https://communitycare.shambhala.org Contains links to download the Wickwire Holm report and three reports from An Olive Branch, and past community announcements
https://board.shambhala.org/ Interim board for Shambhala International. Contains links to previous announcements to the community.
https://shambhala-process-team.org/ Process Team tasked with creating processes for improving Shambhala Interational. Contains links to Steering Committee updates, Working Group updates and announcements to the community.
Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, left, the spiritual leader of Boulder-born Shambhala, presents the Living Peace Award to the Dalai Lama at the Shambhala Mountain Center in Red Feather Lakes, west of Fort Collins, in 2006.
It’s been more than a year since we shared our stories of abuse within Shambhala, the Buddhist organization at the center of The Denver Post’s recent stories on the coverup of sexual abuse allegations. Our personal accounts were part of the three-part Buddhist Project Sunshine, the investigation that last year shined a light on Shambhala’s underbelly.
This is the first time that we have shared our names; the year brought upheaval to both of us and we are still dealing with difficult emotions. We and two other women, Nancy Floy and Allya Canepa, who helped write this piece, have spent time together trying to make sense of our experiences.
Shambhala — founded in Boulder and now headquartered in Halifax, Nova Scotia — has 14,000 members and more than 200 meditation centers and groups around the world. Collectively we have 68 years of experience with the organization, which we have all left. Two of us are still on a Buddhist path with other teachers, two are no longer practicing.
Our departures from Shambhala’s inner circles over the past 15 or so years ranged from liberating to devastating: some of us felt the heartbreak of separating from family, others felt the relief of having escaped a cult.
As we described in the sunshine reports, we reported being subjected to various forms of clergy abuse. Some of us reported being brought into the quarters of our teacher, the spiritual head of Shambhala, Mipham J. Mukpo—often called Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche—to have intercourse and perform oral sex. Others reported being asked to hand over our homes.
More victims have spoken out since the project’s publication last year, including those who say they were molested as children by teachers in Shambhala and inner-circle attendants disturbed by their teachers’ egotism, cruelty, and excesses in alcohol, spending and sex. We are grateful to them and to all who have genuinely supported us. We thank The Denver Post for persisting in its coverage a whole year after the news first broke.
Yet we are increasingly concerned that the revelations about our former teacher and others now accused of crimes in Boulder County will not lead to lasting changes. We fear that our accounts will be brushed aside, lost in the news cycle. We fear that we and others who have been harmed will be blamed for our experiences, some of which were life-shattering. We fear the abusers will continue to abuse.
We are calling on Mupko to step down permanently. Over the last year, he quietly moved into the background, letting some students dissolve their vows while holding fast to others who remained loyal. He inherited Shambhala from his father, Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, and, like his father, he teaches a vision of enlightened society. Sadly, his abusive behavior belies a fundamental corruption that hungers for power and servitude. To us and others who have reached his inner circle, his absence of empathy and self-awareness is glaring.
It is time for anyone in a position of power in Shambhala who knew about and supported Mupko’s abusive behaviors, whether actively or passively, to step down. This includes dozens of acharyas, shastris, teachers, administrators and members of the kasung. Their silence in the face of allegations of clergy abuse, sexual abuse and child sex abuse is abhorrent. It’s a stance that reflects a dangerous unwillingness to question their leader and a manifest disregard for real lives.
It is also time for both wider public dialogue and decisive action — within the organization, at local centers worldwide, and at Shambhala’s sister institution, Naropa University. We urge Naropa to organize a public forum that would feature panel discussions on clergy abuse in this and other Buddhist communities alongside a group healing process that does not marginalize survivors. What better opportunity for the university to demonstrate its academic integrity and independence from Shambhala?
It is time to ask what the future holds. Have the teachers tainted the teachings beyond remedy? Is there a way to preserve the lineage—whose language, practices and purposes still profoundly resonates with many? Some of us say yes, some say no. The answer will depend on Shambhala’s willingness to embrace a new relationship to power.
Tess Elliott is a Naropa graduate and the co-owner and editor of the Point Reyes Light. She lives in Inverness, Calif., with her partner and two children. Catherine Pilfrey is an art director living with her partner in Boston. She was a member of the Shambhala community for over 25 years, serving in many leadership roles and as an attendant to Mipham Mukpo.
