Best-Selling Buddhist Author of the Tibetan Book of Living and Dying Accused of Sexual Abuse in the States(Reprint)

Published:2012/06/10    07：47

(By the True Heart News interviewing team in Taipei)Chairman Zhang Gongpu of the True Enlightenment Education Foundation remarks that, in recent years, lamas (including many well-known ones) practicing copulation tantra are reported all over the world. In last report, we talked about Lama Ole Nydahl, who propagates tantric sex widely in Europe. Now, let's talk about the famous Lama Sogyal Rinpoche, author of the Tibetan Book of Living and Dying. His female followers accused him of sexual abuse in the United States.

In the book The Sexual World of Lamas, an article reported by Don Lattin in the Free Press (San Francisco) on Nov. 10th, 1994 is quoted:

$10 million civil suit filed in Santa Cruz by a woman who says Sogyal Rinpoche, author of the Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, "coerced" her into an intimate relationship

According to the lawsuit, an anonymous woman identified only as "Janice Doe" came to Rinpoche for spiritual guidance last year at a retreat sponsored by the Rigpa Fellowship meditation center in Santa Cruz, but was "coerced into an intimate relationship" with the Tibetan guru. (Retrieved from
http://www.well.com/conf/media/SF_Free_Press/nov11/SF_Free_Press.htm
http://www.well.com/conf/media/SF_Free_Press/index.html)

Chairman Zhang explains that lamas, gurus or living “Buddhas" of Tibetan "Buddhism" always lure people into practicing the copulation tantra in the name of "spiritual guidance, benediction, empowerment, etc." For instance, according to the Dalai Lama, one must have physical sexual partners to attain great achievement. The Dalai Lama says:

“In Guhyasamaja, in the section related to entering into union with a consort, it is said that if the consort is an action seal, a live consort, visualizing deities on her body becomes an actual body mandala practice. But if one is entering into union with a visualized consort, it does not.”(Dalai Lama XIV, The Union of Bliss and Emptiness, Snow Lion Publications, New York, 1988, p. 73-74)

The Free Press also reported:

“Sogyal claimed (she) would be strengthened and healed by having sex with him and that to be hit by a lama was a blessing," the lawsuit states.

Chairman Zhang says this is a favorite trick consistently used by Tibetan "Buddhist" lamas or gurus. They claim to be able to enhance practice through sexual union and lure many ill-informed females into bed with them to practice the copulation tantra. The Dalai Lama also advocates this in his book:

In Highest Yoga Tantra, even the first step of receiving empowerment is possible only on the basis of the presence of a complete assembly of male and female deities.”…

In such cases of union, if the realization of one of the partners is more advanced, he or she is able to bring about the release, or actualization of the resultant state, of both practitioners.” (A Survey of Paths of Tibetan Buddhism, under the section of "Women and Buddhism")

With the same trick, Master Shenglun sexually assaulted a female follower last year (2011) in Taiwan. He is also a qualified living “Buddha,” certified by a Sakya Dharma King as the Tibetan “Buddhist” Rinpoche Kunga Rinchen Dorje.

The judicial police found that a bhiksuni, who was in charge of the general affairs in the temple, was a sex broker. She introduced female adherents to Master Shenglun to let him sexually abused them. The victims accused her of having brainwashed them into believing “it is a blessing from the Master.” This is really pathetic and just goes to show, whether in Taiwan or in the States, lamas all exercise the same trick. As the fundamental doctrine of Tibetan "Buddhism" is the sexual union, the practice of copulation tantra is inevitable and the sexual abuses are definitely not isolated cases.

The Free Press further stated:

The suit -- which accuses Rinpoche of fraud, assault and battery, infliction of emotional distress and breach of fiduciary duty -- also charges that the Tibetan lama has "seduced many other female students for his own sexual gratification."

To satisfy his/her sexual desire is essentially the core practice that a Tibetan "Buddhist" guru must carry out. The Dalai Lama advocates in his book, The Dalai Lama at Harvard, that due to the nature of the response of our physical body, the different levels of consciousness would then be subject to change. The strongest change in the level of consciousness that can be utilized by a practitioner occurs during sex. Because of this fact, sex is used as a technique of tantric path.

