Another controversial spiritual teacher who is part of the Integral inner circle, supported and defended by Wilber, Cohen, Patten and Craig Hamilton, Sally Kempton and Diane Musho Hamilton among many of the other figureheads of the movement. Gafni also works closely with Wilber at the Integral Institute. Gafni fled his position as head of the Bayit Chadash in Israel after several members of his community accused him of sexual misconduct. These were only the latest in a string of sexual accusations that has plagued Gafni. He was also stripped of his ordination as a Rabbi. While he apologized for his relationships with these women at Bayit Chadash he claims they were “loving and mutual,” (a claim which they strongly dispute). But if it gives any perspective he also says that his relationship with a 13 year old girl when he was 19 and 20 was “loving and mutual.” This is the testimony of the young girl who he claims he was in a mutual and loving relationship with.
The abuse went on through the year I was in 9th grade. The school year was almost over, I remember it was warm out. He called me on the phone one day to tell me that he would no longer be coming over. He realized that what he really needed was to get married soon, and he explained that this would give him a proper outlet for his sexuality. Its hard to describe how I felt at that moment, because it is complex. My molester finally decided to stop abusing me, to leave me alone, to move on. You would imagine I would feel great relief, but actually the full weight of the abuse I had endured in silence came crashing down on me. Here I was, left with this horrible experience, still with no one to talk to about it, and no language for it anyway. And he wasn't retreating because I had some how managed to make him stop, but because he decided it just wasn't worth the risk any more. He was terrified that he would do more and make me pregnant- then there would be no way to keep his secret. Until then, his abuse included exposing my body against my will, forcibly touching my breast, grabbing my hand and forcing me to touch his penis, and forced digital vaginal penetration. All were the most horrifying, degrading and painful experiences for me. All this only a year or so after my bat mitzvah...
Unfortunately, I knew Mordechai very well. He told me a lot about himself, and I knew him as a sexually compulsive, sexually violent man. After talking with counselors, lawyers, and professionals who advise and counsel sexual perpetrators, I learned that in 99% of cases, people who compulsively sexually abuse girls or women, especially those who were abused themselves as children, don't stop. These are dangerous people. The more we are silent about them, the more they have the freedom to act out their sexual compulsions. Further first hand accounts show that Mordechai continued to molest young women after he was married. Unfortunately, marriage did not solve his problems. There is no reason for me to assume he is not still victimizing girls and women. Back when I knew him, he was a refined manipulator, "groomer", "brain-washer", and he used those skills in order to victimize girls and young women. I have no doubt that, years later, he has honed his skills as a predator.
His defenders repeatedly claim that “he as done nothing illegal,” and ask us to believe that Ganfi is the victim of a widespread attack up on him. All of the women (over ten) exaggerated, distorted and lied about what really happened.
At least five female students and staff members have come forward to accuse Rabbi Mordechai Gafni of luring them into sexual relationships through intimidation, psychological manipulation and deception. Late last week, Gafni, an Orthodox-trained rabbi who has become a star of the New Age-style Jewish Renewal movement, was dismissed from his position as the head of Bayit Chadash, a center on the Sea of Galilee that he co-founded six years ago.
Gafni subsequently issued a public apology for having “hurt people I love,” and said that he would seek in-patient treatment for what he called “a sickness.”
…He was originally ordained as an Orthodox rabbi and moved to Israel more than a decade ago, after leaving posts in New York and in Boca Raton, Fla., amid rumors of sexual misconduct. He assumed an Israeli name and transitioned into the world of Jewish Renewal….
Rosenblatt said he had interviewed about 50 supporters and critics, including two prominent Orthodox leaders – Rabbi Yosef Blau, spiritual mentor at Yeshiva University, and Shlomo Riskin, chief rabbi of the West Bank settlement of Efrat – who had known Gafni since the 1980s. Blau and Riskin, who both criticized Gafni, told Rosenblatt that over the years they had spoken with a number of women who had complaints about the rabbi.
Rosenblatt interviewed several alleged victims. One was a woman named Judy, who first accused Gafni of molesting her in 1986, when she was a 16-year-old member of a youth group he directed. Shortly thereafter, Gafni left New York for a pulpit job in Florida. Another woman, Susan, who was an adviser for the group at the time, said that Gafni had threatened her when she tried to intervene on the girl’s behalf.
