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Buddhist Clergy Sexual Abuse:
Annotated Bibliography
Extract from Clergy Sexual Abuse: Annotated Bibliography of
Conceptual and Practical Resources by James S. Evinger - Rochester, NY - July 10, 2002,
5th revision.
Adam, Enid. (1998). Echoes of Nalinika: A monk in the dock. Journal of
Buddhist Ethics, (5):261-276. [Internet: Journal of Buddhist Ethics
website. http://jbe.la.psu.edu/5/Adam981]
Adam is with the department of religion and philosophy, Edith Cowan University, Australia.
From a first-person point of view as a consultant for the government
prosecutor. Reports on the trial in 1997 of Pannasara Kahatapitiye, a
Buddhist monk from Sri Lanka
who was practicing the Sinhalese tradition at a monastery in Perth, Western
Australia. He was charged with five counts of
sexual penetration without consent and six counts of indecent assault. His
accusers were two women who came to him for astrological chart readings,
and then returned for his counseling and assistance related to problems he
had identified in the readings, including health and relationship concerns.
Both had trusted his role as a monk and his respected reputation in the
community, and thus were more susceptible to his sexual behaviors that,
while contrary to the Buddhist monastic vows, he rationalized by reassuring
references to his monk’s role. The defense tried to discredit the two as
part of a political plot by Sri Lankan enemies to have him discredited and
returned to his homeland so he could be harmed. He was convicted by a jury
on all 11 counts, sentenced to four years in prison and to deportation upon
completion of jail time.
Aitken, Robert. (1996). “Brahmadana,
Intervention, and Related Considerations: A Think Piece.” Essay in Original Dwelling Place:
Zen Buddhist Essays. Washington,
D.C: Counterpoint: 160-170. By a senior Zen roshi in the U.S. who since 1959 has
practiced and taught at the Diamond Sangha in Hawai‘i which he and his wife
established. An essay written in 1995. Explores the phenomenon of the
Buddhist teacher who sexually exploits his students as a violation of the
third of the Pañcha Shila, the Five Precepts that Buddhists vow to follow:
“I take up the way of not misusing sex.” The Buddhist teacher who is a
sexual abuser: 1.) displays attachment; 2.) conceals Dharma from the
student; 3.) manipulates transference to create an ultimate kind of
loyalty. He recognizes the inherent vulnerability of a student: “To be
vulnerable, to be naïve -- that is the Tao.” Identifies as factors:
meaningful consent by a student vs. dynamics of transference to the
teacher; power differential between men and women historically and
culturally; the difference between “a one-time incident, ...a love affair
between the Buddhist teacher and student” and “willful actions that stand
in for love but that are actually ruthlessly exploitative.” As
interventions, explores: 1.) the possibility of brahmadanda, i.e. shunning,
by the abuser’s colleagues; 2.) an intervention analogous to that in the
case of a substance abuser; 3.) informing those in a position of authority,
e.g. senior members of the sangha or the sangha’s board. The goal of an
intervention is “to encourage the liberation of the teacher, as well as
those for whom he has caused trouble.” In a case where an “appeal to
compassion and ordinary decency” fail, he allows for a lawsuit and the
setting aside of the “traditional Buddhist distrust of the adversarial
approach to the conflict.” Calls for the sangha to support financially the
therapeutic treatment of the victim. Calls for regular sharing meetings in
a sangha to create a safe setting in which betrayal can be disclosed by a
student. His analysis of Zen history points to multiple factors related to
the occurrence of sexual abuse by teachers: women historically were shut
out of positions of power; there is a failure to address the power of
sexuality, and where it is addresses, it is trivialized or exploitation
is minimized.
Anthony, Dick, Ecker, Bruce
& Wilber, Ken.
