Court case filed to remove a resident ‘celibate monk’ teacher for alleged sexual misconduct and deception at a Kalu Rinpoche centre in Maui, Hawai

1st October 2024Dakini Translations

Today is Dharma Protector day, and on this day, I was saddened and yet sadly not surprised to hear (from a Dharma protecting ‘whistleblower’) of a new court case filed in September 2024 to remove the 56 year-old resident teacher ‘monk’ Lama Gyaltsen Tamang of the Karma Rimey Osel Ling Dharma centre in Maui, Hawai, originally set up by the 1st Kalu Rinpoche. His removal is based on what some members of the community regard as his sexual and deceptive misconduct and the subsequent attempt by Lama Gyaltsen to ‘takeover’ the Dharma centre, and force board members who called him out on his conduct, to resign or be fired. [There is also an update to this article below about the ‘counter-motion’ launched by his defenders/enablers].

Lama Gyaltsen has several allegations against him including sexual misconduct and deception

Even though most people will never have heard of this lama, his bio states that:

“He was very close disciple of Kalu Rinpoche, Lama Gyaltsen was born in 1968 in Sonada, Darjeeling, India. He entered Rinpoche’s monastery at a very early age and received a monastic education. He completed the traditional Kagyu 3-year retreat and is trained in the traditions of the Nyingma and Kagyu lineages.”

The Allegations against Lama Gyaltsen

For those who wish to read the public record provided by the court, see here . Reading it was rather depressing, as most of these cases are. As I spoke about in my own ‘survivor’ case with a much more well-known Rinpoche in the Karma Kagyu tradition here in 2020, the denials, deception and persistent ‘refusals to answer, or even communicate’ when asked to do so were again very prevalent in these allegations.

Lama Gyaltsen Tamang admits in the court papers that [‘Church’ refers to the Dharma Centre]:

“From no later than Spring 2022, Church congregants started learning Tamang engaged in a secret fourteen-year sexual affair with then-president of the Church {Dharma centre] Board, Alida Murray, and other congregants. Tamang’s sexual relations with another Church congregant lasted six years.

Tamang ultimately confessed to his sexual relations with church congregants. Tamang admitted his sexual relations were not within the context of their religion and only about him as a person. Tamang’s deceptive portrayal as a celibate monk misled congregants. When they learned about Tamang’s sexual relations, Tamang’s deception and betrayal hurt Church congregants. Some congregants no longer trust Tamang because of “too many secrets” and inauthentic “heart communication.” Some congregants may not return to the Church as a result.”

It was this last sentence in particular, that really breaks my heart and reminds me of my own experience and that of many other survivors. The betrayal of trust and deception from someone portraying themselves as a ‘celibate Buddhist monk’ (or even just a Dharma teacher) is so huge that people turn away from the Dharma and the seeds of devotion are burnt within them.

The Kalu Rinpoche lineage: a legacy of sexual misconduct allegations?

Several former students of the 1st Kalu Rinpoche have been accused of sexual misconduct previously.

June Campbell in NYC, 2022. Photo from Tricycle Buddhist Review: https://tricycle.org/magazine/the-emperors-tantric-robes/

Sadly, this is also not the first time those associated with Kalu Rinpoche lineage have faced sexual misconduct allegations. First, there was 1st Kalu Rinpoche himself, the most famous testimony being from Dharma translator and scholar, June Campbell in her book Traveller in Space: Gender Identity and Tibetan Buddhism and interviews, in which she described how she was used as a ‘sex slave’ by the elderly teacher, while he portrayed himself as a celibate monk and she was a young nun/translator.

Then there was the court case for ‘decades of sexual misconduct and assault against young women’ by the recently passed away, Lama Norlha, a former student of Kalu Rinpoche and teacher at Kagyu Thubten Choling, USA.

