brief and informative youtube video, how cults work

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxJyfqeaKU8

Rinpoches and gold and prostitutes

 https://web.archive.org/web/20160926031038/http://downthecrookedpath-meditation-gurus.blogspot.com/2012/03/prostitutes-in-tibetan-monastery.html

“Subject: Rinpoches and gold and prostitutes

Aug 18 2005 05:34 AM

This is true that our Rinpoches are eagerly raising funds to build biggger monasteries with golden Buddhas but with few monks. Even the monks are in robe by the day and found in the brothels by night. They are emulating Tsangyang Gyatso, the 6th dalai Lama.

There is something fundamentally wrong in Tibetan Budhdist system where they have tulkus and rinpoches who are spoiled rich kids who abuses the money of the dead and the devotees.Khyentse Norbu is an example making films and womanising around the world while enjoying the title of the great Khyentse Tulkus. Who is recognising these fools as tulkus? How many tulkus recognised by some highest lamas in the system are not keeping teir vws but abusing money and welath of the previous lama. If some of the money were spent on building schools and women's education that will be good. What si the religious dept in D-sala doing about this? They issue letter of recommendation to every little group for raising funds for this and for that. Look at the monks from Sera, Drepung Gaden and anunnery from Kopan all who have become performers and artists. They publicly display mandalas and Tibetan nuns and monks come to dance in world theatres. All to raise money ofcourse. How is the increassing number of monk and nuns performing from Gelukpa moansteries in Nepal and India going to keep the profile of Tsongkhapa's purity of vows and practice.

I thought Gelukpas were the reformists and pure ones but now a days they are running around the world as gypsies.First they come as chanting monks and then they are dancing monks and then they are buying house monks, then they have become landlord monks.Their western nuns have become marriage celebrants, it is absurd that nuns become marriage celebrants.So this 21 century Buddhism in action, of course there are many that are good too. I can see why China is trying to highlight the quality monks rather than building huge numbers like an army.We need good and few monks, but they like numbers don't they, sera 5,500, Drepung 7,700 and so on.Of these how many young good looking boys are sex workers called 'dron-po' (guest) for older geshes and some of the rinpoches too? So do not blame the Chinese or poverty for the sex workers in Shigatse, tibet had them all along within the monastic compounds. Go to Sera in South India, you will see happening. It s importnat to see one's own faults before one point finger to the other. The Chinese have brought many things to Tibet. List the all honestly. Tibet has many old mistakes and list them too.Prostitutes are fact of life as is guest in the monasteries.Wake up!”

 https://www.dorjeshugden.com/all-articles/tibetan-sex-predators-shielded-by-dalai-lamas-disinterest/comment-page-1/

Tibetan sex predators shielded by Dalai Lama’s disinterest

Posted on September 15, 2018 in Articles, Guest Writers, News, The Controversy · 41,437 Views · 89 Comments

The opinion piece below was sent to dorjeshugden.com for publication. We accept submissions from the public, please send in your articles to ds@dorjeshugden.com.

 

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By: Magda v.d. Berg

It should have been a restorative and healing experience for victims of sexual abuse going to meet the international man of compassion, His Holiness the Dalai Lama. They had hoped that the meeting would be a fruitful one, and they would be able to elicit some kind of promise from him to do something about their pain. Instead, according to reports from BBC, ABC and Radio Free Asia, the victims left with “mixed responses”, with some even expressing disappointment.

“Meeting the Dalai Lama was a disappointment”. Just a few years ago, such a phrase or thought would have been unthinkable. Yet, the fact these types of feelings are being reported with increasing frequency should come as no surprise to anyone. It is the result of decades of refusal from the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA; Tibetan leadership in Dharamsala) to take responsibility for their people and their actions like any responsible leader or government.

The Dalai Lama with Rigdzin Namkha Rinpoche, one of the lamas accused of exploiting his relationship with the Dalai Lama to sexually abuse his students

Is it possible that the reports might be inaccurate and can therefore be discredited? Not really, since the BBC is held as the gold standard of journalism, and relied upon all around the world as a source of objective information. In war-torn areas, or regions of great strife and conflict, people turn to the BBC for their news. So the fact this meeting and its unfavorable outcome captured the attention of the BBC and ABC indicates the severity of the matter and something that the Tibetan leadership should take very seriously but clearly failed to.

So while the BBC has traditionally joined other media outlets in providing unquestioning supporting for the Tibetan government, it now seems that the tide is turning as the Dalai Lama makes gaffe after public relations gaffe. But is anyone really surprised when the CTA’s reaction towards these sex crimes has been underwhelmingly lackluster, even to the point of being protectionist towards the sex predators? Let us examine the facts:

1. Why do victims of sexual abuse have to beg THE man of compassion to listen and help them? The fact the BBC said the Dalai Lama was “receptive”, putting the phrase in speech marks, implies that he was not actually that receptive to the audience. In the same way you might describe a person as “interesting” to avoid saying what you really feel about them. One of those present even said that the Dalai Lama did not want to hear about their cases and that essentially, he had to be convinced. It is disturbing that the Dalai Lama and his people would have to be convinced to meet with victims of sexual abuse. The reality is that they made it complicated because they did not actually want to hold the audience and be confronted with facts , but were forced to due to public pressure and the need to appear as though they are doing something.
2. Why do victims only get 20 minutes? The Dalai Lama will fly around the world to attend events hosted by these sex offenders. He will stay with them, eat their food, give teachings in their Dharma centers and endorse their organizations, and he will spend hours with sponsors. He spends hours commenting on the religious practice of others and the domestic policies of other countries. But he only granted 20 minutes to these victims who have suffered so much at the hands of people that he endorsed. On top of that, he will not do anything concrete to sanction the offenders. These victims have had their lives turned upside down by the very people he said would be safe and okay to associate with.

