Research on abuse in Buddhist communities

In August 2018, a three-year research project started at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich under the leadership of Dr. Miriam Anders, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).

The objective of the project is preservation of the knowledge conveyed in Tibetan medicine as well as its foundations within Buddhist philosophy. It covers three areas:

1. translations of interviews with physicians of Tibetan medicine
2. health and resources of seminar participants in Buddhist centers
3. knowledge transfer, education and training

Within the framework of this research project, health and mental health of Buddhist seminar and meditation group participants will be investigated. Furthermore, interviews will be conducted with people affected of manipulation, exploitation or abuse in that context. Details are available at https://www.en.transtibmed.ethnologie.uni-muenchen.de/index.html.

For links to fill in questionnaires in German or English language, please contact the email address: Miriam.Anders@ethnologie.lmu.de. There will be more questionnaires available for a period of three years. Additionally, interviews will be conducted at different locations (Vienna, Munich, Kathmandu etc.). Any appointments for theses interviews may be arranged with the same email address.

List of Publications by Miriam Anders

• Publications

Updates

• Research Project Investigating Manipulation and Abuse in Buddhism – Beyond the Temple
• Missbrauch in buddhistischen Gemeinschaften: Geblendet vom Glanz der Gurus – Deutschlandfunk Kultur (Interview with Dr Miriam Anders in German)
• Addressing current incidents in buddhist communities and self-responsibility – Miriam Anders
• “Traumatisation by suffering damage within so-called Buddhist groups” – Miriam Anders
• “Psychological impact of power abuse in buddhist groups and essential aspects in psychotherapeutic interventions for the affected individuals” – Miriam Anders (Sigmund Freud Privatuniversität Forschungsbulletin)
• Buddhist scholars receive grant to document sexual abuse in American Buddhism – Lion’s Roar
• Silencing and Oblivion of Psychological Trauma, Its Unconscious Aspects, and Their Impact on the Inflation of Vajrayāna. An Analysis of Cross-Group Dynamics and Recent Developments in Buddhist Groups Based on Qualitative Data – Miriam Anders

Updates Sept-Nov 2020

• Psychological and Societal Implications of Projecting the Shadow on the Feminine in Tibetan Buddhist Contexts By Anne Iris Miriam Anders
• Religion & Sexual Abuse Project
• “Becoming Whole – Healing in the wake of systemic abuse means seeing our teachers—and ourselves—clearly and with compassion.“ – Interview with Werner Vogd by Susanne Billig

RESEARCH Updates (2021)

• Speaking As, With, and For Survivors – Lama Willa Miller, Chozen Bays Roshi, Grace Schireson Roshi, Carol Merchasin and Amy Langenberg (moderator)
• A Demonstration of Contextural Analysis, a Methodology for Reconstructing Polycontextural Configurations, Taking Interviews on Boundary Violations in Teacher-Student Relationships in Tibetan Buddhism as an Example by Werner Vogd & Jonathan Harth
• Buddhist Teachers’ Responses to Sexual Violence: Epistemological Violence in American Buddhism – Ray Buckner
• The Buddha Didn’t Teach Consent – Amy Paris Langenberg (Tricycle)
• Eckerd Professor Studies Sexual Abuse In Buddhist Religion, Publishes Her Findings
• „Wenn Schwäne im Wasserlilienteich schwimmen“ Sexueller Missbrauch im tibetischen Buddhismus – Masterarbeit von Georg Wenisch (2021)