To send a letter to the editor about this article, submit online or check out our guidelines for how to submit by email or mail.
Public allegations of physical and sexual abuse by Sogyal Rinpoche have been made regularly over the course of his 40-year teaching career.
The following timeline cites the year an allegation was made public, although the incident may have taken place years prior to the time. For example, one of the first incidents took place in 1976, but I found the public testimony in a 1994 newspaper article.
The information provided in the timeline may not be all inclusive. Other public statements may have been made of which I have no knowledge. Also, it only includes publicly documented allegations.
The Western Buddhist Teachers Conference
As background information, the first 10-day Western Buddhist Teacher’s Conference took place in Dharmsala, India in March 1993. It included 4 days of meetings with the Dalai Lama, who actively interacted with and advised the 22 teachers representing various Tibetan, Zen and Theravadin traditions.
The issue of sexual improprieties on the part of Buddhist teachers received considerable attention during the 1993 Western Buddhist Teachers Conference. The Dalai Lama gave clear guidance on these matters, which he referenced again in his recent statement in Ladakh about the current allegations against Sogyal Rinpoche. [Watch the Western Buddhist Teachers Conference videos here].
At the time, Rigpa leaders, the same ones leading the organization today, were well aware of the concerns about ethical misconduct raised by Western Buddhist Teachers. Two representatives from Ripga attended the 1994 Western Buddhist Teachers Conference with the Dalai Lama, Dominique Side and I believe Patrick Gaffney, but it might have been Ian Maxwell. On more than one occasion, they were approached by Western Buddhist Teachers with questions about Sogyal Rinpoche’s alleged sexual liaisons with students.
This climate of concern prevailed when, unexpectedly, a major lawsuit against Sogyal Rinpoche and Rigpa was filed.
Timeline of Abuse Allegations in Rigpa
1994
In November 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. Source: Best-Selling Author Accused of Sexual Abuse
“The accusation states that in June 1993, the woman, ‘Janice Doe’ (a pseudonym used in American court cases), in a state of bereavement following the death of her father, attended a retreat conducted by Sogyal in Connecticut. In a private meeting, Sogyal is alleged to have told ‘Doe’ that through devotion and his spiritual instruction she could ‘purify her family’s karma’, and that she should realize that “he is a Buddha and that all his actions are Buddha activity.’
The next evening, Sogyal invited the woman to his room where, allegedly, he seduced her. He later told her that her family had been healed ‘by his love and kindness’ and that this blessing ‘could only be maintained through her unswerving devotion to him’.
Over a period of six months, the charge alleges, the woman was subjected to ‘systematic indoctrination’ designed to separate her from ‘normal support systems’, including her husband, family and friends, to make her completely dependent on Rinpoche and Rigpa for ‘all physical, mental, and emotional needs’. In that time, Sogyal allegedly ‘physically and mentally abused’ Doe, claiming that to be hit by a lama was ‘a blessing’ and requiring her to perform ‘degrading acts’ in order to ‘bring her closer to a state of enlightenment”. Source: The Precious One
What was Doe’s motivation for filing the lawsuit?
“Theodore Philips, the attorney for Janice Doe, says that his client’s motivation for bringing the case is not simply one of personal reparation, but to force the introduction of a code of conduct for teachers, ‘to prevent future abuse’”. Source: The Precious One
Sogyal Rinpoche avoided service by not publicly entering the U. S. and thus was never deposed. The lawsuit was settled out of court through mediation.
Buddhist teacher, Yvonne Rand, counseled a number of women who claimed to have had sexual relations with Sogyal Rinpoche, including Janice Doe. Rand said:
“‘I have spoken to Janice Doe. She was completely unfamiliar with Buddhism and with what it would mean to practise with a spiritual teacher. She was quite vulnerable and went to the retreat with great trust. She was very typical of women who come to spiritual practice with a certain amount of personal confusion and who are looking tor healing.’” Source: The Precious One
The 1994 article on the lawsuit cited above revealed complaints made by Victoria Barlow as well:
“Barlow, 40, said she first met Rinpoche in the mid-1970s, when she was 21, and that she was sexually exploited by him during meditation retreats in New York and Berkeley.” Source: Best-Selling Author Accused of Sexual Abuse Also watch Barlow’s interview in the television documentary “In the Name of Enlightenment” below.
