MUD ON THE LOTUS

Here-s my criticism of and challenge to my former Lama - Spiritual Teacher - Guru and woman-abusing violent manipulative tyrant (as I have just discovered) the so-called Sogyal Rinpoche or Sonam Gyaltsen Lakar of Eastern Tibet - ostensible reincarnation of Terton Sogyal - founder and leader of the international Rigpa group of Dharma-Centres around the world - and raised and tutored by some of the very greatest yogis of the twentieth century -
Having this day read of his string of crimes - his resignation as leader of the Rigpa association - the accusatory letter signed by eight of his closest former students detailing years of habitual violence and sexual exploitation- the little incident of him punching a nun in the guts in the shrine-room in front of over a thousand people -
Whilst studying these horrors through the night I also followed up research on Kalu Rinpoche - the aged and venerable yogi who initiated me into Buddhism 30 years ago in Shoreditch - East London - and found that he too abused his consorts horribly so I also feel I must sever connection with this amazing person who died in the late twentieth century -
Interestingly I came across the confessional film made by his reincarnation - the 2nd Kalu Rinpoche - in which he describes with great sadness the sexual abuse he was subjected to which drove him to drug addiction and alcoholism before he eventually sent some decadent monks packing and - in the awareness of his own experiences - instituted a strict policy to protect the Sangha from the menace of sexual predation -
So in one night I feel I have lost the two Lamas who were my light for 30 years only to be deeply moved by the Honesty and Humanity of the 2nd Kalu Rinpoche and feel a growing devotion for this humble and thoroughly down-to-earth young man - I also have faith in the Karmapa and am sure he will play a massive role in this time -
I wrote the letter spontaneously and without revision - straight from the heart - straight to Sogyal-s heart -

MUD  ON  THE  LOTUS

An Open Letter To Sogyal Lakar aka Rinpoche          31:12:2017

Dear Sogyal –

I trusted you –

From Autumn 1987 until this day – for 30 years – I regarded you as my true Lama and even when going through long periods with no formal practice I still considered my link with you to be something of the very deepest significance and importance in my life –

I know you remember me – a hippy from London – from Cornwall – shaven head – drunk – Sikkim – Kathmandu -  French Alps – Harrow – attended teachings between 87 and 94 – my “seven years in Tibet” and you gave me probably more than any other human in terms of teaching reality and consciousness and profundity –

I keep seeing your fist hitting that poor nun in the stomach and just today I have heard all the terrible things about you from your closest students – I believe them to be true and that you are indeed a violent tyrant and vile sexual-predator –

I understand that your upbringing was most unusual and that you did not have normal human access to women nor the guidance or basic human culture of how to treat a lady – However this does not in the slightest degree exonerate you from your real crimes against many good-hearted trusting Chelas and also the grave spiritual crime you have committed against the Sangha – It is mind-blowing for me to say this Sogyal – coming from me – the lazy drunken hedonist who can-t let go of ignorance and pleasure-grasping – but you Sogyal have destroyed the Samaya – even His Holiness has called you “disgraced” and basically the game-s up!

I hear you are still teaching – this worries me – personally I think you should do one hundred thousand prostrations in the presence of every woman you have violated and bullied and also every man – prostrate to them and beg forgiveness with each prostration – that would be my answer –

Now I have to go and figure out how a pig like you – a violent beast – a tyrant who fucks women grunting and chucks them aside like the lowest whores – can also be the son of Manjushri!  The damage you have done to the cause of the Dharma is incalculable – the people you have turned away from the noble path are innumerable as the sands of the Ganges – You set up a glowing shrine of purity – kindness – profound vast knowledge – the mind itself – and you shat on it man – why did you do that ~ We gave you our hearts – in our way – us little westerners – we gave what we could and what we had – we followed you round the world listening to your wisdom and then you fucked it up!  You raised a beautiful lotus to emanate the blissful fragrance of truth  and loving-kindness and then you came back and stamped the lotus into the mud – spattering it in filth and breaking its fragile petals into pulp –

Can you grow another lotus ~

Can you retrieve the trust of all your students – followers – Chelas ~ can you ~ ever ~ I don-t think you are fit to teach until you have made good the harm you have done and I don-t know how you could achieve that -  not in one lifetime!

I also hear that you have cancer Sogyal and for that I am very sad and genuinely hope that you make a full recovery soon – My Christian friend in prison in Amerika – Harold Hempstead – says he would stand up to defend a Klansman from injustice just the same as he stood up for a disturbed Muslim drug-using convict who was steamed to death in a Florida prison shower – Harold is not full of shit and I trust him one hundred per cent – So just as Harold – the Caged Crusader – would defend the human rights of a fascist so in just the same way I wish you well and wish no harm on you ever – I know many people will now view you as All-Bad just as many once viewed you as All-Good and this will no doubt be a valuable part of your education –

How can you punch a nun ~ For fuck-s sake man!  How can you punch a nun ~

Well I can-t stop you punching nuns but I can cross you off the list of people who are worthy to teach me about ethics – let alone Enlightenment! 