The Dalai Lama accepting an offering from the alleged sex offender Rigdzin Namkha Rinpoche. Would the Dalai Lama accept an offering from any Dorje Shugden practitioner? What is acceptable about sexual abuse, and not acceptable about Dorje Shugden practice?

3. Why does the Dalai Lama teach people to be responsible, when he himself rejects responsibility for the actions of those whom he allowed to use his name and reputation as an endorsement of their behavior? The Dalai Lama cannot claim ignorance in this matter. It is clear that the abusers used his name and their association with him in order to build trust and lure people within striking range of their criminal misdeeds. Many allowed themselves to be in harm’s way because they trusted the Dalai Lama’s commendation of these predators. The abuses were not once off and spanned many years during which time it has come to light that the Dalai Lama’s office was informed of such abuses. It is clear that these abusers are guilty of the crimes that they have been accused of. Yet, the Dalai Lama has until now refused to take any responsibility although it would have been less likely that the abuse was perpetuated had the abusers not received an endorsement from the Dalai Lama.
4. Why does the Dalai Lama speak so strongly on so many other issues but he will not speak up against sexual abuse? The fact sexual abuse is universally reviled means that there will not be any damage to the Dalai Lama’s reputation if he speaks up against it and against their perpetrators; he would actually be lauded and praised for his open-minded attitude and willingness to side with the victims and prevent further victims from being harmed. The Dalai Lama will even speak up against issues that do not concern him, for example the caste system in India or the mistakes that he perceives were made by Nehru. The Tibetan leadership will publish books, videos, pamphlets, hit lists and posters against Dorje Shugden. Yet, the Dalai Lama and CTA will not do anything about a topic that directly concerns them i.e. how the Dalai Lama has endorsed the perpetrators of these sex crimes. So the fact that the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan leadership will not say or do anything against these lamas and their actions is highly suspicious.
5. Why does the Dalai Lama endorse criminals? Sogyal Rinpoche and those of his ilk are not the first offenders whom the Dalai Lama has endorsed. The Dalai Lama met with Japanese cult leader Shoko Asahara before he injured thousands in the Tokyo subway. The Dalai Lama has also accepted US$1mil to grace an event hosted by American cult leader Keith Raniere who was recently indicted on various crimes, including sex trafficking. And when the Dalai Lama was younger and living in Lhasa, he was tutored by the Nazi Heinrich Harrer. Again, this tendency of the Dalai Lama to affirm harmful people seems to be habitual. What is even more disturbing is how the Dalai Lama regards many of these people as his personal friends.

The Dalai Lama with Heinrich Harrer, who was a member of the Nazi Party. The Dalai Lama seems to have made it a habit to associate with unsavory characters.

6. Why does the Dalai Lama act as the spiritual leader of all Tibet only when it is convenient? In reality, the Dalai Lama is not the spiritual leader of any of the four main schools of Tibetan Buddhism, even the Gelug school to which he belongs which is led by the Gaden Tripa. However, the Tibetan leadership have used people’s ignorance of this fact to promote the Dalai Lama as the spiritual leader of all Tibet. And when he is interested in something, the Dalai Lama will take advantage of this ignorance to get involved. For example, he used this ‘position’ when he interfered in the recognition of the Karmapas, although the Dalai Lamas have never been involved in the process. His endorsement of one candidate over another led to a division in the Karma Kagyu school. The Dalai Lama fell back on this ‘position’ once again when he banned the practice of Dorje Shugden, although he had no spiritual right to overrule the practice of thousands of people who been received it from their personal teachers. However, when the issue becomes too difficult or inconvenient, the Dalai Lama and Tibetan leadership will refuse to take responsibility and pretend that there is nothing they can do. In the case of the Karma Kagyu division, when confronted with the results of his actions, the Dalai Lama said he would not do anything about it. Similarly, in the case of the Dorje Shugden ban, the Dalai Lama will not lift the ban even though it has divided the Tibetan community. Now, the Western world is seeing that the Dalai Lama will not take responsibility for the actions of people he has endorsed even when it concerns sexual abuse.
7. Why does the Tibetan leadership attack those who hurt no one with their choices, but endorse people who actively go out of their way to manipulate, exploit and abuse the vulnerable? The CTA will publicize hit lists of Dorje Shugden practitioners who protest against the ban, but they will not do anything against these sex offenders although they clearly have the means and platform to do so. If they took just a portion of their budget allocated to attack Dorje Shugden practitioners, and redirected it towards educating these lamas on the evils of sex abuse, it would have saved so many people the heartache and devastation of becoming victims of these sex crimes. Is it not better to have a list of known sex offenders to warn would-be victims than a list of Tibetans who are criminalized just because they protest the Dalai Lama and the CTA’s autocratic ways?

