Author Topic: DALAI LAMA ASSOCIATE DAGRI RINPOCHE ARRESTED FOR SEXUAL ASSAULT  (Read 49453 times)

Tracy

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Re: DALAI LAMA ASSOCIATE DAGRI RINPOCHE ARRESTED FOR SEXUAL ASSAULT
« Reply #45 on: May 14, 2019, 07:11:04 PM »
It has been a few days since Dagri Rinpoche's news on sexual harassment has surfaced. So far, the CTA and FPMT have not made any statement or announcement to clarify the issue or simply, to pacify people's mind. This is very typical of Tibetan establishment, keeping quiet.

By keeping quiet, the hope that people will forget about it and they can get away with it. It worked for many times in the past but not anymore. I think more and more women will come forward to report the misconduct of Dagri Rinpoche. I must say these women are brave because it is not easy to talk about it as they are reminded of the bad and disgusting experience again.

Dagri Rinpoche knew no one in the Tibetan community will say anything about it, not even FPMT, the Dalai Lama's office or the CTA.  Therefore, he continues to molest women in the organisation. Now that Ms. Jaikira  has revealed what Dagri Rinpoche has done, he has no choice but to send a notice to the public.

PrajNa

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Re: DALAI LAMA ASSOCIATE DAGRI RINPOCHE ARRESTED FOR SEXUAL ASSAULT
« Reply #46 on: May 15, 2019, 12:07:28 AM »
It has been a few days since Dagri Rinpoche's news on sexual harassment has surfaced. So far, the CTA and FPMT have not made any statement or announcement to clarify the issue or simply, to pacify people's mind. This is very typical of Tibetan establishment, keeping quiet.

By keeping quiet, the hope that people will forget about it and they can get away with it. It worked for many times in the past but not anymore. I think more and more women will come forward to report the misconduct of Dagri Rinpoche. I must say these women are brave because it is not easy to talk about it as they are reminded of the bad and disgusting experience again.

Dagri Rinpoche knew no one in the Tibetan community will say anything about it, not even FPMT, the Dalai Lama's office or the CTA.  Therefore, he continues to molest women in the organisation. Now that Ms. Jaikira  has revealed what Dagri Rinpoche has done, he has no choice but to send a notice to the public.

All I am interested in is what is FPMT going to do? Are they going to acknowledge the victims, apologise and accord the respect to these women by suspending Dagri Rinpoche? Are they going to give justice to the suffering of these women who suffered abuse from the teacher under their institution? What are they going to do to make sure that this doesn't happen again and not just to pacify public anger and disgust at this time.

SabS

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Re: DALAI LAMA ASSOCIATE DAGRI RINPOCHE ARRESTED FOR SEXUAL ASSAULT
« Reply #47 on: May 15, 2019, 12:49:08 AM »
Wow! Another exposé! How shocking that these "Rinpoche" can carry out sexual crimes against so many and yet Dharamsala and all those in position to do something just sweep it under the carpet. In allowing the continual sexual molestation of others for over 10 - 20 years is blatant participation of the act itself as you are allowing these crimes to continue. These Rinpoches are Lamas who are teaching and "famous", who are supposed to be guardians of Buddha's teachings and all the disciple's path to enlightenment. Yet, these "Rinpoches" take advantage of the disciples' total trust and ignorance of proper conduct to leave them in confusion, distrust and guilt. Dagri Rinpoche is the latest to be exposed and he is such a hypocrite to be able to criticise Dorje Shugden practitioners who practice in peace when he is the one breaking his major vows. What kind of lineage teachings and initiations is he transmitting? What are the disciples receiving? Who is going to hell? One who kept their vows in Dorje Shugden practice or the one who break their vows in harming another through their sexual molestations?

