Addressing Abuse in Buddhist Communities
In 2019, Dharmadatta Community’s main teacher, Damcho, was approached by a group of women who had been sexually assaulted and abused by Dagri Rinpoche, a Tibetan lama close to the Dalai Lama. All of the women were nuns at the time they were assaulted by Dagri, ostensibly himself a celibate monk. Ten years after two women had reported being assaulted by him to the senior-most authorities of the FPMT, one of the largest Tibetan Buddhist organizations internationally, the FPMT was still actively promoting him as a holy being and hosting him in their Dharma centers. The women asked Damcho to work with them as an ally and advocate as they sought to prevent other women from being harmed by him, and to hold the FPMT accountable for knowingly promoting a sexual predator for a decade and putting more women in harm’s way. (As a result of their efforts, the FPMT acknowledged that Dagri had abused, but did not take responsibility for having known, enabled and failed to stop that behavior, and has since begun publishing photos of him welcomed back into FPMT spaces.)
The process of working with those women, as well as other advocates and allies supporting survivors of abuse by Buddhist teachers, was a rude awakening as to the extent of abuse in Buddhist communities and the resistance of those communities to address the abuse. Damcho began to be approached by survivors of abuse by other Buddhist teachers and it swiftly became clear that abuse was happening all across Buddhism. The issue was driven home in 2021, when multiple allegations of abuse emerged against her own root teacher, the Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje. As a result, Dharmadatta Community itself underwent the painful experience that so many Tibetan Buddhist communities have undergone in recent years.
The conditions that have allowed abuse to take place in so many disparate Buddhist communities are no doubt complex and require careful investigation. Certainly, we find many such conditions in any community that concentrates power and authority – spiritual or otherwise – in one person’s hands, holds that figure up by structures and practices that position everyone else in the community around them as dependents looking to them for protection, guidance and other goods, thereby making everyone invested in keeping the figure intact and powerful above them. We see again and again that in such communities, abuse happens, is often misidentified as beneficial to the subordinate and is silenced or covered up because the entire community depends on the reputation and safety of the person at the top. Witness the strong discouragement of criticizing our teachers of Dharma siblings (including in Vajrayana communities the threat of a social hell for those who do so) and the admonishment against dividing the sangha, an act taught to have its own harsh karmic consequences.
No matter the gender of the person at the top, such structures are inherently patriarchal and inevitably harmful. And this is precisely how Dharma communities are most often structured. Dharmadatta Community is deeply committed to practicing Buddhism as an antipatriarchal path and constructing an anti-patriarchal (and antiracist and anticlassist) community. This is a long-term and ongoing effort. However, in the short term, one condition enabling abuse that we can address immediately is our silence. This is what we are doing on this page and in our community: speaking openly about abuse.
We believe that prevention requires us to create a culture in which abuse is discussed and acknowledged as an issue that is endemic to Buddhist communities. Such prevention also requires education in identifying the conditions that have made abuse a recurring feature of the life of Tibetan Buddhist communities, and collective reflection as to the presence of those conditions in our own specific practice communities. Given that abuse does and has happened, we need collective orientation in responding to allegations when they do arise, on an individual and collective level. Dharmadatta Community is committed to a survivor-centered response, even as we acknowledge that abuse also has a devastating effect on the entire community in various ways.
To that end, Dharmadatta Community has an ongoing series of public dialogues around abuse in Buddhist communities and shares this resource page, in hopes that bringing in air and light will help heal the wounds already opened, prevent further harm in our communities and thus allow Dharma communities to fulfill their promise to serve as true refuges.
A note to survivors:
As you seek to come to terms with your experience, and to heal or seek justice or accountability, two of the options you have available, should they be right for you, are to: 1) connect with the Heartwood Support Group for Survivors and find a community of others who understand what it means to under what is means to survive abuse by a trusted teacher, meeting monthly in online meetings, once a year in person and offering a wealth of other resources for healing, and 2) contact McAllister Olivarius to explore your options for pursuing a lawsuit against the individual who harmed you or the organization that failed its duty to protect you from abuse. And please see our section below on other resources recommended by survivors specifically for other survivors.
Videos to Watch
Conversations with:
Ajahn Sujato, Theravada Monk and Senior Teacher – “The Buddha’s Advice on Sexual Abuse in the Sangha”
Ann Gleig and Amy Langenberg, Scholars investigating abuse in Buddhism – “Supporting Survivors of Abuse”
Bhikshu Tenzin Peljor, Tibetan Buddhist Monk – “Preventing Abuse: Can Gurus be Infallible?”