When asked about the allegations, Gafni told Rosenblatt that Judy was a troubled, unstable teenager who fabricated the story after he rebuffed her advances.
But he admitted to having had a sexual relationship with another girl, when she was 13 and 14 and he was 19 and 20, studying to become a rabbi.
“I was a stupid kid and we were in love,” Gafni was quoted as saying in The Jewish Week. “She was 14 going on 35, and I never forced her.”
The woman told Rosenblatt that Gafni had “repeatedly sexually assaulted her” when he stayed at her house for the Sabbath. The rabbi also told her that she would be “shamed in the community” if she told anyone.
As Frank Visser says, “Integral confirms integral confirms integral.” I have heard people defend Marc Gafni by stating that Andrew Cohen and Ken Wilber support him. But it actually is a silly game they all play because they all defend and support each other. It goes something like this. Patten, Hamilton, Gafni and Wilber support Cohen. Cohen, Wilber, Hamilton and Patten support Gafni. Cohen, Gafni, Hamilton and Patten support Wilber. Wilber and Cohen support Patten and Hamilton. Wilber and Patten support Adi Da….etc. And they all appear on each others integral programs, websites, conferences, book chapters, magazines and platforms. Among the various offerings is Integral Life Practice, Integral Naked, Integral Institute, Integral Spiritual Center, Integral Enlightenment, EnlightenNext magazine…etc. And as Yenner notes above, they seem to employ the same tactic: surrounding themselves with other luminaries, celebrities, and public faces who agree with them and provide much needed support. If all of these amazing people support Cohen he must be ok, right? Nowadays it seems all you have to do is add the word integral in front of something to boost its credibility. Add the word integral and you have a sexy and attractive product ready to be sold to eager spiritual seekers who are hungry for idealism and more purpose in life. The whole thing equates to a very large money making machine.
I want to be clear that this article is not an attack on integral theory or the nature of the teachings that many of the people here offer. I am a fan of integral theory in general—not of the Wilber sort, but the principle behind it. One can recognize that many of these teachers have said wise things while simultaneously being aware of their shortcomings.
Is it wrong to call out Cohen’s enablers? Is it wrong to expect them to break the silence on Cohen’s legacy of abuse, manipulation and cultish behaviors? In the face of the sadistic acts of Cohen isn’t it problematic when Wilber says “Cohen is here to tear you into a thousand pieces?” What about accountability? Responsibility? Ethics?
I would never appear on a program with Cohen, Wilber or Gafni let alone work with them. And if I was in a position of power as Cohen’s friends and supporters Ken Wilber, Craig Hamilton, Terry Patten, Marc Gafni, Genpo Roshi, Diane Hamilton are I would speak out against him. Do they deny the multiple, disturbing claims made by former disciples of Cohen? Or do they merely brush it aside as “Crazy Wisdom?” How can someone like Craig Hamilton continue to praise Cohen given the overwhelming evidence against him? After spending fifteen years with Cohen I suspect that Hamilton is still in Cohen’s cult trance. Can Cohen’s supporters be deemed legitimate if they are unable to call out his abusive, manipulative and sadistic behavior? There is really no excuse for the silence because it only enables Cohen further. In a post-Jonestown and present day Catholic Church scandal era we simply cannot afford their silence. I doubt any accountability will be had because this particular integral community is a family of “evolutionary thinkers,” who has discovered a revolutionary truth and will defend it to the end. They simply employ a form of group think that rationalizes, justifies and spins the truth to meet their agreed upon conclusions about each other.
The ultimate irony is of course that these spiritual teachers are supposedly on the forefront of instructing us on how to confront the shadow. However, I won’t take their advice until they confront the very large shadow of Andrew Cohen.
Be Scofield
Friday, January 17, 2014
Monday, January 13, 2014
John Friend and Anusara: Do yoga, gurus and scandals go hand in hand?
In this week's cover story, I profile John Friend, who built his Texas-based Anusara yoga school into a global empire before losing it all in a lurid 2012 scandal and moving to Denver to start anew.
While Friend's fall from grace captured major media attention, he was far from the first yoga guru to weather controversy. Is there something about yoga that leads to such problems? A look at some of the other yoga scandals might provide some answers.