This should really wake up people to who the real practitioners of Dharma are. Dorje Shugden practitioners kept their vows to their Guru in keeping their Dorje Shugden practices which made them targets of abuse, ostracism, discriminations and many businesses are strongly encouraged to ban entry to the practitioners from entry for even the basic necessities. It is shaming of the Tibetan Leaders who were supposed to care for their people.

dsnowlion

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Re: DALAI LAMA ASSOCIATE DAGRI RINPOCHE ARRESTED FOR SEXUAL ASSAULT
« Reply #48 on: May 15, 2019, 12:56:09 AM »
Wow, look at what people are circulating on social media about Dagri! He sure is not getting away with this!
Found this on the article section here.
Quote
Shame on you Dagri, your crime is being exposed now. You will not get away with what you did to all those women and more truths will be revealed.
[/size]


dsnowlion

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Re: DALAI LAMA ASSOCIATE DAGRI RINPOCHE ARRESTED FOR SEXUAL ASSAULT
« Reply #49 on: May 15, 2019, 12:57:41 AM »
Other Buddhists are also VERY very ANGRY with him...

vajralight

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Re: DALAI LAMA ASSOCIATE DAGRI RINPOCHE ARRESTED FOR SEXUAL ASSAULT
« Reply #50 on: May 15, 2019, 08:18:23 AM »
Lama.Zopas lame reaction. Nothing will chamge in FPMT.
Abuse will continue...Geshes are protected and students arre
To shut up and have pure view of their teacher even if he touches them inappropriately. How sad.

https://fpmt.org/fpmt-community-news/statement/update-regarding-dagri-rinpoche/

Update Regarding Dagri Rinpoche
Dagri Rinpoche has for many years been one of the Tibetan teachers on FPMT’s Tibetan Teachers List.

The Indian police last week received a formal complaint from a woman who was on a commercial airline flight with Dagri Rinpoche in India, accusing Dagri Rinpoche of inappropriate behaviour during the flight. Furthermore, another woman recently made allegations about misconduct by Dagri Rinpoche 10 years ago, which she shared via a YouTube video.

FPMT International Office understands that best practice is to suspend a teacher from teaching while an investigation is ongoing, in order to protect students, and the teacher. The investigation into what happened on the flight is currently being conducted by the Indian police.

We have therefore temporarily suspended Dagri Rinpoche from the FPMT Tibetan Teachers List with immediate effect, pending the conclusion of the police investigation. This means that Dagri Rinpoche may not teach, or be invited to teach, in any FPMT center during this suspension.  FPMT teacher suspension does not indicate an assumption of guilt.

Dagri Rinpoche sent International Office this personal statement regarding the allegations.

Regarding the allegations made on YouTube, we have reached out directly to the woman who posted the video. In 2011, His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s Private Office informed us that they had received an allegation by this woman against Dagri Rinpoche. The Private Office informed us that they had investigated the allegations, and that they had resolved the matter with the woman. They informed us that Dagri Rinpoche understood the seriousness of the allegations and committed to avoid situations which could give rise to similar allegations in the future.

Therefore, we maintained Dagri Rinpoche’s listing on the FPMT Tibetan Teachers List. However, we took our responsibility to students seriously, and alerted FPMT regional and national coordinators about the matter, asking them to inform any center which had invited or was planning to invite Dagri Rinpoche, so that they could consider their invitation in light of this information. We also took the opportunity to review FPMT policies and processes to see if any further amendments were needed to ensure the safety of students, teachers, and centers.

We sent a reminder about this to the coordinators last year, as we were told that talk was circulating about Dagri Rinpoche.

We have received no complaints about Dagri Rinpoche since 2011.

Our recent decision to suspend Dagri Rinpoche is consistent with the emphasis which the FPMT organization places on ethical behavior.

FPMT policies and guidelines are instituted to help individuals in positions of authority to uphold a safe, respectful environment in their local center, project, or service. These include:

Abiding within the Law
FPMT Ethical Policy
Grievance procedure guideline
Teacher Policy and guidelines, which help ensure that Dharma teachings are provided only by those who are qualified to teach Dharma (FPMT registered teachers)
 

Lama Zopa Rinpoche has given this advice for Dagri Rinpoche’s students on how to relate to this situation from a Dharma perspective.

tagged: dagri rinpoche, ethical conduct, ethical policy

vajralight

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Re: DALAI LAMA ASSOCIATE DAGRI RINPOCHE ARRESTED FOR SEXUAL ASSAULT
« Reply #51 on: May 15, 2019, 08:24:34 AM »
Sorry post before was.fpmt response. Here is lama.zopas lame response. Students i feel are not safe in FPMT anymore. If a geshe lama or tulku touches you inappropriately Zopas advice is to see the lama as a Buddha and just accept it.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Advice to Students of Dagri Rinpoche


The following is Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s advice for students of Dagri Rinpoche.


