New Kadampa Tradition – NKT
Dublin’s Tara Buddhist Centre is part of one of the West’s fastest growing New Religious Movements, the New Kadampa Tradition. The group, which was founded in only 1991, already has 1100 centres in 40 countries worldwide, a fact that it proudly proclaims on the organisation’s homepage. What the publicity doesn’t tell you is that the NKT is at the centre of a bitter doctrinal dispute with the Dalai Lama, who has referred to one of its central practices as the worship of ‘a spirit of the dark forces.’ What you are not told is that many of the senior figures in the organisation are also the organisers of a bitter anti Dalai Lama campaign which has resulted in a huge media campaign and bands of angry protesters trailing the Dalai Lama around the planet while he preaches his doctrine of love and compassion. Below are four websites that contain a significant amount of critical information about the NKT.
http://info-buddhism.com/
http://www.newkadampa.com/
http://www.nktworld.org/
http://www.newkadampatruths.org/
Those interested in reading how the group has responded to widespread criticism might also want to take a look at http://www.newkadampatruth.org/ which lists the groups individual responses to numerous allegations and which might equally be entitled, ‘Why the NKT is not a cult’. Have a read, and then decide for yourself.
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http://www.meditateinireland.com/
Anon Buddhist
Filed under: New Kadampa Tradition - NKT
It is a shame you have not examined the issue a little more deeply and that you have just assumed that the Dalai Lama is correct in his assessment of the New Kadampa Tradition and its practices. In reality, this tradition faithfully practices the Gelug teachings of Je Tsongkhapa as passed down through generations of masters, including the Dalai Lama’s own religious teacher and great master Trijang Rinpoche. We certainly do not worship a “spirit of the dark forces” — this is, to put it simply, dreadful slander of our Dharma Protector, whom we rely upon as a Wisdom Buddha.
The whole clamp down on the practice of the Dharma Protector Dorje Shugden is dirty Tibetan politics that has led to widespread misery among the Tibetans in the exile community in India due to his ban of their religious practices. Your readers might want to check out http://www.wisdombuddhadorjeshugden.org to see what is going on over there.
To balance out your one-sided criticism of the NKT (and inclusion of every anti-NKT site out there), your readers may also be interested in taking a look at the history of how the NKT became known as a NRM or cult. There is a series of articles on that here: http://www.newkadampatruth.wordpress.com
So begins the huge tirade of pro NKT comments that appear on the internet whenever the NKT are criticised on the web for their cultish activities. Whether this is part of an organised system of dealing with criticism (as manifest in the pages the correspondent points to) or simply arises as a result of the huge number of naive individuals with no knowledge of Buddhism that the group have managed to ‘convert’ is not certain. Either way, what will ensue is, yet another, lengthy tirade of expanded versions of ‘the party line’, designed simply to put the innocent off the scent and convince them that the poor old NKT are simply victims of anti cult persecution borne of the ignorance of those who do not know the ‘truth’ of the situation. Sorry, but the fact is that, despite your protestations, the world outside the NKT knows increasingly that all you are is the continuation of the reactionary and fundamentalist elite that dominated the Tibetan political system and was predominantly responsible for the death of Buddhism in the glorious Land of the Snows and whose sole intent is to dominate Buddhism in the post diaspora Western buddhist world (quick, set up another group!)-study the history of the politics and religion of Tibet before you try to sell yourself off as the persecuted purveyors of the only real truth to have survived for millenia in the mysterious land beyond the Himalayas. Truth has a habit of catching up with the dishonest and it seems your time has come!
Yes, this lot are the real dirty tricks brigade-they attack the Dalai for mixing politics with religion (his job) by standinjg outside his teachings with placards, alongsde chinese demonstrators, calling him a liar. Ur…mixing politics with religion-duh!
All the demos last year were organised by them then they claim they are completely separate from the political stuff-I thought Buddhists werent supposed to lie?Well done DI, nip this cancer in the bud before it spread across our glorious isle
I am so glad you have put your stuff about these on. If you look at the stuff they do, for sure they are dodgy. Also, they bombard ANY critIcs with loads of properganda-Look at the sites about them. Loads of it. I bet you this page will hAve loads of angry stuff from them in no time at all. POWER TO YOUR ELBOW. WASH OUT THE POISON!
There is no point arguing with you, Nemesis. Your comment is shockingly full of inaccuracies.
As for responding to criticisms with facts and the truth, we are damned if we do and damned if we don’t, as far as you’re concerned. You’ll never listen to a word we say in our own defense as you are blinded by prejudice.
However, for those with an open mind, there are enough balanced and neutral observers out there who are increasingly discovering that something fishy and dictatorial is going on with the Dalai Lama’s politically-motivated ban of Dorje Shugden. Check out the French documentary http://www.france24.com/en/20080808-dalai-lama-demons-india-buddhism-dorje-shugden for example, or the Swiss documentary and other documentaries that are linked to on this page: http://www.wisdombuddhadorjeshugden.org/dorjeshugden28.php#2
@ wisdomsword
Being someone who knows next to nothing about NKT and the Dalai Lama, knows nothing about the history of Buddhism and knows practically squat about this entire topic, your comment nevertheless set off some alarm bells for me.
Your ‘defence’ didn’t really defend anything. It cried persecution, did some attacking of someone you perceived as an enemy, denigrated those who hold opposing points of view to you and your group, applied rhetoric in place of argumentation and generally seemed more concerned with garnering support than actually refuting claims made against you and your group.
Whenever I see the following language (which I have highlighted below) used in place of an actual defence or in place of any argumentation it makes me think something isn’t quite right. To call a comment “shockingly full of inaccuracies” without pointing out a single one is strange:
I know people who have passion about their particular faith or faith group who would react angrily when challenged. It is almost a natural reaction. But to use rhetoric in the way you have is simply unnerving. The documentaries you offer are not even relevant to the charges that have been laid against you and your group, but instead are attacks against your perceived enemies.
Who defends their group in a genuine way by completely avoiding the relevant criticisms only to denigrate all and sundry whom you disagree with? I’ll leave that question hanging.
This for example:
“the world outside the NKT knows increasingly that all you are is the continuation of the reactionary and fundamentalist elite that dominated the Tibetan political system and was predominantly responsible for the death of Buddhism in the glorious Land of the Snows and whose sole intent is to dominate Buddhism in the post diaspora Western buddhist world”
What does that even mean? It has no bearing on anything the NKT is or does.
Also, themadhair, it might be better if you were to follow your own advice and not engage in judgmental rhetoric against the NKT given that you know “squat” about the situation. How can you stand on your soap box and judge others when you don’t know anything about the background and so on?
What do you mean by this?