(Eds.). (1987). Spiritual Choices: The Problem of
Recognizing Authentic Paths to Inner Transformation. New
York: Paragon House Publishers, 375 pp. Anthony is a
psychologist and a disciple of Meher Baba; Ecker is a psychotherapist and a
disciple of Meher Baba, Berkeley,
California; Wilber is an
editor, New Science Library, Random House, and a student of Zen and
Vajrayana Buddhism. The book grew out of a seminar in 1980-81 (?) led by
Anthony at the Center for the Study of New Religious Movements, Graduate
Theological Union, Berkeley,
California. In Part 1,
Anthony and Ecker present a framework of concepts and criteria by which to
assess New Religious Movements, particularly those in the post-1960s U.S.,
and their leadership, beliefs, and practices for spiritual authenticity,
distortion, and psychopathology. The typology assesses a psychospiritual
group on three descriptive dimensions, each of which is divided into
bipolar categories: metaphysics -- monism or dualism; central mode of
practice -- technical or charismatic; interpretive sensibility -- unilevel
or multilevel. This typology is briefly applied to the issue of
master-disciple sexual relations which is framed as a question: “does a
master’s sexual behavior have implications regarding the master’s level of
spiritual realization and trustworthiness?”, p. 89. Three arguments are
presented to explain why: (1) serve as role model for transcending
conventional morality and going beyond the duality of good/evil; (2) play
with in freedom with sexual energy as cosmic recreation; (3) initiate a
disciple into higher consciousness through the avenue of sexual, or kundalini,
energy. The authors reject all three as implausible, pp. 89-91: (1)
promiscuity, like repression, is a non-transcending strategy, and the soul
purpose of a role model is to promote spiritual realization for others; (2)
physical sex does not enhance a perfect master’s already limitless ecstasy
or infinite bliss; (3) experience indicates this deception is spiritual
fraudulence and exploitation, that most female disciples describe the
effects of sexual intercourse with a master as a source of psychological
wounds and spiritual disillusionment. They liken master/disciple sex to
parent/child sex in terms of dynamics of trust, power differential, and
need. (This discussion refers to an earlier summary of the sexual conduct
of several spiritual masters with their devotees: Baba Muktananda, a Hindu
master; Richard Baker of the San Francisco Zen Center; Da Free John, pp.
22-24.)
Barol, Bill. (1988). Who is this Rama? Newsweek,
111(5, Feb. 1): 58-59. Reports that Frederick Lenz, known to his
followers as Zen Master Rama, of Malibu, California, and Stony
Brook, New York,
has been accused of emotionally and sexually coercing former followers.
Lenz is a former disciple of Hindu guru Sri Chinmoy. Includes statements
from two women who were sexually exploited.
Boucher, Sandy. (1988; 1993). Turning the Wheel: American Women Creating the New
Buddhism, updated and expanded edition. Boston,
MA: Beacon Press, 387 pp. Boucher is a
feminist and writer, Oakland,
California, who, in her 40s,
was introduced to Buddhist meditation. Wrote the book to explore the
“phenomenon of women’s participation in Buddhism in the United States today...” and to
create a “segment of history and a tool for change.” Considers a number of
themes and topics, including: a basic understanding of Buddhism for readers
with no background; feminist visions for new Buddhist practices; role of
nuns and women teachers; the problem of abuse of power, including sexual,
as experienced by women; Buddhist practice and political activism;
integrating Buddhist practice with family life, job, and community. Draws
upon numerous interviews with women throughout the U.S. See especially Chapter 5,
“Conspiracy of Silence: The Problem of the Male Teacher,” pp. 210-258.
Based on interviews, she tells the stories of: Jan Chozen Bays and her
experiences with Maezumi Roshi of the Los Angeles Zen Center where she was
living in 1983, the year his sexual relationship with her was disclosed;
Sonia Alexander who left the Cambridge, Massachusetts, Zen Center after the
news that the head, Master Seung Sahn, called Soen Sa Nim by students, had
had long-term sexual relationships with women in the Center; Loie
Rosenkrantz, formerly director of the Empty Gate Zen Center in Berkeley,
California, that was also founded by Soen Sa Nim, and her analysis of the
spiritual atmosphere after learning of his sexual activities; Carla Brennan
and her thoughtful analysis of these issues [see below, Brennan, Carla,
(1986).] Also interviews students of the Tibetan Buddhist teacher, Chögyam
Trungpa Rinpoche, the former head of the Vajradhatu religious community in Boulder, Colorado,
who was known for sexual relationships with students, and students of the San Francisco Zen Center
which was severely affected by the discovery in 1983 that Richard Baker,
the head, had had sexual relationships with students. See also ‘Painful
Lessons, a section of Chapter 6, “Living Together,” pp. 351-357. Mentions
of a series of incidents from California, Rhode Island, New York,
Maine, and Canada.
