The key words to the whole thing are "if his students received a Vajrayana initiation". About 99% did not, including one woman who attended a Rigpa event for recently bereaved individuals. Instead of finding comfort and guidance in dealing with her profound loss, she encountered the purported author of the Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, who convinced her in her vulnerably emotional state, that having sex with him would resolve her grief.
Sogyal is an equal-opportunity molester; he doesn't differentiate between his public speaker role, his role as bereavement counselor, and his role as a Vajrayana teacher. Anyone woman who shows up at his events is fair game. If Dzongsar Khyentse has missed this fact, which is hard to believe, he hasn't been paying attention. To try to whitewash the decades of human wreckage Sogyal has left in his wake, as just a big misunderstanding, is unconscionable. Where is DKR's compassion? Isn't that what Buddhism is fundamentally about? Or do pop star Buddhists like DKR forget this, in their rush to fame and fortune? (DKR was known to make periodic fund-raising trips to Hong Kong in the early part of his career, to milk the wealthy Buddhist businessmen there.)
Furthermore, Vajrayana initiations are traditionally preceded by years of study of more fundamental Buddhist texts, including the foundational "Hinayana" teachings, then the Mahayana. Those students who do progress to the Vajrayana level (not all do; some opt out, at that point) are given lengthy preparational instruction, before taking the guru devotional vows. During the many years of preliminary teachings, the student has plenty of time to observe the teacher, to assess whether s/he is trustworthy, walks the talk, and is in his/her integrity. Behavior not consistent with the Buddha's teachings and the basic vows is to be considered a red flag, indicating that the teacher is not deserving of the profound level of trust and devotion involved at the Hightest Yoga Tantra level.
Corrupt teachers with ulterior motives, like Trungpa and Sogyal, to name just two, typically skip past the years of preliminary teachings, telling students that they're "special", and are already so advanced, that they don't need to waste time with the basics. They jump right into devotional practices, to set students up to be taken advantage of. They lie to convince students that relating to the teacher as if he were the Buddha were standard practice, even if the students are only attending a meditation workshop.
In manipulating students this way, these teachers make a mockery of Buddhism, and of the Tibetan teaching tradition. Anyone attempting to validate such clearly corrupt practices can only be considered to be complicit with the entire charade. Shame on Dzongsar Khyentse!
Sogyal is an equal-opportunity molester; he doesn't differentiate between his public speaker role, his role as bereavement counselor, and his role as a Vajrayana teacher. Anyone woman who shows up at his events is fair game. If Dzongsar Khyentse has missed this fact, which is hard to believe, he hasn't been paying attention. To try to whitewash the decades of human wreckage Sogyal has left in his wake, as just a big misunderstanding, is unconscionable. Where is DKR's compassion? Isn't that what Buddhism is fundamentally about? Or do pop star Buddhists like DKR forget this, in their rush to fame and fortune? (DKR was known to make periodic fund-raising trips to Hong Kong in the early part of his career, to milk the wealthy Buddhist businessmen there.)
Furthermore, Vajrayana initiations are traditionally preceded by years of study of more fundamental Buddhist texts, including the foundational "Hinayana" teachings, then the Mahayana. Those students who do progress to the Vajrayana level (not all do; some opt out, at that point) are given lengthy preparational instruction, before taking the guru devotional vows. During the many years of preliminary teachings, the student has plenty of time to observe the teacher, to assess whether s/he is trustworthy, walks the talk, and is in his/her integrity. Behavior not consistent with the Buddha's teachings and the basic vows is to be considered a red flag, indicating that the teacher is not deserving of the profound level of trust and devotion involved at the Hightest Yoga Tantra level.
Corrupt teachers with ulterior motives, like Trungpa and Sogyal, to name just two, typically skip past the years of preliminary teachings, telling students that they're "special", and are already so advanced, that they don't need to waste time with the basics. They jump right into devotional practices, to set students up to be taken advantage of. They lie to convince students that relating to the teacher as if he were the Buddha were standard practice, even if the students are only attending a meditation workshop.
In manipulating students this way, these teachers make a mockery of Buddhism, and of the Tibetan teaching tradition. Anyone attempting to validate such clearly corrupt practices can only be considered to be complicit with the entire charade. Shame on Dzongsar Khyentse!