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 […]
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
Tag: testimony
Finally, After Years Of Fanaticism, I Began Opening My Eyes
A New Kadampa Survivor Testimony My name is Ivy Wallace and I am a former member of the New Kadampa Tradition (NKT). Here is my story in case anyone is interested. I was in the […]
Reform & Kindness: Can We Make A Little Room For Miracles?
Guest Post By Joanne Clark During my short eighteen months with Rigpa, months that traumatically changed my life, I could have used some kindness from fellow students. However, the effect of Sogyal’s style of “working” […]
Three Buddhists Walk into a Bar
By Kiera Van Gelder Three Buddhists walk into a bar. A Hinayana, a Mahayana, and a Vajrayana. The Vajrayana demands the highest stool, the Mahayana offers her body as a stool and the Hinayana sits […]
Testimony from an Ogyen Kunzang Choling (OKC) Survivor
The following comment was posted by a Buddhist as a comment after having shared Ben’s powerpoint presentation “40 Years of Abuse in the Name of Dharma by ex-OKC born-kids” on Facebook. Ben who stands behind […]
Mark Dunlop’s Response to Sangharakshita’s February 2017 Memoir
Guest Post By Mark Dunlop In February 2017, Triratna circulated within the Order a “memoir” by Sangharakshita (Dennis Lingwood), describing his time with me. It is a bit of a diatribe against me. I have […]
Abuse: Letter To Sogyal Rinpoche From Long Term Rigpa Students
We now see clearly the many ways that you betrayed our trust, manipulated and abused us and our Dharma brothers and sisters. On July 14, 2017 eight long term disciples and Rigpa students – with […]
Abuse in the Buddhist community: this victim tells her story for the first time
When those teachers—suppose they already practice the Buddhadharma—still do not behave properly, it indicates that they have a lack of shamefulness on their part. They do not care about the negative consequences for their own […]
Mark Dunlop’s involvement with the FWBO / Triratna
I, Mark Dunlop, am an only child, and I was born in N. Ireland in 1950. My father was in the Navy, and my family lived in different parts of the world, following my […]
“Lock the door.” – I was devoted to a great Buddhist master, and then I quit.
by Mimi, former Dakini Sogyal Rinpoche is a Tibetan Buddhist master supported by the Dalai Lama. He is the author of the best-selling “Tibetan Book of Living and Dying.” He heads the Rigpa Association, a […]
Reflecting on my Time in Rigpa and with Sogyal Rinpoche
GUEST POST Dear friends, I too was in Rigpa for a long time and had different experiences, also difficult ones that were similar to some of the things already expressed in this blog. That was […]
Sogyal Rinpoche & Rigpa – An interview with the former director of Rigpa France Olivier Raurich
Translation of an interview with the former director of Rigpa France Olivier Raurich which appeared in the French magazine “Marianne”¹ Q: When did you become interested in Buddhism and how did you encounter Sogyal Rinpoche? […]
When it is more than abuse – Experiences within the New Kadampa Tradition (NKT)
By Peter Graham Dryburgh The hurt and harm of spiritual abuse is rarely inflicted upon people with the intention to wound anyone. – Major Scott Nicloy When we think of abuse in the year 2016, […]
Who needs facts when we have the Internet?
Guest Post by Sandy Clarke Hatred is never appeased by hatred in this world. By non-hatred alone is hatred appeased. This is a law eternal. There are those who do not realise that one day […]
Andrea Ballance is a survivor of the Buddhist group NKT and tells ASLI “I have lived through PTSD and RT (religious trauma). I feel that I have something to say that can help people. I feel art in all its facets has an important role to play in an individual’s health and the health of our whole society”.
Originally posted on
NKT Survivor Testimony: “I Am Not Your Teacher”
I Am Not Your Teacher by Andrea Ballance The shortcoming of hanging pawns is that they present a convenient target for attack. As the exchange of men proceeds, their potential strength lessens and during the […]
A Tibetan Translator’s Testimony by Tenzing Wangdak
GUEST POST My Diary – The Ticking Bomb That Took 23 Years To Explode My name is Tenzing Wangdak. I woke up at around 8 a.m. on Wednesday morning, December 17th, 2014. I was […]
Buddhist Bullshit
Originally posted on Post-Traditional Buddhism:
I generally avoid getting political on this blog. Not because I am apolitical, or think it too messy a subject to broach, but because I have used this blog primarily…
The story of a New Kadampa Tradition monk or How I got sucked into a cult
My name is Tenzin Peljor / Michael Jäckel. I was 29 when I met the New Kadampa Tradition (NKT) in December 1995. At that time the general public didn’t know about any controversy relating to the […]
Open Letter by Chairman of the Board of Trustees of New Kadampa Tradition’s Maitreya Buddhist Centre
GUEST POST – re-posted with prior permission from the author I think it might be useful to post here the open letter I wrote back in 2012 in my attempt to try and summarise how […]
The story of a New Kadampa Tradition nun: “Disrobing”
GUEST POST My name is Andrea Ballance. I was a member of the New Kadampa Tradition. I was ordained in this tradition. I was a fully absorbed, dedicated, misguided and later an abandoned devotee of […]
