The case of Sogyal Rinpoche
Sex Scandals In Religion, Episode Three:
In The Name Of Enlightenment
directed by Debi Goodwin.
An image of peace, meditation, gentle
respect. Not serial sex abuse. But accusations of tawdry sexual exploitation
are breaking out all over, threatening the elevated status of this
beautiful religion. One of the Dalai Lama's star protégés, the author of
one of the most powerful and popular books in the history of Buddhism, and
the leader of a global network of holy centers,
has left a wake of damaged women. Until now, they have been kept silent.
Speaking out for the first time in this documentary, they accuse him of
seduction, physical assault and moral deceit. It’s an extraordinary story
of sexual aggression, spiritual arrogance and avoidance of moral
leadership...to the very top
Trailer:
www.cogentbenger.com/docs/sexscandalsinreligion/inthenameofenlightenment/
Sunday Times 12. Juni 2011
Bad Karma – Rigpa’s
Sogyal
by Gabrielle Monaghan
Buddhist Leader faces claims
of sex exploitation
made by woman who was asked
to undress
The
Tibetan spiritual director of a Buddhist Centre in Cork, has been accused of sexual exploitation by two women
in a new documentary. Sogyal Rinpoche,
who is in Ireland
this week to lead a nine-day retreat, is the founder of the Rigpa movement, which has 130 centres
worldwide. Its Dzogchen Beara
centre in west Cork is listed as a tourist
destination by Tourism Ireland
and was visited by President Mary McAleese in
2007.
Complaints against the Buddhist master were
raised in In The Name Of Enlightenment, part of
a documentary series broadcast on Canadian television last month. The
allegations of physical and sexual assault follow a $10m (€7m) US lawsuit
filed against Rinpoche in 1994 for alleged
physical, mental and sexual abuse. In the case, which was settled out of
court, an anonymous woman claimed she was “coerced into an intimate
relationship” having visited Rinpoche on a Connecticut retreat
following the death of her father. No details of the settlement have
emerged. Rinpoche is the author of The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying.
He also played a starring role alongside Keanu Reeves in the 1993 film
Little Buddha.
A
woman identified as “Mimi” in the documentary said she met Rinpoche at the age of 22 when she began working at a Rigpa centre in France in 2000 to be near her
father. She became an “attendant” to Rinpoche
after passing what she took to be a “test of devotion” to join a group of
women close to the spiritual teacher. “Women close to Rinpoche
were considered to have good karma,” she said in the documentary. “After
working at the centre for two months, I was invited into his room. He ordered
me to undress, which I thought was a test of devotion“. Some Buddhist
masters have this crazy wisdom where they use beatings as a way to open
your chakras and open your way to enlightenment.
If he beats you or has sex with
you, he’s actually opening your path to enlightenment
“He
asked me to swear never to speak about it to any one. I f I talked about
it, it would sever this connection. I feel very sad because I lost myself
and I was in a group of girls who had lost themselves even more.”
A London spokeswoman for
Rigpa said Rinpoche has
been aware of the allegations in the documentary and takes them “very
seriously.” “Consistent with the Buddhist values that Sogyal
Rinpoche up holds, Rinpoche
respects and cares for all of his students past and present, without
exception,” she said. “Rinpoche is deeply
saddened to learn of anyone who has less than good memories of their time
as a student even if they are only few in number. “We do not consider it
helpful to enter into a public debate via a television program about the
experiences of any individual. We have full confidence in the sincerity,
authenticity and conduct of Sogyal Rinpoche as a Buddhist teacher. We have only ever seen
him act for the benefit of other people, and with their best interests at heart.
None the less any allegations of inappropriate behavior are taken seriously
by the organization.”
In
a Sunday Times article in 2009, a spokesman for Rigpa
described allegations of sexual exploitation against Rinpoche
as “uncorroborated and without evidence”.
Victoria
Barlow, who has spoken to newspapers of her experiences with Rinpoche, also featured in the documentary. Speaking
from her home in Manhattan, she said she
began a sexual relationship with Rinpoche in America
in 1976. She met him in New York
City after studying Buddhism in Dharamsala, the Indian home of the Dalai Lama. She said
she sought out spiritual guidance after encountering sexual abuse as a
child and was invited to his apartment. “He sat really close to me and
started stroking my cheek. Then he was lying on me. I was stunned…fool that
I was, I thought that it must be a blessing. But it was not remotely tantric or meaningful. He conned me.”
Mary
Finnigan, a British journalist and Buddhist, said
she has been compiling a dossier on Rinpoche for
16 years because she regrets helping him to launch his career in London. “Sogyal’s promiscuity was obvious to every one in the
mid-1970s in the Buddhist community and that’s what he has been doing
systematically ever since,” she said. “But he puts on a good show. He
offers people a dumbed-down version o
Buddhism which appeals to people who want a quick fix.”
Source: bad-karma-by-gabrielle-monaghan-sunday-times-june-12-2011-rigpas-sogyal/
For further information on Sogyal and Rigpa please
follow these links:
Lama sex abuse claims call
Buddhist taboos into question
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2011/jul/01/lama-sex-abuse-sogyal-rinpoche-buddhist
Shock at Lama Sogyal Rinpoche’s past
http://dialogueireland.wordpress.com/2009/07/05/shock-at-lama-sogyal-rinpoches-past/
Briefing document on Sogyal Rinpoche
http://dialogueireland.wordpress.com/2009/04/07/briefing-document-on-sogyal-rinpoche/
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