“The documentaries you offer are not even relevant to the charges that have been laid against you and your group”
Are you being disingenuous? Can you really say this given that you know squat about the situation? Those documentaries explain very clearly why the NKT has been outcast and called spirit worshippers etc because we also rely on Wisdom Buddha Dorje Shugden, as have generations of Gelugpas before us.
Sometimes tone does not come over on emails. I was not feeling remotely angry or upset when I wrote the comment above. Weary, perhaps, but also genuinely hoping people might want to follow up by looking at some of the background to the slander of the NKT. What is so wrong with defending ourselves against such slander? Why does that make us angry? I don’t think it does. We don’t have to be doormats just because we are Buddhists.
like I said-here comes the NKT PR team in their damage limitation capacity-Watch out for the properganda!
I remember seeing film of Tibetan monks carrying weapons when the Chinese invaded and thinking how shameful it was and how much it indicated the degenration of buddhism. I get exactly the same feeling when i read all this politcal stuff from the NKT and the people who bother to waste their time arguing with them. Shame on all of you-your mind games are destroying one of the few beautiful things left in this increasingly ugly world.
As for the NKT, i think the best thing you buddhists could do is pray fro their poor lost hellbound souls. Their anger and hatred is everywhere on the internet and there is no doubt where they are going
@wisdomword
That is what I am talking about. I make a simple comment explaining why I thought your post was odd and you proceed to denigrate me for engaging in “ judgmental rhetoric against the NKT”. I never made a single comment regarding the NKT, I never made any claims or accusations towards them – I addressed your comment and your comment alone.
To be frank, lose the persecution complex and stop perceiving everything as an attack or an act of prejudice. Or maybe it is your intention to try and turn everything into an attack?
As I said before, I have little experience with this topic but your posts (including the one you made under the name ‘Jimmy’) make very uneasy.
I think there is a difference between defending oneself and attempting to divert criticism (regardless of the veracity of that criticism). From what you have written here I only see you really doing the latter.
But what do I know? According to you I’m only here to engage in “ judgmental rhetoric against the NKT”.
the new kadampa tradition seems to be more interested in other non buddhist activities than buddhist activities ie
http://www.hotelkadampaitaly.com/en-hotel
http://www.hotelkadampaspain.com/en-home
a hotel chain
http://kadampa.org/en/centers/world-peace-cafes/
a cafe buisness
http://nkt-kmc-manjushri.org/service/business-meetings-venue
buisness venue
and of course a ’spiritual empowerment’ at disneyland paris
http://www.english-magazine.org/content/view/585/92/
http://kadampa.org/en/newsletters/3076/?height=500&width=500
THIS IS WHAT KIND OF BUDDHISTS THESE PEOPLE REALLY ARE.
THE NKT HAVE A INTEREST IN CHINA
http://kadampa.org/en/centers/kmc-hong-kong/
hate the dalai lama ? love china ! join the nkt!
‘The whole clamp down on the practice of the Dharma Protector Dorje Shugden is dirty Tibetan politics that has led to widespread misery among the Tibetans in the exile community in India due to his ban of their religious practices’
Hold on-I thought the fifth and thirteenth Dalai Lama’s also banned the practice, as did numerous heads of the Gelugs throughout the deity’s three hundred year stint? And whats that on the Al Jazeera video ‘4 million worshippers’ where did they get that stat from? L Ron Hubbard? Did Al Jazeera know that the Shugden cult attempted to insult the Dalai by claiming he was ‘a muslim’ when they fed them that garbage I wonder?’Dirty politics? Yeah, right.
what kind of buddhists are these ?
http://www.hotelkadampaitaly.com/en-hotel
http://www.hotelkadampaspain.com/en-home
ones that dont mention they are buddhists when they are selling you a holiday.
what kind of buddhists are these?
http://www.kadampafestivalparis.org/
that have festivals at disneyland.
what kind of buddhists are these?
http://images.kadampa.org/news/news-header/2009_Brochure_page1.jpg
that use sexual imagery to sell buddhism
what kind of buddhists are these?
‘In reality, this tradition faithfully practices the Gelug teachings of Je Tsongkhapa as passed down through generations of masters,’
In reality, Je Tsongkhapa did not practice Dorje Shugden or Vajrayogini, two most central practices of the NKT. This is therefore a lie, though cult members are often blind to the truth about themselves, prefering to launch attacks on ‘opponents’ to justify themselves.(Google ‘Operation Freakout’ )
LRon Hubbard wrote:
‘Game: a contest of person against person or team against team. A game consists of freedoms, barriers and purposes, and there is a necessity in a game to have an opponent or an enemy….To live life fully, then, one must have in addition to “something to do,” a higher purpose, and this purpose, to be a purpose at all, must have counter-purposes or purposes which prevent it from occurring.’
This is the meaning of life for LRon…and the NKT?
Just watched Tommy Davis, senior Scientologist, being questioned about his religious beliefs. His response? That it was offensive and unethical to question another person’s religious values-the ‘freedom of relgious thought’ argument so prevalent in 21st century liberal society, an argument that does not take into account the great harm a particular relgion might be doing to individuals and society. Now where else have I seen that argument used recently? (Chants: ‘Dalai Lama Give Relgious Freedom’)-Aaah yes, now I remember!
Lets look beyond NKT and anti-Tibetan Buddhism propaganda:
The New Kadampa Tradition is the continuation and the final peak of the most conservative fraction within the Gelug school. To understand NKT one has to understand the history of Tibetan Buddhism and the history of Tibet.
Within Tibetan Buddhism the conservative fraction within Gelug school was the main opponent of democratic reforms and the ally of the aristocrats and they together were mainly the main opponents of the democratic reforms of the 13th Dalai Lama, which cut the rights of the aristocrats and gave more rights to the poor…
…and of course nowadays, since NKT has chosen to keep the heritage of the conservative lamas ‘purely’, NKT and Kelsang Gyatso are necessarily the main opponents of the 14th Dalai Lama….
The conservative fraction within Gelug school started to intertwine their conservative position in their teachings and the main point these were often issuing was, that the old time is glorious and pure and the new time very degenerated and impure, everything new is the work of the Mara (devil) and everything old is goodness by its own right.
It is in this context that worshipping of Shugden appeared and became so close to the conservatives. Not only that the 13th Dalai Lama predicted that these backward and closed (often sectarian and narrow minded) minds will lead Tibet into a catastrophe, when he actual died, the most conservative Gelug purists were able to gain more power again, and to make the controversial Shugden practice even more widespread than previously, ignoring the restrictions or prohibition of that practice by the 13th Dalai Lama. Actual it was Pabongkha Lama, the main proponent of that practice, who broke his promise to the 13th Dalai Lama, and this broken promise may have formed the basis that these power struggles and disputes did not die out and continue until today – prolonged by those who uphold his most conservative / sectarian heritage.
The predicted catastrophe finally came over Tibet and Tibetans had to escape altogether from Tibet (if they were able to escape) – no matter what faith they had. When they came to the West the most conservative Gelug fraction exported these issues to the West.