The Free Press also reported:

Sandra Pawula, spokeswoman for the Rigpa Fellowship of Santa Cruz, one of many meditation centers in the United States, Europe and Australia, declined to comment about the allegations, but said that Rinpoche is not married and does not claim to be a celibate monk. Rinpoche, who lives abroad, could not be reached for comment.

This is exactly one of the lamas’ typical tactics: first to extol themselves to be pure precept holders with high levels of attainment in practice; then, once the sex scandals hit the headlines, a spokesperson would make an excuse or untrue statement such as “Rinpoche is not married and does not claim to be a celibate monk...” In addition, after the exposure of the sex scandals, the tantric lamas in trouble will immediately leave the country. This same scenario happens in Taiwan as well. The most well-known case is probably Linla Rinpoche, an Abbot Khenpo from a Dzogchen Monastery of Tibetan “Buddhism.” He sexually assaulted more than twenty females, forcing the victims to perform oral sex and swallow his semen, which he claimed to be the “white bodhi” (semen) especially granted to the female disciples. After the scandal broke out on July 14, 2006, Linla Rinpoche immediately left Taiwan to avoid criminal prosecution. He also instigated other tantric members to denounce the accusers and he himself refused to make any statements on the scandal in an attempt to let the case bygone and fade away.

Another similar case happened with Sogal Rinpoche. Sogyal Rinpoche not only sexually abused one woman, but many other females were also his victims.

The Free Press further reported:

Another woman allegedly abused by Rinpoche, Victoria Barlow of New York City, said she is “disgusted by the way the Tibetans have manipulated the reverence Westerners have for the Buddhist path.” Barlow, 40, said she first met Rinpoche in the mid-1970s, when she was 21, and that she was sexually exploited by him during meditation retreats in New York and Berkeley. “I went to an apartment to see a highly esteemed lama and discuss religion,” she said in an interview with the Free Press. “He opened the door without a shirt on and with a beer in his hand.” Once they were on the sofa, Barlow said, the Tibetan “lunged at me with sloppy kisses and groping.” “I though I should take it as the deepest compliment that he was interested and basically surrender to him,” she said. . . . “The Dalai Lama has known about this for years and done nothing. There is a real code of secrecy and silence,” said Barlow.
Retrieved from http://www.well.com/conf/media/SF_Free_Press/nov11/guru.html)

From the aforementioned report, we clearly see that Sogyal Rinpoche sexually abused women and this kind of vile behavior stems entirely from the teaching of the sexual Couple-Practice Tantra in Tibetan “Buddhism.” Indeed, there is a real code of secrecy and silence in Tibetan “Buddhism.” For example, the Dalai Lama says in his book that "the practice of Tantrism should be conducted in secret." (Dalai Lama XIV/translated by Huang Chilin, Love in Perfection,China Times Publishing Company, September 1, 1991, 1st edition, pp. 149)

Certainly, the Dalai Lama must have known about the notorious sex scandals of all the lamas over the years. Given that the sexual “Highest Yoga Tantra” is the fundamental tenet of Tibetan “Buddhism” and the Dalai Lama himself has repeatedly furthered the propagation in his books, he can only turn a deaf ear and blind eye to these scandals in an attempt to let them be forgotten by the public.

Lastly, Chairman Zhang indicates that many female adherents in Tibetan “Buddhism” are actually lamas’ female consorts, which is still a secret to most people. In reality, the sex scandals divulged to the public are merely the tip of the iceberg. Many more sexual assault cases committed by lamas have not yet been brought to light. Hopefully, the general public can beware of Tibetan “Buddhism” and warn friends, relatives, and family members to stay away from this sex cult. (Reported by the Interviewing Team)20120610

Editor’s Note:

This article is an English version of the Chinese edition published on

March 21, 2012.

Copied from True Enlightenment Education Foundation  http://foundation.enlighten.org.tw/trueheart_en/31

The Enlightenment Practitioners Association   http://www.enlighten.org.tw/trueheart_en/31