Sexual assaults and violent rages...Inside the dark world of Buddhist teacher Sogyal

[Jundo]

What can go wrong in Buddhism, or any religion or group in which there is a "Cult of Personality." Our hearts go out to the victims.

There is a Precept, which we shall soon reflect on in our Jukai Preparations, on "not criticizing the faults of fellow Buddhists." I believe in this very much but, as we will then discuss, there is a time to criticize for constructive reasons, and to protect the innocent (such as the innocent victims who might be tempted into cults).

This is a sad story, and a caution for anyone who would buy into too easily what the leader says, or the psychology of the group. Keep your eyes open and (if you every see any of this here or anywhere), pick up your meditation cushion and head for the door ...

Sexual assaults and violent rages... Inside the dark world of Buddhist teacher Sogyal Rinpoche
The Telegraph
Mick Brown
21 SEPTEMBER 2017
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/thinking-man/sexual-assaults-violent-rages-inside-dark-world-buddhist-teacher/


Sogyal’s habitual physical abuse, the letter alleged, had ‘left monks, nuns, and lay people students of yours with bloody injuries and permanent scars.’ He had used his role as a teacher ‘to gain access to young women, and to coerce, intimidate and manipulate them into giving you sexual favours’. Students had been ordered to strip, ‘to show you our genitals’, ‘to give you oral sex,’ and ‘to have sex in your bed with our partners’.

Sogyal, it went on, had led a ‘lavish, gluttonous and sybaritic lifestyle’, which had been kept secret from the large body of his followers, and financed by donations by students ‘who believe their offering is being used to further wisdom and compassion in the world.’

‘If your striking and punching us and others, and having sex with your students and married women, and funding your sybaritic lifestyle with students’ donations is actually the ethical and compassionate behaviour of a Buddhist teacher, please explain to us how it is.’

For further reading ...


This is the full text of “Behind the Thangkas” (2010) which is an expose of the activities of Sogyal Rinpoche.
https://behindthethangkas.wordpress.com/

And a short video documentary made on this topic a few years ago ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWhIivvmMnk


Sometimes I look at our innocuous little Sangha, which some are so shocked by simply for our online ways, and I cannot help but feeling that we can be somehow content.

Gassho, Jundo

SatTodayLAH

[Eishuu]

This is so terrible. It seems to happen so often...I don't understand why. I was watching a really good documentary on Scientology which outlined the quite extreme physical violence conducted by the guy in charge. I left another Buddhist group because a lot of disturbing sexual abuse allegations against the guy in charge were coming out which really put me off.

Metta to all the people affected.

Gassho
Lucy
ST/LAH

[Koki]

This is so terrible. It seems to happen so often...I don't understand why. I was watching a really good documentary on Scientology which outlined the quite extreme physical violence conducted by the guy in charge. I left another Buddhist group because a lot of disturbing sexual abuse allegations against the guy in charge were coming out which really put me off.

Metta to all the people affected.

Gassho
Lucy
ST/LAHAgreed that this seems to be a issue in many religious groups.
Perhaps they prey on the vulnerability, or take advantage of peoples trust, but whatever the reason, ethically, morally it is wrong.

Being aware and cautious is good...and try to do your best for yourself and others.

Gassho
Frank

Sent from my VS995 using Tapatalk

[Mp]

I read a bit about this yesterday, it is sad and makes me sick. Sending much metta to the victims of such acts. :(



Sometimes I look at our innocuous little Sangha, which some are so shocked by simply for our online ways, and I cannot help but feeling that we can be somehow content.


I could't agree more Jundo!

Gassho
Shingen

SatToday/LAH

[David]

Was that FWBO/Triratna, Lucy?

Sat today/LAH

[Eishuu]

Was that FWBO/Triratna, Lucy?

Sat today/LAH

Yes it was, sadly. I also very much enjoy Satyananda yoga, and was very disappointed to read about his behaviour. Sometimes it seems that the teachers are quite brilliant teachers in some ways but so damaged and destructive in others - like a huge split. I don't really understand how it's possible to have a lot of insight yet behave so immorally.

Gassho
Lucy
ST/LAH

[Kokuu]

Sadly, there have been far too many groups affected by this kind of behaviour for it to be seen as an isolated incident (although the goings on at Rigpa do seem to be more widespread and longer-lasting than most of the others).

