Sex & the Spiritual Teachers: Spiritual Sexual Predators in the SBNR Community
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| Chogyam Trungpa |
Recently added items: (To get to main list scroll down to "List of SBNR Offenders I and II"
Pattabhi Jois and Ashtanga yoga: Matthew Remski, Surviving Modern Yoga: Cult Dynamics, Charismatic Leaders, and What Survivors Can Teach Us (2nd ed.; Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books, 2024).
California ‘Shaman’ Faces Felony Sex Assault Charges (Aug 14, 2024) on Ricardo I. Flores, "Koyote the Blind."
Sravasti Abbey 25 Middle-Length Lamrim: Sexual Misconduct, Lying, and Divisive Speech 06-27-24 with Ven. Sangye Khadro.
Edward Helmore, "Shame and betrayal’: Sexual Abuse within the Spiritual Healing Industry Comes to Light." The Guardian (26 May 2024) .
"Sexual Ethics and Healthy Boundaries in the Wake of Teacher Abuse," Buddhadharma: The Practitioner's Guide (Winter 2023): 63-77.
Buddhadharma is a spinoff of Shambhala Sun, which was founded by the notorious womanizer Chogyam Trungpa. I was very interested in seeing whether the article mentioned Trungpa and his son Sakyong Mipham, since both of them represented poor examples of the problem described in the article. And as it turns out they are mentioned later in the article. They don't note, however, that Sakyong Mipham, whose sex-scandal goes back to 2018, laid low for a year or so and then went right back to teaching. They do mention that "Osel Tendzin, the American dharma heir of Chögyam Trungpa, had engaged in unprotected sex with a number of his students despite knowing he was HIV positive. One student later died of AIDS, as did Tendzin." But they don't address the charge by Stephen Butterfield, a member of the group, that Trungpa was aware that Ozel Tendzin had AIDS but had told him to keep quiet about it. Here is the passage from Butterfield:
"Trungpa had requested him [Osel Tendzin] to be tested for HIV in the early 1980s and told him to keep quiet about his positive result. Tendzin had asked Trungpa what he should do if students wanted to have sex with him, and Trungpa's reply was that as long as he did his Vajrayana purification practices, it did not matter, because they would not get the disease." (Stephen T. Butterfield, The Double Mirror: A Skeptical Journey into Buddhist Tantra [Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books, 1994], 183).
On the whole I found the article disappointing. If online training seminars and guidelines and educational packets haven't solved the problem by now, they aren't going to. These are solutions that have been suggested in similar articles for decades. Consider the following statement from this one: "Imagine a psychotherapist who has no training in transference, countertransference, or projection. Such is the case for many Buddhist teachers." Is that an excuse for lecherous teachers? Is that why they can't figure out that they shouldn't be using their position to seduce students?
In the article we read that the "groundbreaking Buddhist Project Sunshine (BPS) reports revealed intergenerational sexual abuse in the Shambhala Buddhist community. Its founder Chögyam Trungpa, who died of alcohol-related complications at age forty-eight, openly slept with female students, some of whom have alleged they were subject to physical and emotional violence from him. In 2018, Trungpa’s son and successor, Sakyong Mipham, was forced to step down from his leadership position after the second BPS report detailed his sexual abuse and misconduct against female students."
Again, so okay, Sakyong Mipham was forced to step down. But he has bounced back nothing is said about it in the article. One statement in the article, made by Carol Merchasin, who worked with the same problem in the workplace, more realistically notes: "it has only been the threat of criminal or civil law that has spurred otherwise reluctant Buddhist organizations to suspend abusive teachers."
Regarding Ogyen Trinley Dorje — His Holiness, the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa
_____
"Why Would Anyone Aid and Abet a Preditor," Psychology Today
Pema Chödrön
Letter from Ani Pema Chödrön Jan. 16, 2020
Michelle Boorstein, Famed Buddhist nun Pema Chodron retires, cites handling of sexual misconduct allegations against her group’s leader Jan. 18, 2020
https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2020/01/17/famed-buddhist-nun-pema-chodron-retires-cites-handling-sexual-misconduct-charges-against-group-leader/
Matthew Abrahams, "Pema Chödrön Steps Down as Senior Teacher at Shambhala"
"Eckerd professor awarded Luce funding to document sexual abuse in American Buddhism" (July 25, 2019)
Eliza Griswald, "Yoga Reconsiders the Role of the Guru in the Age of # MeToo," New Yorker (July 23, 2019)
Sogyal Rinpoche has died:
"Tibetan Buddhist Teacher Accused of Sexual Abuse Dies," BBC News
Jamie Doward, "Buddhist, Teacher, Predator: Dark Secrets of the Triratna Guru," The Guardian (July 21, 2019): "Born Dennis Lingwood, the son of a French polisher from Tooting, Sangharakshita, meaning “one who is protected by the spiritual community,”
Tahila Newland, Fallout: Recovering from Abuse in Tibetan Buddhism (2019) At Amazon.com
(On Sogyal Rinpoche)
Mary Finnigan and Rob Hogendoorn, Sex and Violence in Tibetan Buddhism: The Rise and Fall of Sogyal Rinpoche (Portland, OR: Jorvik Press, 2019) At Amazon.com
An informative article about this book:
Nico Hines, “Bad Karma: Inside Tibetan Buddhism’s ‘Rape’ and Abuse Scandal,” The Daily Beast (July 17, 2019).
Denver Post on unfolding Shambala Scandal Jackson Barnett, "Shambhala, the Boulder-Born Buddhist Organization, Suppressed Allegations of Abuse," Denver Post (July 7, 2019)
Nancy Steinbeck, John Steinbeck IV, The Other Side of Eden: Life with John Steinbeck (Amherst, NY: Prometheus Press, 2001) At amazon.com
Stephen Butterfield, The Double Mirror: A Skeptical Journey into Buddhist Tantra (Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books, 1994). At amazon.com
List of SBNR Offenders I
On Noah Levine
Anna Merlon, "A Murky Scandal Involving a Powerful Punk Rock Dharma Teacher is Dividing a Major Buddhist Community," Jezebel: A Supposedly Feminist Website (Aug 14, 2018)
Sean Elder, "Noah Levine Blames the #MeToo Movement for the Demise of His Punk Rock Buddhism Empire," Los Angeles Magazine (July 10, 2019).
On Dagri Rinpoche
Tibetan Lama Dagri Rinpoche Suspended from Teaching after Molestation Allegations
Senior nuns call for investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct by Dagri Rinpoche
On Manouso Manos
Investigation of Famed S. F. Yoga Teacher Carries On, Despite Resignation Amid Sexual Misconduct Allegations
On Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh:
"Disgraced Indian Guru Convicted of Murdering Journalist."
On Ram Bahadar Bomjan:
Ram "'Buddha Boy' Under Invstigation in Napal Over Missing Devotees"
Zaron Burnett III, "The Dark Secrets of Nepal's Famous Buddha Boy," Mel Magazine
Little Buddha: The Reality of Ram Bahadur Bomjan (Nepali Documentary)
On Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche
"Shambhala International Fights to Survive in Face of Sex Scandal"
Stephanie Russell-Kraft, "The Survivor who Broke the Shambhala Sexual Assault Story" Columbia Journalism Review
List of SBNR Offenders II
Asaram Bapu and here
John Friend
Bikram Choudhury and here
Adi Da (Bubba Free John)
Krishna Pattabhi Jois (Ashtang Method), here, and with a petition to sign in relation to it here
Swami Kriyananda (J. Donald Walters) and here
Lama Norla
Ram Bahadar Bomjan
Swami Satchidananda of Woodstock fame
Swami Rama
Buddhafield’s “Michael”/”Andreas”(Jaime Gomez)
Swami Muktananda
Swami Satyananda Saraswati
Swami Vishwananda
Amrit Desai
Paramahamsa Yogananda
Sathya Sai Baba
Zentatsu Baker-roshi (Richard Baker), of the San Francisco Zen Center
Eido Shimano Roshi of New York's Zen Studies Society
Genpo Merzel
Edward Helmore, "Shame and betrayal’: Sexual Abuse within the Spiritual Healing Industry Comes to Light." The Guardian (26 May 2024) .