Self-styled Tibetan Buddhism “expert” Robert Thurman (right) with Sogyal Rinpoche. While Robert Thurman’s daughter, Uma, has accused others of assaulting her, here her father is seen with the sex abuser Sogyal Rinpoche. Where is Thurman’s compassion and empathy for the experiences his daughter and others like her have suffered?

8. Why does the Tibetan leadership have a warped view of what constitutes a crime? On the one hand, they say that Dorje Shugden practitioners are “criminals in history”. This is because they dare to defy the Dalai Lama’s ban of the practice and hence, only because they refuse to listen to the Dalai Lama, they become criminals. On the other hand, when people commit actual crimes by sexually abusing their students, those people are not accused of being criminals. No resolutions are passed in the Tibetan parliament condemning their crimes. No books are published warning people against them. For the Tibetan leadership’s information, in the real world, in the democratic world, in the world outside the Tibetan community, a crime is anything that actually hurts other people. This includes murder, theft, embezzlement and money laundering (incidentally, all things that Dalai Lama associates have been accused of). It does not include “not listening to the Dalai Lama”. So what crime do Dorje Shugden practitioners commit when they keep their personal practice and refuse to abide by the Dalai Lama’s diktats to give up the practice? Does the Tibetan leadership actually understand what a crime is?
9. Why does the Tibetan leadership want to damage the reputation of Tibet? Whatever the CTA wants to insist about how much they have done towards the Tibetan cause, the reality is that no one has done as much as His Holiness the Dalai Lama. The reality is that the entire welfare of the Tibetan cause rests on the Dalai Lama’s name and reputation. With each successive gaffe by the Dalai Lama, the damage to the Dalai Lama’s reputation only makes it harder for the CTA to raise funds and raise awareness. So perhaps the CTA does not really care about Tibet after all? It is clear they will do nothing to protect the future of the Tibetan cause by protecting the reputation of the man upon whom all of it rests. In the same vein, the CTA portray themselves to be defenders of the Buddha’s teachings but in fact their complicity in these crimes harm the Buddhadharma.
10. Do the Tibetan leadership truly love the Dalai Lama? Thanks to the CTA’s ineptitude, refusal to deal with the sexual abuse and hiding behind the Dalai Lama’s name, they have left their leader exposed, opening him up to the world for questioning. Now that people know the Dalai Lama endorses sex abusers, it puts him at risk of being accused of every tragedy being used to his advantage. It leads people to wonder if the Dalai Lama’s silence over self-immolations is his complicit approval for the suicides and deaths of his people. It leads people to wonder if his silence over the schisms in the Karma Kagyu is his approval for the division of the school.

Tulku Lobsang, who is accused of sexual abuse, seen here with the Dalai Lama. Tulku Lobsang’s name was included in the complaint that four people presented to the Dalai Lama in the Netherlands, alleging that a group of Tibetan lamas had been sexually abusing their students. Tulku Lobsang would not be included if the accusers did not have proof of his crimes.

 

What can the Dalai Lama do?

It is interesting that the Dalai Lama will meet the victims. It is good that he has ‘denounced’ the abusers. But the question on everyone’s lips is, what will the Dalai Lama himself do about all of this? Because a simple denouncement in such a serious matter does not rectify the situation.

If the Dalai Lama does nothing, then while it might sound good when he asks victims to report their abusers to the authorities, it is actually nothing more than his refusal to get involved. He brushes the responsibility back on traumatized victims to do something; the responsibility is on them to get justice and he himself will do nothing more. No wonder the victims left the audience with mixed reactions, when the Dalai Lama is staunchly refusing to do anything more about these crimes. It is very similar to the Pope in the Catholic Church and his treatment of the abusers, whereby he is forced by public pressure to do something, and not because he personally appears to find something wrong with or disturbing about their actions.

The Dalai Lama is not exactly a shy and retiring wallflower. He has in the past strongly condemned Dorje Shugden practitioners and initiated many campaigns against them. Therefore, relating to the sex offenders he can, as he has done to Dorje Shugden practitioners:

1. Repeatedly and strongly denounce Sogyal Rinpoche, Sakyong Mipham, Gangten Tulku, Lama Norlha, Lama Yeshe Nyingpo, Lama Choedak Rinpoche, Tenzin Dhonden, Rigdzin Namkha Rinpoche, Tulku Lobsang and Lama Ogyen Kunzang Dorje in his teachings and gatherings.
2. Segregate these sex abusers from the Tibetan monasteries, schools, hospitals, restaurants and shops.
3. Call for their books to be removed from bookstores.
4. Force their location to be reported at all times, so potential victims can be aware and protect themselves. In the West for example, sex offenders are required to report to their local authorities and have to wear an ankle monitor.
5. Have a section on his website condemning these sex offenders. He has this section against Dorje Shugden practitioners on both his official website and the CTA’s website.
6. Call for people to stop going to them to receive teachings. Given their crimes, why should people go to them to receive teachings on compassion, renunciation and cutting attachments?
7. Call for the monasteries to expel them. Why should the other practitioners who have not broken their vows be exposed to or be associated with such behavior?
8. Warn Tibetans, in the Tibetan language, against associating with them.
9. Demand that they offer restitution to their victims. After all, these abusers broke the faith and trust of their victims who were genuine and sincere in their practice. What could be more destructive to Buddhism than destroying people’s faith in it?
10. Use the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile to enact laws amongst the exiles that provide stringent measures to punish this behavior or prevent future abuses.