NKT’s claim Shugden worshippers would be “pure” because they do “not mix Dharma with politics” is a nice tale, but it is discordant to the facts. In fact Shugden proponents make and made politics as well and Pabongkhapa was a government agent from Lhasa, responsible for the destruction of religious artefacts of the Nyingma school and sectarian disputes.
However, though there are these power struggles, Tibetan Buddhism has really something worthwhile to offer to the world, no matter how ugly NKT show themselves.
NKT are just the peak of the most conservative branch within Gelug school with a strong tendency towards religious fundamentalism and purism. All this can be found in other world religions too, so my suggestion is to put these appearances into perspective by knowledge and understanding of the facts.
For more on history of Tibetan Buddhism I can recommend:
- Prof. Samuel “Civilized Shamans: Buddhism in Tibetan Societies”
- the Video “Angry Monk” by Luc Schaedler: http://www.buddhistmedia.com/uitzending.aspx?lIntEntityId=923&lIntType=0&lIntYear=2008
- The Shukden Affair and its origin by Prof. G. Dreyfus http://dalailama.com/page.149.htm
All commenters please note that including two or more links within your post causes your post to enter the moderation queue. This can greatly delay your post from becoming visible on the site.
Please try to restrict yourselves to one link per post in order to circumvent this.
Thank you.
i wish to correct one point: i’ve just glanced through the comments before I added my commment and it appeared wrongly to me, that there is “anti-Tibetan-Buddhism propganda” involved. the fact that there are movie strips from the PRC with monks holding weapons when they come out of the monastery is what i put into this category. in general in a war such images should be taken with scepticism since they are published for the sake of war propaganda to justify injustice actions, and it is not clear what was really going on in that monastery. So I am really sceptical with these Chinese images of monks coming out of the monastery bearing weapons – however my judement of “anti-Tibetan Buddhism propaganda” is very wrong in the context of the comments above.
Thank you themadhair for your outsider and analytical perspective, this cuts through the polemics. Usually the discussion ends up in polemics and no body has any gain by using a polemical approach.
With respect to NKT there is also a BBC documentary called “An Unholy Row” and a correction by SWISS TV who has published similar to Al Jazeera and France 24 TV “facts” which can’t stand up verification (e.g. 4 million shugden practitioners and the persecution claims): http://www.tibetonline.tv/shugden_issues.html
Tibet scholar Robert Barnett of Columbia University states in TibetanReview.net:
(Western Shugden Society (WSS) is as well as Shugden Supporter Community (SSC) a front group of NKT, founded, run and financed by NKT. Only very very few Tibetans give them support or any credit.)
I’d be a hypocrite for not calling this out for being rhetoric after my previous comments.
Some corrections with respect to my own comments:
- instead of “fraction” it should read faction of course
- instead of “movie strips” it should read film strips
- when I spoke of war with respect to China, I meant the violent and injustice taking over of Tibet, which I refer to as an unilateral war against this people
- the term propaganda I used seems to be misplaced and exaggerated, so please excuse the use of it
themadhair probably I lack the intelligence to understand this:
Can you make this more clear to me?
(I said what you have quoted because I was happy to find a comment which is not just a exchange of polemics but tries to investigate the means applied to issue arguments.)
Since the post by “Dialogue In Ireland” points out mainly a “bitter doctrinal dispute with the Dalai Lama” I wish to add that unlike NKT’s claims criticism about the structure and approach of NKT comes not at all from the Dalai Lama but former members of NKT, including the own former teachers, monks and nuns. There exist a self-supporting group called the New Kadampa Survivors and some of them have issued a public note to make newcomers aware of what they should know before they enter or follow the organisation, NKT.
See:
http://buddhismnewkadampa.wordpress.com/
My experience of the NKT.
My experience (10 years) with the NKT leads me to believe that it is a cult. To me the issue of Shugdan/Dalai Lama is more of a smokescreen for the real issues.
The group uses individuals to fulfill its aims, it shows little regard for the individual. You are only useful as long as you do as your asked. The line is the guru wants you to do this and it will benefit all living beings.
Teachers generally do not have much experience before they teach, They may have knowledge, but the practical experience of this knowledge is very limited. These teachers are trying to push you to enlightenment, they themselves are not enlightened. They are trying to teach you how to solve your problems, yet their lives are full of repressed problems. one week you are the best student, this often means that the teacher approves of something you have said, next week your out, because they disapprove.
They mostly show blind faith in GKG and if they say anything that he or the organization does not agree with they are removed from their position. At least 3 of the main successors of the Guru (heart deciples) were allowed to remain ordained even though the guru knew they were sleeping with other monks and nuns. They were only disrobed when this information was published on the internet. Many ordained teachers disrobe each year. The organization is empire building, a temple for every city in the world.
In this organization, you are asked to give away your wisdom and accept the wisdom of another, you are not encouraged to question in any meaningful way the teachings. You are encouraged to attend courses, festivals and other events, they all cost money. I thought i enjoyed my 10 years with the nkt, it was only when i left that i realised i had allowed myself to be manipulated, i had also manipulated others when i taught. Am I bitter now, no, would i like my mother, brother, friend to join the group, no, why, it creates more problems for people than it solves.
sorry i forgot to mention, most of my experience of the NKt was in Ireland. Of the 5 ordained teachers that were sent to ireland over the 10 or so years, 3 of them gave up their robes. Two remain ordained, the current resident teacher and the teacher in the north.
http://www.newkadampatruth.org/
is the website of the organization set up to answer numerous criticisms. If one reads it to just see what the allegations are that have been made against them, it is absolutely terrifying. The dogmatic responses are further evidence of the cult-like nature of the group.
hey –
i’ve been practising within the NKT for 15 years and none of this is my experience. Tenzin Peljor’s historical analysis above (Another Anon Buddhist) is disputed, to say the least, and for every Martin, who has left and subsequently changed his mind about the tradition, there are many like me who are still here, still happy..