1995
Mick Brown’s 1995 article in the Telegraph Magazine, called “The Precious One,” looked at the abuse allegations against Sogyal Rinpoche from several different perspectives, including voices of those who questioned the allegations. However, it also shared anonymous allegations of sexual abuse from two additional women.
Brown also reported:
“In October 1992, a trustee [of Rigpa Fellowship, UK] resigned over Sogyal Rinoche’s sexual conduct, after suggesting to him that he should seek help, and writing to the Dalai Lama on the matter. She subsequently gave detailed information, maintaining the anonymity of those who had confided in her, at a meeting with Trustees and other members of the Rigpa community.”
2011
The Canadian company Cogent/Benger produced a television documentary with new allegations of abuse against Sogyal Rinopche called “In the Name of Enlightenment.” It aired on Vision TV in Canada.
The documentary centers around the experience of a beautiful young woman named Mimi, during her 3-year period as a personal assistant to Sogyal Rinpoche. Mimi alleges physical and sexual abuse of both herself and other young women in the “inner circle.” Initially, she believed what others told her:
“If he beats you or has sex with you, he’s actually opening the way to enlightenment.”
After two months working exhaustively as his attendant, one day she was alone with Sogyal Rinpoche. She says he told her, “Undress.” She thought it was a test of her devotion and complied. Mimi reported that Sogyal Rinpoche swore her to secrecy, and told her that if she were to speak of their sexual relations it would sever the beneficial connection she had made with him.
Initially, Mimi found it hard to leave. She likened her experience in the inner circle to “Stockholm Syndrome” — a term used to describe feelings of attachment that can develop between a victim and her captor — because all your daily requirements like food, housing, and emotional needs are provided for by the teacher and others in the small inner circle. But eventually, she gradually extricated herself, by taking small steps toward greater separation and independence.
When her father, also interviewed in the documentary, learned of her plight in 2007, during the Rigpa three-year retreat, he confronted Sogyal Rinpoche. He says the spiritual teacher did not deny having sexual relations with his daughter, but confirmed it. Shortly thereafter, Mimi’s father left the retreat for good as did a number of other students, including a woman named Denise who was also interviewed in the documentary.
Victoria Barlow also appears in the documentary, describing her own experience of unrequested sexual relations with Sogyal Rinpoche in 1976. She said the betrayal by her spiritual master, “…hurt me to the core.”
Sogyal Rinpoche hit a nun in the stomach in front of 1,000 students during a teaching session at his retreat center, Lerab Ling.
The nun did not herself make a complaint. More than a year later, following abuse allegations made by eight long-time students, which mentioned the incident, she issued a statement describing what happened as a soft punch. She says it was not abuse because she had agreed to let her teacher work with her in this way, and that it helped her move through a blockage.
However, several students sitting within a few feet of the incident perceived it differently. They heard the wind knocked out of her, saw her immediately double over, and witnessed her running off the stage in tears. They felt deeply disturbed by the incident.
Some of them sent letters of complaint to Sogyal Rinpoche via his feedback system. He responded in the teaching the next day by saying anyone questioning his teaching methods was probably not ready to receive the Dzogchen teachings.
This incident proved to be a turning point for a number of Rigpa students, who subsequently decided to leave the organization.
Bujlsma made claims of abuse of power and sexual intimidation by Sogyal Rinpoche. Although Oane was not abused herself, she experienced sexual harassment and she said she witnessed other women being abused, intimidated, and exploited.
In the television program, she recounts,
“He is a real tyrant. He behaves as if he has a natural right to demand anything, anytime—no matter if it is in the middle of the night, or from the other side of the world. His will alone is the law.”
At the end of the transcript, you’ll also find a translation of two emails sent to Rigpa members before the Brandpunt report was aired.
July 2017
A 12-page letter signed by current and ex-members of Rigpa details abuse allegedly committed by Sogyal Rinpoche. It was sent to Sogyal Rinpoche, a small selection of his peers, and his closest students.
With regard to physical abuse, the letter stated:
“We have received directly from you, and witnessed others receiving, many different forms of physical abuse. You have punched and kicked us, pulled hair, torn ears, as well as hit us and others with various objects such as your back-scratcher, a wooden hanger, phones, cups, and any other objects that happened to be close at hand.”