The 41st Sakya Trizin with Sogyal Rinpoche. Why do lamas continue to associate with sex offenders like Sogyal and continue to be friends, because this behavior endorses their actions to the public and their students?

Thus the question these victims of sexual abuse should really be asking is why the Dalai Lama does not do any of the above for Sogyal Rinpoche, Sakyong Mipham, Gangten Tulku, Lama Norlha, Lama Yeshe Nyingpo, Lama Choedak Rinpoche, Tenzin Dhonden, Rigdzin Namkha Rinpoche, Lama Ogyen Kunzang Dorje and Tulku Lobsang who have harmed them? And the question everyone should be asking is why he feels so comfortable denouncing Dorje Shugden lamas, but he will not repeatedly denounce these abusive lamas who are dangerous? Being so harmful to Buddhism, and so damaging to people’s faith, they warrant much stronger denouncements from the Dalai Lama so he can warn the vulnerable. The Dalai Lama’s public denouncement of these offensive and abusive lamas is nowhere near loud enough, strong enough or thorough enough. He can, and should, be stronger and more vocal in denouncing and segregating them from Tibetan communities worldwide, so they have nowhere to hide and have to face up to their crimes. After all, he does this to Shugden people and surely these abusive lamas are much more dangerous and destructive to Buddhism than Dorje Shugden practitioners?

Or perhaps the Dalai Lama is just a closet sexist. In the last few months, he has made comments about how he should be reborn as an attractive woman, otherwise it is useless (i.e. it is useless to be female unless you are attractive). It is precisely this chauvinistic approach that allows for others to follow suit. Combined with his silence, this approach enables his abusers and protects them because everyone assumes they are the Dalai Lama’s friends, and therefore beyond reproach. Therefore unless the Dalai Lama does something stronger, people will not dare to sanction those he has endorsed, in the same way it took decades for Hollywood to act against the powerful Harvey Weinstein despite widespread knowledge of his crimes. It was the industry’s silence that allowed Weinstein to continue abusing young actresses.

Another photo of Robert Thurman and Sogyal Rinpoche getting quite chummy. It appears they have a close relationship. Why does Robert Thurman and others like him endorse the criminal actions of people like Sogyal by associating with them?

 

Is the Dalai Lama’s charm wearing off?

So now the world knows that the Dalai Lama is not interested in protecting sex abusers, how does the CTA want to explain it away this time? When they failed to regain Tibet, they blamed people’s worship of Dorje Shugden, saying that it upset Palden Lhamo and harmed the life of the Dalai Lama. Which god will they blame this time, for this sexual abuse scourge that has taken over the Tibetan community?

As a spiritual leader in his community, the Dalai Lama is failing people who look to him for spiritual guidance. How will the victims feel now they have approached Tibetan Buddhism’s supposed highest authority, and not received the support they had been seeking? How many will be disheartened and potentially give up their practice, or give up their faith in the lamas? In refusing to sanction these abusers, the Dalai Lama is damaging Tibetan Buddhism by allowing them to continue operating despite the fact they have been found to be guilty.

And as a secular leader in his community, the Dalai Lama is failing his people because he refuses to sanction someone for committing a secular crime. Even political leaders will rebuke and refuse to associate with people who have committed crime. How many more people will be at risk of abuse, because these abusers are allowed to get away scot-free?

Whether secular or spiritual, the bottom line is that when given a choice of behaving as politician or spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama consistently opts to be political, encouraged by a Tibetan leadership that acts only when it benefits them. So can the Tibetan leadership really be that inept? Perhaps the Dalai Lama is not at fault for any of this. Perhaps it is the Tibetan leadership’s repeated failure in their duty of care, to check out and thoroughly vet these people before they push the Dalai Lama to associate with them. Is it that the Tibetan leadership are so blinded by the riches and bank accounts of these people, that they become blind to their faults and actions too?

Either way, someone has to be held responsible, whether it is the Tibetan leadership or the Dalai Lama himself. Hundreds of victims of sexual abuse are counting on it.

Buddhism, The Unspeakable Truth - Abuses in Tibetan Buddhism

 https://m.youtube.com/watch?fbclid=IwAR2nmUG58X-687yIF9A7jzNnX9AJII1b5apRGDI_inAp0VBJfeKN3CXMifM&v=Sg-5CDOcsTM&feature=youtu.be

“And if you need the time stamps for the DL parts of this video, I found them earlier to share with a friend and also wrote some quick summary notes:

12:43 = DL visited Spatz (one of the abusive "teachers" whose actions this video is addressing)

13:18 ~ 19:28 = The DL meets with western teachers in an event organized talk about abuse. (1993) He listens and promises to help do something about these abuses but then removes his name from a letter that everyone had written to address the issues at: 19:19.

