of ethics, or any process for dealing with ethical transgressions by teachers in your network.’” BRN President Dr. Vimalasara Mason-John named Levine as the accused person. (ibid)

Prior to allegations, “allegedly reported to the board — of his own volition — that he had slept with a married woman, and someone who’d attended one of his classes.” (ibid)

Regan Webber, former Refuge Recovery Office Manager: “He liked to joke about his power and having all these women work for him. Or he’d be on Bumble [at the office] and talking about women’s appearances, saying things like, ‘I hope this girl has never come to one of my classes because I really want to fuck her.’ Even though everyone he’s been with recently he’s met in a teaching capacity.” (ibid)

Admitted to having sex with a student whom he met at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California. Claimed that the student had “pursued” and later “seduced” him “after he attempted to resist.” (Tricycle)

Maintained a position on the board of Refuge Recovery while on leave from teaching, financially benefitting from the organization through sales of his book, Refuge Recovery, and speaking engagements. (Jezebel)

Charged personal expenses to Refuge Recovery, including "flights to things like Wanderlust, the yoga festival… [for which] Levine insisted on traveling first class, and charged the company for other questionable expenses, including Hamilton tickets for his family.” (ibid)

An estimated $200,000 salary "made it difficult to operate a functional business, with adequate salaries and healthcare benefits and software and equipment.” (ibid)

An independent investigation, completed in August of 2018 by Roberta Yang at the request of ATS, “did not determine if Levine had committed any criminal offenses, [but] it did find that Levine likely broke ATS rules—specifically ‘the Third Precept of the Teacher’s Code of Ethics, namely, “to avoid creating harm through sexuality.”’ (Tricycle)

Two anonymous students interviewed by Yang “described inappropriate encounters with Levine in which they believe he used his position to get their contact information and made them ‘uncomfortable.’“ (Tricycle)

Levine’s response: “Whenever a boundary was stated – physical, emotional, or otherwise – I always honored it.…For my colleagues, I feel betrayed and abandoned. You were my family. We taught compassion and forgiveness together. I feel you did the opposite. You silenced me. You isolated me. You did not give me the benefit of the doubt, and you offered me no path to forgiveness and healing.” (Engaged Dharma)

[yourguruisproblematic]

Lodro Rinzler

TW: Sexual assault

In 2013, allegedly “tried to pressure an intoxicated woman [’Amy’] to have sex with him in spite of her repeated statements that she did not want to.” (Lion’s Roar)

“I remember literally putting my hand out and pushing him away,” Amy said. “Like, ‘No, I don’t want to kiss you.’ He said, ‘Well no, I’m just curious. Let’s just relax and see what happens.'” (ThinkProgress)

“In a last-ditch effort to get through to Rinzler, she told him again that she didn’t want to have sex, and when he asked why, she revealed that she’d been sexually abused in the past. Instead of offering understanding and empathy, Amy said, Rinzler suggested that sleeping with him could help her break through the trust issues from her past trauma.“ (ibid)

According to the woman, who is not named, she eventually performed oral sex on Rinzler as a way to “get him off of me without having to have sex with him and just survive.” (Lion’s Roar)

After initially complaining to Shambhala in 2013, the woman contacted Shambhala after reading about Buddhist Project Sunshine. Shambhala opened an internal investigation into the allegation in summer 2018 and asked local meditation centers not to host Rinzler’s upcoming book tour. (ThinkProgress)

Within two days, Rinzler announced announced he was leaving the Shambhala. (ibid)

According to senior Shambhala official Judith Simmer-Brown in summer 2018, Rinzler was “only now realizing the ramifications of pressing his affections while in the role of a teacher of Shambhala. He was not defensive, and was very honest with me about what happened. He is also deeply sorry for any harm he has caused.” (ibid)

Rinzler subsequently denied all allegations of perceived misconduct. (ThinkProgress)

MNDFL Meditation, Rinzler’s for-profit meditation studio in New York City, never made mention of the allegations and continues to list Rinzler as a regular teacher and “Chief Spiritual Officer.” (MNDFL)

