https://dakinitranslations.com/2024/10/15/the-investigation-of-kagyu-samye-dzong-ireland-abuse-allegations/?fbclid=IwY2xjawH1F9lleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHVxowIcwHcstUTpWLd8L34kiUM8Aof2rMo0u4tSNzmaqMj-K04sYlakXUA_aem_h1g3dD8fBclQuKQKwEW1Uw
The ‘completed’ investigation of Kagyu Samye Dzong Ireland abuse allegations
“Incidentally it is only when the apparent absurdity of life is faced in all truth that faith really becomes possible. Otherwise, faith tends to be a kind of diversion, a spiritual amusement, in which one gathers up accepted, conventional formulas and arranges them in the approved mental patterns, without bothering to investigate their meaning, or asking if they have any practical consequences in one’s life.”- Thomas Merton, ‘Notes for a Philosophy of Solitude’ Disputed Questions. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1976
Yesterday, a group called Project Sangha, who created a Change.org petition last year (June 2023) seeking support for their demand for an independent investigation of various allegations of abuse of female community members in Kagyu Samye Dzong Ireland, posted the above quote by Thomas Merton, and an update stating that the ‘investigation has been completed’ but their preferred independent investigator/mediator, An Olive Branch (AOB) (https://www.an-olive-branch.org/) , had not been authorized to lead it (no reasons are given):
“In relation to the investigation, we confirm that progress has been made. It is beyond the scope of this post, and our own capacity, to chart the events leading up to this point. However, for the sake of clarity, and with gratitude for your support, we felt it necessary to update you that the investigation has been completed following a difficult process that has been ongoing since November 2023.
An Olive Branch (AOB) was not, in the end, authorised to lead the investigation, but we cannot speak highly enough of the professionalism and kindness shown by AOB up to and after their point of departure.
It is our hope that the above will support the centre becoming a place where authentic dharma is studied, contemplated, and practised, while being grounded in the conventions and legal requirements of contemporary Ireland. We are happy to announce that our request for resident sangha at the centre has been fulfilled, and we wholeheartedly welcome that change.”
Their original petition states that they are a “core group of survivors, practitioners, and allies associated with Kagyu Samye Dzong Dublin, Ireland (KSDD).” The group Project Sangha is anonymous and so there is no way of finding out who is involved and what happened, and also any reliability of their testimonies etc. However, the allegations have come from real people (not online pseudonyms) it seems.
Kagyu Samye Dzong in Dublin was founded in 1977, and is stated to be the oldest Buddhist centre in Ireland. It is part of the network of Dharma centres created by the founder of Kagyu Samye Ling in Scotland, Akong Rinpoche who was tragically and brutally murdered in Chengdu, China (along with his nephew and driver) in 2013. The alleged perpetrators were convicted by a Chinese court and sentenced to the death penalty. One of the men, Tudeng Gusang is said to have worked at Samye Ling, Scotland for five years making statues and believed he was owed money.
It is not clear what the abuse allegations at Kagyu Samye Dzong Ireland are but it is nonetheless, another case against a Karma Kagyu centre outside of Tibet and India. It is not clear who, if anyone, is the resident lama there either and is not stated on their website. However, photos show that Drupon Khen Rinpoche, Ringu Tulku, Clive Homes, Lama Katen and others have all taught there.
Kagyu Samye Ling/Holy Isle court case and the importance of independent investigation
I was reliably informed a couple of years ago by someone from Kagyu Samye Ling in Scotland, that a court case had been launched against several lamas (including Drupon Khen Rinpoche, Karma Lhabu) at Kagyu Samye Ling in Scotland (and the administrators for enabling) abuse of several female retreatants on the Holy Isle three year retreat centre. Allegations included bullying and silencing, but also using tantric techniques to invade and force ‘unions’/consorts into subtle body unions that the women state they did not properly consent to and felt invaded and harmed by.
As I stated in my recent update regarding the court case against Lama Gyaltsen and his supporters at a Karma Kagyu centre in Maui, Hawaii, a woman sent me several emails defending him stating that his actions (and thus his removal by community members) could only be done by Karma Kagyu teachers themselves. However, this surely cannot be the case? How could Karma Kagyu Buddhist teachers have the necessary time, resources, objectivity, expertise and independence to investigate whether or not a Buddhist teacher’s conduct (with whom they have little personal contact or knowledge) is ethical, compassionate and in accordance with the Buddha Dharma as well as the general rules and cultural norms of the country the teacher is living and teaching in? No-one is above the law, and the highest law of all is karma.
So sad to see the Karma Kagyu centres are continually dogged by such abuse allegations. As a survivor myself, yet to have my allegations objectively investigated or resolved etc., one can only help this ‘clean-up’ will clear the air and help people reconcile, forgive, move on and upwards within the Karma Kagyu community. That is certainly my wish and why I write about such cases. Let us hope that those who feel harmed gain some resolution, healing and manage to forgive those whom they think harmed them, without inflicting further harm or revenge. In addition, may any Buddhist teachers who have misused the Buddha Dharma or their name and position, to unethically abuse or exploit women, children and misuse religious devotee donations for worldly reasons, be swiftly stopped out of compassion and brought onto the virtuous and true path.
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