It also spoke to emotional and psychological abuse:
“Your emotional and psychological abuse has been perhaps more damaging than the physical scars you have left on us. When we have worked for you while organizing and setting up the infrastructure for you to teach at different places around the world (Europe, North America, Australia, and India and Nepal), your shaming and threatening have led some of your closest students and attendants to emotional breakdowns.”
The letter also addressed sexual abuse:
You use your role as a teacher to gain access to young women, and to coerce, intimidate and manipulate them into giving you sexual favors.⁴ The ongoing controversies of your sexual abuse that we can read and watch on the internet are only a small window into your decades of this behavior.”
Lastly, it expressed concerned about improper use of finances:
“Your lavish lifestyle is kept hidden from your thousands of students. It is one thing for you to accept an offering of the best of everything (that we may have) as an acknowledgement of our gratitude for spiritual teachings. It is quite another to demand it from us. Much of the money that is used to fund your luxurious appetites comes from the donations of your students who believe their offering is being used to further wisdom and compassion in the world.”
The letter writers acknowledged the immense benefit Sogyal Rinpoche’s teachings have brought to so many people around the world. They asked to be corrected if they are wrong in what they have written, but if they are correct in their assessment, they would like to see these behaviors, which they feel are harmful, come to an end.
They concluded their letter by saying:
Our heartfelt wish is that you seek guidance from His Holiness the Dalai Lama, other reputable lamas of good heart, or anyone who can help to bring you back onto the true path of the Dharma.
Unlike rumors currently circulating in Rigpa, this letter was not written by a single individual and only signed by the others. The letter was composed through a consensual process and a fully collaborative effort that took many days of writing and rewriting by the entire group.
Many people left Rigpa after the 1994 lawsuit was filed. Many others stayed. They may have believed rumors that the lawsuit was a conspiracy to undermine Asian teachers or retaliation after a failed love affair, like I did at the time.
But these arguments and others used to deny later allegations seem less convincing now in light of an entire timeline of incidents that occurred from 1976 through 2017.
I’ve personally heard other complaints as well, but as the individuals have not chosen to make their allegations public, I cannot share them here.
It’s not easy to come forward with allegations of abuse. People say you’re mentally unstable, angrily attack you, and question your motivation. Some women feel too much shame to come forward. Others hesitate to retrigger traumatic experiences or simply want to get on with their life. Still others fear retribution.
Rigpa’s official responses to the allegations have been remarkably similar, always a complete denial of abuse. The only significant difference this time is an agreement to launch an independent investigation. Some however, question the rationale for a two and a half month wait for a firm to be found to conduct the investigation.
What stuck you reading through the timeline? We would love to hear your thoughts in the comments. But please do not share rumors or anonymous stories.You can see our commenting guidelines here, which encourage open, but civilized discussion.
If you found this article helpful, please share it on Facebook. Thank you!
America's largest Tibetan Buddhist group has been thrown into turmoil by allegations that its leader knew he had AIDS and transmitted it to his sexual partners.
Osel Tendzin, the 45-year-old regent of the Vajradhatu International Buddhist Church, is said to be in seclusion in La Jolla, Calif., and could not be reached for comment. Many members have urged that he resign, after a man with whom he had sex received a positive test for the AIDS virus. In December, a high priest of Tibetan Buddhism told a group of American Buddhists that there was concern that Mr. Tendzin ''might have passed this on to many, many people.''
Three senior members of the Vajradhatu congregation, who asked not to be identified, said Mr. Tendzin's companion, a man in his 20's, unknowingly passed the virus along when he had sex with a woman in the community. She has since tested positive for the AIDS virus. They said the leader had other partners who might also have been infected.
And they said some members of the church board of directors did nothing about Mr. Tendzin's behavior for months even after they learned that he was infected with the virus that causes acquired immune deficiency syndrome and was still sexually active. 'Great Pain and Confusion'
At a meeting in Boston Jan. 8, the 12-member Vajradhatu board of directors asked Mr. Tendzin to quit his teaching and administrative duties, saying his ''actions have become a source of great pain and confusion.'' So far he has not complied, and members of the community say the board is considering what to do next.