NKT is a new development in the western world, and has grown quickly. i think it’s inevitable that there have been mistakes made – as there are in any religious tradition. but one thing which i’ve been proud of my tradition for has been its willingness to learn from those mistakes and to improve – as there has been in every, valid, religious tradition. for example, the NKT’s been writing and revising a legally binding document it calls the “Internal Rules” (or “A Moral Discipline Guide – the Internal Rules of the New Kadampa Tradition, International Kadampa Buddhist Union”) which is steadily democratizing the management of the tradition and its member Centres, and moving away from the old-fashioned model of one person at the top with all the spiritual and temporal power that has been seen not to work for modern people.
in NKT i’ve met – and i’ve done it myself, i’m sure – over-zealous newbies trying to sell everyone they meet their “truth”; but you’ll meet the same people when you go to Church. they soon grow out of it.
newkadampatruth.org sounds defensive because it has to be! like wisdomsword said above, it seems we’re damned if we defend ourselves and damned if we don’t! if someone calls me a child-molester, how can i stay silent? if my very defense of my good name is then used as proof of my guilt, then what has this world become?
to me, NKT is a beautiful tradition that has a heart of gold – and that heart is Lord Buddha’s teachings. just because some of its practitioners have somteimes been immature in its infancy does not, to my mind, justify this label “cult”. i can leave, with impunity, the moment i feel like it. i can question – i often do! i’m not a member of any “propaganda team”, nor am i a wide-eyed convert. i’m a Buddhist, and i’m happy and proud to say i’m an NKT Buddhist.
my advice – to anyone – would be to meet some people like me and make your own mind up about us. they’re lovely at the Centres in Ireland – i just really don’t get how anyone could think they’ve got some kind of sinister purpose! but of course, i’m just spouting the pasrty-line, i guess, to appease my angry god… :-D
another view ……..
http://nktworld.org/leave.html
Since when was Dorje Shugden, the central NKT practice and supposedly the reincarnation of a 17th century buddhist teacher, ‘Lord Buddha’s teaching” Buddha died 2 and a half thousand years ago-do the maths! Spirit or Buddha: who cares? But it certainly is not the Buddha’s teaching.
PS is that ‘heart of gold’ the one that Shugden feeds on while he stands in his ocean of blood or is that the heart of his enemies? very buddhist!
My advice would be do both-go to an NKT centre AND read the critiques-then make up your own mind-If you dont agree, where does that put you?
”for every Martin, who has left and subsequently changed his mind about the tradition, there are many like me who are still here, still happy”
I always had my doubts of the tradition, if im honest. I always tried to see the good in it, i did not want to be mistaken about it, it was my pride that kept me there. I have seen a number of teachers and students (including myself) treat others in not a nice way throughout all my time. It never sat well with me. I have seen people that left ignored, I had been asked not to be in contact with people that left and have been frowned on for talking about them.
Im delighted that you are still happy and may you stay happy.
”i’ve been proud of my tradition for has been its willingness to learn from those mistakes and to improve”
Did it learn from Gen Tubten (gkg supposed successor) after he was found to be sleeping with ordained students, no they hid it.
Did they/we learn from Gen Samden(another successor of the founder), who we were told was a Buddha, by our Resident teacher at Tara centre in Ireland (2007), He did the same, he slept with many ordained nuns, at least 10 have disrobed, some more are in retreat purifying and some are working in nkt hotels to purify. No it was hidden for at least two years, even though Kelsang Gyatso knew of it. Only after it was released to the internet was any action taken. He stepped down and later disrobed.
Did we learn from Lodro, 2008, who had a girlfriend a nun. He eloped. After this became public knowledge, use of Nkt chat was forbidden.
This list is endless, its not just limited to monks, there are a list of senior nuns too. I can go on; no i don’t believe anything meaningful was learned. There are new rules to be broken and hidden.
No effort was made at any time to say sorry to people, every effort was made to hide this stuff, people and teachers vanished. The nkt survivors site has 800 members, as people heal they leave that site. Others don’t even join. This 800 is only the tip of the iceberg.
If it was a pure tradition, there would be no need to defend it. It purity would stand out; it would never even need to be mentioned. What is the line no pure dharma student ever went hungry.
If you remember your dharma, in 8 steps to happiness, there is the story of a lama, accepting a child after a woman said it was his, later she came to take it back. He never defended his honor, yet he was not the father..
I agree there are two lovely centers in Ireland, they are a credit to the practioners, and they raised the money and support the teachers. The buildings are great.
I also agree that there are fantastic people around the nkt (especially in Ireland), I think they were always beautiful.
In the last few months before I left, I saw that these lovely people were often afraid of the resident teacher, would she shine on them or scowl. That depended on how they behaved.
The shudan stuff, really to me is a non runner. The founder Gkg has the right to decide what his tradition includes.
What is more important is for people to be careful before they join any tradition, not just the nkt. Many traditions have had scandals associated with them.
The main difference being most of the other traditions held their hand up and apologized, the nkt no
Am I bitter, no Im happy. I actually consider this a kind action.
It is my experience, it is similar to the experience of many others. If only one person is saved some pain, then it is worth the effort.
I will not be posting again, I have nothing to defend.
martin
http://tinyurl.com/cshbsd
Look at this to see how they are rewrting their own history over the internet. There is hardly a word of criticism on Wiki. Why? Because as soon as it appears, a dedicated NKT team, obliterate it. I used to think the internet a good thing, leading to a higher understanding through sharing views-no, the NKT wiki page proves that it is last man standing that wins and that mob rule is the order of the day, buddhists or just old fashioned bullies?
The existence of the New Kadampa Survivors with more than 800 members disapproves a bit of what dougal claims.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/newkadampasurvivors/
“NKT is a new development in the western world, and has grown quickly. i think it’s inevitable that there have been mistakes made – as there are in any religious tradition.”
Why then NKT do not excuse for the faults and harm they have done to others? Where there is an excuse to those misled, financially and sexually abused and left alone when asked for help – even insulted by Kelsang Gyatso to “destroy the pure tradition” by pointing out NKT’s wrong developments?
“but one thing which i’ve been proud of my tradition for has been its willingness to learn from those mistakes and to improve – as there has been in every, valid, religious tradition.”
I can not see this really until now, no official excuse… mainly attacks against other Buddhists and self-defensive behaviour.
If you can acknowledge to learn from mistakes why NKT is unable to respect that the Dalai Lama learns from mistakes too. e.g. that worshipping Shugden as a Buddha is a fault? and instead NKT and their members denounce him to be a “liar”, a thief and “hypocrite”?
“for example, the NKT’s been writing and revising a legally binding document it calls the “Internal Rules” (or “A Moral Discipline Guide – the Internal Rules of the New Kadampa Tradition, International Kadampa Buddhist Union”) which is steadily democratizing the management of the tradition and its member Centres, and moving away from the old-fashioned model of one person at the top with all the spiritual and temporal power that has been seen not to work for modern people.”
what a joke! the nkt is solely in the hands and under control of Kelsang Gyatso, since he will step down and die soon NKT has to change how NKT is governed, until now NKT has been an autocrat spiritual ‘regime’. I acknowledge the fact that NKT can sell defeats as wins. NKT did the same when Kelsang Gyatso’s uncle, Kuten Lama, the oracle of Shugden, turned his back on NKT…, and since then NKT is completely isolated… or as NKT puts is “completely independent”. ;-)
“in NKT i’ve met – and i’ve done it myself, i’m sure – over-zealous newbies trying to sell everyone they meet their “truth”; but you’ll meet the same people when you go to Church. they soon grow out of it.”
of course long-term members are not “over-zealous newbies trying to sell everyone they meet their “truth”; ” they are far more skilled and patient to “sell everyone they meet their “truth”” ;-)
“to me, NKT is a beautiful tradition that has a heart of gold – and that heart is Lord Buddha’s teachings. just because some of its practitioners have somteimes been immature in its infancy does not, to my mind, justify this label “cult”. i can leave, with impunity, the moment i feel like it. i can question – i often do! i’m not a member of any “propaganda team”, nor am i a wide-eyed convert. i’m a Buddhist, and i’m happy and proud to say i’m an NKT Buddhist.”