Following the initial reporting in Think Progress and Lion’s Roar, publisher TarcherPerigee, an imprint of the Penguin Group, discontinued its relationship with Lodro Rinzler, including the publication of his new book, How to Be Decent, which was scheduled for release in fall 2018. (Publishers Weekly)

Rinzler’s byline attributed to a 2017 piece in Marie Claire on "8 Scandalous Stories of Office Sexcapades" with the subtitle, "NSFW, but YOLO.” (Marie Claire)

[yourguruisproblematic]

Sogyal Rinpoche

TW: Accounts of sexual abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse, gaslighting.

Author of the bestselling The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, which has sold over 3 million copies and has been praised by John Cleese, Thom Yorke, and Michelle Yeoh. No mention of the below allegations, or his current work in the wake of his resignation from Rigpa, the organization he cofounded and led until 2017, appear on his website.

Accused by 8 of his former senior students of decades of physical, psychological and sexual abuse (Sydney Morning Herald) with supporting evidence that resulted in an independent investigation report. The report concluded, “Sogyal Lakar should not take part in any future event organised by Rigpa or otherwise have contact with its students.”

Physical Abuse

Allegations of punching and kicking students, “pulled hair, torn ears, as well as [hitting the 8 students] and others with various objects such as [his] back-scratcher, wooden hangers, phones, cups, and any other objects that happened to be close at hand. (Open letter dated July 14, 2017)

Gut-punched a Danish nun in front of an assembly of more than 1,000 students at Lerab Ling in France because his footstool wasn’t in the right position. Then refused to continue with the retreat as students questioned this action, speaking through an employee: “Sogyal, he said, was upset that people should be questioning his methods. If people didn’t understand what had actually happened, then they probably weren’t ready for the promised higher-level teachings, and Sogyal would not teach again during the retreat.” (SCMP)

In 2001, took on a woman named Drolma as his assistant. "The first time Sogyal hit her hard on the head with the back­scratcher that he carries everywhere, Drolma says, she accepted it as part of his ‘wrathful’ training. ‘I thought, “Wow, he really trusts me.”’ It was the beginning of years of physical abuse and verbal humiliation. ‘If he became anxious about his mother, or over a relationship with a girlfriend or some financial thing, he would slap me across the face, or hit me over the head with his backscratcher.’” (ibid)

Abuse that “left monks, nuns, and lay students of yours with bloody injuries and permanent scars” (ibid)

Drolma in an interview with Good Weekend: “If anything went wrong and his anxiety got the better of him, he would take it out on me. One of those times he grabbed me by the ear and it was torn all the way along the back. There was blood pouring down my neck.” (Sydney Morning Herald)

Verbal and Emotional Abuse

“In December 2005, in a live streamed teachings from the unfinished temple, Sogyal Lakar said that Ian Maxwell, one of his oldest students, was “an asshole”, as Ian lay dying in the hospital in Paris. After Ian’s death Sogyal Lakar said that Ian, ‘died spitting up blood' because he had defied him in the past. Sogyal Lakar regularly used this incident, saying, ‘Do you want to end up dying spitting up blood like Ian for defying me?' as an example to other students when he threatened them with dire consequences if they did not obey his commands“ (Open letter dated July 14, 2017)

Sogyal Lakar told Graham Price that his beloved partner, Elena, got sick (and died a year later) because Graham had shouted at him. “In reality Graham didn’t even raise his voice.” (ibid)

Publicly humiliated a male attendant during a teaching session who had erred on travel plans. "Sogyal got him to kneel at the foot of the podium and then run backwards and forwards across the tent. I felt terribly uncomfortable but I also thought he was very fortu­nate to have such close attention from the teacher.” (SCMP)

