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charley · 07-02-2018, 10:34 AM

I do not belong to any organized religion, mainly because I feel that all of them (bar none) have within them the seeds of some kind of abuse. The organized religions of Hinduism and of Buddhism has kept all women in Asian countries no more than servants and slaves to the men propounding the ideas of Hinduism & Buddhism. So, I informed myself as to the subject herein and I am not at all surprised by the the very large number of women claiming allegations of sexual abuse by "elders"/"teachers" in the organized religion of the Shambhala movement:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...se-by-teachers

"Leaders of Shambhala International, which has more than 200 meditation centres across the world, including several in the UK, admitted to major failures in how it dealt with “abhorrent sexual behaviour”."

The report claims: “Known child abusers are freely active within the Shambhala community, some are even senior teachers. Meanwhile, many who have been abused have been left with no recourse but to leave the community to heal and move forward as best they can.”

Shades of Catholic priest pedophilia... doh!

Not only did such abuse occur, but the "leaders" did nothing to prevent and eschew their buds, while all the while preaching mindfulness and awareness!!!

I am sure that the Buddha would roll over in his grave at those who preach Buddhism, and do not even do what he said: as the 4th of his noble truths: "right action"; and the 5th noble truth, that of: "right speech" - lying and withholding information, the latter being worse of course - being lying by omission; and the 7th noble truth, that of: "right mindfulness".

How could anyone trust what comes out of the mouths of such leaders

when they themselves are incapable of doing what the Buddha said?

As per https://tricycle.org/trikedaily/shambhala-abuse/

"In August 2017, Sogyal Rinpoche resigned from Rigpa, the international Buddhist organization that he founded, following accusations of physical, sexual, and emotional abuse. Sogyal was said to enter a period of retreat following the announcement (though he was seen shortly after at a conference in Thailand). Last spring, Lama Norlha, the abbot of New York’s Kagyu Thubten Choling Monastery, stepped down after multiple women whom he allegedly had sexual relationships with came forward. Norlha died last month."

And from: http://www.newsweek.com/buddhist-gro...eachers-830333

Other Buddhist groups: "In 2012, Joshu Sasaki, a Los Angeles–based Zen master, was accused of groping and harassing female students over the course of several decades. Sasaki died in 2014, a year after an independent inquiry of Buddhist leaders concluded that the allegations about Sasaki's misconduct were true.It followed a 2011 report in the Chicago Tribune that hundreds of Theravada Buddhist monks accused of sexually assaulting children in Illinois, Texas and California were able to evade investigations by moving away from their accusers, and 2010 allegations of sexual impropriety against Eido Shimano, a spiritual teacher of the Zen Studies Society headquartered in Manhattan."

So, this situation has been known for some years... doh!

As far as I am concerned, all these monks and priests are fakes, all of them. They are fake human beings. And, none of them are or have ever been enlightened. And, I would never (repeat never!) accept anything anyone of them would say. Throughout history, there have only been a handful of human beings who went all the way, and who I might consider to have been enlightened. I remain as skeptical as I was as a child. Just because someone puts on eastern robes, and spits out clever sentences is meaningless, and that is because all intellectual understanding is meaningless in itself. So, I eschew all intellectual arguments as being utterly meaningless, because deep down such people can remain as oblivious to any kind of harm or abuse they may cause. Like the Buddha said: "nirodha", i.e. negate, negate all that is not real. But, people are gullible and think that if someone has some clever argument, some intellectual knowledge, that means something, and they accept without questioning, without questioning authority, without questioning the tradition of authority.

The very word "tradition" comes from the word "tradere" which means things that are handed down - from the past to the present. It also means "betrayal". So, those that are enamored and attached to tradition are the ones who betray, are the ones who are treacherous. To live in tradition, one must of necessity betray the present, which is why one must be skeptical of anyone proposing and preaching any organized religion which follows any kind of tradition. As one can see, tradition itself denies the possibility of enlightenment, clarity, and truth, and the discovery of whether there is or there is not anything beyond the material, something holy, something truly sacred.

Of course, one can easily retain whatever beliefs and attachments that one has. And, all I can say to that is that it is your life, not mine.