Brennan, Carla. (1986). “Sexual Power Abuse:
Neglect and Misuse of a Buddhist Precept.” Chapter in Hopkinson, Deborah,
Hill, Michelle & Kiera, Eileen. (Eds.). Not Mixing Up Buddhism: Essays
on Women and Buddhist Practice. Fredonia,
NY: White Pine Press, pp.
55-61. Brennan is a visual artist living in western Massachusetts. Briefly discusses
Buddhist teachers in the U.S.
who initiated sexual relationships with their students. Analyzes these
relationships as violations of the third Buddhist precept, but qualifies
that analysis: “...not every instance of sexual relations between teachers
and students constitutes sexual misconduct... It is the motivation behind a
sexual act that determines whether the precept has been broken.” Reports on
an instance of her being sexually harassed by a Zen teacher during a
seven-day retreat, and its impact on her. Identifies some factors that give
Zen teachers power in Western communities that can lead to sexual abuse:
hierarchical organization structures adopted from the East; myth of the
teacher’s infallibility; role of women in Western culture; students who are
dependent; complicity by silence. Calls for open discussion and for study
of the third precept.
Butterfield, Stephen T. (1994). The Double
Mirror: A Skeptical Journey into Buddhist Tantra. Berkeley,
CA: North Atlantic Books, 261 pp.
Butterfield is an English professor, Castleton State College, Castleton, Vermont.
Describes his experiences as a student of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, a
Tibetan guru of tantric or Vajrayana Buddhism who established Vajradhatu,
an organization in the U.S.
and several other countries. (Trungpa was born in 1940 in eastern Tibet, left as a refugee in the late 1950s,
and began teaching in the U.S.
in 1970. He was associated with the founding of Naropa Institute in Boulder, Colorado,
in 1974, and died in 1987.) One of Butterfield’s preceptors was Osel
Tendzin, Trungpa’s dharma heir, who “had AIDS, kept it secret, and infected
one of his many unknowing student lovers” (p. 6). Tendzin died in 1990. The
book is a critical reflection on Butterfield’s experiences of Vajrayana
teachings and practices, and his teachers. Chapter 9, “No Big Deal,” (pp.
103-117), reflects on sexuality and love in relation to Trungpa’s
teachings. While Trungpa and Tendzin “were both notorious for the number of
sexual partners, or ‘consorts,’ as they were called,” including their
students, his opinion is that only Tendzin violated the Mahayana commitment
and the Hinayana precepts of Vajrayana Buddhism. He does not criticize
either for sexualizing the teacher/student relationship.
Butler, Katy. (1983). Events are the
teacher: Working through the crisis at the San Francisco Zen
Center. CoEvolution
Quarterly, 40(Winter):112-123. Butler is
a reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle, and a student at the San Francisco Zen
Center, San Francisco, California.
A magazine-style, and occasionally first person-, account and analysis of
the crisis in the San Francisco Zen Center following actions by the Board
of Directors on 04/08-04/10/83 upon discovering that the Center’s abbot
since 1977, Zentatsu Baker-roshi (nee Richard Baker) had been sexually
active with women students, and that the relationships had damaged their
efforts to practice Zen. The Board requested Baker-roshi not to lead
services, give lectures, or perform the Jundo (silent morning walk).
He withdrew from the Center, but his continuing relationship was unclear at
the time of publication. The formal response included the Board choosing to
disclose more information to the community, and to invite the community to
engage in shared decision-making. Her analysis of what led to his behavior
includes a variety of factors: the leader being isolated by not receiving
feedback from a community of people who are emotionally dependent on the
leader; tacit collusion by the leadership to not voice suspicions about his
behaviors; uncritical respect for the concept of Dharma (teaching)
transmission, a concept that reinforced Baker-roshi as the heir of a line
of generations of Zen teachers; uncritical acceptance of an idealized image
of an enlightened person that focused on the person rather than specific
enlightened activities; a willingness to rely on trusting Japanese Zen’s
structure of hierarchy and practice of emotional distancing. News of
Baker-roshi’s acts disturbed the community in that he counseled against
deceit, manipulation, and harming another’s spiritual path. He taught that
the leaders were expected to set an example judged by tougher standards.