Sexual Abuse

Within a year of the publication of The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, groomed and sexually abused a woman named Dierdre Smith who attended one of his retreats after the death of her father. “For several months Dierdre put her everyday life on hold and travelled with Sogyal as his servant, sex partner and arm candy. She recounts how the smile on Sogyal’s face and the unctuous charm of his of his public presentation vanished the moment they were hidden from view: ‘There must have been about 10 women in his inner circle,’ she says, and it was our job to attend to his every need. We bathed him, dressed him, cooked for him, carried his suitcases, ironed his clothes and were available for sex. He was a tyrant. Nothing we did was ever good enough. He went into screaming rages and beat us. If I tried to question the way he treated us, he became angry. The only way to avoid this was to stay silent and submissive.’” (Behind the Thangkas)

In 1994, a $10 million civil lawsuit was filed against Sogyal Rinpoche and Rigpa by an anonymous plaintiff, who was given the name “Janice Doe” to protect her identity. The complaint alleged infliction of emotional distress, breach of fiduciary duty, and assault and battery. (The Telegraph)

In 1995, an anonymous female student told The Telegraph Magazine: "It's a relationship that you haven't chosen, agreed to or discussed. Because he was my spiritual teacher, I trusted that whatever he asked was in my best interests. You're chosen which makes you feel special. You want to help the teachings, you want to progress on the spiritual path. By sleeping with the teacher you get a closeness to him which everyone is hankering after. You want to be a 'good student.' It's a sort of submission. I saw it as part of the teachings about the illusory nature of experience and emotions. But in fact it caused me a lot of pain that I wasn't able to dissolve." (The Daily Telegraph Magazine)

Another female student spoke for the same article: “When, at length, Rinpoche made a sexual advance to her, she says that she felt 'confused'… Her understandings of the teachings, she says, did not help her resolve her confusion. But while her doubts grew, she did not feel 'justified' in expressing them to Sogyal.…'All of the older students, the people I went to for advice, told me repeatedly that I must "abandon my discriminating mind and use my wisdom mind" in dealing with Rinpoche,' she says. 'Every time I tried to do that I ended up doing what he wanted and feeling bad about it later." (ibid)

“The distress felt by students who have had sexual relations with spiritual teachers can be analogous to incest.“ (ibid)

In 2000, Janine, the daughter of a follower of Sogyal Lakar started attending his teachings to spend time with her father who had begun to neglect her. After engaging with Sogyal in a few public settings, she was “ordered to wear a best dress and turn up at Sogyal’s house for dinner. At this moment she realised the whole set up was somewhat bizarre: ‘There was Sogyal surrounded by five or six young pretty girls and there were no other men. Iit was quite fun actually, we had nice drinks and we danced for him. Then at a certain point he asked me to go upstairs with him and massage his head. I made some sort of smart reply and he became angry. He said I was too proud and he would have to break my pride.’” Janine became inducted as an unwilling member of Sogyal Lakar’s harem and forced into orgies. “‘They were terrified of being beaten…During the time I was with him continuously, one of us would be beaten every day – because you forgot something or did something wrong. For one girl it was because the way she walked was too proud. I got a little less than the others — some would get a serious, really bad beating. He got irritated with me because when I did something wrong I would hand him something to hit me with and that would spoil the fun.’” (Behind the Thangkas)

“Indoctrination into the inner circle is designed as a life sentence. A young, vulnerable woman is programmed to accept Sogyal’s god-like status and to be compliant with his wishes and whims, slave-like in her willingness to accept a punishing workload and available for sex on demand. She is separated from her family and friends, discouraged from contact with the outside world and persuaded to see Rigpa as her family, with Sogyal (confusingly as father-lover) in absolute power and control. In the majority of cases, it works. By the time these women realise they are being abused and exploited and are deeply embedded in a coercive cult, it is too late for them to extricate themselves. Their investment is total and their chances of making lives for themselves beyond Rigpa have dwindled into non-existence.“ (ibid)

Allegedly instructed students to strip, show their genitals (male and female), provide oral sex, provide photos of their genitals, to be sexual partners and to describe other sexual relations with other partners. (Open letter dated July 14, 2017)

Allegedly ordered students “to photograph [his] attendants and girlfriends naked, and then forced other students to make photographic collages for [him], which [were then] shown to others.” (ibid)

