I’ve extracted relevant quotes from the other thread on Peter Young to give easier access.
The full thread can be found here:
[forum.culteducation.com]
Posted by: howi ()
Date: September 15, 2005 10:05PM
... [Peter Young]... runs this program ... Once I got up there it became clear that these people think he has supernatural abilities.
... He was certainly good at brainwashing his students. They worshipped the man.
He wore sunglasses all the time as he had "the eyes of a buddha" that would
be too much if people looked at them....
... The people who follow this guy seem to be in a state of trance and basically give up the rest of their life to follow and learn from him. ... Anyways, it just got too weird for me. ... It all turned into unleashing your Chi to amazing results to obtain powers of control and ability that you never could reach by yourself.
Posted by: paracelsus ()
Date: November 23, 2006 05:37AM
I know Peter Young. I'd be seriously worried about anybody close to me being part of his group.
He was kicked out of the Tai Chi Union of Great Britain several years ago for unethical conduct. He is a fairly accomplished liar and I'd check out any credentials he offers very carefully.
He has left a trail of burnt out and broken students behind him.
The ones that remain are, indeed, pretty much brainwashed and regard him as a Buddha. He has been charging top dollar for teaching Buddhism for nearly 10 years though from what I could divine this was contrary to the sect which he had joined.
He is superficially pleasant unless challenged and then can become exceptionally abusive and unpleasant. In altered states he gives the impression of actually not being completely all there. Stay away and hold on to your money. If you doubt this - get in contact with reputable members of the Tai Chi Union of Great Britain who will put you straight on Peter Young.
Posted by: karmabiting ()
Date: December 02, 2008 04:05AM
I have been a student of HH Penor Rinpoche's, for twelve years, and have attended the one month summer retreat every year since they began. Dr. Young, (honorary title) has spent a number of years at these retreats.
While Peter is a student of Rinpoche's, I would not say that he has any "special" endorsement from him.
If you read Dr. Young's website carefully, he skillfully manipulates the language to present a portrait of himself that inflates his standing.
While there are no blatant lies (as far as I know) in his statements about himself, there is a good deal of exageration and subtle massaging of the truth. For example, Dr. Young states that he has received all kinds of major empowerments and initiations. That is true, but so did anyone who paid for the retreats. He also lists his various dharma names and titles, and explains their meaning. They are quite impressive.
But anyone who has been on the Tibetan Buddhist path for long can reel out a hefty list of impressive titles and names. That is the custom.
Aside from his first name, the only thing I ever heard Penor Rinpoche call Peter was a liar. This was during the summer retreat, where Rinpoche said he did not "take money from liars", and refused Peter's monetary offering in front of the entire group of retreatants.
Dr. Young has taken to wearing the robes of a monk, and now usually sits with the ordained sangha during practice. I don't know if he has become a monk, but, if anyone knows if he is ordained, I would like to know when, where and by whom.
It is my personal observation that Dr. Young is working very hard to become a well-known teacher and master. However, his association with His Holiness Penor Rinpoche and the Palyul lineage in no way guarantees that his organization is not a cult. ...
... If I had a good friend or child who wanted to study Dharma, I would point them toward "the real thing", not a "wanna be".
Posted by: DrBill ()
Date: January 03, 2011 10:33PM
I knew Peter Young when he lived in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. In my experience and opinion, he was a technically competent martial artist, but he had a big ego, and was dogmatic and intolerant of criticism.
The "chi" demonstrations that you can see on YouTube are classic examples of a strange kind of mass delusion that is fairly common in the martial arts. ...
... How can one explain the evident fact that students are so often ready to let even manifestly fraudulent or ridiculous claims pass unchallenged?
Why go on handing over your money to someone who is clearly a charlatan?
The answer, I suggest, is partly that students are imbued from the first with an unduly deferential and unquestioning attitude to their teachers. ... I suspect also that their denial of the obvious arises from ego-needs of their own: from the wish to believe that they are the disciples of a wise master who can lead them to some cherished goal. It is natural enough to want to belong to an in-group or a “family.” It is natural also, at least for a certain type of personality, to want to place oneself in the hands of a trusted authority figure. This is precisely the kind of dependent and impressionable personality that makes “cults” possible.
... I have seen this kind of collective delusion many times, and it leads to a simple conclusion: that every dishonest teacher is sustained in his position by the suggestibility of students who allow themselves to be deluded.
Posted by: Hmm ()
Date: June 12, 2011 03:41AM
My Personal experience with Peter Young ("Lama Dondrup Dorje") is that he is highly manipulative and abusive. Apparently he gets a sense of pleasure by being in control of other people. He is not a real Lama. Demon would be a proper title for him. Stay away from him is my advice, he has nothing good to offer.