"Sexual Ethics and Healthy Boundaries in the Wake of Teacher Abuse," Buddhadharma: The Practitioner's Guide (Winter 2023): 63-77.
Buddhadharma is a spinoff of Shambhala Sun, which was founded by the notorious womanizer Chogyam Trungpa. I was very interested in seeing whether the article mentioned Trungpa and his son Sakyong Mipham, since both of them represented poor examples of the problem described in the article. And as it turns out they are mentioned later in the article. They don't note, however, that Sakyong Mipham, whose sex-scandal goes back to 2018, laid low for a year or so and then went right back to teaching. They do mention that "Osel Tendzin, the American dharma heir of Chögyam Trungpa, had engaged in unprotected sex with a number of his students despite knowing he was HIV positive. One student later died of AIDS, as did Tendzin." But they don't address the charge by Stephen Butterfield, a member of the group, that Trungpa was aware that Ozel Tendzin had AIDS but had told him to keep quiet about it. Here is the passage from Butterfield:
"Trungpa had requested him [Osel Tendzin] to be tested for HIV in the early 1980s and told him to keep quiet about his positive result. Tendzin had asked Trungpa what he should do if students wanted to have sex with him, and Trungpa's reply was that as long as he did his Vajrayana purification practices, it did not matter, because they would not get the disease." (Stephen T. Butterfield, The Double Mirror: A Skeptical Journey into Buddhist Tantra [Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books, 1994], 183).
On the whole I found the article disappointing. If online training seminars and guidelines and educational packets haven't solved the problem by now, they aren't going to. These are solutions that have been suggested in similar articles for decades. Consider the following statement from this one: "Imagine a psychotherapist who has no training in transference, countertransference, or projection. Such is the case for many Buddhist teachers." Is that an excuse for lecherous teachers? Is that why they can't figure out that they shouldn't be using their position to seduce students?
In the article we read that the "groundbreaking Buddhist Project Sunshine (BPS) reports revealed intergenerational sexual abuse in the Shambhala Buddhist community. Its founder Chögyam Trungpa, who died of alcohol-related complications at age forty-eight, openly slept with female students, some of whom have alleged they were subject to physical and emotional violence from him. In 2018, Trungpa’s son and successor, Sakyong Mipham, was forced to step down from his leadership position after the second BPS report detailed his sexual abuse and misconduct against female students."
Again, so okay, Sakyong Mipham was forced to step down. But he has bounced back nothing is said about it in the article. One statement in the article, made by Carol Merchasin, who worked with the same problem in the workplace, more realistically notes: "it has only been the threat of criminal or civil law that has spurred otherwise reluctant Buddhist organizations to suspend abusive teachers."
See this list: Sexual Abuse by the Tibetan Lamas and Abuse in Tibetan Buddhism (April 28, 2021)
Regarding Ogyen Trinley Dorje — His Holiness, the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa
Jason Proctor, "Woman who claims 'marriage-like relationship' with Buddhist holy figure can sue for support" CDC (May 19, 2021)
See earlier: Tyr Beswick, "The Dalai Lama's Protege Karmapa's Scandal Growing Big," Dorje Shugden (Jan 19, 2019)
A good source for continuing to follow the crisis relating to Chogyam Trungpa's son, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, and the larger picture, see the Shambhala Report , especially its In the News section.
_____
Pema Chödrön
Letter from Ani Pema Chödrön Jan. 16, 2020
Michelle Boorstein, Famed Buddhist nun Pema Chodron retires, cites handling of sexual misconduct allegations against her group’s leader Jan. 18, 2020
https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2020/01/17/famed-buddhist-nun-pema-chodron-retires-cites-handling-sexual-misconduct-charges-against-group-leader/
Matthew Abrahams, "Pema Chödrön Steps Down as Senior Teacher at Shambhala"
"Eckerd professor awarded Luce funding to document sexual abuse in American Buddhism" (July 25, 2019)
Eliza Griswald, "Yoga Reconsiders the Role of the Guru in the Age of # MeToo," New Yorker (July 23, 2019)
Sogyal Rinpoche has died:
"Tibetan Buddhist Teacher Accused of Sexual Abuse Dies," BBC News
Jamie Doward, "Buddhist, Teacher, Predator: Dark Secrets of the Triratna Guru," The Guardian (July 21, 2019): "Born Dennis Lingwood, the son of a French polisher from Tooting, Sangharakshita, meaning “one who is protected by the spiritual community,”
(On Sogyal Rinpoche)
Damcho
Dyson and Tahila Newland, “This Is Abuse: Two Former Rigpa Students Recall the Abusive Behavior of Their Teacher and the Moment They Realized It Was Not ‘CrazyWisdom,’” Tricycle (July 15,
2019).
Mary Finnigan and Rob Hogendoorn, Sex and Violence in Tibetan Buddhism: The Rise and Fall of Sogyal Rinpoche (Portland, OR: Jorvik Press, 2019) At Amazon.com
An informative article about this book:
Nico Hines, “Bad Karma: Inside Tibetan Buddhism’s ‘Rape’ and Abuse Scandal,” The Daily Beast (July 17, 2019).
Denver Post on unfolding Shambala Scandal Jackson Barnett, "Shambhala, the Boulder-Born Buddhist Organization, Suppressed Allegations of Abuse," Denver Post (July 7, 2019)
Books relevant to the appropriateness of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche's behavior:
John Riley Perks, The Mahasiddha and His Idiot Servant (Putney, VT: Crazy Heart, 2006) At amazon.com
Nancy Steinbeck, John Steinbeck IV, The Other Side of Eden: Life with John Steinbeck (Amherst, NY: Prometheus Press, 2001) At amazon.com
Stephen Butterfield, The Double Mirror: A Skeptical Journey into Buddhist Tantra (Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books, 1994). At amazon.com
On Noah Levine
Anna Merlon, "A Murky Scandal Involving a Powerful Punk Rock Dharma Teacher is Dividing a Major Buddhist Community," Jezebel: A Supposedly Feminist Website (Aug 14, 2018)
Sean Elder, "Noah Levine Blames the #MeToo Movement for the Demise of His Punk Rock Buddhism Empire," Los Angeles Magazine (July 10, 2019).
On Dagri Rinpoche
Tibetan Lama Dagri Rinpoche Suspended from Teaching after Molestation Allegations
Senior nuns call for investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct by Dagri Rinpoche
On Manouso Manos
Investigation of Famed S. F. Yoga Teacher Carries On, Despite Resignation Amid Sexual Misconduct Allegations
On Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh:
"Disgraced Indian Guru Convicted of Murdering Journalist."