Allegedly “offered one of [his] female attendants to another lama (who is well known in Rigpa) for sex.” (ibid)

Met Victoria Barlow in 1976 for a private teaching, “He roughly put his hand up my long dress, groped my privates, unzipped himself and lay on top of me, literally grunting for the minute or two until he released. Immediately, he got up, said he had things to do, that he was getting ready to travel across America.” (Sydney Morning Herald)

Gaslighting

Food was not hot enough

Awakened from nap a half hour late

Phone list was missing a name or the font was the wrong size

The internet connection was slow

The television movie guide was confusing

Technology failed to work

Students failed to “tune into [his] mind” and predict what he wanted

Upset with one of his girlfriends. (ibid)

Sogyal Rinpoche denies all allegations.

[yourguruisproblematic]

Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche

TW: Accounts of sexual abuse, sexual violence, and entrapment.

Head of the Shambhala Lineage, son of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche (who has been long known to be problematic, see: Pema Chödrön). Highlights from the Buddhist Project Sunshine reports:

One woman wrote that for years, before he was married, the Sakyong would kiss and grope her when he got drunk. Like many women around the Sakyong, she desperately hoped to become his wife, she wrote, and she rationalized his boorishness by telling herself that the Sakyong was trying to show her “the patterns of my own poverty mentality and grasping.” (Source: The New York Times)

When he was completely intoxicated, SMR would pull me into a dark corner. He kissed me and groped me while aggressively encouraging me to come to bed with him. Most of the time, another woman who had been invited to the party was already present. For me to comply with SMR’s wishes, I would have had to displace this other woman. Knowing how painful this would be for her, I couldn’t do it. Year after year, I resisted. There was only one night that I slept in SMR’s bed. There had been no girlfriend present that night. He was so drunk that I spent much of the night holding a bowl for him to vomit into. I snuck out of the room before dawn feeling bewildered and ashamed. (Source: Buddhist Project Sunshine, Impact Statement 1 — also reflected in the NYT quote above)

After one particularly egregious night, I spoke my mind.… I told him that I’d seen how he treated women and I wanted no part of it. Years of frustration and wondering what he wanted from me bubbled up. As I spoke, SMR sat with a stunned look on his face and for some time said nothing. When he finally did speak, he said that he was sorry, that he had not meant to hurt me. That was it. He left the room. From that time on, he never spoke to me privately again and bit by bit, I was pushed from the inner circle. … A staff member eventually confirmed that I was being dismissed and he himself would be taking over my tasks. (Source: Buddhist Project Sunshine, Impact Statement 1)

My final meeting with SMR took place about a year after the incident where I told him what I really thought about his treatment of women. He was sitting in his father’s old bedroom. I was on the floor. I begged him to tell me if he didn’t want me around anymore. I asked him to tell me the truth. I acknowledged that hearing the truth would be hard for me, that I didn’t want to leave, but that knowing was far preferable to trying to figure it out in the dark. He got up and walked out of the room. (Source: Buddhist Project Sunshine, Impact Statement 1)

Over many years I had several sexual encounters with the Sakyong that left me feeling ashamed, demoralized and worthless. Like many young women in the sangha, I was deeply devoted to the Sakyong and did whatever I could to serve him and be close to him. I witnessed the steady stream of attractive women that were invited into his quarters and I longed to be the one that he fell in love with and was worthy of being his wife. (Source: Buddhist Project Sunshine, Impact Statement 2)

He led me into his room and began kissing me and removing my clothes. I said that I couldn’t have sex with him. He seemed stunned. He thought for a while and then pushed my face down towards his penis and said “Well you might as well finish this.” I was so embarrassed and horrified I did it. He rolled over in bed and didn’t say another word to me. (Source: Buddhist Project Sunshine, Impact Statement 2)