NKT came into existenece based on conflict and and schism – the root is poisoned, hence the branches, leaves and fruits are poisoned.
“my advice – to anyone – would be to meet some people like me and make your own mind up about us. they’re lovely at the Centres in Ireland – i just really don’t get how anyone could think they’ve got some kind of sinister purpose! but of course, i’m just spouting the pasrty-line, i guess, to appease my angry god… :-D”
I usually say half-joking: “NKT will smile you to death.” Here you can read a report how impressive this is, however, ex-cult-members call this “love-bombing”.
http://tiny.cc/mCyCi
So my advice is to learn the warning signs of a cult and to listen to your own inner voice and try to prevent that your own inner intuition gets corrupted by NKT member’s skills, skileld in undermining your self-esteem, and to sell you holy (or respected beings) as unholy and the unholy as holy.
Warning signs of a destructive cults:
http://www.factnet.org/headlines/destructive_cult_warning_signs.html
In general I think, the solution for NKT could be to detect what’s going wrong within NKT, its leadership, and the own mind. Some self-awareness would be very helpful.
All the protests, websites and advertisment, the mission to spread NKT world wide and to “build a Kadampa temple in every major city” are mere distractions.
As long as NKT focuses on external development and the mission to spread worldwide and abuses – maybe unintentionally – money, energy and good will of new and old members while being unable and unwilling to reflect openly and courageously wrong developments right within NKT; and instead using time, money and energy to hide all these faulst under the carpet and to run slanderous internet campaigns; such an approach is counter-productive for an inner development, its counter-productive to really see and to learn from the own faults, it’s just a distraction prolonging the own inner samsara, isn’t it?
The respect people have for the Dalai Lama and other holy beings is due to these beings’ obvious, tremendous qualitiies, which they have developed inwardly (over many lifetimes), and everbody can feel and touch if he is open.
I think, a healthy growth, respect and honour do not come from advertisment, new internal rules, Kadampa temples, books or websites.
If NKT wants
- to be respected, respect others,
- to be loved, love others
- not to be criticised, don’t critisize others
- to help others, help yourself first by keeping ethical discipline
- to be a servant of others, be humble and modest
- to develope, respect those elder in experience than NKT
As Martin has pointed it out indirectly in his second post, the solution may be to start to love and have real compassion for those within the OWN organisation and those who were abused by its members, right now, and to have espect, attention and love for those people one is living with.
I think the “New Kadampa Truths“-site has something to offer for those interested to improve NKT, something to think and reflect about:
http://www.newkadampatruths.org/
Probably a correction of NKT is only possible when GKG has passed away, since he seems to be the main factor for what went wrong.
However, I think a healthy development can be possible if NKT’s then elected leadership is open for other Buddhists and Buddhist masters, and invites them to help and to teach Buddhism within NKT.
We’ll see.
Tenzin -
??? are you serious?! who on earth do you think you are? i alternate between amazement, exasperation and horror at your writing every place i see it. your karma…
at least you had the courtesy, this time, to call your ordaining master and root Guru *G*KG.
stop it now, Tenzin – please. for your own sake (and this is *not* a threat – it’s a plea from a vajra brother and a Sangha friend.)
LOL!
what kind of buddhists are these….
‘??? are you serious?! who on earth do you think you are? i alternate between amazement, exasperation and horror at your writing every place i see it. your karma…’
‘this is *not* a threat ‘- it’s a plea from a vajra brother and a Sangha friend-glad you clarified that-why on earth would people think something was a threat?Oh, because your NKT!
‘Vajra brother’-oooh-is this a ploy at making someone feel guitly about tantric vows? Dont worry-the foundation of all vows is refuge, and if you take refuge in worldly gods………
‘Sangha friend’-Sangha? ordained according to which Buddhist tradition?
Alll of your ‘Sangha friends’ are disgusted by the damage you are doing to our faith with your base, deceptive behaviour and arrogant proselytizing.
NKT, you suck!
dougal , stop embarasing yourself and pray to your demon god for some more money to build the supreme beings temples
wass not was ! samdens vanishing sex scandal!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samden_Gyatso
and the masters behind the puppets ! recognise any names?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Samden_Gyatso
Reactionary comments posted on sites like these have resulted in genuine forums being closed down. Sometimes by the host and other times by the NKT legal team. I find its better not to make personal comments on others posts and to keep posts free from sarcasm. Even though I do the same.
These types of comments have in the past put people/seekers off reading genuine experiences (positive or negative). For this reason I steer away from Ds stuff.
I ask (and I have no right to ask) that posts are based on genuine experience of the tradition. This way people can really see what the tradition is about and make up their mind based on facts.
This is not directed at any one post, it for me just makes it easier for new people to read the posts.
Also in the past when comments on the tradition have been posted, the nkt? Team brought up Ds stuff, this then took over the whole forum and the points being made by others were lost in the on slaught.
So if I want people to really benifit from this forum, then I must ask myself each time what is my intention before i post. Is it to get one up on another poster, is it to belittle someone or is it to genuinely help someone.
In peace
Martin
Thank you Martin for your mindful reminder. I agree with you. It’s better to avoid any type of sarcasm and to offer genuine experience be it good or bad, as you’ve done here or as others have done elsewhere.
I think this approach will help people far more to sort out things for themselves.
A quite impressive experience has been posted by a former bodyguard of Kelsang Gyatso: The title of the post was “Is it all in my head or not?” and it explains quite well what can happen if someone follows NKT.
PDF of this post:
Is it all in my head or not?.
I was ordained as a nun within the NKt 2 years ago in 2007, after 12 years studying and training in nkt. When I came back to Tara Centre, Dublin, Ireland, I moved in and my relationship with the resident teacher changed.
The first thing that made me question my decision to move into the centre was doing a small job, sticking on pads to the bottom of the legs of some chairs, (so they would not scratch the floor) the resident teacher said to use glue, I said I did not think we need to as they were self adhesive pads, the look of shock and horror on the other student face just because I had question the teacher over such a small thing. She could not believe I could question a request from the teacher.
Later my brother-in-law was taken seriously ill, it looked like he was going to die that night, I told the teacher I was going to the hospitable to be with my sister, it was clear that the teacher did not want me to go, she said I should check my motivation for going and I would see it was out of attachment for my family. She asked what use would I be to them. I went anyway.