Up until fairly recently, yoga itself was controversial in the United States, since it clashed with xenophobic and conservative undertones in American culture. In the 1910s, newspapers blared headlines such as "Police Break in on Weird Hindu Rites: Girls and Men Mystics Cease Strange Dance as 'Priest' Is Arrested" and "A Hindu Apple for Modern Eve: The Cult of the Yogis Lures Women to Destruction." Between the 1960s and 1980s, Western yoga practitioners worked hard to downplay the spiritual aspects of the ancient tradition that had led to this backlash, instead focusing on the largely physical branch of the practice called hatha yoga, which they positioned as a form of exercise.
The move paid off. Since then, Yoga's rise in popularity had been meteoric -- but it's also been marked by more than a few controversies. Among the scandals:
Bikram Choudhury, founder of the wildly popular Bikram school of "hot yoga," has long weathered controversy, including claims that he's denigrated women and homosexuals and allegations in a lawsuit filed in March 2013 that he sexually harassed a former prot?g?
To some, the pattern is hard to ignore. In the wake of Friend's scandal, William Broad, author of The Science of Yoga: The Risks and the Rewards, penned a New York Times essay noting,
...this is hardly the first time that yoga's enlightened facade has been cracked by sexual scandal. Why does yoga produce so many philanderers? And why do the resulting uproars leave so many people shocked and distraught?
One factor is ignorance. Yoga teachers and how-to books seldom mention that the discipline began as a sex cult -- an omission that leaves many practitioners open to libidinal surprise.
Not surprisingly, Broad's essay didn't go over well in the yoga community. Among those not impressed was Yoga Dork, a prominent blogger in the scene who had, incidentally, helped break the Friend scandal. As Yoga Dork noted in an online retort:
...For crying out loud, Broad, are you really saying John Friend behaved the way he did because he had a predetermined predisposition to do so due to the fact he was a leader of yoga? That is silly and just plain dumb.
We'll remember to tell that to the veterans who are able to sleep better at night, the kids who can focus better in school, those prone to heart disease who lost weight and lowered risk of heart attack and stroke and the cancer survivors who've found strength, calm and community all due to the help of a regular yoga and meditation practice.
Saying it's yoga's fault doesn't seem like the answer.
Plus, yoga is far from the only modern realm wracked by scandals. (Just take a look at Washington, D.C.) So maybe the problem isn't with yoga, maybe it's with yoga's financial and cultural ascendance.
Yoga's explosion in the United States has led to millions of happy practicioners, but it's also led to million-dollar profits, corporate power moves, powerful male gurus and lots and lots of endorphin-fueled, spandex-clad bodies.
In other words, maybe all these yoga scandals aren't due to the practice's ancient Tantric origins -- maybe they're due to yoga becoming Americanized.
In this week's cover story, I profile John Friend, who built his Texas-based Anusara yoga school into a global empire before losing it all in a lurid 2012 scandal and moving to Denver to start anew.
While Friend's fall from grace captured major media attention, he was far from the first yoga guru to weather controversy. Is there something about yoga that leads to such problems? A look at some of the other yoga scandals might provide some answers.
Up until fairly recently, yoga itself was controversial in the United States, since it clashed with xenophobic and conservative undertones in American culture. In the 1910s, newspapers blared headlines such as "Police Break in on Weird Hindu Rites: Girls and Men Mystics Cease Strange Dance as 'Priest' Is Arrested" and "A Hindu Apple for Modern Eve: The Cult of the Yogis Lures Women to Destruction." Between the 1960s and 1980s, Western yoga practitioners worked hard to downplay the spiritual aspects of the ancient tradition that had led to this backlash, instead focusing on the largely physical branch of the practice called hatha yoga, which they positioned as a form of exercise.
The move paid off. Since then, Yoga's rise in popularity had been meteoric -- but it's also been marked by more than a few controversies. Among the scandals:
- In the early 1980s, former devotees accused Swami Muktananda, founder of Siddha Yoga, of molesting and raping women.
- In 1991, multiple women accused Swami Satchidananda, who gave the invocation at Woodstock, of sexually exploiting them.
- In the early 1990s, Swami Rama, founder of the Pennsylvania-based Himalayan Institute of Yoga Science and Philosophy and one of the first yogis to be studied by Western scientists, faced controversy after several women alleged he sexually abused them. Not long after his death, one of his accusers won nearly $2 million in a lawsuit filed against him.
