The Buddha taught the “eight worldly conditions” (Lokavipatti Sutta), instructing his disciples among others not to be attached to status and not to have aversion to disgrace. In Tibetan Buddhism we speak of “the eight […]
Controversies: New Kadampa Tradition, Geshe Kelsang Gyatso // Dorje Shugden // Rigpa, Sogyal Rinpoche // Tsem Tulku, Kechara // Ole Nydahl, Diamond Way // Sangharakshita, Triratna // Shambhala, Sakyong :: Tibet & Dalai Lama :: Dharmakaya, Zen & More
Category: Buddhism
A Timely and Important Book “Fallout: Recovering from Abuse in Tibetan Buddhism”
Guest Post By Joanne Clark Fallout: Recovering from Abuse in Tibetan Buddhism, by Tahlia Newland, is the story of Rigpa students coming to terms with disclosures of Sogyal Lakar’s abuses over decades, as revealed in […]
The Faultless Faulty Guru: Teachings from the 14th Dalai Lama
Statements from the 14th Dalai Lama on the Instruction to See All Actions of the Lama as Perfect, from Lamrim and from Tantric Perspectives We are providing these statements from His Holiness below because there […]
Petition To the FPMT Board of Directors by Senior Buddhist Nuns
To the FPMT Board of Directors Dear friends in the Dharma: We are a group of senior nuns who are deeply concerned by the recent allegations of sexual misconduct by Dagri Rinpoche, who has been […]
Will the FPMT Stand by its Code of Ethics?
By Joanne Clark Update: While the investigation continues, Dagri Rinpoche has been temporarily suspended from teaching at FPMT centres. For details see: Update Regarding Dagri Rinpoche. – May 13 + 14, 2019 Updates: Please see the […]
Does the Dharma Have a Role in Recovering From Mental Health Problems? – A Personal Perspective
By Joanne Clark Some years ago, I was having a major anxiety attack during a Dalai Lama teaching, something that often happens to me when in the presence of high lamas. I was sitting in […]
Buddhism Is Not A Cure For Mental Health Problems – Or Is It?
On March 7, 2019, The Atlantic published an article “Why So Many Americans Are Turning to Buddhism” with the subtitle “The ancient Eastern religion is helping Westerners with very modern mental-health problems.” The author, Olga […]
Between Basic Goodness and the Lows of Human Behaviour
There is some research that suggests that children have natural altruistic impulses. A French-German ARTE documentary, “Die Revolution der Selbstlosen” (The Revolution of the Selfness), has documented some of these research results. The ARTE documentary, however, also […]
Jamgon Mipham did not incarnate
By Zuzana Čerňáková Nowadays, if one speaks the truth, there is no one to listen. If one speaks falsely, everyone holds it to be true. Therefore, I have not disclosed this to anyone before: I […]
A multi-volume collection presenting the Dalai Lama’s comprehensive explanation of the Buddhist path
By Joanne Clark Last week, the third volume of a multi-volume series on the entire Buddhist path, co-authored by the Dalai Lama and Thubten Chodron, was released. This series is a compilation of decades of […]
Triratna: Inside the Cuckoo’s Nest
By Alan J.W. I decided on a change of title after the illustration above became available, two weeks after the original was posted. This scanned image shows the first page of the article presented below […]
A paper on Sogyal Rinpoche’s abuse, its effect on students, and the future of Buddhism in the West for the 16th Sakyadhita Conference in 2019
By Joanne Clark In early November, a group of 134 students signed a letter to forty Tibetan Buddhist lamas, asking for their opinions regarding the abusive behaviours recently disclosed by ex-Rigpa students. A month later, […]
Sangharakshita Obituary
By Mark Dunlop There was a short (5min 40s) obituary on Sangharakshita broadcast in the UK on BBC Radio 4. It starts 13:58, ends 19:38: Sangharakshita Born 26 August 1925; died 30 October 2018, aged 93. […]
A Groundbreaking Meeting Begins A New Era for the Karma Kagyu Lineage – The Two Karmapas Meet in France
On October 11, 2018 a statement was released jointly by the two claimants to the title of Karmapa, His Holiness Ogyen Trinley Dorje and His Holiness Trinley Thaye Dorje. The statement reads: We are both […]
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 […]
It’s time to let these activities come to an end…
Dear Friends in the Dharma and dear friends of sentient beings, I will gradually stop my engagement here on the blog and in general regarding the abuse of power, cultish structures, sexualised violence and […]
Why are cults so difficult to oppose?
By Mark Dunlop Overview What is the Brainwashing Hypothesis? How does Brainwashing Work? Misleading stance of Inform organisation and some academics Conclusion Part 1. Overview The aim of this article is to explain how cults […]
Clergy Sexual Abuse & Buddhist Ways of Dealing With Abuse | Triratna’s Whitewashing Terminology
Introduction During a remarkable member congregation of the German Buddhist Union (DBU) in April 2018 at the Europe Centre of the Diamond Way movement in Immenstadt, Germany, representatives of four organisations involved in the misuse […]
Triratna: The Eye of the Storm
By Alan J.W. Last year (2017) many comments were posted online regarding the controversy surrounding former Order member K, understandably not identified by a full name. The first part of this post is a memoir-cum-appraisal: […]
Links Relevant To The Current Crisis In Shambhala International Regarding Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche’s Conduct With Women
GUEST POST Shambhala International is no stranger to controversies regarding relationships between its teachers and their students. The founder of the organization, Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, was a well known womanizer and alcoholic. Many articles and books have been […]
H.H. the Dalai Lama’s Comments on the Troubles in Rigpa
By Joanne Clark For years, the Dalai Lama has been criticized for not speaking out against Sogyal Lakar’s (Sogyal Rinpoche’s) misbehaviors. The idea was that one word from His Holiness could somehow fix things. Now, […]