Lama Zopa Rinpoche teaching at Centro La Sabiduría de Nagarjuna, Bilbao, Spain, May 6, 2019. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

From my understanding, in my view and according to my mind, Dagri Rinpoche is a very positive, holy being—definitely not an ordinary person.

One night a very long time ago at Tushita in Dharamsala, Dagri Rinpoche told me that he had a dream that he visited the pure land of Lama Tsongkhapa (Yiga Chozin). He was saying how unbelievably, unbelievably wonderful it was, with all the beautiful enjoyments and view, wow, wow, wow!

Then in Sera Je Monastery, when I was having dinner at his house, he told me another story. After he recited Rinjung Gyatso mantras, he led the pujas of the Hayagriva group in Sera Je. During the puja he himself was a huge Hayagriva and all the monks were very little. When he was telling me this, his way of expressing it was bringing himself down, saying that maybe he was hallucinating. These are just a few stories that I have heard. But this is definitely not an ordinary being, someone scared of death and the lower realms. That is one hundred percent certain. This is according to my personal view, according to my mind.

Therefore, I want to tell the students who have received initiations and teachings from Dagri Rinpoche that you should definitely one hundred percent rejoice, no matter what the world says, no matter if some people criticize him. Even after Buddha became enlightened, he showed the aspect of having pain in his foot when a piece of wood went through it. Buddha said that the suffering was the result of sexual misconduct with a woman in one of his past lives, a long time ago. Of course, even arhats, who haven’t achieved the five Mahayana paths, the ten Bhumis or the tantric path, don’t have pain. They are free from samsara, since they are totally free from delusions and karma, the cause of samsara. How is it possible for someone to experience pain, rebirth, old age, and death if they have totally ceased the cause of suffering? It then becomes that Buddha is not true and Buddha’s teachings are not true. It becomes like that. Numberless beings have become enlightened: yogi-pandits such as Sahara, Tilopa and Naropa, and many beings from all four sects of Tibetan Buddhism, including Padmasambhava and other Nyingma lamas, Marpa and Milarepa, the five great highly attained Sakya Lamas, Lama Tsongkhapa himself, and many others in the Gelug tradition. With this reasoning everything becomes not true.

Buddha showed the aspect of a piece of wood going into his foot and said that a long time ago, in one of his past lives, he committed sexual misconduct with a woman. He did this to show the karma to the disciples, to the sentient beings who are the objects to be subdued. So, Buddha himself showed suffering, even though he didn’t have suffering.

This also includes the present Dalai Lama. You can see that His Holiness the Dalai Lama is all that is explained by Buddha, the great yogi-pandits and Lama Tsongkhapa. You can see that his holy mind possesses all the qualities of the path. His holy mind has all the supreme qualities, all the inexpressible qualities beyond the path, that have been explained in the texts by Buddha and up to the present buddhas’, enlightened ones’, experiences, as well as being unbelievably practical and cherishing others like a mother cherishes her most beloved child. No matter whether someone is rich or poor, educated or uneducated, His Holiness sees everyone in the world as equal and gives the most practical advice. Now, even this would not be true. But here you can see this with your own eyes, so then how could you say that it’s not true. The incredible qualities of His Holiness’s gurus and so many other holy beings that you have seen would also not be true. You would then have to say that there are no holy beings. So, these mistakes would arise.

