i have read the book now. it is very good. her description of the cult behavior of the trungpa students was a perfect match to what i experienced in the dzongsar khyentse group, which is full of trungpa students. they are stuck in a delusion of enlightenment while acting without compassion, equanimity or basic manners. super cool people. and if you ask any hard questions they use ridicule and humiliation tactics. there were several alarming things i didn't know. they have established a lineage for thomas rich, the regent who was lucky to get out of nova scotia before anyone investigated his sex crimes. their continued cover up of the extent of the abuses under rich. the fact that the millionaire sakyong has left his autistic brother to be cared for at public expense by the state of vermont, and the lack of any education for the sakyong.
after dealing with much racism, nastiness cliqueishness and rudeness form trungpa students i would never get involved with a trungpa people again.
she criticizes a teacher of mine dzongsar khyentse for his support for sogyal and trungpa.(and i am probably finished with his people as well) his recent missive on the topic was pure desembling and rationalization. he especially acted impressed that trungpa could attract these upper caste americans, and got hippies to dress formally. whoop de doo!! dumb hippies, who were mostly upper middle class were shallow and class and ethnicly bigoted people and they always want to be the coolest people. an easy sell for an unscrupulous teacher like trungpa.they were going back to their origons. moreover he says students know what they are in for. NO NO NO. these tibetans including dsongsar khyentse hide their beliefs, backgrounds and activities . he gave us an instructor who was a landmark instructor. four or five years in that was revealed. i would never go to a landmark instructor. and that instructor was abusive, even racist, when i asked if he was concerned about the support for trungpa. his brother instructor said he would never talk to me again for questioning the support for sogyal and trungpa. so they are using the same abusive apporaoches as the trungpas people. no questions allowed. i have never had any contact with trungpa or sogyal their goups or people so why do i have to obey a samaya i do not have?
i think she goes too far blaming the dalai lama for his failure to act, but it's not an unreasonable position to take. he should be more active in controlling abuse in his own system, however i doubt he can change the medieval tibetans quickly. so he is partly responsible. if he denounced abuse more he could leave his position and he would be fine as a monk.(he would probably be forced out) he would still have lots of followers and supporters. this points out the major issue with a lot of tibetan buddhist leaders. they are not even pretending to be renunciates. they are wealth and power holders. this is inconsistent with the teachings of buddha. they have excellent teachings burried under the dross of abuse, wealth, greed and ignorance, but so do other groups, so why do we need these power and wealth hungry lamas?
her criticism of the world view of kalachakra is worth contmplating. are these people seriously taking the world conquest parts literally? well some are, and that's nuts. shambala seems to take this literally and that is inconsistent with buddhism.
she also provides some eye openers about maurice strong and his new age contacts. strong was important in the canadian liberal party. it is disturbing what he got up to after canadian politics.
so all and all it's an excellent book that i hope will open a few eyes and maybe even help push reforms.it gives excellent first hand views of how people lose their identity and become unconscious in such a cult atmosphere. i encourage every one to read john ralston saul's book:"unconscious civilization" and if you are brave his book:"voltaire's bastards." a critical analysis of how people in anglo culture are seriously unconscious , and i think trungpa and other gurus have learned how to harness that lack of consciousness to their own ends, for power and wealth. chandler's book shows unconsciousness in action. people who think they are super conscious being to opposite. that's a buddhist achievement!!
after dealing with much racism, nastiness cliqueishness and rudeness form trungpa students i would never get involved with a trungpa people again.
she criticizes a teacher of mine dzongsar khyentse for his support for sogyal and trungpa.(and i am probably finished with his people as well) his recent missive on the topic was pure desembling and rationalization. he especially acted impressed that trungpa could attract these upper caste americans, and got hippies to dress formally. whoop de doo!! dumb hippies, who were mostly upper middle class were shallow and class and ethnicly bigoted people and they always want to be the coolest people. an easy sell for an unscrupulous teacher like trungpa.they were going back to their origons. moreover he says students know what they are in for. NO NO NO. these tibetans including dsongsar khyentse hide their beliefs, backgrounds and activities . he gave us an instructor who was a landmark instructor. four or five years in that was revealed. i would never go to a landmark instructor. and that instructor was abusive, even racist, when i asked if he was concerned about the support for trungpa. his brother instructor said he would never talk to me again for questioning the support for sogyal and trungpa. so they are using the same abusive apporaoches as the trungpas people. no questions allowed. i have never had any contact with trungpa or sogyal their goups or people so why do i have to obey a samaya i do not have?
i think she goes too far blaming the dalai lama for his failure to act, but it's not an unreasonable position to take. he should be more active in controlling abuse in his own system, however i doubt he can change the medieval tibetans quickly. so he is partly responsible. if he denounced abuse more he could leave his position and he would be fine as a monk.(he would probably be forced out) he would still have lots of followers and supporters. this points out the major issue with a lot of tibetan buddhist leaders. they are not even pretending to be renunciates. they are wealth and power holders. this is inconsistent with the teachings of buddha. they have excellent teachings burried under the dross of abuse, wealth, greed and ignorance, but so do other groups, so why do we need these power and wealth hungry lamas?
her criticism of the world view of kalachakra is worth contmplating. are these people seriously taking the world conquest parts literally? well some are, and that's nuts. shambala seems to take this literally and that is inconsistent with buddhism.
she also provides some eye openers about maurice strong and his new age contacts. strong was important in the canadian liberal party. it is disturbing what he got up to after canadian politics.
so all and all it's an excellent book that i hope will open a few eyes and maybe even help push reforms.it gives excellent first hand views of how people lose their identity and become unconscious in such a cult atmosphere. i encourage every one to read john ralston saul's book:"unconscious civilization" and if you are brave his book:"voltaire's bastards." a critical analysis of how people in anglo culture are seriously unconscious , and i think trungpa and other gurus have learned how to harness that lack of consciousness to their own ends, for power and wealth. chandler's book shows unconsciousness in action. people who think they are super conscious being to opposite. that's a buddhist achievement!!