On Ram Bahadar Bomjan:
Ram "'Buddha Boy' Under Invstigation in Napal Over Missing Devotees"
Zaron Burnett III, "The Dark Secrets of Nepal's Famous Buddha Boy," Mel Magazine
Little Buddha: The Reality of Ram Bahadur Bomjan (Nepali Documentary)
On Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche
"Shambhala International Fights to Survive in Face of Sex Scandal"
Project Sunshine Report on investigation of Sakyong Mipham
More on Andrea Winn's Buddhist Project Sunshine
Dianne Mukpo wife of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche who is the father of Sakyong Mipham writes a letter condemning the work of Buddhist Project Sunshine. I understand that the situation is a difficult one for her, and I leave it to the reader to carefully evaluate her reasons for opposing Buddhist Project Sunshine. I do call my readers' attention however to my section on "Unhealthy and Enabling Excuse Making" below relating to comments in her book Dragon Thunder.
More on Andrea Winn's Buddhist Project Sunshine
Dianne Mukpo wife of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche who is the father of Sakyong Mipham writes a letter condemning the work of Buddhist Project Sunshine. I understand that the situation is a difficult one for her, and I leave it to the reader to carefully evaluate her reasons for opposing Buddhist Project Sunshine. I do call my readers' attention however to my section on "Unhealthy and Enabling Excuse Making" below relating to comments in her book Dragon Thunder.
Stephanie Russell-Kraft, "The Survivor who Broke the Shambhala Sexual Assault Story" Columbia Journalism Review
A while back I came across this article about How to Spot a Spiritual
Sexual Preditor by Chaya Kurtz. It features Marc Gafni, who
some years ago came to my city in Utah to
rebuild his career after being accused of spiritual sexual abuse. The "Spiritual but not Religious" (SBNR) community in
United States has had to deal with this issue big time. One only needs to
Google the name of any number of Eastern spiritual teachers and not a few Western
ones along with the words “sex scandal” or “abuse” to begin
to get a grasp of the disturbing extent of the problem. Just go
ahead and try it with names like,
List of SBNR Offenders II
John Friend
Bikram Choudhury and here
Adi Da (Bubba Free John)
Krishna Pattabhi Jois (Ashtang Method), here, and with a petition to sign in relation to it here
Swami Kriyananda (J. Donald Walters) and here
Lama Norla
Ram Bahadar Bomjan
Swami Satchidananda of Woodstock fame
Swami Rama
Buddhafield’s “Michael”/”Andreas”(Jaime Gomez)
Swami Muktananda
Swami Satyananda Saraswati
Swami Vishwananda
Amrit Desai
Paramahamsa Yogananda
Sathya Sai Baba
Zentatsu Baker-roshi (Richard Baker), of the San Francisco Zen Center
Eido Shimano Roshi of New York's Zen Studies Society
Genpo Merzel
Osel Tendzin
Kalu Rinpoche
Sogyal Rinpoche and here, here, here, here, here. See also Mary Finnigan and Rob Hogendoorn, Sex and Violence in Tibetan Buddhism: The Rise and Fall of Sogyal Rinpoche (Portland, OR: Jorvik Press, 2019) At Amazon.com
Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche.
And now Trungpa's son Sakyong Mipham as well.
Rodney Yee
Swami Vishnudevananda
An important session on the subject took place at the Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Religion in Denver, Colorado on Sunday, 18 Nov 2018, a portion of which I was able to attend.
General articles dealing with the problem
Lama Willa B. Miller, "Breaking the Silence on Sexual Misconduct," Buddhadharma: The Practicioner's Quarterly (Summer 2018): 40-55.
From the article:
"These are words of women in the Vipassana, Zen, and Tibetan traditions. Sexual misconduct is found in all schools of Buddhism, and it comes in many varieties. It can be verbal, such as an inappropriate comment or a proposition. Or it can be physical: kissing, fondling, and touching, all the way up to sexual intercourse. The offending teacher might frame the sex as casual or as spiritual. Secrecy is usually involved, and when it is, the harm is ultimately more egregious."
“It was 'Crazy Wisdom.' He wasn’t being self-indulgent. He was doing it for me. He was just trying to set me free from my ego attachment.”
“Yoga heightens testosterone levels, so what do you expect.”
"Hey, he's only human." This is especially interesting in settings where reincarnation is affirmed and the teacher is regarded as a very advanced being.
"It's no worse than in other religious communities."
And then a very common excuse when a teacher is publicly exposed. Who ever mention the problem, is told, "Oh, this is old news, everyone in the teacher's community has known about this, and hotly debating it for years, so what's the big deal?"
On this final excuse, or at least explanation, see William J. Broad's article Yoga and Sex Scandals: No Surprise.
SOME BIBLIOGRAPHY & LINKS
For many years, respected Buddhist teacher Jack Kornfeld has been a strong voice against tolerating the misbehavior of spiritualizing sexual preditors. Kornfeld's seminal article is “Sex Lives of the Gurus,”Yoga Journal (July-Aug, 1985): 26-28, 66, which can be accessed along with the rest of the issue with this link.
Jack Kornfeld is the founder of Spirit Rock Meditation Center, whose Teacher Code of Ethics, which includes a statement about appropriate sexual behavior.
Don Lattin, “Meditating on a 20-year-old Scandal”.
Michael Downing, Shoes Outside the Door: Desire, Devotion, and Excess at the San Francisco Zen Center (Berkeley, CA: Counterpoint, 2001).
Ram Bahadarr Bomjan
"'Buddha Boy' Under Investigation in Napal Over Missing Devotees"
Ram Rahmin Singh
Michael Safi, Ram Rahmin Singh: Several Die In Clashes After Indian Guru's Rape Conviction
"Disgraced Indian Guru Convicted of Murdering Journalist."
Bikram Choudhury
Mark Oppenheimer, "A Spiritual Leader Gains Stature, Trailed by a Troubled Past," New York Times (Dec 25, 2015).
"Sexual relationships between teacher and student are usually, though not always, the result of a mutual process and agreement. It is rare that a teacher will engage a sexual relationship with a student without the latter's full and willing consent." Caplan, The Guru Question (p. 175).
I do not think we should accept Dr. Caplan's claim here in view of the place of deception on the part of sexually predatory spiritual teachers as part of their (often well established) routine of seduction. The idea that teachers and students usually enter into sexual relationships with their eyes wide open, rendering "full and willing consent" after the full disclosure arrived at through a "mutual process and agreement" is certainly a fanciful view. I put this under the term "excuse making," but perhaps that is to strong a word. Perhaps naïveté would be better, or her experience as the partner of someone she personally believes to be innocent of the charges brought against him. Certainly what she says afterward is true: “if we choose to become involved, we disempower ourselves when we place the full responsibility on teachers should our sexual liaisons with them not turn out the way we imagined” (176). However the very language of sexual liaisons "not turning out like we imagined" when made in the context of the previous claim that the liaisons were entered into on the basis of "mutual process and agreement," tends to shift the blame for disappointment onto the student rather than the teacher. In order to make sure the full context of Dr. Caplan's statement is seen I reproduce the fuller passage below:
Sexual relationships between teacher and student are usually, though not always, the result of a mutual process and agreement. It is rare that a teacher will engage a sexual relationship with a student without the latter's full and willing consent. Of course, the teacher has power and influence in the situation, and he or [176] she should take full responsibility for how this power is used or misused in terms of seduction and eroticism. But if we choose to become involved, we disempower ourselves when we place the full responsibility on teachers should our sexual liaisons with them not turn out the way we imagined.