After that things got worse, I was called in to her room and given a 3 hour talk on all my faults and (supposed) mental problems, my attachment to my family, my lack of interest in the centre, my pride and so on. She expressed her surprise that I was not crying, so I was told to go to my room and stay there till I was ready to go to the mediation room and prostrate in front of my spiritual guide and when I was ready then arise with my guru.
I went to my room, rang a friend who told me he had heard of this sort of thing been done before by some hard line nkt teachers to (fast track their student) in other words break you down and then rebuild you!. What nonsense, I now understand why so many monks and nuns leave or become unstable.
Now you would think I would have had the sense to leave and I did not, I believed that the teacher was doing this for my benefit ( I was so conditioned to believe that she was the expert. She told me her teacher had done the same to her. I was also afraid to because we were told that if you break your connection to the spiritual guide you would go to hell. (yes the Buddhists have hells also)
Thing got worse my self confidence was at a all time low, everything seemed to be my fault. ( I rang a friend (for support) who had left a few weeks previously, he would not speak to me, even though I told him I wanted to leave, he believed I was trying to trick him back to the organization). I was not the only one having a hard time at the hands of the resident teacher.
As education program coordinator i was told to report to the teacher about what people were talking about in the centre, i was expected to tell people off for their behavior so that the teacher would not look bad in front of her peers.
One class was on mother day , some of the students missed the class and i was told to but black marks after their names, 3 or 4 black marks and you were expelled from the study program. I was also expected to tell them off for not attending the study program.
One day, I found a young girl who did some volunteer work around the centre, she was in tears because of something the teacher had said to her. When I pointed out to the teacher that she was a very sensitive person the teacher said no she is a very self cherishing ( a term used frequently in nkt centers to torture students) person! A another girl borrowed a centre pen to write with, she got a telling off in front a study class … why? Because she was stealing ink belonging to the centre!. What nuts, I could go on more and maybe I will later.
As for me I decided to move to another centre in the Nkt, the teacher told me they don’t want you they are taking you because they have to. ( she was saying this to a broken woman, that was doing her best to stay ordained), she said who would want someone like you in there centre. You have let everyone down you have let your spiritual down and lots more. Its not that I wasn’t feeling bad enough.
In the end, I left the tradition, I disrobed. It has taken me two years to recover, Im still in recovery. Thankfully I have a good family and friends and they support me.
In my experience the nkt have become less democratic in the last few years . When i joined 12 years ago the community (in each centre) was made up of 4 directors who were elected by the members of the centre, the teacher was not allow to be a director . Now the teacher has all control and if he or she does not agree with a decision by the GKG or head teacher, they get removed. This happens, so the teacher is sanctioned by the nkt and will be removed from their position if they do not agree, they are asked to vote and then told how to vote on issues within the organization.
This is some of my story
Hi
Cassidy, thanks for posting your story. I remember your time well. You were treated very badly. I feel compassion for anyone wishing to ordain in this tradition. I feel compassion for the misguided teachers, who fail to learn from their mistakes.
Im glad your recovering.
martin
“Cassidy” –
it breaks my heart that you had such experiences – i’m so sorry that you went through all that. if you ever want to talk (without judgement – you know me), then you have my number.
love,
Jigme
people have had bad experiences with NKT, such as Cassidy, for sure – but people have bad experiences everywhere, in all traditions. that doesn’t make those traditions themselves bad or wrong.
in recent years, much has been done to democratise NKT management, as shown by the Internal Rules, precisely to prevent this kind of thing from happening. it’s not correct to say that, in general, NKT has become less democratic – but by saying this, i’m not trying to say you didn’t suffer, Cassidy, or that NKT is perfect. *no* spiritual tradityion is perfect – they’re all made up of imperfect individuals like each of us, doing their best to practise their spiritual path. the path taught by NKT is a valid one, a Buddhist path, and the folk trying to teach and practise it are, by and large, good and kind people. i’m sorry that your experience differed, Cassidy.
dougal , do you or have you ever lived in a ‘centre’?
deck chair –
yes – so i speak from my own experience. i appreciate that others have had different experiences, but afaics these aren’t the norm, by any means.
just to clarify Dougal,
nkt survivors has over 819 (and people join and leave after they have posted their story) people posting their negative experiences, that is 5 to 10% ( id say 10%) of the population of nkt students on study programs, so it is not a random thing. (Im not counting people that attend general meditation classes as these people are not committed to Buddhism and they come and go on a regular basis)
Things may have changed with the new internal rules, Im sure they have.
But where is the acknowledgment for the experience of these people.
(thank you Gen Jigme, we know each other also, I admire that you posted your post, it leads me to think that some change is taking place)
It is just some people, its a large number of people.
Its good to hear the Nkt is made up of imperfect people, most of us knew that,
yet were encouraged to see the teachers as perfect, I think even the teachers might have believed it also.
I totally agree with your assertion that the majority (maybe all) of people in the nkt are good and kind, they are trying to help reduce suffering. This was my experience, meeting kind and lovely people, its what made it so hard to leave.
anyhow have a good weekend and enjoy the spring festival
martin
Jigme
You seem like a good sort. Dont you have even the slightest sneaking suspicion that you might have been duped into somebody elses long-term religio-political mind game in the guise of Buddhism. Do you really believe that all the vitriol spouted here and elsewhere has ANYTHING to do with what the Buddha taught. Its more like a scene from a barroom brawl in a Western. Save yourself man. If you get out, youll still have dharma; if you stay, the illusion will quickly fade and you could lose everything-as many already have. Leave the NKT, join the Dharma!There is a whole welcoming world of genuine Buddhists out there waiting with open arms, people who will sympathize and accept you and finally you can get on with the genuine business of Dharma, instead of feling fear of being thrown out of your local centre because you refused to go on the demos(sick isnt it?)
Dead Dougal,
I think you and NKT can’t blur the fact that NKT has damaged many members and that all the organisations related with awareness of cults or new religious movements have received complaints for many years now about NKT.
An official excuse and the proof that NKT make it better now is still missed. Former members see the “New Internal Rules” as ‘damage control’.
Also the New Kadampa Truth site does not give the impression that NKT has leaned anything from the past and has a new awareness of facts, since it spins that behind the criticism would be another Buddhist organisation, FPMT, and the Dalai Lama and it presents NKT as the ‘innocent victim’ of the actions of others.
There is a survivor forum for ex-NKT too with more than 800 members who share similar experiences worldwide within NKT. The existence of this is also a testimony that NKT is distinctly different from healthy religious groups (is there any such survivor group with respect to other Buddhist organisations?), and your trial to whitewash this by stating “people have bad experiences everywhere, in all traditions” is very dubious.