Carol Merchasin, Lawyer working on abuse in Buddhist – “Holding Buddhist Organizations Responsible”
Grace Schireson, Zen Priest, Author and Psychologist – “Identifying Dysfunction in the Teacher-Student Relationship”
Lama WIlla Baker, Buddhist Teacher – ” Abuse by Buddhist Teachers – Understanding it, Surviving it”
Lama Willa Baker – “Survivor’s Psychology”
Rachel Montgomery, Survivor, Ally and Public Health Professional – “Healing from Abuse”
The above videos from Dharmadatta series, made possible by funding by Hemera Foundation’s Healthy Buddhist Communities Grant.
“Abuse, Sex and the Sangha: A Series of Healing Conversations,” examines multiple dimensions of abuse in Buddhist contexts and articulates best practices for building safe and inclusive sanghas. Hosted and moderated by Ann Gleig and Amy Langenberg, two scholars investigating abuse in Buddhist contexts through a survivor-centered lens.
“Start by Believing” (Pam Rubin) Lion’s Roar
Initiatives to Explore
Resilient Sangha Project * Highly recommended as one of the most comprehensive explorations of responding to and preventing abuse, created by Greater Boston Zen Center after facing teacher abuse. Although designed for a Zen community, most of the dynamics it describes apply similarly to Tibetan Buddhist contexts.
Healing Our Sanghas * A community-based initiative to create a space to speak about the impact of allegations of abuse against the Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje in partnership with Ann Gleig and Amy Langenberg.
Buddhist Healthy Boundaries * An online course that every Buddhist teacher, leader and board members is advised to take.
Inform * UK-based organization engaged in research and education around harm done by Buddhism and other minority religious organizations
Heartwood Support Group for Survivors of Buddhist Teacher Abuse * Resources for survivors, including counseling and a monthly support group
German Monk’s Blog on Cult Dynamics in Tibetan Buddhism * Includes considerable discussion of abuse by Buddhist teachers
Hemera Grant to support initiatives for Healthy Buddhist Communities
Religion and Sexual Abuse Project * Research and educational initiative including Buddhist studies scholars Ann Gleig and Amy Langenberg
Buddhist Project Sunshine * This courageous survivor-driven initiative tore the mask from Shambhala’s main teacher Sakyong Mipham, and effectively initiated a reckoning with abuse in multiple Tibetan Buddhist communities.
McAllister Olivarius * Highly respected international law firm with an active legal practice dedicated to representing survivors of abuse by Buddhist teachers and gurus and clergy from other traditions.
Downloadable guidelines on Ethics in Buddhist Communities with a section on clergy abuse (Alan Senauke, ed.)
Documentary Films to Watch
Buddhism, The Law of Silence: Abuse in Tibetan Buddhism – A hard-hitting documentary by that details abuse of children in one Tibetan Buddhist community and covers abuse by Sogyal Rinpoche and details the response of the Dalai Lama when allegations were brought to him.
Articles to Read
“Breaking the Silence on Sexual Misconduct” (Lama Willa Baker) Lion’s Roar
“The Buddha Would Have Believed You” (Ajahn Sujato) Lion’s Roar
“Sexual Violations in American Buddhism” (Ann Gleig)
“How Sexual Misconduct Shatters Spiritual Communities” (Barbara Gray) BuddhistDoor Global
“How Buddhists Can Address Abuse” (Michael Slater) Lion’s Roar
“Abuse and Buddhism: Behind the Smiling Façade” (Anna Sawerthal)
“Us Too” (Trudy Goodman) Lion’s Roar
“Confronting Abuse: Be Proactive” (An Olive Branch) Lions Roar
“Sexual Ethics and Healthy Boundaries in the Wake of Teacher Abuse” (Ann Gleig and Amy Langenberg) Lion’s Roar
Exploring the teacher-student relationship
“Unmasking the Guru” (Bernhard Pörksen) Tricycle
“Our Teachers are Not Gods” (Rob Preece) Lion’s Roar
“What Went Wrong” (Tibetan psychologist Lobsang Rapgay) Tricycle
“Samaya as Symbiotic Relationship” (Damcho Diana Finnegan) Lion’s Roar
“Will Sanghas Learn from the Scandals in the Buddhist World?” (Wendy Biddlecombe Agsar) Tricycle
“Why I Quit Guru Yoga” (Stephen Batchelor) Tricycle
Two videos mentioned above explore this as well: “Identifying Dysfunction in the Teacher-Student Relationship” and “Can Gurus be Fallible?”