Noah Levine
Anna Merlon, "A Murky Scandal Involving a Powerful Punk Rock Dharma Teacher is Dividing a Major Buddhist Community," Jezebel: A Supposedly Feminist Website (Aug 14, 2018)
Sean Elder, "Noah Levine Blames the #MeToo Movement for the Demise of His Punk Rock Buddhism Empire," Los Angeles Magazine (July 10, 2019).
John
Friend
Taizan Maezumi
Kirsten Mitsuyo Maezumi wrote:A Letter from Kirsten Mitsuyo Maezumi that was posted on Sweepingzen.com
To Whom it may Concern,
I am the eldest daughter of Maezumi Roshi and I am writing in regards to the situation involving Genpo Merzel Roshi and Kyozen sensei, former vice abbot at Kanzeon Zen Center in Salt Lake City.
First of all, it has been brought to my attention that the woman spearheading the aggressive involvement of the American Zen Teachers Association and the White Plum Sangha is Jan Chozen Bays.
This woman and Genpo were both students of my father and I remember them both well from my childhood at ZCLA.
It may or may not have been brought to your attention that Chozen had affairs with both my father and Genpo in the 70′s and 80’s.
This was not the only affair that each of these people had, but the only relevant one in regards for this letter.
The fact is, her 5 year long affair with my father, from 1978 through Dec of 1983, was what caused the separation of my parents and was the reason my mother left the Zen Center of Los Angeles with my brother and I in 1983.
She was pregnant with my little sister.
My mother felt especially betrayed by Chozen.
She says she hurt her most.
She was our pediatrician; my mother trusted her with her children and opened up to her on a personal level.
They were friends.
She was also my father’s doctor, my mother’s doctor, Genpo’s doctor and his wife Hobai. It made no difference to her that she was married and my father was married with 2 small children.
I was only 4 when we left the final time, but I remember the despair and confusion I felt at our family being torn apart.
We went to live with my grandmother, and she never forgave my father and I have spent many years deprogramming myself from the utter distrust of men that took root in this formative time of my life.
I remember my mother often crying and could feel her sense of abandonment, betrayal and loneliness.
At ZCLA there was uproar and a strong contingent that wanted my father out of the position as abbot, and another wanted him to stay.
After much ado, the vote was cast, and by the thin margin of one vote, he stayed on as Abbot and Roshi at ZCLA.
I think the validity of that decision speaks for itself.
It has taken me the last 7 years of intensive meditation and therapy to make any sense of the toll that “Zen” took on our family, and I realized that my suffering was caused by my expectation of him as a father.
He wasn’t perfect, not by a long shot, but that did not need to limit me in my life the capacity for forgiveness and understanding.
He was not a good father, or a good husband to my mother, but he was an outstanding teacher with a love for the dharma and a vision of liberation that took precedence in all he did.
As an adult, in my travels and own seeking, I hear testimonials to his awakened Buddha nature and hear and see the proof of it in the difference it has made for so many other gifted beings to step into their place as teachers and facilitators of peace and consciousness.
It is a lineage spanning continents and decades and I am very proud of him. It is the best consolation I can have; seeing and hearing his students teach. Now I see history repeating itself.
Yes. Of course what Genpo Roshi did was wrong and caused a great deal of hurt and pain to his wife Stephanie, his children and the sangha.
Does this mean as punishment he should be cast out and not allowed to teach or be recognized as a senior Zen successor?
To do this is throwing the baby out with the bath water.
Genpo Roshi is a wonderful teacher and humanitarian, and I feel that his contributions to Zen in America and the raising of consciousness now and in the future are of great importance to continue on my father’s work and his own personal vision as an American teacher of Zen.
I think to deny what he can offer in the evolution of Zen in America would be a travesty. And for me at this point in my life, I wish not to focus on the aspects that cause separation and discord, but the larger picture and really accepting and transcending the fact that we are fallible.
That we are human.
That we exist in wheels with in wheels of karma that I don’t understand, but that the ultimate lesson seems to be forgiveness.
My intention behind this letter is to express that in my experience there is a mysterious way that meditation, therapy and Zen Wisdom make sense of the dichotomies that cannot be explained by the mind, but felt with the heart.
If I can forgive Jan Bays for making a my childhood a sordid, rootless existence and shattering my sense of a father figure and family, I think the same compassion can be applied here.
Please consider an appropriate atonement.
I have no quarrel with the fact that what he did was deceitful and devastatingly hurtful to many, and but to disregard this teacher from the great lineage of Zen in North America is a mistake.
I also feel that a decision like this, based in puritanical righteousness is not Zen. There is no compassion or understanding in a verdict like this and the punishment exceeds the crime, as well as depriving the community of a valuable, gifted teacher. Personally I think this is between him and his wife. And him and his sangha.
I think they need to decide what needs to be done, but I understand this casts a shadow on our whole community and many other concerns need to be brought into
consideration.
I also would like to add that all motivations for writing this and feelings that are expressed here are my own, but that I have the full support of my mother and sister. As my father’s life mission was seeing Zen in America flourish, you can understand my concern.
I thank you for your time and consideration and for all that you are doing to perpetuate the light of this dharma torch we are passing on from generation to generation.
In Gassho,
Kirsten Mitsuyo Maezumi
Sakyong Mipham (Osel R. Mukpo)
Stephanie Russell-Kraft, "The survivor who broke the Shambhala Sexual Assault Story,"
Columbia Journalism Review (May 7, 2019)
Joshua Eaton, "Buddhist leader sexually assaulted students, report finds," (June 28, 2018).
Wendy Joan Biddlecombe, Shambbhala "Head Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche Accused of Sexual Abuse in New Report," (June 28, 2018)
The Eido Shimano Archive (put together by a former student of Shimano) that provides extensive documentation of Shimano's inappropriate sexual behavior.
Obituaries:
Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche
Katy Buttler, "Encountering the Shadow in Buddhist America."
Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo on Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche
Tenzin Palmo’s very healthy and appropriately self-respecting response to the sexual advances of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche
She goes on to say that if he had been honest with her he may well have succeeded: “If he said to me, ‘Look my dear, I’ve had women since I was thirteen and I have a son, don’t worry about it,’ which was true, I would have said, ‘Let’s go,’ because what would have been more fascinating than to practice with Trungpa. None of the men I knew were anything like him…So he lost out by presenting that pathetic image!” (p. 31)
On behalf of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche's drinking and womanizing. (the choice of words indebted to the first line in Joni Mitchel's song in tribute to Trungpa entitled “Refuge of the Road,” I met a friend of spirit “He drank and womanized. And I sat before his sanity I was holding back from crying” [see Dimitri Ehrlich “Joni Michell,” Interview Magazine (April 1991): 78]).
“Rinpoche was completely open about sleeping with some of his woman students—either at his invitation, or at their request. While difficult to understand from a conventional point of view, the openness of it was very important in creating an atmosphere of trust.” (Hayward 2008, 47)
Nancy Steinbeck, John Steinbeck IV, The Other Side of Eden: Life with John Steinbeck (Amherst, NY: Prometheus Press, 2001) At amazon.com
Stephen Butterfield, The Double Mirror: A Skeptical Journey into Buddhist Tantra (Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books, 1994). At amazon.com
Joshu Sasaki Roshi (Leonard Cohen's teacher)
Malka Marom, Joni Mitchell In Her Own Words: Conversations with Malka Marom (Toronto, ON: ECW Press, 2014), 196-198.
Dr. Klaus Zernickow (Sotetsu Yuzen) Christopher Hamacher, “Zen Has No Morals!” - The Latent Potential for Corruption and Abuse in Zen Buddhism, as Exemplified by Two Recent Cases," Paper presented on 7 July 2012 at the International Cultic Studies Association's annual conference in Montreal, Canada.