56:53 ~ 1:00:10 ~ it's revealed that the 1993 meeting included abuses by Sogyal (another "teacher" who this documentary focuses on). But after criticizing these teachers, including Sogyal, in the meeting, the DL appeared with them publicly. 

1:16:15 = in this time stamp, you have a student of Sogyal's talking about the difficulties coming to terms with the reality of the abuses he committed (cognitive dissonance?). And then in 2017, under pressure, the DL finally acknowledged Sogyal's abuses publicly - 1:17:11 (a few days after this, Sogyal retired). But this was only after everything came out publicly, so the DL had no choice. 

1:18:01 : 2018 = a group of survivors approach the DL about abuses and ask him for his help. He basically tells them it's not his responsibility and to deal with it themselves by publicly shaming the abusers (as happened with Sogyal).

1:27:00 = The DL did not respond to the documentary's request for comments.

Also, I found the interview with Namkha at 1:22:10 interesting (but also disturbing - he blames his victims. *It's their fault: they are getting revenge on him for not reciprocating their feelings*). It's relevant to the discussion on culture and what is and what is not acceptable. Because Namkha faced repercussions (but only in the form of a slap on the wrist - the DL renounced him with words but not with any practical action), he thinks about - or hopefully chose to - alter his behavior. But did he alter it or just hide it more?”

“

Dagri Rinpoche serial molester and other abusers in FPMT

 https://www.dagririnpoche.com/allegations-regarding-other-fpmt-teachers/?fbclid=IwAR35So-eAUQKTq8lGlz5O88OueQgSnL40R4oFLodk8Iwm-zQTwL5l1Snafs

Allegations regarding other FPMT teachers

Charles Trebaol

From tibetsun.com

Venerable Charles Trebaol, also known as Thubten Kunga, is a teacher with FPMT France and affiliated with the Vajra Yogini Institute based in Marzens, France. In this comment shared in the Tibet Sun, T-moté says that he knows a girl who was sexually abused by Charles Trebaol. FPMT are fond of heaping praises on him but it seems he is not as clean and pure as they portray him to be. T-moté also says that Yangsi Rinpoche, another FPMT teacher based in France is also known for sexually abusing students.

Charles Trebaol

Yangsi Rinpoche

From tibetsun.com

Kyagzar from France corroborates T-moté’s statement on the Tibet Sun. According to Kyagzar, Yangsi Rinpoche is not actually a monk but wears robes or robe-like clothes to deceive the unsuspecting public, and is also currently committing adultery. He said that FPMT has a reputation for supporting molesters and fake monks. Given the experiences of Dagri Rinpoche’s victims, this is not unsurprising.

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It’s not only Dagri Rinpoche, Geshe Thubten Chonyi and Yangsi Rinpoche who have been abusing their female students, but now allegations are being made about Lama Osel too. Lama Osel is the reincarnation of Lama Yeshe, the founder of FPMT. 

Lama Osel

Dzogchen Khenpo Choga Rinpoche Rape Case

 “ The lawsuit said he had also told her to suck his tongue before groping and penetrating her, claiming that it was all part of “tantric empowerment” and his Buddhist teachings”

https://lookaside.fbsbx.com/file/Hines%20-%20Guru%20Accused%20of%20%27Mystical%27%20Baby%20Plot%20in%20U.S.%20Rape%20Case%20%28The%20Daily%20Beast%2012-04-2023%29.pdf?token=AWwQLmxjdZFXW_AZ8EjKY43_WDTS_Nqm78Wn28BDEFspMp7Khuj-EPs1SbapkFTzMaJy9kR3g8ki96cprTVR5JvLCW88sO5EyYiStYKCUlZTqFrTInro93hDxJZtbTA63WOLGUjQ1_g_eNcOOeALhOn7MKo5MeLL7OObrOTzEIOLTvarBuUWAP2-Mzme0vYEJbUXmPxp9KDumxVgdWG1NMnunqqteAr_OnK1xDJcbY9V3xRW4u7cLsKm2q7Akm5tFtzkacFWrJuXFHa15oNI03NX6e7UF-gqP33cDAvzDDC8RERYdw0A7H9RhEvLoVC8DFCDCtNb-pZ5ITpbzOCgsSJL6sYcLZ8lGHMSU8Up0Goq4932Vdl6rrPQXwfDdSN36USoaO5JT9-7mCRsESO2LkR4BHFavN4fSsvEN4ErX7gTgjNFE64iRWI6f4vLcL8TUvbDXwcceoC_xQARcZepP7qHmS089rKuNjJDZxROQDHQTvSAu2b0Exs0UdWys44btYRStOkWJx1ZdoQhNWXOE5KI4MvbVyinuIX9OgIneuFkRQ

Oregon Student Accuses Tibetan Buddhist Guru, Dzogchen Khenpo Choga Rinpoche, of Rape 12-04-2023 20:44

Guru Accused of ‘Mystical’ Baby Plot in U.S. Rape Case

Photo Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/The Daily Beast/Handout

A young Buddhism student was raped and impregnated by her spiritual leader, who told her she should keep the baby because she would be giving birth to an enlightened guru like him, according to a lawsuit filed in Oregon.