You can see for yourself that if you practice Buddhism—lamrim, for example—your mind has greater and greater peace and becomes more and more holy. How can you then say that even that doesn’t happen? It’s the same as saying that everything you did, everything you experienced, is a hallucination. Of course, this is not related to the view of true existence. The hallucination, in this case, is that nothing exists in mere name: suffering, the cause of suffering, cessation of suffering, the path. Nothing then exists: there’s no hell, no enlightenment, no karma, no samsara, no nirvana.

Then, in the sutra Meeting of the Father and Son, it says, “Buddha works for sentient beings by taking the costume of Indra, Brahmin, sometimes as mara, (but people in the world do not know this). He also shows the conduct, the costume, of a woman. Also, Buddha takes animal forms. There is no attachment but he shows attachment; there is no fear but he shows fear; there is no ignorance but he shows ignorance; there is no craziness but he shows craziness; there is no lameness but he shows being lame. In various aspects, Buddha works for sentient beings and subdues the minds of sentient beings.”

Please understand this. Even enlightened buddhas work for sentient beings like this. So we, including myself, need to see things as positive. From our minds, from our side, we have to try to see the positive side.

Otherwise, it means you don’t need to meditate, you don’t need to practice Dharma, from your side. Otherwise, why do you need to meditate? Why do you need to practice Dharma? Without needing to put effort from your side, you expect everything outside to be positive. To be able to see the Guru is numberless past, present, and future buddhas, to be able to realize that, you have to put effort from your own side.

That’s why Lama Tsongkhapa said in The Foundation of All Good Qualities:

The foundation of all good qualities is the kind and perfect, pure Guru;
Correct devotion to him is the root of the path.
By clearly seeing this and applying great e?ort,
Please bless me to rely upon him with great respect.

The verse says: “The kind, perfect guru is the basis of all good qualities and correctly following the virtuous friend is the root of the path to enlightenment. By seeing well, which means seeing the guru as numberless past, present, future buddhas, WITH MUCH EFFORT, please grant me blessings to be able to follow the guru with great devotion and respect.” So, this means from your own side, with great effort. Lama Tsongkhapa said this from his own experience.

Since we (myself, for example) don’t have that understanding, we expect that we don’t have to do anything from our side. We only expect to see the guru’s qualities, to see the guru as pure, as the essence of buddha, from outside. It doesn’t happen like this.

Even if you saw the person before as full of mistakes, after you make a Dharma connection with them, you need to practice the root of path to enlightenment: correctly following the virtuous friend. By training your mind in that, then you are able to see that is buddha, which means one who has totally ceased the gross and subtle obscurations and completed all the qualities. You then realize the root of the path to enlightenment: correctly following the virtuous friend. From there, you then actualize the graduated paths of the lower capable being, the middle capable being and then the higher capable being. Bodhichitta and then tantric realizations happen easily.

Guru Shakyamuni Buddha was enlightened eons ago, according to Mahayana, according to reality. Gelong Lekpai Garma, Buddha’s attendant, served Buddha for twenty-two years, but he always looked at Buddha as a liar. This was because one time when Buddha was on alms round, a young girl offered a handful of grain in Buddha’s begging bowl. At that time Buddha predicted that from that karma she would become enlightened as Buddha Tseme. Gelong Lekpai Garma thought that was a lie and that Buddha was just flattering her. He thought it was too much: “How is it possible for that to happen from offering one handful of grain?” So, for his whole life he saw Buddha as a liar and as an ordinary being. Buddha was a buddha, but he never saw him as a buddha. He had more faith in his Hindu guru. One time his Hindu guru was sick and Buddha advised his Hindu guru not to eat brown sugar. Gelong Lekpai Garma didn’t believe Buddha, he thought he was lying, so he offered his Hindu guru brown sugar. His Hindu guru died and was reborn as a preta; one time this preta made a sound as Buddha was walking by on a road. When Gelong Lekpai Garma died, he was reborn in the hell realms for eons. It is important to know these stories.

Thank you very much. Have no regrets. The only thing is to enjoy life, which is very short and can be ended at any time.

Thank you very much,

Lama Zopa Rinpoche

May 12, 2019, Lavaur, France. Scribe: Ven. Holly Ansett, edited by Ven. Ailsa Cameron.