And the same article in German.
Kalu Rinpoche
Sogyal Rinpoche and here, here, here, here, here. See also Mary Finnigan and Rob Hogendoorn, Sex and Violence in Tibetan Buddhism: The Rise and Fall of Sogyal Rinpoche (Portland, OR: Jorvik Press, 2019) At Amazon.com
And quintessentially,
Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche.
And now Trungpa's son Sakyong Mipham as well.
Rodney Yee
Swami Vishnudevananda
From the article:
"These are words of women in the Vipassana, Zen, and Tibetan traditions. Sexual misconduct is found in all schools of Buddhism, and it comes in many varieties. It can be verbal, such as an inappropriate comment or a proposition. Or it can be physical: kissing, fondling, and touching, all the way up to sexual intercourse. The offending teacher might frame the sex as casual or as spiritual. Secrecy is usually involved, and when it is, the harm is ultimately more egregious."
It's still quite common in
the SBNR community to see spiritualized excuses being made for the sexually predatory
practices of teachers on a level that would never be tolerated, for example, if made for Evangelical
Pastors or Catholic Priests. This double standard of excuse making, of
course, is not entirely surprising since in the Christian tradition teachers are
expected to mirror in their lives the quite clear teaching of the Bible. Yet
even in the SBNR community spiritual teachers have been given a pass who have themselves taken vows of celibacy but have violated them, or have violated temporary celibacy vows agreed upon during spiritual retreats.
Sexually predatory SBNR teachers recognize
the fact that they operate in a community that likes to keep issues of
sexuality, well...more fluid. And they exploit that knowledge as an opportunity.
STOCK EXCUSES MADE BY DISCIPLES
“We have to understand that the teacher is not bound by normal
human morality.”
“He is so honest about what he is doing and so it's OK. If he tried to hide it, that would be hypocrisy.”
“He is so honest about what he is doing and so it's OK. If he tried to hide it, that would be hypocrisy.”
“He’s from a culture completely different from our puritanical Western
culture, a culture where the expectations were completely different.”
“It never was about his dubious sexual activities anyway but
about his wonderful spiritual teaching.”
“It was 'Crazy Wisdom.' He wasn’t being self-indulgent. He was doing it for me. He was just trying to set me free from my ego attachment.”
“The only reason Mara has problems with the Teacher’s sexual
behavior is that she is not as advanced
as the rest of us women disciples.”
“When teachers and disciples enter into sexual relationships it
is almost always fully consensual.”
“Yoga heightens testosterone levels, so what do you expect.”
"Hey, he's only human." This is especially interesting in settings where reincarnation is affirmed and the teacher is regarded as a very advanced being.
"It's no worse than in other religious communities."
And then a very common excuse when a teacher is publicly exposed. Who ever mention the problem, is told, "Oh, this is old news, everyone in the teacher's community has known about this, and hotly debating it for years, so what's the big deal?"
On this final excuse, or at least explanation, see William J. Broad's article Yoga and Sex Scandals: No Surprise.
SOME BIBLIOGRAPHY & LINKS
For many years, respected Buddhist teacher Jack Kornfeld has been a strong voice against tolerating the misbehavior of spiritualizing sexual preditors. Kornfeld's seminal article is “Sex Lives of the Gurus,”Yoga Journal (July-Aug, 1985): 26-28, 66, which can be accessed along with the rest of the issue with this link.
Jack Kornfeld is the founder of Spirit Rock Meditation Center, whose Teacher Code of Ethics, which includes a statement about appropriate sexual behavior.
A work by an author who has
no sympathy for spirituality but which covers a lot of ground and is therefore
also a valuable resource is Geoffrey Falk, Stripping the Gurus, which is free online
in various formats.
Psychology Today did an article Crimes of the Soul by Jill Neimark that covers a range do teachers.
Psychology Today did an article Crimes of the Soul by Jill Neimark that covers a range do teachers.
There is also this A List of Yoga Scandals
Involving Gurus from a Yoga-friendly source. This
contains a number of helpful links giving particulars.
A very helpful article on
this topic in relation to Buddhism in particular Stephanie Kaza, “Finding Safe Harbor:
Buddhist Sexual Ethics in America,” Buddhist-Christian
Studies 24 (2004): 23-35.
The Winter 2014 issue of Buddhadharma:
The Practitioners Quarterly featured as its cover story a piece
entitled: "Confronting Abuse of Power," (pp. 46-55, 81) which brought
together four individuals who were "familiar with communities that have
been shaken by teacher misconduct": David Whitehorn (regarding Osel
Tendzin), Lama Palden Droma (regarding Kalu Rinpohe), Hozan Alan Senauke (regarding
Richard Baker Roshi), and Shinge Roko Sherry Chayat (regarding Eido Roshi).
PARTICULAR SCHOOLS
ZEN
Mark Oppenheimer, "The Zen Preditor of the Upper East Side," Atlantic (Dec 18, 2014).
Christopher Hamacher, “Zen Has No Morals!” - The Latent Potential for Corruption and Abuse inZen Buddhism, as Exemplified by Two Recent Cases," Paper presented on 7 July 2012 at the International Cultic Studies Association's annual conference in Montreal, Canada.
Mark Oppenheimer, "The Zen Preditor of the Upper East Side," Atlantic (Dec 18, 2014).
INDIVIDUAL TEACHERS
ZEN
Mark Oppenheimer, "The Zen Preditor of the Upper East Side," Atlantic (Dec 18, 2014).
Christopher Hamacher, “Zen Has No Morals!” - The Latent Potential for Corruption and Abuse inZen Buddhism, as Exemplified by Two Recent Cases," Paper presented on 7 July 2012 at the International Cultic Studies Association's annual conference in Montreal, Canada.
Mark Oppenheimer, "The Zen Preditor of the Upper East Side," Atlantic (Dec 18, 2014).
INDIVIDUAL TEACHERS
Zentatsu
Baker-roshi (Richard Baker)
Don Lattin, “Meditating on a 20-year-old Scandal”.
Michael Downing, Shoes Outside the Door: Desire, Devotion, and Excess at the San Francisco Zen Center (Berkeley, CA: Counterpoint, 2001).
Ram Bahadarr Bomjan
"'Buddha Boy' Under Investigation in Napal Over Missing Devotees"
Ram Rahmin Singh
Michael Safi, Ram Rahmin Singh: Several Die In Clashes After Indian Guru's Rape Conviction
"Disgraced Indian Guru Convicted of Murdering Journalist."
Bikram Choudhury
Rebecca
Moss, "Why Do Sex Scandals
Keep Rocking the Yoga World?" Elle (May 15,
2013).
Marc Gafni
Jeff Bell &
Greta DeJong, “Trial by Interenet? An “Architypal Spiritual Drama,” Chrysalis (July
2008): 20-25.
Mark Oppenheimer, "A Spiritual Leader Gains Stature, Trailed by a Troubled Past," New York Times (Dec 25, 2015).
Mariana Caplan, The Guru Question: The Perils and Rewards of Choosing a
Spiritual Teacher (forward, Robert Thurman; Boulder, CO: Sounds True,
2011), 267-93, mounts a defense for the essential innocence of Gafni, who is
(or was at the time of her writing the book) her partner.