Among Buddhist groups NKT is the most controversial, there is no doubt about this, and this is also stated by David Barett, author of “The New Believers: A Survey of Sects, Cults and Alternative Religions” who states about NKT that it is “one of the newest and most controversial buddhist movements”.
Democracy in NKT is something on the papers as you find it in communist dictatorships. In fact Kelsang Gyastso has total power and control, and those close followers or resident teachers who disobey him, and don’t follow his demands or those who have their own mind are quickly removed from their positions without any democratic process. There are numberless examples for this autocrat leadership, a recent example is the removal of Lucy James who had the courage to question the protests Kelsang Gyatso ordered. see: http://nktworld.org/Lucy.html
The claimed democracy is also not functioning as long as Kelsang Gyatso covers up abuses as he has done with Gen Thubten and Gen Samden, and threatens those who correctly ask him to take actions. In that context it is also interesting that as soon as the misconduct is made public and NKT risks to loose reputation he takes actions immediately putting the blame on others and directly or indirectly claiming ‘I have done no faults.’
Only after the death of Kelsang Gyatso there could be democracy. The last more than 20 years he has established himself as the sole spiritual authority and his authority, decisions and actions are not questioned in NKT but are believed to be coming from an omniscient Buddha who is beyond understanding of ordinary beings. If people who hold position in NKT question him or actions of him he takes actions to remove opponents without any democratic process.
The former BBC documentary “An Unholy Row” is also a testimony about the autocrat structure within NKT http://www.tibetonline.tv/shugden_issues.html and since the production of this documentary the autocrat structure has not changed really, what has changed is how NKT presents their face and the skills of NKT to hide what they think deeply from within, e.g. that Kelsang Gyatso is a Buddha who can’t be questioned, that the Dalai Lama is an evil being who is possessed by a mara (demon), and that those following the Dalai Lama are degenerated or mix Dharma with politics and hence are not pure etc. NKT won’t tell this in the public or to newcomers… or if they reveal their thoughts than only after the new member has enough confident to be faced “with the truth” or via front groups like the Western Shugden Society or Shugden Supporter Community which are run by NKT but about which NKT claims they have nothing to do with NKT.
thank you for the post, another anon buddhist,
it helps refocus on some of the issues. I have to disagree with you about your point on the possibility of democracy after the death of gkg, i believe it will never be a democratic organization. The power will always be held by the head person and students will always be controlled by resident teachers. The resident teachers will always have to toe the party line or will be dismissed. There will always be an imbalance of power as the teaching on reliance on the guru are flawed, they will be transmitted in this manner. All people are not equal in the NKT, it could not function if they were.The fpmt have recently released a book on guru reliance, its worth a look.
love
Martin
If you want evidence of whether the ‘cult’ term is applicable to the NKT, take a look at the discussion page on Wikipedia ‘New Kadampa Tradition’ under the sub heading ‘Recent addition to intro’ (its neear the bottom) Someone tried to introduce the phrase ‘Some have even gone so far as to refer to the group as a cult’ Boy, did the s**t hit the fan! talk about savaging!!
Hi Martin, thank you for your comment. I had some doubts when my idea came up that democracy in NKT will probably come when GKG has passed away, because since the last 20 years the closest disciples who are going to be the upholders of NKT have not trained themselves in democracy, they are just not trained in welcoming criticism or different point of views which do not follow the ‘party line’.
So the hope for democracy in NKT in the future seems to be mere wishful thinking, because realistic hope should be based on a factual basis which enables such a change. Rather most NKT RT seem to have trained in controlling and intimidating others based on their own insecurities and lack of self-esteem etc. (At least this is what I understand from the Survivors’ forum.)
Most often (cult) groups based on charismatic leadership fall to pieces when the charismatic leader is not there anymore. Many refer in this case to what happened to ISKCON when its founder died…
Personally I was also thinking there may be more fanaticism due to a loss of fear to loose control, and finally people will quarrel about the meaning of what “Geshe-la said”, since NKT is based so much on his authority that an independent analysing approach for own opinions / views and actions is almost non-existent – a thoroughly lack of discriminating wisdom and a presence of much naivety is the result of the autocrat leadership where every opinion not following the partyline is either perceived as wrong, as an attack or as an delusion….
We’ll see.
Thank you for referring to this book on guru reliance, I saw it but did not have a look into it yet. I will do this in the future. Our teacher emphasized recently:
“HH the Dalai Lama stresses that seeing the teacher as a Buddha, is a training for the student.” And he added: “the teacher can be a Buddha, a Bodhisattva, a hearer or an ordinary being.”
Many problems in NKT, I think, come due to that there is a quite narrow minded and literally approach like one may find it in evangelical groups, then it is understood in the literally sense that the teacher, GKG, is an omniscient unfailing Buddha, and oneself a deluded idiot who mus be rescued by only this unfailing – godlike – Guru. The approach in NKT appears to be rather mixed with Christian concepts: GKG is the Redeemer and solely through him and by ‘complete devotion’ to him salvation can happen.
What do you think about this?
a good post, ill read it again in a few days and reply
martin
Here is an interesting quote, I have cut and pasted it from newkadampasurvivors, which has 860 members now with new members joining daily.
Here is a link http://groups.yahoo.com/group/newkadampasurvivors/
I recently came across a quotation that I thought brilliantly reinforced three
tentative explanations that had gradually evolved after years of watching the
chain of events that made up my twenty years in the NKT. Like so many others I’d
started out so full of enthusiasm. However, after seeing with my own eyes a lot
of what was really going on behind the facade of religious euphoria, for
me,there developed the three seemingly ‘un-connectable’ ideas below :
>
> (1) The one quality that all the diverse people who made up the NKT shared was
a common desire to make themselves into ‘better’ people, who were kinder and
more able to help others.
>
> (2) Years of study didn’t actually transform anyone into a ‘nicer’ person. The
people who were the most genuinely caring, were the people who were nice when
they arrived. Yet , on the other hand, many people who arrived seemingly
perfectly ‘normal’ went rapidly downhill on some form of spiritual power trip.
Those who arrived as dickheads, remained in the same condition, (though often
with titles of authority, or sporting a new set of purple robes). But, as far as
I could see, no one actually seemed to become a ‘better person’ than they were
when they arrived.
>
> (3) Many members of NKT management and ordained sangha, despite all kinds of
vows, dedications, blessings from the guru, and long lists of empowerments,…
comitted all manner cruel and selfish acts to other members. Usually, the more
devoted and ‘high up’ in the organisation they became.
>
>
> I was never able to connect all these loose observations together until the
other day when I came across this wonderful, concise and precise quotation :
>
>
> “There will always be good people who do good things and bad people who do bad
things,…. But to get good people to do bad things you need religion.”
20 years a genuine follower of NKT, Martin, and then to go – to let go – what a step! My respect!
I hope you are fine and well that you may find your way outside of the NKT world!