Campbell, June. (1996). Traveller in Space:
In Search of Female Identity in Tibetan Buddhism. New
York: George Braziller, Inc., 225 pp. Campbell
lives in Edinburgh, Scotland, lectures in women’s
studies, and teaches religious studies. The book examines the historical
and institutional context of Tibetan Buddhism as a means to analyze its
philosophy of female identity. Draws mainly from feminist thought and psychoanalysis
for her theoretical approaches. Describes the tulku system of
patriarchal lineage that combines spiritual and secular power in the lamas
or monks based on the power of male priests. Analyzes the divine birth of
the Dalai Lama as a devaluation of the birth mother, and by extension, all
women. Also explores the meaning and relevance of secret sexual practices
of Tibetan Buddhist Tantra, and issues of power and authority as they
relate to the subjugation of women. Chapter 6, “At One with the Secret
Other,” pp. 97-123, describes the centuries-old practice by celibate male
lamas of keeping a secret songyum, a female sexual consort. The
author was a secret songyum to a tulku-lama of the monastic
Kagyu order, Kalu Rinpoche, for several years. The songyum was an
integral part of the non-public Tantric rituals intended to use sexuality
to promote spirituality. This belief derived from the Hindu Tantric system.
Identifies cultural factors that contributed to women’s maintenance of the
secrecy: a sense of derived prestige and acquired holiness, and access to
spiritual opportunity. The mythologization of the beliefs and practices was
reinforced by threats and vows of silence which were used to silence women
within the patriarchal, closed system. While some lamas’ sexual practices
are disclosed in posthumous biographies, the songyum practice was
hidden in their lifetime because “ordinary people might misconstrue events,
and lose faith in the lama...” Preservation of the monastic system’s power
depended on the perception of the lama as superior beings, and therefore as
celibate. Contrasts the Tantric sexual beliefs and practices of Hinduism
and Tibetan Buddhism, particularly regarding the essence and role of the
female. Her conclusion is that Tibetan Buddhism has taught a dualistic,
male-centered system in which the otherness of the female is valued only
insofar as it is instrumental to the superiority of the male lamas. At
other points in the book, she discusses the willingness of contemporary
Western converts to submit uncritically in a student/lama relationship that
can lead to a cult-like devotion and result in sexual abuse. Includes:
bibliography, endnotes, and glossary. [For an interview with her, see
below, Tworkhov, Helen. (1996).]
Jenish, D’Arcy. (1990). A troubled church: A
Buddhist group recovers from controversy. MacLean’s, 103(44, Oct.
29):62. Newsweekly magazine report about the Vajradhatu International
Buddhist Church.
The church was founded by Chögyam Trungpa, is based on Tibetan Buddhism,
and has about 3,500 members in North America.
Trungpa died in 1986 after relocating the world headquarters from Boulder, Colorado, to
Halifax, Canada. In August, 1990,
Trungpa’s chosen successor, Osel Tendzin (formerly Thomas Rich), died of
AIDS-related pneumonia amid allegations that he had infected other church
members through his sexual activities with them.
Tworkhov, Helen. (1996). The emperor’s tantric
robes: An interview with June Campell on codes of secrecy and silence.
[http://www.anandainfo.com/trantric_robes] From Tricycle, Winter,
1996; pagination lacking. Tworkhov is not identified. Campell is the author
of Traveller in Space: In Search of Female Identity in Tibetan Buddhism.
[see above, Campbell, June. (1996)]. Interview topics include: her motivation
for writing the book; the place of women in Tibetan Buddhism; how misogyny
helped male monastic practice; the tulku system and the silencing of
women; secret relationships between llamas and women; her realization of
being sexually exploited by Kalu Rinpoche; those who criticize or discredit
her; advice for women in the position she once was in; power and the
Tibetan system of Buddhism.
See also: www.trimondi.de/EN/links.htm#SEXABUSE
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