Tenzin K

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Re: DALAI LAMA ASSOCIATE DAGRI RINPOCHE ARRESTED FOR SEXUAL ASSAULT
« Reply #52 on: May 15, 2019, 11:21:27 AM »
Many people are taking advantage of Dalai Lama to do whatever they want come up to a point of hurting people. Recently we have heard so many sexual harassment issues which committed by the people associated with Dalai Lama. The most recent one is Dagri Rinpoche who works in the Dalai Lama’s Office and is closely associated with Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT) and Sera Jey Monastery, is now in police custody after being accused of assaulting a woman on a Delhi-Dharamsala flight. According to sources, this is not the first time he has done this but the previous incidents were hushed up.

Why Dalai Lama and FPMT just keep silent? What kind of Buddhist teaching that they preach which doesn't include compassion. Everyone must speak up to give pressure to them. FPMT and Tibetan leadership shows a very bad example to the world and keeping quite. How would people want to belief in them by being their action?

dsnowlion

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Re: DALAI LAMA ASSOCIATE DAGRI RINPOCHE ARRESTED FOR SEXUAL ASSAULT
« Reply #53 on: May 17, 2019, 12:37:49 AM »
Another evidence of how Dorje Shugden people are being targeted and discriminated. Checked out this funny VBCM place and guess what I found? A whole lot more of discrimination...

But look at what one funny fake account with the name Nicole Sia said to another and the debate here https://www.facebook.com/ONEvbcm/posts/10156597455989335?comment_id=10156600645849335&comment_tracking=%7B%22tn%22%3A%22R%22%7D

A fake face with a fake strawberry trying to deflect from the real issue really needs to wake up. She is 100% a fake but she is pointing at Alison Ong but what she is trying to do is distract people from the main issue and cover up. Can't believe these people are siding with sexual abuser lamas. They really sound so stupid especially when you read the reply back to her, the girl gave it back to Nicole real good. Attached is the screenshot of their conversation just in case the VBCM place decides to be sneaky and delete their posts!

Pema8

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Re: DALAI LAMA ASSOCIATE DAGRI RINPOCHE ARRESTED FOR SEXUAL ASSAULT
« Reply #54 on: May 17, 2019, 02:52:31 AM »
Not only that such crimes have been hidden from the public for so long, but they even harm the women again by telling that they do this because they are Dorje Shugden practitioners!! Well NO! They have been harmed sexually by Dagri Rinpoche and now they are even told that they have an agenda!
They are not related to Dorje Shugden but they have been harmed by Dagri Rinpoche who is so close to the Dalai Lama!!

Every opportunity is taken to put the blame on Dorje Shugden!! Such a shame!

I really hope that the women who have been harmed will be heard and receive the apology they deserve!

Drolma

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Re: DALAI LAMA ASSOCIATE DAGRI RINPOCHE ARRESTED FOR SEXUAL ASSAULT
« Reply #55 on: May 17, 2019, 11:09:26 AM »
What Lama Zopa said in his statement is quite disappointing. He is still saying Dagri Rinpoche is a highly regarded Buddhist master and his students should rejoice because they have received higher practice or teachings from him. Lama Zopa is saying what Dagri Rinpoche it is ok to molest the students because they are molested by a Buddha.

So, Lama Zopa is also a high lama, even higher than Dagri Rinpoche, why doesn't he touch the female students or nuns' breasts in order to give them blessings? If Lama Zopa thinks it is not appropriate, why is it appropriate for Dagri Rinpoche to do that? Because Lord Buddha had sexual misconduct in his previous lives so it is ok for Dagri Rinpoche to do that too? If Buddha has to suffer from that, Dagri Rinpoche has to face the consequence also.

It is not right for FPMT to cover Dagri Rinpoche up, he harms female students and also gives a bad name to Buddhism. People come to a Dharma center for refuge but instead, they receive pain. Many women are traumatised. They thought they were the wrong one and they feel guilty of it when it is Dagri Rinpoche who has seriously violated them.


