(Small excerpt, Part Three - for entire article, go here)
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In regard to my cults analysis of Shambhala [1], I would certainly now rate Shambhala higher in both the categories of Sexual Manipulation and Censorship, but my numbers would still keep Shambhala in the Minimal (as opposed to Moderate) Cult Danger category that I ended up with in my Part 2 essay. I had already decided that I would not be having any more associations with Shambhala, soon after I wrote my Part 2 essay, so all this new very disturbing information that I have learned about Mipham does not have any additional effect in this regard for me. But what about Mipham's apology letter? Do I think this is sincere enough for Mipham to be forgiven for all the sexual abuse he has committed in Shambhala, which apparently was essentially in the past?
This is a difficult question. There is no doubt that Mipham had little choice but to write his apology letter, once Project Sunshine exposed his sexual abuse in Shambhala, which was affirmed by a legal investigation as part of the report [7]. But unlike his father Trungpa, Mipham was entirely secretive about all his sexual “relationships” with many of his women students in Shambhala over the course of a number of years, and this secrecy was maintained and reinforced by the Shambhala organization. He now apologies and acknowledges that “some” of the women whom he had relationships with feel that they were harmed, even though he alludes to the belief that he did not “intend” to harm them. He says he is going into a period of “self-reflection and listening” and that his wife is being “strongly supportive” of him, and that he has entered into “mediation and healing practices” with the women who have felt that he harmed them. So what do I think?
Well I think it is “something” and that there is some sincerity here, but I don't think it does justice to the extent of the sexual abuse that he committed over many years, and especially not to his criminal rape of one of his women students in the seminary kitchen, in the presence of his victim's partner. I am still somewhat in shock over all these revelations, and I can only imagine how devastated I would have been if I had continued in Shambhala and had truly pledged my allegiance to Mipham as part of my taking Shambhala vows