I agree with Lucy that it is hard to reconcile how these teachers seem to embody so much wisdom yet are capable of such obvious breaking of basic ethical principles. This is not a 'minor' offence like stealing something small or bending the truth (which are both bad enough) but utterly immoral acts with serious effects on the emotional lives of other people. How can you take a Bodhisattva vow to save others and then deliberatey harm them?

As a small aside, I recently befriended a woman on a chronic illness site who was having dark thoughts and gave her my phone number. After a short period of correspondence she confessed to having developed feelings for me which gave me an insight into how even a helping friendship could become grounds for some kind of abuse or at least the taking of advantage. This is not said to paint me as the guy with good morals as it left me wondering if there might be times my resolve might be tested or if I have any weak spots or could eventually feel like such a spiritual person that I justified my action on some grounds. What if I was in a position of feeling lonely and unloved myself? If it can happen to teachers with far more experience than me, I am just aware that it is something to be on guard for.

Buddha said that spiritual friends are the whole of the way and it is for each other to make sure we stay honest and down to earth at those times when we might even feel the temptation to stray from the road straight ahead. I am not sure that some of the people at the top of these organisations had enough spiritual friends who were capable of telling them when they were failing their students.

Gassho
Kokuu
-sattoday/lah-

[FaithMoon]

There is a group devoted to healing and preventing these sorts of breaches of trust in spiritual communities: http://www.faithtrustinstitute.org/healthy-boundaries

Faithmoon
st

[Joyo]

This is so sad. My heart breaks for the people this man abused.

Most definitely it is important to be cautious and not ever let people take advantage of you.

Gassho,
Joyo
sat today/lah

[FaithMoon]

The point we are at, IMO, is that the potential for abuse of power is very great, and that tools for dealing with this sort of temptation should be a part of every clergy's training. One can be an expert of shikantaza or koans or whatever and still not be trained in walking this razor's edge of temptation. I agree with Kokuu; I look for spiritual leaders who have a strong support system, including healthy support from outside of the organization they are leading.

Faithmoon
st

[Jundo]

I agree with Kokuu; I look for spiritual leaders who have a strong support system, including healthy support from outside of the organization they are leading.

Faithmoon
st

Hi Faithmoon,

That is very important, much as for psychiatrists who must have other psychiatrists they can talk to. It can be isolating to be a Buddhist teacher, so one must have one's own "friends along the way", other teachers and such, that one can talk to, confide in, seek advice from.

Also, within the Sangha, there must be a system of checks and balances, and other priests and members who can provide honest feed-back on how things are going, the behavior of the teacher and the direction of the Sangha. Apparently, in many of these cases of abuse, enthralled students just "went along", explaining the teacher's strange or abusive behavior as just a "teaching", and there were no controls from inside or outside.

Gassho, J

SatTodayLAH

[FaithMoon]

In conversations like this, I believe it is much more important to focus on how leaders can prevent abuses rather than how followers went along. There really is no need for each individual follower to figure this out anew each time a leader gets greedy. Clergy abuse is nothing new, but we alway act surprised when it happens. What is surprising is given the very real potential for abuse that there is very little oversight or training.

Faithmoon
st

[Kokuu]

Apparently, in many of these cases of abuse, enthralled students just "went along", explaining the teacher's strange or abusive behavior as just a "teaching", and there were no controls from inside or outside.

One of the problems in Tibetan Buddhism, especially in the context of tantric practice, is that the relationship between teacher and student is very strong and guru devotion is part of the practice, seeing the teacher as the Buddha himself. Teachers are known to use unorthodox methods to bring the student to awakening and students are encouraged to see even apparent abuse as expedient means to do that. With a good teacher this is fine, but it is not hard to see how it could be abused and Sogyal Rinpoche seemed to do that. Tantric Buddhism can also include sexual practices, a fact which teachers have also exploited. It did amaze me that the nun who Rinpoche punched in front of a crowd managed to justify it as a part of her training in her head. This seems to be the behaviour of someone in a cult who has lost the ability to think rationally.

We know from stories of past Zen masters that some of the methods used to awaken students such as grabbing their nose firmly or pushing them into a river. Such things if not done with a mind of bodhicitta are not exactly pleasant things to do to a student and would hopefully arouse suspicion in a modern setting.