Alex

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Re: DALAI LAMA ASSOCIATE DAGRI RINPOCHE ARRESTED FOR SEXUAL ASSAULT
« Reply #56 on: May 17, 2019, 11:16:55 AM »
Not only that such crimes have been hidden from the public for so long, but they even harm the women again by telling that they do this because they are Dorje Shugden practitioners!! Well NO! They have been harmed sexually by Dagri Rinpoche and now they are even told that they have an agenda!
They are not related to Dorje Shugden but they have been harmed by Dagri Rinpoche who is so close to the Dalai Lama!!

Every opportunity is taken to put the blame on Dorje Shugden!! Such a shame!

I really hope that the women who have been harmed will be heard and receive the apology they deserve!

What is wrong with the people. How can they accuse these pity women who were abused by Dagri Rinpoche and suffered from mental consequences for so long to have an agenda in speaking up? What is wrong with them? How can they blame everything on Dorje Shugden when it is remotely related to it?

This is how the Tibetan government does things. They blame Dorje Shugden for whatever that went wrong and including their failure of bringing Tibetans in exile back to Tibet. It has been two decades since Dorje Shugden's practice was banned with the reason of the deity being a spirit, and he caused the Tibetan cause to fail.

Now 20 years had passed since the ban was imposed and Tibetans in exile are still in Tibetan settlements in India. What will the Tibetan government use as their next excuse now since they can't blame Dorje Shugden for it?


SabS

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Re: DALAI LAMA ASSOCIATE DAGRI RINPOCHE ARRESTED FOR SEXUAL ASSAULT
« Reply #57 on: May 17, 2019, 03:00:22 PM »
Wow Amazing! This is getting bigger and bigger. Will the Tibetan leaders actually heed the calls of the people to do a proper investigation rather than sweeping it under the carpet for so many years?

Nuns Push for Investigation into Molestation Allegations against Teacher Dagri Rinpoche

The prominent Tibetan Buddhist monk has been suspended from teaching over abuse allegations, and now senior nuns are calling for an independent probe into his behaviour.

After becoming aware of allegations of sexual misconduct against the prominent Tibetan Buddhist teacher Dagri Rinpoche, the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT) suspended him from their list of teachers, the international Buddhist group said in a statement on their website on Tuesday. The following day, ten senior Buddhist nuns—including Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo, the founder of Dongyu Gatsal Ling Nunnery, and Thubten Chodron, the abbess of Sravasti Abbey in Washington—sent a letter to FPMT calling for a third-party investigation into the accusations.

Dagri Rinpoche—a tulku [reincarnated master] in the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism and a touring teacher who regular visits centers in the United States, such as Sravasti Abbey, where he had been listed as a spiritual advisor—was suspended after being accused in a formal complaint of molesting a woman onboard an Air India flight on May 3. Following media reports of the charge against him, a former nun, Jakaira Perez Valdivia, posted a video on YouTube entitled “Dagri Rinpoche is indeed a serial molester,” in which she claims that Dagri Rinpoche molested her ten years ago while she was living in Dharamsala, India. Soon after, another woman, Shin Young Sun, stepped forward, writing in a Facebook post on May 13 that Dagri Rinpoche groped her breast while she was a student at Sarah College in Dharamsala between 2005 and 2009.

Dagri Rinpoche has denied any wrongdoing.

In their letter to FPMT, the senior nuns said there are even more women who have remained anonymous, “Some of us personally know other Western nuns who have reported that they were molested by Dagri Rinpoche,” they wrote. The letter continues:

We urge the FPMT to commission an independent, third-party investigation into these allegations, and to make the conclusions of this investigation public. This investigation should be conducted in such a way that plaintiffs and/or witnesses feel safe to come forward and tell their stories confidentially—and anonymously, if they so wish . . . Holding an independent investigation sends a clear message that this behavior will not be tolerated and there will be repercussions for perpetrators. This is crucial in order to ensure an environment in which students’ trust can be rebuilt.

Along with the letter, a group of practitioners and nuns have also started an online petition to urge FPMT to “find the truth.”