Less than
helpful excuse making relating to Gafni:
"Sexual relationships between teacher and student are usually, though not always, the result of a mutual process and agreement. It is rare that a teacher will engage a sexual relationship with a student without the latter's full and willing consent." Caplan, The Guru Question (p. 175).
I do not think we should accept Dr. Caplan's claim here in view of the place of deception on the part of sexually predatory spiritual teachers as part of their (often well established) routine of seduction. The idea that teachers and students usually enter into sexual relationships with their eyes wide open, rendering "full and willing consent" after the full disclosure arrived at through a "mutual process and agreement" is certainly a fanciful view. I put this under the term "excuse making," but perhaps that is to strong a word. Perhaps naïveté would be better, or her experience as the partner of someone she personally believes to be innocent of the charges brought against him. Certainly what she says afterward is true: “if we choose to become involved, we disempower ourselves when we place the full responsibility on teachers should our sexual liaisons with them not turn out the way we imagined” (176). However the very language of sexual liaisons "not turning out like we imagined" when made in the context of the previous claim that the liaisons were entered into on the basis of "mutual process and agreement," tends to shift the blame for disappointment onto the student rather than the teacher. In order to make sure the full context of Dr. Caplan's statement is seen I reproduce the fuller passage below:
Sexual relationships between teacher and student are usually, though not always, the result of a mutual process and agreement. It is rare that a teacher will engage a sexual relationship with a student without the latter's full and willing consent. Of course, the teacher has power and influence in the situation, and he or [176] she should take full responsibility for how this power is used or misused in terms of seduction and eroticism. But if we choose to become involved, we disempower ourselves when we place the full responsibility on teachers should our sexual liaisons with them not turn out the way we imagined.
Noah Levine
Sean Elder, "Noah Levine Blames the #MeToo Movement for the Demise of His Punk Rock Buddhism Empire," Los Angeles Magazine (July 10, 2019).
Vera
Titunik, "The Yoga Mogul's
Sordid Fall," New York Times (April 18,
2012)
Maezumin Roshi
Anne Cushman, “Under The Lens: An American Zen Community In Crisis,” Tricycle (Fall 2003)Taizan Maezumi
A Letter from Kirsten Mitsuyo Maezumi
The above link has gone dead. Below is the text of the letter as it was blocked and pasted on another site:
The above link has gone dead. Below is the text of the letter as it was blocked and pasted on another site:
Kirsten Mitsuyo Maezumi wrote:A Letter from Kirsten Mitsuyo Maezumi that was posted on Sweepingzen.com
To Whom it may Concern,
I am the eldest daughter of Maezumi Roshi and I am writing in regards to the situation involving Genpo Merzel Roshi and Kyozen sensei, former vice abbot at Kanzeon Zen Center in Salt Lake City.
First of all, it has been brought to my attention that the woman spearheading the aggressive involvement of the American Zen Teachers Association and the White Plum Sangha is Jan Chozen Bays.
This woman and Genpo were both students of my father and I remember them both well from my childhood at ZCLA.
It may or may not have been brought to your attention that Chozen had affairs with both my father and Genpo in the 70′s and 80’s.
This was not the only affair that each of these people had, but the only relevant one in regards for this letter.
The fact is, her 5 year long affair with my father, from 1978 through Dec of 1983, was what caused the separation of my parents and was the reason my mother left the Zen Center of Los Angeles with my brother and I in 1983.
She was pregnant with my little sister.
My mother felt especially betrayed by Chozen.
She says she hurt her most.
She was our pediatrician; my mother trusted her with her children and opened up to her on a personal level.
They were friends.
She was also my father’s doctor, my mother’s doctor, Genpo’s doctor and his wife Hobai. It made no difference to her that she was married and my father was married with 2 small children.
I was only 4 when we left the final time, but I remember the despair and confusion I felt at our family being torn apart.
We went to live with my grandmother, and she never forgave my father and I have spent many years deprogramming myself from the utter distrust of men that took root in this formative time of my life.
I remember my mother often crying and could feel her sense of abandonment, betrayal and loneliness.
At ZCLA there was uproar and a strong contingent that wanted my father out of the position as abbot, and another wanted him to stay.
After much ado, the vote was cast, and by the thin margin of one vote, he stayed on as Abbot and Roshi at ZCLA.
I think the validity of that decision speaks for itself.
It has taken me the last 7 years of intensive meditation and therapy to make any sense of the toll that “Zen” took on our family, and I realized that my suffering was caused by my expectation of him as a father.
He wasn’t perfect, not by a long shot, but that did not need to limit me in my life the capacity for forgiveness and understanding.
He was not a good father, or a good husband to my mother, but he was an outstanding teacher with a love for the dharma and a vision of liberation that took precedence in all he did.
As an adult, in my travels and own seeking, I hear testimonials to his awakened Buddha nature and hear and see the proof of it in the difference it has made for so many other gifted beings to step into their place as teachers and facilitators of peace and consciousness.
It is a lineage spanning continents and decades and I am very proud of him. It is the best consolation I can have; seeing and hearing his students teach. Now I see history repeating itself.
Yes. Of course what Genpo Roshi did was wrong and caused a great deal of hurt and pain to his wife Stephanie, his children and the sangha.
Does this mean as punishment he should be cast out and not allowed to teach or be recognized as a senior Zen successor?
To do this is throwing the baby out with the bath water.
Genpo Roshi is a wonderful teacher and humanitarian, and I feel that his contributions to Zen in America and the raising of consciousness now and in the future are of great importance to continue on my father’s work and his own personal vision as an American teacher of Zen.
I think to deny what he can offer in the evolution of Zen in America would be a travesty. And for me at this point in my life, I wish not to focus on the aspects that cause separation and discord, but the larger picture and really accepting and transcending the fact that we are fallible.
That we are human.
That we exist in wheels with in wheels of karma that I don’t understand, but that the ultimate lesson seems to be forgiveness.
My intention behind this letter is to express that in my experience there is a mysterious way that meditation, therapy and Zen Wisdom make sense of the dichotomies that cannot be explained by the mind, but felt with the heart.
If I can forgive Jan Bays for making a my childhood a sordid, rootless existence and shattering my sense of a father figure and family, I think the same compassion can be applied here.
Please consider an appropriate atonement.
I have no quarrel with the fact that what he did was deceitful and devastatingly hurtful to many, and but to disregard this teacher from the great lineage of Zen in North America is a mistake.
I also feel that a decision like this, based in puritanical righteousness is not Zen. There is no compassion or understanding in a verdict like this and the punishment exceeds the crime, as well as depriving the community of a valuable, gifted teacher. Personally I think this is between him and his wife. And him and his sangha.
I think they need to decide what needs to be done, but I understand this casts a shadow on our whole community and many other concerns need to be brought into
consideration.
I also would like to add that all motivations for writing this and feelings that are expressed here are my own, but that I have the full support of my mother and sister. As my father’s life mission was seeing Zen in America flourish, you can understand my concern.
I thank you for your time and consideration and for all that you are doing to perpetuate the light of this dharma torch we are passing on from generation to generation.
In Gassho,
Kirsten Mitsuyo Maezumi
Sakyong Mipham (Osel R. Mukpo)
Columbia Journalism Review (May 7, 2019)
Joshua Eaton, "Buddhist leader sexually assaulted students, report finds," (June 28, 2018).