07-02-2018, 10:34 AM	#175
charley Timed Out - Permanent How Do You Identify?: gentle stonebutch [vanilla] Relationship Status: single Join Date: Dec 2017 Location: canada Posts: 497 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 906 Thanked 1,204 Times in 422 Posts Rep Power: 0	Shambhala - sexual scandal - organized religion I do not belong to any organized religion, mainly because I feel that all of them (bar none) have within them the seeds of some kind of abuse. The organized religions of Hinduism and of Buddhism has kept all women in Asian countries no more than servants and slaves to the men propounding the ideas of Hinduism & Buddhism. So, I informed myself as to the subject herein and I am not at all surprised by the the very large number of women claiming allegations of sexual abuse by "elders"/"teachers" in the organized religion of the Shambhala movement: https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...se-by-teachers "Leaders of Shambhala International, which has more than 200 meditation centres across the world, including several in the UK, admitted to major failures in how it dealt with “abhorrent sexual behaviour”." The report claims: “Known child abusers are freely active within the Shambhala community, some are even senior teachers. Meanwhile, many who have been abused have been left with no recourse but to leave the community to heal and move forward as best they can.” Shades of Catholic priest pedophilia... doh! Not only did such abuse occur, but the "leaders" did nothing to prevent and eschew their buds, while all the while preaching mindfulness and awareness!!! I am sure that the Buddha would roll over in his grave at those who preach Buddhism, and do not even do what he said: as the 4th of his noble truths: "right action"; and the 5th noble truth, that of: "right speech" - lying and withholding information, the latter being worse of course - being lying by omission; and the 7th noble truth, that of: "right mindfulness". How could anyone trust what comes out of the mouths of such leaders when they themselves are incapable of doing what the Buddha said? As per https://tricycle.org/trikedaily/shambhala-abuse/ "In August 2017, Sogyal Rinpoche resigned from Rigpa, the international Buddhist organization that he founded, following accusations of physical, sexual, and emotional abuse. Sogyal was said to enter a period of retreat following the announcement (though he was seen shortly after at a conference in Thailand). Last spring, Lama Norlha, the abbot of New York’s Kagyu Thubten Choling Monastery, stepped down after multiple women whom he allegedly had sexual relationships with came forward. Norlha died last month." And from: http://www.newsweek.com/buddhist-gro...eachers-830333 Other Buddhist groups: "In 2012, Joshu Sasaki, a Los Angeles–based Zen master, was accused of groping and harassing female students over the course of several decades. Sasaki died in 2014, a year after an independent inquiry of Buddhist leaders concluded that the allegations about Sasaki's misconduct were true.It followed a 2011 report in the Chicago Tribune that hundreds of Theravada Buddhist monks accused of sexually assaulting children in Illinois, Texas and California were able to evade investigations by moving away from their accusers, and 2010 allegations of sexual impropriety against Eido Shimano, a spiritual teacher of the Zen Studies Society headquartered in Manhattan." So, this situation has been known for some years... doh! As far as I am concerned, all these monks and priests are fakes, all of them. They are fake human beings. And, none of them are or have ever been enlightened. And, I would never (repeat never!) accept anything anyone of them would say. Throughout history, there have only been a handful of human beings who went all the way, and who I might consider to have been enlightened. I remain as skeptical as I was as a child. Just because someone puts on eastern robes, and spits out clever sentences is meaningless, and that is because all intellectual understanding is meaningless in itself. So, I eschew all intellectual arguments as being utterly meaningless, because deep down such people can remain as oblivious to any kind of harm or abuse they may cause. Like the Buddha said: "nirodha", i.e. negate, negate all that is not real. But, people are gullible and think that if someone has some clever argument, some intellectual knowledge, that means something, and they accept without questioning, without questioning authority, without questioning the tradition of authority. The very word "tradition" comes from the word "tradere" which means things that are handed down - from the past to the present. It also means "betrayal". So, those that are enamored and attached to tradition are the ones who betray, are the ones who are treacherous. To live in tradition, one must of necessity betray the present, which is why one must be skeptical of anyone proposing and preaching any organized religion which follows any kind of tradition. As one can see, tradition itself denies the possibility of enlightenment, clarity, and truth, and the discovery of whether there is or there is not anything beyond the material, something holy, something truly sacred. Of course, one can easily retain whatever beliefs and attachments that one has. And, all I can say to that is that it is your life, not mine.