Forschungsergebnisse

Folgende Zeitzeugenberichte sind Studienergebnisse  aus dem Forschungsprojekt TransTibMed

Zeugenbereicht eines Mönchs, der achtzehn Jahre lang Mönch war und dann die Roben und Gelübde ablegte

"I was a Buddhist monk for 18 years and most Western monastics receive little to no support. The most I got were free or discounted teachings. The west does not support its monastics well and a lot of them end up disrobing as a consequence." (ABY45T)

"People were instructed not to speak to certain students or ex-students and were told to spend all their time and money at the center outside of work" (ABY45T)

"I tried to be cheerful and accommodating within reason, but they expect way too much from people. At a certain point after working between 8-10 hours or if I got injured, I started telling people I was going to bed. They looked shocked like someone slapped them. Those who worked to exhaustion were seen as the most devoted until they could no longer complete tasks. After I threw my back out building the foundation for the lama's cabin, I refused to do work that would harm me physically (I already had back problems from excessive manual labor during formative years)" (ABY45T)

"In my experience, the teacher works with students by chastising them for their behavior and teaching them mantras and practices. A lot of the work was exploitative where the teacher worked hard to ingratiate himself to students with money or those who were attractive." (ABY45T)

"I wasted almost 2 decades of my life as a monk. I missed out on many normal life experiences because I was stupid and idealistic. I regret everything. I miss my other friends." (ABY45T)

"I no longer identify as any type of Buddhist as a result of the harm that has befallen people I love at the hands of abusive clergy and a corrupt and complicit hierarchy and laity, but I was ordained as a monk in the Drikung Kagyu tradition of Tibetan Buddhism for 18 years [...] and have practiced and studied Nyingma and other lineages as well as Chinese and Japanese Buddhism." (ABY45T)
Testimonies concerning children in Buddhist centers

"we were told not to take outside teachings and not to ever discuss teachings from outside the lineage, including the Buddha's words. My first teacher wanted to force me to give up my child and send her to a monastery. I refused and went over his head and said I was out if this was required. the teacher I appealed to agreed with me" (MO997P)

"I didn't adhere to the edicts and rebelled I was shocked when my teacher asked me to give up my child. There was no way in hell I would do that. He was just jealous and wanted complete control." (MO997P)

"Beware of the way that abuse is framed in karmic or spiritual terms and the way that spiritual bypassing is used to obfuscate the atrocities committed by those people trusted to lead them out of suffering and into enlightenment. [...] The abuse of children in monasteries and centers is rampant. It needs to stop." (RT74C)
"Purifying" childhood abuse though further abuse

"My first lama told my best friend that the sexual abuse he perpetuated against her could heal and purify her childhood sexual abuse trauma" (VT55A)

Testimonies about organisations

Testimony on the Ratna-Shri Drikung Kagyu center in Berkeley, one center and lama in Oregon and on the Tulku Shenpen Rinpoche

"I separated from my first guru (from the now-defunct Ratna-Shri Drikung Kagyu center in Berkeley, California) because he sexually violated my best friend. The lama chose her because she was mentally ill and had a history of abuse. He told her he could heal her trauma through sexual acts. I separated from another center and lama (Dzogchen/Nyingma) in Oregon because students were being worked to exhaustion, financially exploited, and discarded. They were told if their minds were pure, they would not need much sleep and their bodies would not get injured from backbreaking labor. People were told the world was ending and they should use their credit cards and savings to make donations because the merit they would get would be incalculable. This place was run like a cult. The teacher also was very controlling and made homophobic comments. [...] One of the students worked so much, she had a nervous breakdown and ended up in an institution. No one from the sangha visited her and they banned her from the center I practiced on my own for years after this until [...] after I discovered that my best friend's child had been raped by the lama/tulku Shenpen Rinpoche, in addition to other children. I had been struggling with my faith for years prior to this [...] I could no longer represent an organization or faith that did this as a monk. I lost my faith in Buddhism completely after seeing that the historical Buddha subjected rape victims to interrogation and expulsion if their mindfullness during an assault was deemed insufficient. That's not compassion. I also was offended by The Buddha's misogyny in general. I don't even know what enlightenment means anymore." (XVA197Z)

"The lama Shenpen who raped my friend's kid is connected to bad people. He sent thugs to harass a nun he screwed out of a lot of money." (XVA197Z)

Testimony on Pathgate

"PY claims that he is a long-time disciple of the late HH Pema Norbu Rinpoche (the 3rd Penor Rinpoche) of the Tibetan Nyingma Palyul tradition. He claims to have received many precious transmissions from the HH and other senior teachers of the tradition. He implied that he is qualified to teach, but there is no official affiliation between Pathgate and the Palyul tradition. He has not completed the formal education required by teachers in the tradition. He has never completed a 3 year retreat. He explains this away by saying that 'some masters complete their retreat in the world', or 'some masters complete their training in past lives'." (AZL56Y)

"I have seen PY limit his students' choices of personal relationships. I have seen him cause family relationships and romantic relationships to degenerate. He has also manipulated young students' choices of study in university, or their choices of career. I have hardly talked to them about it because PY openly warned us against communicating personal issues with one another, because that is 'disturbing one anothers' minds', and 'creating unnecessary karma'." (AZL56Y)