In a statement released on May 13, Dagri Rinpoche reasserted his innocence. In the case of the Air India flight, he said he was only steadying himself on the armrest of his accuser, who was sleeping at the time. When she woke up, she “appeared angry” and said something to him in a language he did not understand, he wrote. He was later told that she had filed a complaint to the police.

In his interaction with Perez Valdivia—whom Dagri Rinpoche characterizes as “a nun who experienced some physical and mental problems”—he wrote that he only “performed Jabtru, a water purification ritual, and Kakgo, a ritual to remove obstacles” to help with her with those issues. He adds, “After about three years, she used these rituals as a reason to accuse me of inappropriately touching her.”

Related: Will Sanghas Learn from the Scandals in the Buddhist World?

Perez Valdivia responded in a statement sent to Tricycle on May 16, saying, “instead of apologising he’s blaming and discrediting the victims, the oldest method proved effective to get away with abuse.”

She added that he has spent his “entire life getting away with molesting students and devotees around the world due to the silence and complicity of some institutions and of the Tibetan system itself.”

In her social-media post, Shin Young Sun also described a culture of ignoring or silencing women whom teachers have allegedly abused, saying that those in positions of power have turned a blind eye, including the office of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama. She explained that although she has personally forgiven Dagri Rinpoche, she chose to speak out in solidarity with Perez Valdivia. “I write this post for other victims. Because they . . . still experience the hardships,” she said.

Related: Sex in the Sangha . . . Again

FPMT head Lama Zopa Rinpoche, meanwhile, has received criticism for an open letter he sent to Dagri Rinpoche’s students. He wrote:

Dagri Rinpoche is a very positive, holy being—definitely not an ordinary person . . . Therefore, I want to tell the students who have received initiations and teachings from Dagri Rinpoche that you should definitely one hundred percent rejoice, no matter what the world says, no matter if some people criticize him. Even after Buddha became enlightened, he showed the aspect of having pain in his foot when a piece of wood went through it. Buddha said that the suffering was the result of sexual misconduct with a woman in one of his past lives, a long time ago.

In her statement, Perez Valdivia called the advice “embarrassing and outrageous” and said it “excuses the abuser from any ‘appearance’ of misconduct that he may manifest.”

SabS

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Re: DALAI LAMA ASSOCIATE DAGRI RINPOCHE ARRESTED FOR SEXUAL ASSAULT
« Reply #58 on: May 17, 2019, 05:17:46 PM »
Prominent Buddhist nuns issue statement calling FPMT to conduct an independent investigation after growing number of women have come out accusing FPMT teachers of sexual harassment and molestation.

According to reports from ex-FPMT members, sexual abuse is common in FPMT centres around the world.

The prominent nuns behind the statement are:

(1) Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo, founder of Dongyu Gatsal Ling Nunnery, India

(2) Bhiksuni Jampa Tsedroen, PhD University of Hamburg, Germany

(3) Bhikshuni Karma Lekshe Tsomo, PhD
Professor at the University of San Diego, USA, and founder of Sakyadhita International Association of Buddhist Women

(4) Bhikshuni Thubten Chodron, Abbess of Sravasti Abbey, USA

(5) Bhikshuni Sangye Khadro, FPMT teacher, USA

(6) Bhikshuni Tenzin Tsepal, FPMT teacher, USA

(7) Venerable Tenzin Chogkyi, FPMT teacher, USA

(8) Ghetzulma Carla Tzultrim Pemo Freccero, Italy

(9) Ghetzulma Lucia Tenzin Ciotzo Bani, Italy

(10) Venerable Tenzin Nordron, USA

SabS

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Re: DALAI LAMA ASSOCIATE DAGRI RINPOCHE ARRESTED FOR SEXUAL ASSAULT
« Reply #59 on: May 17, 2019, 05:21:28 PM »
There is a change.org petition asking FPMT to take responsibility and conduct an independent investigation into widespread sexual molestation by high-ranking teachers within their organisation. Will this instigate an official investigation by the Tibetan leaders into the crimes committed or will they continue to sweep them under carpet?