Wendy Joan Biddlecombe, Shambbhala "Head Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche Accused of Sexual Abuse in New Report," (June 28, 2018)
Project Sunshine Report on investigation of Sakyong Mipham
More on Andrea Winn's Buddhist Project Sunshine
Dianne Mukpo wife of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche who is the father of Sakyong Mipham writes a letter condemning the work of Buddhist Project Sunshine. I understand that the situation is a difficult one for her, and I leave it to the reader to carefully evaluate her reasons for opposing Buddhist Project Sunshine. I do call my readers attention however to my section on "Unhealthy and Enabling Excuse Making" below relating to comments in her book Dragon Thunder.
Muktananda
More on Andrea Winn's Buddhist Project Sunshine
Dianne Mukpo wife of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche who is the father of Sakyong Mipham writes a letter condemning the work of Buddhist Project Sunshine. I understand that the situation is a difficult one for her, and I leave it to the reader to carefully evaluate her reasons for opposing Buddhist Project Sunshine. I do call my readers attention however to my section on "Unhealthy and Enabling Excuse Making" below relating to comments in her book Dragon Thunder.
Muktananda
Riddhi
Shah, "The 'Eat, Pray,
Love' Guru’s Troubling Past,"" Salon (Aug 14, 2010)
William Rodarmor, "The Secret Life of Swami Muktananda, CoEvolution Quarterly (1983)
Liz Harris, "Oh Guru, Guru, Guru," New Yorker (Nov 14, 1994).
William Rodarmor, "The Secret Life of Swami Muktananda, CoEvolution Quarterly (1983)
Liz Harris, "Oh Guru, Guru, Guru," New Yorker (Nov 14, 1994).
Swami
Nithyananda
Rajiv Malhotra,
"Swami Nithyananda Scandal: The Story the Media Never Told"
“I have seen this scandal through the framework of a civilization encounter in which
Vedic culture is pitted against the Dravidian divisiveness that is being backed
by Christian evangelism.”
Swami
Rama
Katherine
Webster, "The Case Against Swami Rama of the Himalayas," Yoga Journal (Nov-Dec,
1990): 59-69, 92, 94.
Eido Shimano
The long career of Eido Shimano Roshi stands as a cautionary tale against sexually predatory teachers given a pass for their behavior over many years, in this case many decades.
A very important document in his connection is Mark Oppenheimer, "The Zen Preditor of the Upper East Side," Atlantic (Dec 18, 2014). This is also available in book form. This represents a classic discussion of what happens when a teacher's bad behavior is known but made excuses for, in this case for about a half a century.
Jay Michaelson, "The Shocking Scandal at the Heart of American Zen," Daily Beast (Nov 14, 2013) A somewhat critical review of Oppenheimer's book.
See also:
Mark Oppenheimer, "Sex Scandal has U.S. Buddhists Looking Within," New York Times (Aug 20, 2010).
The Eido Shimano Archive (put together by a former student of Shimano) that provides extensive documentation of Shimano's inappropriate sexual behavior.
Obituaries:
Joan Duncan Oliver, "The Death of Eido Roshi, Problematic Pioneer,"Tricycle (Feb 22, 2018).
"Demonizing these teachers for their sexual misbehavior disregards their worthy contributions."
Lilly Greenblatt, "Eido T. Shimano Roshi, founding abbot of the Zen Studies Society, dies at 85," Lion's Roar (Feb 20, 2018).
Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche
Katy Buttler, "Encountering the Shadow in Buddhist America."
Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo on Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche
Tenzin Palmo’s very healthy and appropriately self-respecting response to the sexual advances of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche
“I can remember the first time I met him,”
recalls Tenzin Palmo, “As I walked in the room he patted the seat [31]
next to him on the sofa, indicating I should sit beside him. We were in
the middle of afternoon tea, eating cucumber sandwiches and talking about deep
Buddhist subjects when suddenly I felt his hand going up my skirt. I
didn’t scream but I did have on stiletto heels and Trungpa was wearing
sandals! He didn’t scream either, but he did remove his hand very
quickly…He was always suggesting I sleep with him. And I kept saying, ‘No
way,’ The fact was, he was not being truthful. He was presenting himself
as a pure monk and saying that meeting me had swept him off his feet etc. which
I thought was a load of baloney.” (Vicki Mackenzie, Cave in the Snow:
Tenzin Palmo’s Quest for Enlightenment [New York: Bloomsbury, 1998],
30-31).
She goes on to say that if he had been honest with her he may well have succeeded: “If he said to me, ‘Look my dear, I’ve had women since I was thirteen and I have a son, don’t worry about it,’ which was true, I would have said, ‘Let’s go,’ because what would have been more fascinating than to practice with Trungpa. None of the men I knew were anything like him…So he lost out by presenting that pathetic image!” (p. 31)
IN CONTRAST CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING EXAMPLES OF
UNHEALTHY AND ENABLING EXCUSE MAKING
Here is a classic bit of excuse making that appeared on the Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche -- A Tribute FB Group on by Joseiah Campbell on Group on October 20, 2024:
"Indian Mahasiddha Virupa was kicked out of a Buddhist monastery after living and practicing there for more than 25 years because he was a meat eater and drank alcohol but this did not affect his inward bliss. The monks soon recognized their mistake and begged him to return but he refused and continued his aimless wandering and enlightening people , I know you egoist don’t like to hear it but most Buddhist and people who have an eye for Buddhism are too nitpicky on behavior which is why Sage Chögyam is so criticized and this proves it , sorry to disappoint your ego , I know I’m talking to mostly Buddhist so they’re will be many disagreements especially my last names not Rinpoche so it’s especially hard to listen 
but please see how I’m merely saying we should let go of preconceived notions of the guru."
but please see how I’m merely saying we should let go of preconceived notions of the guru."On behalf of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche's drinking and womanizing. (the choice of words indebted to the first line in Joni Mitchel's song in tribute to Trungpa entitled “Refuge of the Road,” I met a friend of spirit “He drank and womanized. And I sat before his sanity I was holding back from crying” [see Dimitri Ehrlich “Joni Michell,” Interview Magazine (April 1991): 78]).
Jeremy Hayward:
“He also began to be open about his drinking and
having girlfriends. This had been going on for some time before the accident,
and, while controversial on many levels, such behavior is not regarded as a
problem in Tibet for those at a high level of accomplishment. In fact, for
certain types of visionaries, known as tertons—about whom I will
have more to say later—taking a consort is regarded as necessary. However,
until this point, Rinpoche had kept this aspect of his life private in
deference partly to the expectations of Western students but also to the
expectations of his Tibetan colleagues.” (Jeremy Hayward, Warrior-King
of Shambhala: Remembering Chögyam Trungpa [fwd., Sakyong Mipham.
Wisdom Publications: Boston, 2008], 11).
“Rinpoche was completely open about sleeping with some of his woman students—either at his invitation, or at their request. While difficult to understand from a conventional point of view, the openness of it was very important in creating an atmosphere of trust.” (Hayward 2008, 47)
“…it seemed clear to me even at that early stage that
mere self-centered passion was not the motivation for his sexual involvement
with women. Rinpoche seemed to love all of his students so
powerfully that his love was in some ways the hardest thing to open to for many
of us, almost too much to bear....” (Hayward, 48).
“At the same time, of course, anyone in any similarly
intimate situation with Rinpoche was pushed to the edge of their little ego
games, pushed to be open and genuine; and, for many of us in the West, sex
provides one of the deepest entrenchments for ego.
Altogether, Rinpoche's open and joyful attitude to sex was a
powerful opportunity to work with one's own preconceptions and projections
about sexuality, especially for those he slept with and their partners.