- In 1994, Amrit Desai, founder of the Massachusetts-based Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health, resigned from the organization after he admitted having sex with followers, since the retreat required vows of celibacy from its residents. The center later settled a lawsuit brought by former residents for $2.5 million.
- In 2009, former members and employees sued Dahn yoga, a Korean exercise system, for fraud, deceptive business practices, emotional distress and other offenses. The plaintiffs eventually withdrew their lawsuit, but in the wake of the ensuing media coverage, which emphasized Dahn's cult-like activities, the program's founder, Ilchi Lee, announced his resignation.
Bikram Choudhury, founder of the wildly popular Bikram school of "hot yoga," has long weathered controversy, including claims that he's denigrated women and homosexuals and allegations in a lawsuit filed in March 2013 that he sexually harassed a former prot?g?
To some, the pattern is hard to ignore. In the wake of Friend's scandal, William Broad, author of The Science of Yoga: The Risks and the Rewards, penned a New York Times essay noting,
...this is hardly the first time that yoga's enlightened facade has been cracked by sexual scandal. Why does yoga produce so many philanderers? And why do the resulting uproars leave so many people shocked and distraught?
One factor is ignorance. Yoga teachers and how-to books seldom mention that the discipline began as a sex cult -- an omission that leaves many practitioners open to libidinal surprise.
Not surprisingly, Broad's essay didn't go over well in the yoga community. Among those not impressed was Yoga Dork, a prominent blogger in the scene who had, incidentally, helped break the Friend scandal. As Yoga Dork noted in an online retort:
...For crying out loud, Broad, are you really saying John Friend behaved the way he did because he had a predetermined predisposition to do so due to the fact he was a leader of yoga? That is silly and just plain dumb.
We'll remember to tell that to the veterans who are able to sleep better at night, the kids who can focus better in school, those prone to heart disease who lost weight and lowered risk of heart attack and stroke and the cancer survivors who've found strength, calm and community all due to the help of a regular yoga and meditation practice.
Saying it's yoga's fault doesn't seem like the answer.
Plus, yoga is far from the only modern realm wracked by scandals. (Just take a look at Washington, D.C.) So maybe the problem isn't with yoga, maybe it's with yoga's financial and cultural ascendance.
Yoga's explosion in the United States has led to millions of happy practicioners, but it's also led to million-dollar profits, corporate power moves, powerful male gurus and lots and lots of endorphin-fueled, spandex-clad bodies.
In other words, maybe all these yoga scandals aren't due to the practice's ancient Tantric origins -- maybe they're due to yoga becoming Americanized.
Monday, December 30, 2013
Yoga guru Bikram Choudhury 'raped students in cult-like training camps'
Bikram Choudhury, the founder of the Bikram school of hot yoga, told a student "I need to spiritually enlighten you" as he raped her, according to one of a blizzard of lawsuits against him
The 67-year-old Indian yoga master is being sued by five different women in the California courts, alleging that he used his guru status to lure in victims and then "crush anyone who speaks against him".
Mr Choudhury's method of Bikram Yoga, practiced at 105F (41C) heat, has become wildly popular in Britain and the US and its celebrity devotees include Jennifer Aniston, Lady Gaga and David Beckham.
Yet court documents describe a cult-like atmosphere where the charismatic Mr Choudhury would tell young women training to be instructors they had been "touched by God" before forcing himself upon them.
He "used his status as a guru to identify and victimise the most vulnerable women from among his flock, grooming them, breaking down barriers, and ultimately assaulting them when they were at their most physically, emotionally, or financially vulnerable," according to court papers.
The lawsuits - which contains allegations of rape, sexual battery, fraud and false imprisonment - are also levelled against 25 unnamed members of Mr Choudhury's inner circle who allegedly knew of his behaviour "yet did nothing to prevent this from happening".
Mr Choudhury has previously denied the charges but neither he nor his staff responded to a request for comment.
The Calcutta native founded the Bikram Yoga system in the early 1970s and is practiced by millions across the world, generating a fortune that Mr Choudhury has turned towards Rolexes and Rolls Royces.
Among his fleet of cars is a Royal Daimler he said once belonged to the Howard Hughes, the reclusive millionaire, and includes a toilet in the back seat.