Rachel Montgomery was a teenager when she began attending a Buddhist center in Eugene, Oregon. After a traumatic childhood, she initially found comfort and guidance at the Dzogchen Retreat Center led by a Tibetan Buddhist guru known as Choga, she told The Daily Beast in an interview.

A lawsuit filed in the Circuit Court of the State of Oregon in December accuses Dzogchen Khenpo Choga Rinpoche, a Tibetan who has also gone by the name Choying Rabjam, of sexual battery and sex trafficking. It alleges that he struck up an especially close relationship with Montgomery

 https://www.thedailybeast.com/oregon-student-accuses-tibetan-buddhist-guru-dzogchen-khenpo-choga-rinpoche-of-rape Pagina 1 van 13

Oregon Student Accuses Tibetan Buddhist Guru, Dzogchen Khenpo Choga Rinpoche, of Rape 12-04-2023 20:44

before twisting the Buddhist traditions of karma and tantra to abuse a student 27 years his junior.

The lawsuit claims that Choga, now 58, who traces his Buddhist heritage back through 33 generations, abused the teacher-student relationship through a series of uninvited sexual interactionsapproaches that culminated in Montgomery being raped inside a Buddhist temple.

It is alleged that Choga pressured Montgomery to get drunk before raping her in the same temple where he had previously made sexual contact with the 21-year-old student. The lawsuit said he had also told her to suck his tongue before groping and penetrating her, claiming that it was all part of “tantric empowerment” and his Buddhist teachings.

Choga and lawyers representing the Dzogchen Shri Singha Foundation did not respond to requests for comment by time of publication. Emails sent to the Buddhist center also went unanswered.

“I feel like Buddhism was weaponized to take advantage of me,” Montgomery told The Daily Beast. “I don’t want to say that it gets weaponized for everyone. But for me, it was weaponized.”

The lawsuit says Montgomery was barely conscious at the time of the rape but has recollections of the heavy weight of her teacher’s body on top of her and his long hair sweeping across her face.

It is alleged that Montgomery tried to put the incident out of her mind until she discovered that she was pregnant the following month. “Troubled, she reached out to Choga, who confirmed that he had penetrated her in the temple that night. Once again, Choga convinced [Montgomery] that though the interaction was similar to what the Western world perceived as “sex,” it was actually a blessed act intended for her spiritual benefit,” the lawsuit alleges.

 https://www.thedailybeast.com/oregon-student-accuses-tibetan-buddhist-guru-dzogchen-khenpo-choga-rinpoche-of-rape Pagina 2 van 13

Oregon Student Accuses Tibetan Buddhist Guru, Dzogchen Khenpo Choga Rinpoche, of Rape 12-04-2023 20:44

Montgomery said Choga told her that the child would be an “enlightened being,” which she understood to mean that the baby would be declared a tulku. That designation means the child would be considered the reincarnation of a Buddha, a powerful figure within the Buddhist community and an heir to Choga’s lineage, which can be traced back to 626 BC.

The lawsuit alleges that Choga eventually agreed to pay for an abortion.

Montgomery, now 30, lives with her husband and her cat, Mr. Hitchens, on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State where she works with a community-based program to prevent young people using drugs and alcohol. She told The Daily Beast that she has chosen to come forward publicly because she wants to warn others about how she was treated.

“I became pretty distressed that if someone was in the same position as I was in; they were looking for experiences, and they were young, curious, semi-naive people. That if they tried to Google the community that I was abused in, they wouldn’t find anything. So, it would be really hard for them to discern what potential harms could happen to them.

“My experience should be accessible to people that it would protect.”

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Oregon Student Accuses Tibetan Buddhist Guru, Dzogchen Khenpo Choga Rinpoche, of Rape 12-04-2023 20:44

Rachel Montgomery said she decided to come forward to raise awareness of her experience.

Photo Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/The Daily Beast/Handout

The ‘Crazy Wisdom’ of Tibetan Buddhism

Montgomery was 19 when she first saw the beautiful, peaceful campus of the Dzogchen Retreat Center in Oregon in the summer of 2011. It was home to a welcoming, vibrant international community that appeared to offer salvation for a young woman who had a difficult start in life. The lawsuit says Montgomery fell into substance misuse from the age of 13 after her father died and her mother struggled with alcohol and drug abuse. She had stopped using drugs after rehab, but was still searching for a sense of purpose by the time she found Buddhism.

“I had pigtails, no sense of fashion. I mean, I look back and I’m like, ‘Wow. I was a baby.’ I hadn’t even had a smartphone yet. I was just fresh in the world. I had very little knowledge and know-how in general,” she told The Daily Beast.

Immediately, the lawsuit says, Choga singled Montgomery out for special

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attention. At the end of the summer, he allegedly offered her a role as a nanny for one of the families who lived at the retreat.