This is very sad as I have also lost faith in Kalu Rinpoche (the 1^st) having just read of his crimes against women – in many ways this news hit me even harder than news of your crimes as I regarded Kalu Rinpoche as a living Milarepa and to discover that he was also a brutal tyrant and harmer and user of women is vastly disturbing to me – but also curiously liberating in itself –

This is because your crimes have reinforced my Anarchist belief that it is foolish to give power and authority to any other human being – This corresponds perfectly with Shakyamuni-s instruction to the Sangha to challenge him and try to find fault with his teachings – not to blindly accept him as an “authority” -  not to give away their discriminating-awareness –

I clearly remember you saying that we should respect the teachings – not you personally – but what you taught – the lineage and all that goes with it – I am just Sogyal – you once said – with such seeming modesty – and your words were true – your warning was valid – I respect the teachings as much as ever and try to live up to their spirit and avoid creating harm in the world – I have not done particularly well at this but I do try –

So obviously I have lost respect for you and faith – belief – trust – etc etc – but am still curious – you still know what you know – you still have your highly cultivated consciousness and awareness and knowledge – but how could you justify such brutal actions to yourself – is this culturally normal in the Lamaic world ~ is it normal to grab women and fuck them like animals ~ knock them around and threaten them with black-magic ~

I remember in Nepal getting pressure from “older students” for “not being mindful” when I drank beer and got loud and getting criticized by an Amerikan woman for walking on the right-hand side of a pillar at Dilgo Khentse Rinpoche-s monastery – “to the left” she barked – like a cop – (It was actually a woman highly respected for her sensitive work with dying patients!)  Such was the reverence to the minutiae and fine detail of oriental etiquette – Fair enough perhaps – I didn-t want to offend anyone-s sensibilities –

Well over here in Europe we have a certain etiquette towards women – They are our equals and sex is something that can happen when two people both want it – within a relationship that at least aspires towards a form of equality!  In treating women as you have – you-ve tragically done them terrible and cynical harm but have also cut yourself off from knowledge of a true – natural and happy relation between man and woman  - You must atone for your evils -  How strange to say it but Guru – you must atone for your evils -

Then there was all that bullshit in Australia –  teaching “wisdom” to a select group of the 1% super-wealthy Capitalists that run the country – and that million dollar pad they built you!  Why weren-t you in the ghetto helping the poor – the dispossessed – the down and outs and homeless people that live on the street ~  Why did you chose to hang with all the rich-pigs I wonder and ignore the poor and suffering of that great nation ~  Shouldn-t a Boddhisatva go to the lowest place and help the people who need help most ~  What-s the big attraction with dollars ~ This kind of gross materialistic vulgarity is profoundly damaging to the Dharma and is also corny and low-class – I work as an unpaid human-rights activist so I have to call out power-holding-hypocrites all the time as my daily business – I have become accustomed to criticizing local government – national government – murderous police and prison-guards and their corrupt bosses – government people and leaders – but I never ever in a million years thought I would have to call out my own Lama and call him a violent woman-abuser and corrupt criminal – like these worldly men that I fight as an expression of Dharma and truth – but hey – what a long strange trip it-s been! 

I remember Nyoshul Khenpo Rinpoche in France in 89 talking about the ups and downs of his life – from enthronement to begging and back again – such is this life brother Sogyal – my bad brother – I am so sad for what you have done and trying to understand how such refinement of spirit could coexist with such evil and brutal selfishness and ignorance – that is truly mystifying so I guess that counts as a mystical experience! 

Don-t teach Sogyal – learn!  Learn learn learn – and atone –

You are a man and I am a man – You helped me and now I am helping you by talking to you directly and telling you that the best thing you can do for the Holy Dharma is stop teaching – purify yourself and find a genuine way of making good the vile damage you have done to these tender and mother-like sentient beings – these gentle ladies who put their lives in your hungry hands –

I wish you well Sonam Gyaltsen and would be very happy to interview you for youtube if you are happy to talk to me – go ahead!

Sincerely – Jeremy Schanche – aka Karma Mingyur Dorje – Kernow - Britain                  

Calling Rigpa Sangha!

Well brothers and sisters I expect many of you are feeling it way way harder than me and are going through some most unwelcome changes – I have not seen any of you for over twenty years so don-t know who-s still alive or “on the scene” or anything but I had some very close and deep friendships with some of yous and I wanted to express my solidarity with you all and also to invite anyone who remembers me (or not) to contact me should they wish to discuss any of these bizarre and terrible happenings or simply just renew the old friendship –

In all my life I will never forget the amazing and profound loving-kindness I was shown by many of my fellow “practitioners” or “Buddhists” as the rest of the world calls us!  Mike from South London who used to drive me home to Shepherd-s Bush from Camden – you always embodied the soul of gentle kind wisdom and I-d love to hear from you man – so many other brothers and sisters – please get in touch – I miss you and love you all –

We must obviously not be too discouraged by all this shit but must learn from it – I guess we are all a little wiser – in a worldly kind of way – but wiser – It-s always better to know than not to know!

Cheers and kind wishes – Jeremy Schanche 

Sangha Contact

From the Australian press 

Resignation announcement in Buddhist press

Nun-punching pondered over

WHAT THE FUCK!  "You will die spitting up blood like Ian Maxwell" Sogyal-s quote about a good and kind man who I personally knew and respected deeply   Having read the letter from his close students and what Sogyal said about Ian Maxwell it-s hard not to despise and hate the guy - I-m a little shocked that the students believe Sogyal can be rehabilitated as a valid teacher rather than brought before a court of law for his many many many fucking horrible crimes - and I won-t let a corrupt fool like him destroy Buddhism for me - I think it is bigger than Mr Lakar -