Public message to:
Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche -
Rigpa London - Please forward to him -
From: Jeremy Schanche
Re: HUNGER-STRIKE TO PROMOTE POLICY OF ZERO-TOLERANCE OF ABUSE IN BUDDHISM 6:3:2018
Dear Rinpoche
You may remember me as the British Buddhist who wrote to you a few weeks ago requesting an interview on the above topic - As a former student of Sogyal Rinpoche I have taken a stand against the violent - sexually and psychologically exploitative behaviour of the founder of the Rigpa Organization that has recently been revealed to the public and the sangha as I feel this crucial issue is not being addressed properly and the Rigpa Organization is drastically under-reacting to this disturbing and traumatic turn of events - For a while now I have been publicly requesting those who teach at Rigpa London to denounce Sogyal and support the Zero-Tolerance policy -
Response from Rigpa Organization has been zero!
As I said in my previous message to you - I understand that you are extremely busy and plan your schedule far in advance so probably do not have the time for an interview with me on your current tour of Great Britain - Having had no response from you or your Khyentse Foundation I am assuming that the interview will not happen on this tour -
However - I understand that you are a film-maker and thought that if you happened to be in Western Britain at some time in the future I would be happy to show you where Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche lived with my friend Bill in a village in West Cornwall where I live - I could also show you the Buddha-statue that Trungpa Rinpoche fashioned out of clay and gave to Bill Pickard - an English scholar and practitioner of Buddhism since the 1940s - Bill passed the statue on to me in the 1980s when I became initiated into Tibetan Buddhism - West Cornwall also has many interesting things to see such as a prehistoric stone-circle used by Druids which would make an excellent theatre of public debate on film - And an excellent meeting of the cultures of east and west in pursuit of truth -
Again however I realize that with your busy teaching and practice schedule such travels are unlikely - Therefore I would be happy to travel to a different part of Britain to interview you at any time in the future that is convenient to you if you would be happy to grant this -
In the meantime - whilst I know that you have made some public statements on the problem of abuse in Buddhism I would sincerely appreciate it if you would respond to my approaches with a statement in support of the offering and the principle of ZERO-TOLERANCE OF ABUSE IN BUDDHISM - or conversely - if you feel unable to do this it would be most helpful if you would give a statement saying why not - This would help further clarify your position on the topic for the public -
I hope Rinpoche can see the motivation for my actions -
Re: HUNGER-STRIKE TO PROMOTE POLICY OF ZERO-TOLERANCE OF ABUSE IN BUDDHISM 6:3:2018
Dear Rinpoche
You may remember me as the British Buddhist who wrote to you a few weeks ago requesting an interview on the above topic - As a former student of Sogyal Rinpoche I have taken a stand against the violent - sexually and psychologically exploitative behaviour of the founder of the Rigpa Organization that has recently been revealed to the public and the sangha as I feel this crucial issue is not being addressed properly and the Rigpa Organization is drastically under-reacting to this disturbing and traumatic turn of events - For a while now I have been publicly requesting those who teach at Rigpa London to denounce Sogyal and support the Zero-Tolerance policy -
Response from Rigpa Organization has been zero!
As I said in my previous message to you - I understand that you are extremely busy and plan your schedule far in advance so probably do not have the time for an interview with me on your current tour of Great Britain - Having had no response from you or your Khyentse Foundation I am assuming that the interview will not happen on this tour -
However - I understand that you are a film-maker and thought that if you happened to be in Western Britain at some time in the future I would be happy to show you where Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche lived with my friend Bill in a village in West Cornwall where I live - I could also show you the Buddha-statue that Trungpa Rinpoche fashioned out of clay and gave to Bill Pickard - an English scholar and practitioner of Buddhism since the 1940s - Bill passed the statue on to me in the 1980s when I became initiated into Tibetan Buddhism - West Cornwall also has many interesting things to see such as a prehistoric stone-circle used by Druids which would make an excellent theatre of public debate on film - And an excellent meeting of the cultures of east and west in pursuit of truth -
Again however I realize that with your busy teaching and practice schedule such travels are unlikely - Therefore I would be happy to travel to a different part of Britain to interview you at any time in the future that is convenient to you if you would be happy to grant this -
In the meantime - whilst I know that you have made some public statements on the problem of abuse in Buddhism I would sincerely appreciate it if you would respond to my approaches with a statement in support of the offering and the principle of ZERO-TOLERANCE OF ABUSE IN BUDDHISM - or conversely - if you feel unable to do this it would be most helpful if you would give a statement saying why not - This would help further clarify your position on the topic for the public -
I hope Rinpoche can see the motivation for my actions -
Sadly - if I receive no response whatsoever from you before you teach in London I will go on HUNGER-STRIKE for Saturday and Sunday in protest at your non-response - if such is the case - I hope not -
Kind regards - Jeremy Schanche - ZERO-TOLERANCE OF ABUSE IN BUDDHISM CAMPAIGN
Kind regards - Jeremy Schanche - ZERO-TOLERANCE OF ABUSE IN BUDDHISM CAMPAIGN
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