“My whole body was shaking. I just couldn't stop shaking.”

— Rachel Montgomery

Montgomery said Choga was a “super mystical” presence on the campus, treated with reverence by everyone else there.

“He asked me to go on a walk to talk about my opportunity to contribute to their community. And that was unique for someone to have that one- on-one time,” Montgomery said. She told The Daily Beast that Choga would tell her that he had known her in a previous life.

Tibetan Buddhism encourages a unique and powerful system of loyalty to the spiritual leader, who is integral to the teaching. Complete obedience to your master is believed to be an essential prerequisite to deepening your understanding of the practice and avoiding bad karma. Tibetan Buddhism even suggests there is a special hell for people who think ill of their teachers.

The lawsuit says Choga would be extremely demanding of his students, complaining if he didn’t like their hair, their clothes or even their weight— and demanding they change them.

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Oregon Student Accuses Tibetan Buddhist Guru, Dzogchen Khenpo Choga Rinpoche, of Rape 12-04-2023 20:44

Rachel Montgomery first came to the Dzogchen Retreat Center in Oregon when she was 19 years old.

Photo Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/The Daily Beast/Handout

At its most extreme, the theory of “crazy wisdom” posits that a Buddhist leader’s actions are a special form of teaching—even if they seem outrageous or scandalous.

By the Fall of 2013, Montgomery said she was deeply entwined in her Buddhist learning. The lawsuit says she had been given a permanent— though unpaid—role at the center, which meant she was living there full time as the property manager. That, in practice, allegedly made her a personal assistant to Choga.

The lawsuit alleges that Choga’s behavior towards Montgomery began to change once she had committed herself emotionally and financially to the center full-time, rather than pursuing other career opportunities. “Choga monitored [Montgomery’s] day-to-day activities and controlled her lifestyle, making remarks that vacillated dizzyingly between kindness and cruelty,” the lawsuit reads.

The lawsuit says he clamped down on a romance between Montgomery

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and another Dzogchen devotee named only as John Doe. “Choga took an obvious dislike to Doe since Plaintiff began her relationship with him, and often acted in a harsh and abusive manner towards him. At one point, Choga commanded Doe to sign an agreement to leave the United States in Doe’s own blood,” the lawsuit says.

The Shadow of Tantra

At the end of 2013, the lawsuit alleges that Choga set up a series of private one-to-one tutoring sessions with Montgomery that would take her learning to a new level. These deep, guided meditations allegedly that took place inside the center’s temple would include “tantric empowerments” to help her climb the spiritual ladder.

In practice, it is alleged, these “empowerments” included increasingly outrageous sexual activities. First, the lawsuit says she was told to sit in Choga’s lap, straddling him face-to-face, and then instructed to suck his tongue “like a lollipop,”—much like the Dalai Lama asked a schoolboy to do in a video that emerged this week.

The lawsuit says that subsequent practices included Montgomery being penetrated, first by Choga’s fingers. The lawsuit claims he told her it was the art of “priming her lotus.” On another occasion, it is alleged, he penetrated her with his erect penis during a meditation while telling her to remain still and keep her eyes closed while he channeled his spiritual energy into her.

Montgomery told The Daily Beast she believed this was all a normal part of her learning at the time, even if there were signs that, subconsciously, she knew something was wrong.

“In Tibetan Buddhism—anyway Dzogchen Buddhism—sex is a part of the practice. It’s talked about as a common part of the practice. So that wasn’t so out of the norm. I didn’t mentally think anything negative per se.

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At the time, I started getting some really painful rashes all over my body. I started not being able to eat. I started compulsively running. I injured myself running. I was really anxious and jumpy. And I was feeling depressive thoughts,” she said.

The lawsuit says she was experiencing extreme anxiety, nightmares, panic attacks, stress, claustrophobia, and painful rashes.

On Dec. 12, 2013, there was a party at the Dzogchen Retreat Center. The lawsuit claims Choga pressured Montgomery to give up non-alcoholic cider for the night and drink wine from a glass that he repeatedly filled until she had drunk the whole bottle. She was severely incapacitated at this point as she rarely drank, the lawsuit says. “He told her that drinking alcohol would help her achieve spiritual connectedness,” the lawsuit alleges, despite Choga’s history of supporting Montgomery through her past substance abuse issues.

It is alleged that Choga took a barely-conscious Montgomery into the temple where their previous tantric practices had been held, and raped her.

Three weeks later, after she had taken a break from the center, the lawsuit says Montgomery discovered she was pregnant.

She decided she had no choice but to terminate the pregnancy.

“I never could have seen myself having an abortion,” she told The Daily Beast. “But the panic I felt was so uncontrollable. And so, in my body, it was inescapable. It was either hurt myself, or end the pregnancy. I didn't see a way I was going to be able to mentally survive the pregnancy.”

“Despite being born to a white, blond haired, and blue-eyed couple, [one baby girl] had distinctly East

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Asian features.” — Lawsuit

She said she got in the car and returned to Eugene, Oregon to speak to Choga.

“My whole body was shaking. I just couldn't stop shaking the whole drive from Washington down to Oregon,” she said. “I would say it was confrontation-lite. I had never confronted him before. It was more like an urgent pleading.”