In the modern culture in which people in positions of power, especially
religious personages, frequently confuse their own personalities with the
charisma of their office, thus leading to all manner of sexual abuses, this may
all seem difficult to understand or accept.” (Hayward, 48)
“I told her [Lady Diana, Trungpa’s wife] that I didn’t feel
comfortable about the discussion with the Board concerning Rinpoche’s
drinking. I went on in quite a blunt way, saying that Rinpoche was a
mahasiddha, and mahasiddhas have a different approach to things and pointing
out that many of them did drink a lot.” (Hayward, 276)
Diana
Mukpo (Trungpa's wife)
Diana Mukpo in her
biography of Trungpa describes the first time she caught her husband having sex
with other women, and, in the course of describing it, provides him with a
spiritualized excuse: Mukpo recounts how angry she was at the
discovery. In response Trungpa calmly explained that “he expected
that he was going to have intimate relationships with some of his female
students, but that it didn’t mean there was a problem with our
relationship...that in fact it was only because he had such trust in our
relationship that he felt it would be possible for him to have these
other relationships.” Diana J. Mukpo, Dragon
Thunder: My Life with Chögyam Trungpa [with Carolyn Rose Gimian;
London & Boston, 2006], 84).
This
pacified Mukpo so that she says, “I felt I could relax, and I started letting
go of my conventional reference points…On a fundamental level, Rinpoche was the
most loyal husband I can imagine…My heart connection with him went far beyond
the issues of sexuality…Rinpoche was much too big a personality to trap into a
monogamous relationship.” (Mukpo, 85). The final statement about
Trungpa's being “too big a personality to trap into a monogamous marriage,”
comes perilously close to the old derisive “great man, great needs,” excuse.
When
Trungpa and another Buddhist teacher, Akong Rinpoche (who was murdered in 2013 and here ), were
both involved in a retreat center in Scotland, and some wealthy donors
were due to arrive, Mupo reports that “while Akong was downstairs waiting to
greet them, Rinpoche went into Akong’s bedroom upstairs and completely
destroyed Akong’s personal shrine with his walking stick. Then he went and
urinated all over the top of the stairwell, after which he lay down and passed out
[from alcohol] at the top of the stairs” (Mukpo, 89). But again, in his
wife’s mind, Trungpa’s violent drunken tantrum had to have a spiritual purpose:
Rinpoche didn’t explain his actions to me, but
I personally felt that destroying Akong’s shrine and then making a big stink,
literally, was Rinpoche’s way of sending a message to Akong that he couldn’t
ignore. The sacredness of the situation there was being destroyed and the
atmosphere was rotten at that point…I think that Rinpoche was willing to go to
extreme ends to expose the hypocrisy he saw.
It is interesting that Mukpo chooses the context of the telling of this
incident to assert that “in my entire association with him [Trungpa], he never
did anything to harm any other human being.” On the contrary he did
the sorts of things he did in order to “push people so that they would
recognize their self-deception.”
Books relevant to the appropriateness of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche's behavior:
John Riley Perks, The Mahasiddha and His Idiot Servant (Putney, VT: Crazy Heart, 2006) At amazon.com
Nancy Steinbeck, John Steinbeck IV, The Other Side of Eden: Life with John Steinbeck (Amherst, NY: Prometheus Press, 2001) At amazon.com
Stephen Butterfield, The Double Mirror: A Skeptical Journey into Buddhist Tantra (Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books, 1994). At amazon.com
Joshu Sasaki Roshi (Leonard Cohen's teacher)
Obituary: Mark Oppenheimer, "Joshu Sasaki Roshi, Rinzai Zen Master, Dies at 107, The Influential Teacher Leaves a Mixed Legacy," Tricycle (July 30, 2014).
Obituary: Paul Vitello, "Joshu Sasaki, 107, Tainteed Zen Master" New York Times (Aug 4, 2014).
Inn Malka Marom's book of interviews with Joni Mitchell, we find this remarkable discussion of Leonard Cohen's Zen
teacher Joshu Sasaki Roshi. Joshu Sasaki's bad behavior did finally catch with
him in 2012. But this is in the 1970s. It's interesting to see Joni Mitchell
and Malka Maron processing having a problem with his behavior as basically
deriving from their own Judeo-Christian hang ups:
I did some drawings of
Leonard’s teacher, Roshi, for a cookie drive; they were printed in a Zen
magazine called Zero. So I had a little
bit of contact with Roshi. He was a jolly little guy. He liked to drink and he
liked to smoke and he liked to giggle, all things that I’m fond of — not so
much the drinking, but smoking and giggling are up my alley. So I did spend a
little bit of time in his company and Leonard’s. This was in the early ’70s…[197]…Following
that event, [Joshu Sasaki] Roshi came up to me and I hugged him, because I enjoyed
him. He was giggling and I was giggling. We were finding kind of the same
things funny that night. I hugged him. He was a little tiny man, in his
seventies at that point.
Next day I get a call from
Leonard and he says, “Roshi wants to move in with you.”
I said, “Great. I’ve got a
spare room. He’s welcome to stay here.” Because I know he’s gonna be up at
Mount Baldy most of the time. He was married at that time to a young Japanese
girl who was a math, kind of, wizard. I didn’t know much about Buddhism and
monks at that time. “He’s welcome to stay here.”
So they came over and, at
the time, I was dating a very handsome actor, and so he was here also. I was
entertaining them in the living room, but I treated Roshi like an elder monk,
with more respect than the younger men.
Suddenly, Roshi jumped up
and he said, “C’mon, Cohen, Roshi lonely. Let’s go.”
I realized, oh my God, I
didn’t know that he had some kind of romantic designs on me, which I never
would have guessed. And I was kind of horrified, coming from a Christian
backwoods, like, “Oh, you monk, you’re not supposed to be human.”
M[arom]: Something like
that happened to me also, with Roshi, I mean. Also in the ’70s, [198] while I
was on a shoot in Montreal, I get an invitation from Leonard to come to his
house for dinner. So I walk in and I see this amazing-looking elder, almost
like a halo around him, sitting cross-legged on a chair by the table. And I
said to Leonard, “Who is this luminous elder?”
“That’s my teacher. I call
him Roshi,” Leonard said.
So I turn to Roshi and
start talking to him. Like, “Pleased to meet you, how fortunate you are to have
Leonard for a student …”
Leonard interrupted with
that grin of his that I love, “Roshi doesn’t understand a word of English.”
“Wow, is he ever radiant, Leonard, what a glow about him …”
“Yeah, but you know, he
can’t get it up. Would you get it up for him?” Leonard said, joking or teaching
some illuminating Buddhist lesson? I couldn’t tell.
It certainly illuminated
to me that under my sort of bohemian, debonair, woman-of-the-world spirit is
the daughter of my father: a religious observant Jew, who, though a bit shocked
and very embarrassed, reverted to the Jewish traditional way of learning:
answering a question with a question. “Why would you follow a teacher who can’t
get it up?”
“For the balance,” Leonard
replied, barely able to keep a straight face. “I have one teacher who can’t get
it up and one teacher who can’t get it down.”
Malka Marom, Joni Mitchell In Her Own Words: Conversations with Malka Marom (Toronto, ON: ECW Press, 2014), 196-198.
Dr. Klaus Zernickow (Sotetsu Yuzen) Christopher Hamacher, “Zen Has No Morals!” - The Latent Potential for Corruption and Abuse in Zen Buddhism, as Exemplified by Two Recent Cases," Paper presented on 7 July 2012 at the International Cultic Studies Association's annual conference in Montreal, Canada.
And the same article in German.
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