Palpung Thubten Choling Monastery, formerly known as Kagyu Thubten Choling. From timesunion.com. Retreat centres are supposed to be havens of refuge and Dharma for people, but many women, including myself have found themselves targeted by men their for ‘sexual seduction’ and ‘use’

The current, 2nd Kalu Rinpoche does not appear to know about this new court case according to the ‘whistleblower’ source. However, as I wrote about myself in connection with the Niguma Yoga courses I attended by him in Bhutan and India, his own conduct in relation to myself, to women in general, and to his ex-wife and daughters, have left many with serious doubts about his attitude towards women in general. Combined with the fact that for the last decade or so, he is almost completely ignoring his Karma Kagyu lineage masters, who transmitted the entire Shangpa Kayu teaching to him (12th Tai Situpa and 12th Gyaltsab Rinpoche) and only seems to post about and associate with the Gelugpa 14th Dalai Lama, is a sign there may be some serious broken samaya.

A younger Kalu Rinpoche with the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa, Bokar Rinpoche and 4th Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche at the Kagyu Monlam, Bodh Gaya, India.

A teacher’s worst ‘crime’: burning the seeds of ‘devotion’ and wish to ‘awaken’

Seeds if mishandled or damaged become destroyed or cannot grow.

The Buddha taught that one of the WORST things a Dharma teacher could do via selfish and unethical actions was to destroy that person’s budding seed of devotion and wish to attain awakening. Such a wish and interest was so rare in the billions of world realms, particularly this human realm, that for a Dharma teacher to cause a student to abandon the Dharma and lose all faith in it and Dharma teachers was one of the most karmically negative things a person could do. By doing so, they not only deny the person the possibiligy of attaining full awakening but also cause billions of sentient beings a loss by removing that potential awakened one from them too.

May truth and justice reign supreme and may the survivors who speak truth to power against religious/clergy abuse be forever protected and supported by the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas! May the precious seeds of awakening be nurtured, nourished and supported by those with the love, wisdom and compassion to do so.

Written by Adele Tomlin, 1st October 2024.

UPDATE 7th OCTOBER 2024: Since writing this article I have received several emails from one white woman connected to the Dharma centre, and a white man who made comments on the website, defending the Tibetan teacher stating that the court case is not about his sexual activities with the women but about who controls the teacher and the Dharma centre, and that a counter-motion has been filed stating that only Karma Kagyu lineage has a right to say if he can stay or not at the centre. The white woman first asked me to remove the article as being ‘false’ , which it is not, and then wanted me to update it with their counter-motion to the case, see below.

They are counter-suing that only Karma Kagyu lineage teachers can and should remove a teacher accused of misconduct and deception This is frankly strange indeed. No one is above the law, Karma Kagyu or not. In any case, we all know that such lineage teachers a) may not know about the case, b) maybe enablers too and/or c) have no power, expertise etc. to properly and objectively investigate such a case. That would set a very dangerous legal precedent indeed for all Dharma centres if only the lineage teachers themselves can decide on such serious matters. That cannot be right.

Worse, when I did not go along with her line of counter-reasoning, these “well-meaning” white people have the audacity to accuse other white people of ‘supremacy’ (including me) simply for exposing the actions of this teacher and seeking to have him removed. Yet, how patronsing and ‘white supremacist/orientalist’ is it to say that just because the teacher is a Tibetan/person of colour he should not be held accountable in the same way any other person would be? That is white orientalism and ‘enabling’ misconduct.

These white enablers also refuse to answer simple questions about why the teacher behaved that way and also why he refused to communicate with the Board of Directors when they discovered it. Also, where is all the money coming from for these legal actions and counter-suits? Honesty saves everyone time and money.

The root cause of any dispute was caused by the teacher’s actions, not the people who exposed it. No-one is above the law of karma, of Buddhist vows, of codes of conduct between teachers and students in an organisation, and of the laws of the country they reside in. Karma Kagyu lineage teachers (regardless of their ethnicity) do not have the requisite skill, knowledge, time or resources or lack of vested interest to conduct objective investigations of teachers who have been accused of misconduct. That has to be done by an objective organisation or tribunal. Any suggestion otherwise, makes Buddhism and Buddhist communities look like a cult in which teachers are accountable to no-one.