The full thread can be found here:
[forum.culteducation.com]
Posted by: howi ()
Date: September 15, 2005 10:05PM
... [Peter Young]... runs this program ... Once I got up there it became clear that these people think he has supernatural abilities.
... He was certainly good at brainwashing his students. They worshipped the man.
He wore sunglasses all the time as he had "the eyes of a buddha" that would
be too much if people looked at them....
... The people who follow this guy seem to be in a state of trance and basically give up the rest of their life to follow and learn from him. ... Anyways, it just got too weird for me. ... It all turned into unleashing your Chi to amazing results to obtain powers of control and ability that you never could reach by yourself.
Posted by: paracelsus ()
Date: November 23, 2006 05:37AM
I know Peter Young. I'd be seriously worried about anybody close to me being part of his group.
He was kicked out of the Tai Chi Union of Great Britain several years ago for unethical conduct. He is a fairly accomplished liar and I'd check out any credentials he offers very carefully.
He has left a trail of burnt out and broken students behind him.
The ones that remain are, indeed, pretty much brainwashed and regard him as a Buddha. He has been charging top dollar for teaching Buddhism for nearly 10 years though from what I could divine this was contrary to the sect which he had joined.
He is superficially pleasant unless challenged and then can become exceptionally abusive and unpleasant. In altered states he gives the impression of actually not being completely all there. Stay away and hold on to your money. If you doubt this - get in contact with reputable members of the Tai Chi Union of Great Britain who will put you straight on Peter Young.
Posted by: karmabiting ()
Date: December 02, 2008 04:05AM
I have been a student of HH Penor Rinpoche's, for twelve years, and have attended the one month summer retreat every year since they began. Dr. Young, (honorary title) has spent a number of years at these retreats.
While Peter is a student of Rinpoche's, I would not say that he has any "special" endorsement from him.
If you read Dr. Young's website carefully, he skillfully manipulates the language to present a portrait of himself that inflates his standing.
While there are no blatant lies (as far as I know) in his statements about himself, there is a good deal of exageration and subtle massaging of the truth. For example, Dr. Young states that he has received all kinds of major empowerments and initiations. That is true, but so did anyone who paid for the retreats. He also lists his various dharma names and titles, and explains their meaning. They are quite impressive.
But anyone who has been on the Tibetan Buddhist path for long can reel out a hefty list of impressive titles and names. That is the custom.
Aside from his first name, the only thing I ever heard Penor Rinpoche call Peter was a liar. This was during the summer retreat, where Rinpoche said he did not "take money from liars", and refused Peter's monetary offering in front of the entire group of retreatants.
Dr. Young has taken to wearing the robes of a monk, and now usually sits with the ordained sangha during practice. I don't know if he has become a monk, but, if anyone knows if he is ordained, I would like to know when, where and by whom.
It is my personal observation that Dr. Young is working very hard to become a well-known teacher and master. However, his association with His Holiness Penor Rinpoche and the Palyul lineage in no way guarantees that his organization is not a cult. ...
... If I had a good friend or child who wanted to study Dharma, I would point them toward "the real thing", not a "wanna be".
Posted by: DrBill ()
Date: January 03, 2011 10:33PM
I knew Peter Young when he lived in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. In my experience and opinion, he was a technically competent martial artist, but he had a big ego, and was dogmatic and intolerant of criticism.
The "chi" demonstrations that you can see on YouTube are classic examples of a strange kind of mass delusion that is fairly common in the martial arts. ...
... How can one explain the evident fact that students are so often ready to let even manifestly fraudulent or ridiculous claims pass unchallenged?
Why go on handing over your money to someone who is clearly a charlatan?
The answer, I suggest, is partly that students are imbued from the first with an unduly deferential and unquestioning attitude to their teachers. ... I suspect also that their denial of the obvious arises from ego-needs of their own: from the wish to believe that they are the disciples of a wise master who can lead them to some cherished goal. It is natural enough to want to belong to an in-group or a “family.” It is natural also, at least for a certain type of personality, to want to place oneself in the hands of a trusted authority figure. This is precisely the kind of dependent and impressionable personality that makes “cults” possible.
... I have seen this kind of collective delusion many times, and it leads to a simple conclusion: that every dishonest teacher is sustained in his position by the suggestibility of students who allow themselves to be deluded.
Posted by: Hmm ()
Date: June 12, 2011 03:41AM
My Personal experience with Peter Young ("Lama Dondrup Dorje") is that he is highly manipulative and abusive. Apparently he gets a sense of pleasure by being in control of other people. He is not a real Lama. Demon would be a proper title for him. Stay away from him is my advice, he has nothing good to offer.