I am a character reference for Nicole Grace, though I haven't been associated with her for at least a decade. It's just that I came here and see a lot of defamation going on. She and Scott, her bodyguard and longtime companion, got their black belts same place I went to school - at the World Seido Karate HQ in NYC on W 23rd Street. She and Scott in the same class. I was just starting out but they were already blackbelts. That must have been in 1994.
Those who claim that she doesn't know Buddhism are uniformed. She and I both read the Pali Canon and were tested on it around the same time. She has the same knowledge base as I do, and I was ordained as a a zen priest for a number of years in a documented Rinzai Zen Lineage until last year. So she's got teaching level credentials. But what she is doing is blending Buddhism, it's non-dual and also Tibetan mystical forms, with Vedanta, Hinduism, Shamanism --- it's a regular hodgepodge. I studied with her for a number of years after our mutual teacher, Frederick Lenz, died.
The point is that she believes with her whole heart in what she is doing, at least she did the last time I saw here, which was before all this online nastiness began popping up. I can't say the same for Dr. Lenz. I'm just not sure what his deal was. However, he never hurt me, and he changed my life in amazing ways and gave me dimensions I'd never have had otherwise. Changed my karma. I have to say that I have similar mixed feelings about all of my past spiritual teachers and mentors, In the end, they, we, all fall short.
So to the person whose marriage was broken up, and who was a Buddhist, I'm so sorry. All I can guess is that the husband was subconsciously looking for an out. It might have taken the form of an affair, but here, it took form of becoming a big fan. A lot of people like to give perjorative connotations to cults, but in fact, our society is made up of nothing but little cults, and big ones. Perhaps it could be destructive, for someone who is unbalanced, or has no life, or gives away money that doesn't belong to them. But this is a character or issue within the person, not necessarily the teacher.
Having known Ms. Grace for a few decades, as a fellow student, a fellow project manager in technology, a fellow musician, a fellow fluent speaker of French, and a fellow literary persona (we are both published authors and both studied at prestigious places) I know her to be authentically a champion, New York City born and bred, a world class sophisticated person, with, I believe, a somewhat warped view of reality. Other people like to go into that dream with her, for whatever reason. Sometimes, it's a nicer place than current life circumstances.
But I would tend to agree, if it's possible to create a family/social/greater community environment where we were all welcomed warmly as equals and all our gifts were welcomed, despite any peculiarities or weaknesses or differences between us,there wouldn't be a need forthe spiritual and psychological form of first-aid that Ms. Grace provides. It's a short-term patch. Anything that relies on the guru in order to work can only be that.
However, she knows that graduate school in spiritual development means finding the guru within. Internalizing it. I do think that when people reach a certain level of maturity successfully within the order, the do leave, or are 'graduated' out, or move on to teach their own flavor of the religious syncretism. But just as many are probably hurt in some way. So if they are adults, consenting adults, your best hope it to develop fulfilling and mutually beneficial relationships with them so they don't have to seek this kind of thing out.
Those who claim that she doesn't know Buddhism are uniformed. She and I both read the Pali Canon and were tested on it around the same time. She has the same knowledge base as I do, and I was ordained as a a zen priest for a number of years in a documented Rinzai Zen Lineage until last year. So she's got teaching level credentials. But what she is doing is blending Buddhism, it's non-dual and also Tibetan mystical forms, with Vedanta, Hinduism, Shamanism --- it's a regular hodgepodge. I studied with her for a number of years after our mutual teacher, Frederick Lenz, died.
The point is that she believes with her whole heart in what she is doing, at least she did the last time I saw here, which was before all this online nastiness began popping up. I can't say the same for Dr. Lenz. I'm just not sure what his deal was. However, he never hurt me, and he changed my life in amazing ways and gave me dimensions I'd never have had otherwise. Changed my karma. I have to say that I have similar mixed feelings about all of my past spiritual teachers and mentors, In the end, they, we, all fall short.
So to the person whose marriage was broken up, and who was a Buddhist, I'm so sorry. All I can guess is that the husband was subconsciously looking for an out. It might have taken the form of an affair, but here, it took form of becoming a big fan. A lot of people like to give perjorative connotations to cults, but in fact, our society is made up of nothing but little cults, and big ones. Perhaps it could be destructive, for someone who is unbalanced, or has no life, or gives away money that doesn't belong to them. But this is a character or issue within the person, not necessarily the teacher.
Having known Ms. Grace for a few decades, as a fellow student, a fellow project manager in technology, a fellow musician, a fellow fluent speaker of French, and a fellow literary persona (we are both published authors and both studied at prestigious places) I know her to be authentically a champion, New York City born and bred, a world class sophisticated person, with, I believe, a somewhat warped view of reality. Other people like to go into that dream with her, for whatever reason. Sometimes, it's a nicer place than current life circumstances.
But I would tend to agree, if it's possible to create a family/social/greater community environment where we were all welcomed warmly as equals and all our gifts were welcomed, despite any peculiarities or weaknesses or differences between us,there wouldn't be a need forthe spiritual and psychological form of first-aid that Ms. Grace provides. It's a short-term patch. Anything that relies on the guru in order to work can only be that.
However, she knows that graduate school in spiritual development means finding the guru within. Internalizing it. I do think that when people reach a certain level of maturity successfully within the order, the do leave, or are 'graduated' out, or move on to teach their own flavor of the religious syncretism. But just as many are probably hurt in some way. So if they are adults, consenting adults, your best hope it to develop fulfilling and mutually beneficial relationships with them so they don't have to seek this kind of thing out.