The lawsuit alleges Choga responded by telling her that she should have been delighted by the pregnancy, and told Montgomery that the child could be an “enlightened being.” If the baby was given tulku status—which suggests it is a Buddha reincarnated—that would set it up within the Buddhist tradition as a future leader, who could inherit Choga’s global empire. The Dzogchen foundation he leads has other retreats in Europe and Asia, and is currently fundraising $1.6 million for a new center in the U.S.

“Choga thereby elevated his rape of [Montgomery] into a blessing for the entire lineage, a matter of fate,” the lawsuit claims.

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Spiritual leader Dzogchen Khenpo Choga Rinpoche is accused of sexually assaulting Rachel Montgomery.

Photo Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/The Daily Beast/Handout

It is alleged that Choga reluctantly agreed to pay for an abortion on the condition that Montgomery didn’t tell anyone about it, and that she consented to having a child with him in the future.

The prospect of giving birth to an enlightened guru had a profound effect on Montgomery, who still had total faith in Buddhism. “Enlightened children at the time were described to me as children that are like born under auspicious circumstances—like magical, mystical circumstances,” she told The Daily Beast. “After the abortion, I was Googling, what happens if you abort an enlightened child?... He made it clear, I would have this negative karma as a result of what I was doing. It was a very strong concern. It was an anxiety I had at the time.”

Is This a Cover Up?

At the time, Montgomery continued to trust in her Buddhist community despite her experience, but she was very confused.

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Oregon Student Accuses Tibetan Buddhist Guru, Dzogchen Khenpo Choga Rinpoche, of Rape 12-04-2023 20:44

In September 2014, the lawsuit says she sought reassurance from other senior figures at the Dzogchen Shri Singha Foundation that her sexual experience with Choga was a legitimate element of tantric empowerment. According to the lawsuit, the board wrote to her to explain that so much time had passed since the incident that there was nothing they could do, adding that in any case they did “not have any official powers of oversight in regard to Choga’s personal life.”

Carol Merchasin, an experienced lawyer and investigator acting for Montgomery, said the board should have taken immediate action once this kind of allegation came to their attention. “Under the laws of the United States and most countries, boards of these kinds of organizations have a fiduciary duty and they have a legal duty that they did not follow,” she said.

The Dzogchen Shri Singha Foundation and six individuals are accused of negligence and vicarious liability for sexual battery and sex trafficking in the lawsuit.

The author of Sex and Violence in Tibetan Buddhism, Mary Finnigan, previously told The Daily Beast that the community often brushed these kinds of allegations under the carpet. “They still have their red-robe mafia code of omerta,” she said.

The lawsuit contends that the birth of another child had sparked rumors at the retreat center in Oregon which were quickly hushed up. “Despite being born to a white, blond haired, and blue-eyed couple, [one baby girl] had distinctly East Asian features,” the lawsuit claims.

“The conditions for abuse are created by the sort of relations that people are encouraged to have with their spiritual teacher.”

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— Tibetan insider

Montgomery said she felt ostracized from the community after writing to the board, and decided to join the Peace Corps in Ethiopia. Years later, when she returned to the U.S., she allegedly heard stories from old friends of other former Buddhism students who had suffered similar alleged experiences in other communities. She said it was the thought that her experience was not a one-off that made her act.

“She realized not only that what had happened to her was in fact rape, but also that Defendants had sufficient knowledge to warn her about the risks of guru sexual abuse, educate her about the risks of guru sexual abuse, and even, potentially, to have prevented her sexual assault,” the lawsuit alleges.

Merchasin, who specializes in cases with allegations of sexual misconduct in religious and spiritual communities, said Montgomery’s experience is far from unique within Buddhism.

“It took Rachel years to actually understand what had happened, because it had been this indoctrination that this was a spiritual experience. In our experience in the law firm and working with clients and survivors, it’s unbelievably common,” she told The Daily Beast. “If what had happened to Rachel had happened in a dark alley, with a stranger, you would have known what it was. But because of the belief system, and because it was the teacher, and because of the reverence, and because of the negative karma, and all of this weaponization it’s hard to see it at first.”

An insider who has lived in the Tibetan communities for decades—who asked to remain anonymous in order to speak freely—said this week’s video of the Dalai Lama instructing a young boy to suck his tongue was a good example of the power imbalances and structures within Buddhism that can lead to abuse.

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“To me that video was an exact display of how victims end up doing a lot of bizarre things because they are being told with a lot of authority, ‘Here, you do this.’ There’s no questions being asked,” they said. “The conditions for abuse are created by the sort of relations that people are encouraged to have with their spiritual teacher. If you’re practicing Tibetan Buddhism you are supposed to see your teacher as the Buddha, as perfect. If your teacher does something that looks wrong you scramble to re-interpret it.”

There is also an issue of accountability within the Buddhist community, which has no clear single power structure.

“The tulkus are told since they are children that they are buddhas; that they know more than anyone else; they can't do anything wrong,” the insider added. “There is a fundamental lack of understanding of human rights and what is appropriate, what is harmful.”

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