Mr. Tendzin's condition became widely known in early December, after the regent's companion was tested positive for the AIDS virus. The infected man's mother and sister began to tell others in the sangha, the Sanskrit word for community. Members telephoned each other and spread the news through the large Buddhist community here and around the country.
At a meeting of several hundred Buddhists in Berkeley, Calif., on Dec. 15, Mr. Tendzin was questioned about AIDS and his sexual relationships. According to a tape of that meeting, he did not deny that he was infected wtih the virus or that he had AIDS. He indicated that he may have infected others and that some people knew of his illness before reports of it spread through the community. Asked why he did not realize he could infect someone else with AIDS, he replied: ''It happened. I don't expect anybody to try to conceive of it.''
Some members of the community remain loyal to the regent, saying he did not intend to harm anyone. But others have reacted with confusion, outrage and a sense of betrayal. 'Reprehensible Moral Behavior'
''There was an immediate sense of shock, and a lot of horror,'' said Ralph Hiesey, 47, who has resigned as coordinator of a small Vajradhatu study group in Santa Cruz, Calif. ''I don't want the head of this organization to demonstrate what I consider reprehensible moral behavior.''
The teachings of Vajradhatu, a branch of Tibetan Buddhism with 3,500 to 5,000 followers in the United States, Canada and Europe, do not prohibit homosexuality or sex with more than one partner. ''Buddhism is nondogmatic in that it doesn't lay down rigid codes of behavior,'' said David I. Rome, a member of the Vajradhatu International Church's board of directors in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
He and other board members declined to answer other questions about Mr. Tendzin's behavior and said they did not know where he was.
The highest-ranking Buddhist to have spoken publicly on the issue is Kalu Rinpoche, a high priest of Tibetan Buddhism in India, who spoke at a meeting of about 100 Buddhists in Los Angeles Dec. 22. According to a tape of the meeting recorded by a church member, Kalu Rinpoche, speaking in Tibetan through an interpreter, said: ''As all of you know, the Vajra regent has contracted AIDS. And people worry very much about the fact that he might have passed this on to many, many people.'' He then asked members to show compassion for the regent. Conversation With Founder
At the meeting in Berkeley, Mr. Tendzin said he had talked about his illness in 1985 with his predecessor, Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, who died of heart disease in 1987. Mr. Tendzin added that he came away from that conversation feeling he could ''change the karma.''
''Thinking that I had some extraordinary means of protection,'' he said, ''I went ahead with my business as if something would take care of it for me.''
The Vajradhatu International is now based in Halifax, but it was founded 18 years ago in Boulder, where about 900 members now live. Its followers in North America and Europe are largely non-Asian professionals.
Mr. Tendzin, who was born Thomas Rich in Passaic, N.J., is the first Westerner to hold so high a position in the Kagyu tradition, one of four schools of Tibetan Buddhism. Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, Vajradhatu's founder, designated him to lead the church until a permanent successor is chosen. As regent, he transmits the teachings of Buddha to Vajradhatu followers. Fear and Loyalty
Some members say they fear that important teachings will be lost if the regent is forced to resign. At the meeting in Berkeley, Mr. Tendzin was asked if he had made plans for a successor; he said he had not but promised to do so before his death.
Others say the regent's behavior reflects badly on the teachings of Buddha, and add that he abused his position by having sex with his students.
''We don't want people to think our tradition is just another cult,'' said Robin Kornman, a Princeton graduate student who is also a senior student of the Rinpoche. ''We are asking, 'Are any of us blind followers?' If so, that's not what we want.''
But other followers remain loyal to Mr. Tendzin. ''My feeling for the regent as my teacher has not wavered,'' said Irini Rockwell, who teaches dance at the Naropa Institute in Boulder, a liberal arts college founded by the Rinpoche in 1974. ''I have the view that he should continue to teach. The regent never intended to hurt anybody, and my religion has taught me to never, ever reject anybody who does not intend harm.''
A version of this article appears in print on , Section A, Page 14 of the National edition with the headline: Buddhists in U.S. Agonize on AIDS Issue. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe
Public allegations of physical and sexual abuse by Sogyal Rinpoche have been made regularly over the course of his 40-year teaching career.