Gassho
Kokuu
-sattoday/lah-

[Eishuu]

I think any situation where there is a power imbalance in the relationship puts the responsibility a little more on the person in the more powerful position not to exploit it. Also I think spiritual/religious groups sometimes also attract some vulnerable people. People who have been in abusive relationships in the past may fall into them again and be attracted to abusive situations and be unable to defend themselves appropriately. I saw an interesting video yesterday in which it was explained that in abuser-abused relationships, the abused person may not be able to 'repel' the abuser as a healthy functioning adult might. The video was to help people who didn't understand that the 'abused' may not be functioning as a 'normal adult' with appropriate boundaries because they had been worn down by manipulation and become bonded to the abuser in a kind of Stockholm Syndrome way or because of their past. I think it is right that policies and support structures need to be put in place to prevent things like this from happening.

Gassho
Lucy
ST/LAH

[Jundo]

In conversations like this, I believe it is much more important to focus on how leaders can prevent abuses rather than how followers went along. There really is no need for each individual follower to figure this out anew each time a leader gets greedy. Clergy abuse is nothing new, but we alway act surprised when it happens. What is surprising is given the very real potential for abuse that there is very little oversight or training.

Faithmoon
st


I think any situation where there is a power imbalance in the relationship puts the responsibility a little more on the person in the more powerful position not to exploit it. Also I think spiritual/religious groups sometimes also attract some vulnerable people.

I agree with all of the above so much. The responsibility is found in the abusive leader, plus the people of power in a religious organization who are excusers and enablers. The victims are victims.

And yet, I also want folks to keep their eyes open. Don't be fooled. The victims are not responsible, but neither should they be easy pushovers.

As to "oversight and training", there is much more than in the past, and much more awareness among western Buddhists of the need for this. However, alas, I still don't believe that it is enough.

Gassho, J

SatTodayLAH

[FaithMoon]

It is not just those directly involved who are hurt. I was once chatting with a sincere young man who was a follower of Seung Sahn and I off handedly referenced his sexual behavior with students and the young man was really stunned and hurt; it was so at odds with his teacher's public image.

What parishioners can do when considering joining a congregation/sangha is to ask up front if there is a teacher's code of conduct and if there is a process for reviewing breaches of conduct.

My view is that devotion and desire can be used in spiritual training but it is sort of like the nuclear option. There are so many ways it can go wrong.

BTW it is not just sex and violence that can be and often are problems, but also substance abuse and financial impropriety. I heard about a teacher who died recently from opioid overdose. With the current epidemic, I doubt this will be the last.

Faithmoon
st

[Jundo]

What parishioners can do when considering joining a congregation/sangha is to ask up front if there is a teacher's code of conduct and if there is a process for reviewing breaches of conduct.



Hi Faithmoon.

An excellent suggestion.

Just for the record, here is ours. However, as far as I know, it has never been put to the test. I think the content is standard, as it is modeled on the policies and procedures of several noted Sanghas.

http://www.treeleaf.org/forums/showthread.php?7607-Treeleaf-Ethics-Committee-%28-Complaint-Box-%29

Are the events surrounding Maezumi Roshi and his students openly discussed with newer folks at ZCLA, in your experience?

Gassho, Jundo

SatTodayLAH

[FaithMoon]

Are the events surrounding Maezumi Roshi and his students openly discussed with newer folks at ZCLA, in your experience?


I have sat at various (female led) White Plum centers over the years and Maezumi's conduct has always been discussed openly.

If anyone is wondering what Jundo is referring to, the book What Is Buddhist Enlightenment? by Dale S. Wright has a pretty full accounting in chapter 6.

Faithmoon
st

[Kyonin]

Thank you for this post, Jundo.

I have always wondered how is it that people suspend their reason when in the presence of a supposedly enlightened master that clearly is no being ethical. I know they are humans too, but for some reason they are so magnetic and charismatic that seems almost volitional how people just bow to them.

In my opinion we must cherish our teaches, respect them and listen to them. But there are some aspects of basic human dignity that no one, not even a master, should ever trespass.

I will read the article again and will watch the documentary.

Very interesting and lots of learning.

Gassho,

Kyonin
Sat/LAH