On another occasion I was invited to a dinner party where the Sakyong was encouraging everyone to drink a lot. He then insisted that we take off our clothes. He led one woman into his bedroom while the rest of us danced. After a while his kusung came out to get me to come to the Sakyong’s bedroom. I went into the room and discovered the Sakyong and the woman on his bed having sex. He said to me “She won’t come. Do something to help.” I stood there stunned and he said “Play with her tits. Do something.” (Source: Buddhist Project Sunshine, Impact Statement 2)

On another occasion I was serving in the household and took some tea to him in his bedroom where he was watching tv. He asked me to sit down with him on the bed. He was only wearing a bathrobe. After a while he opened his robe to reveal his penis and said “I was hoping you could help me out.” Again, I did it and felt completely disgusted with myself, but I was so conflicted with doing what my teacher asked of me, feeling so devoted to him and not wanting to displease him or fall from his graces. This time especially felt even more demeaning as I was in uniform. More and more it felt like he had no interest in me or my well-being. Only his pleasure. (Source: Buddhist Project Sunshine, Impact Statement 2)

Another woman told Project Sunshine she was assaulted by Mipham in the kitchen of his home in Halifax while his wife and daughter slept upstairs. It was his daughter’s first birthday. August, 2011. (Source: Buddhist Project Sunshine, Impact Statement 3)

On a 2002 trip to Chile, Mipham locked a woman in a bathroom and attempted to force her to have sex with him before she escaped. ‘The woman, whose name was not released, says that the Sakyong was “visibly drunk” when he pulled her into the bathroom, locked the door, and blocked her exit. “He groped her breasts and began trying to remove her clothes,” the report says. “He forced her hand to his genitals, even though she told him ‘no’ several times.” After “15–20 minutes,” she managed to force her way past the Sakyong and out of the bathroom, the report says.’ (Source: Tricycle)

During the initial phase of Buddhist Project Sunshine’s investigations into sexual misconduct within the Shambhala community, Mipham praised survivors for their “bravery and courage,” without mentioning any of his own misconduct.

In July of 2018, Mipham “took leave” from heading Shambhala to “enter a period of self reflection.”

[yourguruisproblematic]

Pema Chödrön

TW: Accounts of sexual abuse, rape, miscarriage, and gaslighting.

In recent years women have become more articulate about sexism. And we know more today about the prevalence of child abuse and about how many people come into dharma really hurting. If you knew ten years ago what you know today, would you have been so optimistic about Trungpa Rinpoche and his sexuality? Would you have wanted some of the women you’ve been working with to study with him, given their histories of sexual abuse? I would have said, “You know he loves women, he’s very passionate, and has a lot of relationships with women, and that might be part of it if you get involved with him, and you should read all his books, go to all his talks, and actually see if you can get close to him. And you should do that knowing that you might get an invitation to sleep with him, so don’t be naive about that, and don’t think you have to do it or don’t have to do it. But you have to decide for yourself who you think this guy is.”

(Source: Tricycle Magazine, 1993)

“I don’t believe you.… If it’s true, I suspect that you were into it.”

Pema Chödrön’s enabling of the cult around Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche and the leaders of Shambhala that followed in his wake was documented in Phase 3 of Buddhist Project Sunshine through the experience of one female student who was raped by a Shambhala Center director (and subsequently miscarried):

"I was raped at the age of 21 by a Shambhala Center director. This led to a pregnancy and then a miscarriage. About a year later I approached Pema Chödrön to disclose what had happened. As a respected practitioner and also as a woman, it was my expectation that I would find an ally.

Instead, Ani Pema told me bluntly, "I don't believe you." I was shattered. After further discussion with her, Ani Pema then said, “Well, I wasn't there, but if it's true I suspect that you were into it."

To be not believed, and then to have it suggested to me that I was being untruthful about something so difficult, was retraumatizing to say the least. To this date, and despite having had opportunities, Pema Chödrön has never apologized to me for these comments.

What I would like to know is: what are Pema Chödrön's intentions in joining the Transition Team? If other survivors come forth with their stories, will she believe them? Will she discourage others from speaking out? Will she suggest to others that they secretly enjoyed it?”

One month after Project Sunshine’s Phase 3 report, Chödrön issued a public apology.