Facing cult-like dynamics or coercive relationships in your community
“How to Spot a Buddhist Cult” (Upasaka HL Wei)
“Advice for Women in a Secret Sexual Relationship with their Teacher” (Lama Willa Baker) Lion’s Roar
“Cultic Experiences: The Untold Consequences and how to find Healing” (Nina Drew)
“Walking Free from Cultic, Coercive, and Spiritual Abuse” (Tenzin Peljor)
Books to Read
Travelers in Space: Gender, Identity and Tibetan Buddhism, first published in 1996, with a revised edition issued by Bloomsbury in 2018. June Campbell was widely attacked in Buddhist circles when she began to speak of the sexual “relationship” she was encouraged to engage in with her teacher, the First Kalu Rinpoche. Her nuanced book-length exploration of that experience was path-breaking.
Two books reporting on the abuse by Sogyal have been published: Sex and Violence in Tibetan Buddhism: The Rise and Fall of Sogyal Rinpoche (Mary Finnigan and Rob Hogendoorn; 2019, Jorvik Press) and Fallout: Recovering form Abuse in Tibetan Buddhism (Tahlia Newland; 2019, Alkira Publishing)
News Coverage of Allegations by Reputable Media
(As a community practicing Tibetan Buddhism, this website only includes allegations against teachers in Tibetan Buddhism lineages.
As you will see, teachers from all four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism have had published allegations made against them.
These are by no means the only allegations that have been made public,
nor are these the only teachers within Tibetan Buddhist lineages alleged to have abused their students.
This list is limited to allegations covered by established news organizations, and to senior teachers holding recognized lineages.
At present, we are not covering the many people whose authorization to teach is unclear
who have been alleged to abuse students or were charged criminally for having done so. .
Note that we use the names by which teachers are most widely known and this does not constitute an evaluation of their worthiness of their titles.
Check back, as this list is growing. And do contact us if we have overlooked important media coverage.)
Choga Rinpoche, a Dzogchen (Nyingma) teacher based in Portland Oregon, subject of a criminal investigation and civil suit places by two of his students. reported by The Daily Beast, KVAL News (TV interview of survivors), The Daily Mail and Buddhistdoor Global, among others. See also our interview with one of the survivors and plaintiffs in that suit here.
Chogyam Trungpa, a Karma Kagyu teacher and founder of Shambhala. Reported in the Denver Post, Canadian Broadcast Company, The Walrus, Tricycle and elsewhere.
Dagri Rinpoche, a Gelug reincarnate lama and senior teacher within the FPMT. Reported by Lion’s Roar, Tricycle, and Buddhistdoor Global. Multiple Indian and Tibetan news outlets also covered his arrest on criminal charges of sexual molestation in India. A detailed report of the findings of an independent investigation can be read here and a summary issued by some of the survivors can be read here.
Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje, head of the Karma Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism. Allegations reported by Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s Radio Canada, Tricycle, Lion’s Roar and Buddhistdoor Global. Links to other coverage on this community-based website.
Lama Choedak Rinpoche, a Sakya lama and founder of Sakya Losal Choedzong in Canberra, Australia. Allegations of sexual misconduct and his apology reported by Buddhist Channel TV with coverage initially by the Canberra Times (article not online.)
Lama Norlha, a Karma Kagyu teacher sued for raping and abusing female students for over a decade at what is now called Palpung Thubten Choling in upstate New York. Reported by Times Union, a Hearst Newspaper. Additional coverage from Lion’s Roar, Tricycle, and Buddhistdoor Global.
Lama Surya Das, a Dzogchen (Nyingma) teacher born in the US and accused by numerous female students. Reported by the Religion News Service newswire and Buddhistdoor Global.
Sakyong Mipham, originally a Karma Kagyu teacher, Dharma heir to his father Chogyam Trungpa (also on this list) and then head of Shambhala. Reported by the Denver Post, New York Times, The Guardian and Tricycle, among others. See too this article in the Columbia Journalism Review on how the allegations were first made public.
Sogyal Rinpoche, a Nyingma teacher and head of Rigpa, one of the largest international organizations in Tibetan Buddhism. Reported by New York Times, the BBC, The Daily Beast, the Tibet Sun and many others, with Lion’s Roar publishing an open letter from his students calling out his widespread abuse. See above for two books detailing abuse within Rigpa.
Especially for Survivors, Recommended by Other Survivors
The following are resources that survivors of abuse by Buddhist teachers particularly recommend as helpful to survivors.
(This section is under construction and is being developed collaboratively among survivors.)
Books
Truth and Repair: How Trauma Survivors Envision Justice (Judith Herman)
Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence (Judith Herman)