Thank you for sharing your thoughts and this 3-point-summery. Nothing to add for me, it says what has to been said.
Do you still try to use Buddhism as a mean to transform yourself or did you make a distance or a pause, just sorting things out?
still practice so form of buddhisim, thought transformation and some lam rim.
some zen via plum village and mostly work with non dual teachers, tolle, byron katie and so on.
life is good
fine!
nice to hear that.
I wish you from my heart all the best on your way!
just to clarify there have been many sexual/power abuses within the NKT. In the last two years many monks and nuns, both gay and straight have disrobed due to breaking thier vows.
Tubten, was the monk in the first case, gkg knew of his abuses of young nuns and hid them.
Samden, was disrobed last year having slept with many nuns (he was a spiritual director and pure sucessor of gkg), gkg knew of his behaviour for a least two years and failed to act, people who told him were told to keep their mouth shut.
Lodro, another senior monk had an affair for years with a female nun and student and left with her. gkg knew for some time this was happening.
Vajra, spiritual director of austrilia/new zeland left with a monk, straraight monk and both disrobed once their affair was discovered, the lis is endless.
look up nkt on this site for more information.
I suppose no tradition is perfect.
The sex abuse is one thing, emotional and power abuse is rife within the tradition also
for an interesting discussion on rigpa, nkt and fwbo look at the rigpa link on this page
I remember very clearly that one of the main things that attracted me to NKT
was, as it appeared to me then, its ethical and moral core. From the very
beginning I felt that while there was a powerful energy surrounding the centres
which could provide intense spiritual experiences, these things were not the
main goal of practice. They were not to be taken too seriously; the focus was on
maintaining a high ethical standard in daily life and working towards the
ultimate goal of enlightenment, following the humble example of Je Tsonkhapa who
forbade the demonstration of miracle powers, instead emphasising moral living
and setting a good example. I had already realised that my previous mentor, for
all his `spiritual’ abilities, was morally bankrupt and actually would have been
better off with no spirituality at all. NKT, on the other hand, seemed to have
its priorities straight. It seemed perfect. So I went in at the deep end,
falling head-over-heels in love with the Kadam Dharma. Nobody mentioned the
schism with the Dalai Lama which had come to a head in demonstrations just
eighteen months before; by the time I found out about them I had already
invested too much in NKT. While I was troubled by the conflict, by this time I
needed NKT too much to turn back. Instead I managed to persuade myself that –
against my intuition – the odd explanations that I was provided with by members
of the organisation were actually wise and just.
> So. Fast forward a decade or so, and I’ve left the NKT. Looking back, I had a
lot of wonderful times during my period as a practitioner. The bliss of tantric
practice is something that still moves me, as well as the Lam Rim and Mahamudra
meditations. I formed deep and significant friendships and had a strong
underlying sense that my life had acquired a greater meaning. Because of this,
it is difficult sometimes for me to reconcile these memories with the fact that
I have left it all behind, and not only that, I have become very critical of
NKT. It is even more difficult to explain my reasons for leaving to someone who
is still in love with the tradition. This evening, however, I was struck by the
parallel between my old mentor and NKT, and I thought that’s a good way to
express it; for all the extraordinary experiences that NKT can offer, ultimately
a set of true moral principles is lacking throughout the organisation and this
renders all the positive aspects irrelevant.
> This may seem a strange statement considering the great emphasis within NKT
on moral discipline, cherishing others and so on. But it is clear to me that
while NKT makes these sweeping altruistic gestures on the outside, at its core
is something rather different. Under the highly-polished surface lies ingrained
sectarianism and a disparaging view of all other forms of spirituality; an
expansionist drive that uses the energy of new recruits to spread the message
with no concern for their burnout; a cultish dependency on the word and approval
of the leader and an abdication of critical thought that is actively encouraged;
and a systematic, widespread rash of sexual, emotional and financial abuse
practised by those in positions of power. Ironically enough, it is the humble
practitioners who are not involved in running the show that tend to be kinder,
less judgemental and more open-minded. The further you travel to the heart of
the NKT, the more you are twisted – in the name of enlightened principles – into
the very opposite of what it is supposed to be about. And you don’t even realise
it’s happening. Until it’s too late.
> On reflection I do not feel that I was as badly afflicted as many. Although I
had a reasonably senior standing in my centre, I did not get ordained so never
became a Resident Teacher or anything. This meant that although admittedly my
moral life was tainted by the negativity of NKT culture to some extent, I didn’t
undergo the full transformation that many good men and women are subjected to
once they have given over their lives fully to the Guru. Perhaps that is why it
took so long for the penny to drop. But when it did, I had no option but to
leave.
> Now, more than eighteen months since leaving NKT, I am still without a
significant spiritual life. I find the notion of faith problematic. It seems to
me that faith is tantamount to believing what has not been demonstrated to you,
because someone you respect has said it. This, to me, seems to undercut one’s
own powers of critical reflection and leaves one in a position which is
extremely vulnerable to manipulation. I am, of course, open to the idea of
developing respect for someone else to the extent that you take their views
seriously. But that person has to earn your respect rather than be awarded it
because they state they deserve it. And what is the point of actively developing
faith when it grows naturally if someone wins your respect through their actual
good qualities? I think that if someone is encouraging you to develop faith, the
only reason can be that they are not truly worthy of that faith. Otherwise you
would have it naturally in the first place and it would not need to be mentioned
at all.
> Moreover, given the powerful role of psychological drives in attracting me to
and keeping me in NKT, I have a large question-mark in my mind with regard to
the existence of any form of higher power and ‘hidden objects’. Doubtless I have
experienced the power of the Buddhas and NKT practices; but could this not be a
psychosomatic? In truth I do not know, this issue is very unresolved for me.
> Finally, I think that the moral vows that NKT encouraged us to take upon
ourselves all too often served to stunt our moral awareness rather than enhance
it. After all, it is easy to adhere to a rigid code (for a certain length of
time at least), but it is difficult to meet each situation with nothing but
one’s own moral compass to rely on. And I think it is the latter that leads to
spiritual development, however many mistakes one might make.
> There is, of course, a lot more that could be said, and I hope we are able to
exchange views on the subject. But for now I’m going to leave it there.
>
Why would Dalai Lama try to prevent Buddhist practice? Of course he wouldn’t. But is NKT practicing Buddhism?
NKT has a leader, whose family has practiced a protector practice for generations that the leader doesn’t want to stop it. One knows that those who are familiar with spirits, they are afraid of the revenge of the spirit, if they stop the practice.
Why Dalai Lama stopped the practice? Because an oracle told him that the practice has lead them to flea from Tibet, it’s not good for Tibetans. It’s a practice to gain wordly things, therefore it’s not a Buddhist practice.
The only ones that create chaos in Buddhism are the MKT-people. Could it be that it all comes down to a certain spirit worship?