But his yoga empire is now under siege in the Los Angeles courts, where four former students and his ex-legal advisor are pursuing him.
One woman, named only as Jane Doe 2 in court documents, said she enrolled in a $13,000, nine-week instructor training course taught by Mr Choudhury, where he insisted students wear "tight, skimpy clothing" and banned them from having green clothes.
Students were allegedly taught that Bikram Yoga could "cure cancer" and "enable practitioners to live to be 100 years old" and that Mr Choudhury "is on the same level as Jesus Christ or the Buddha".
Mr Choudhury allegedly singled out Jane Doe 2 among his students, telling her: "You will be greater than Mother Teresa, but you have to follow me."
On the night of November 18, 2010, Ms Doe alleges that the guru invited her to come to his room to discuss a job offer at his headquarters.
Moments before raping her, Mr Choudhury said: "I need to spiritually enlighten you. In order to do that, we need to become one," according to court documents.
Larissa Anderson, another of the plaintiffs, claimed she "found herself drawn into a cult and made a victim of gender violence".
Ms Anderson claims that Mr Choudhury sexually assaulted her on Halloween, 2011, and "subsequently retaliated against...her business as a result of refusing his advances".
The Bikram Yoga school is tightly-controlled and has filed lawsuits against yoga studios that it believes are copying its methods.
Ms Anderson alleges that after she resisted him, Mr Choudhury refused to endorse her studio or allow it be listed as an official Bikram Yoga practice, causing damage to her business.
In June, Minakshi Jafa-Bodden, Mr Choudhury's former legal advisor filed suit against him, saying he presided over "a hyper-sexualised, offensive and degrading environment for women".
She alleged he was ordered not to investigate claims that a student had been raped during one of the teacher-training courses.
During a separate investigation of alleged sexual assault by male trainers, Mr Choudhury allegedly told her "those boys didn't do nothing to that stupid girl".
Mr Choudhury released a statement in March in response to one of the first lawsuits, saying he was "disappointed by the false charges" but would not comment further.
Bikram Yoga is plagued with reports of teachers preying on young women.
In Sydney Australia a teenage girl (name withheld) accused a Darlinghurst teacher, Darren Ma of plying her with drugs and trying to have sex with her. Another girl who was also underage at the time said, "He would always be touching me innappropiately but I thought this was yoga and he was adjusting me and so I tried to ignore my feelings about it. Once he tried to get me to take some drugs as he said they would help me "open up" but I refused. I talked to another woman about it and she said that he would often try to get women and girls to take drugs to get them into a state where he could take advantage of them. Once I found out that this was happening to other women too and I just left. I just wanted to get out of there so I didn't press charges but now I wish I did because he could be doing the same thing to other young girls."
The 67-year-old Indian yoga master is being sued by five different women in the California courts, alleging that he used his guru status to lure in victims and then "crush anyone who speaks against him".
Mr Choudhury's method of Bikram Yoga, practiced at 105F (41C) heat, has become wildly popular in Britain and the US and its celebrity devotees include Jennifer Aniston, Lady Gaga and David Beckham.
Yet court documents describe a cult-like atmosphere where the charismatic Mr Choudhury would tell young women training to be instructors they had been "touched by God" before forcing himself upon them.
He "used his status as a guru to identify and victimise the most vulnerable women from among his flock, grooming them, breaking down barriers, and ultimately assaulting them when they were at their most physically, emotionally, or financially vulnerable," according to court papers.
The lawsuits - which contains allegations of rape, sexual battery, fraud and false imprisonment - are also levelled against 25 unnamed members of Mr Choudhury's inner circle who allegedly knew of his behaviour "yet did nothing to prevent this from happening".
Mr Choudhury has previously denied the charges but neither he nor his staff responded to a request for comment.
The Calcutta native founded the Bikram Yoga system in the early 1970s and is practiced by millions across the world, generating a fortune that Mr Choudhury has turned towards Rolexes and Rolls Royces.
Among his fleet of cars is a Royal Daimler he said once belonged to the Howard Hughes, the reclusive millionaire, and includes a toilet in the back seat.
But his yoga empire is now under siege in the Los Angeles courts, where four former students and his ex-legal advisor are pursuing him.
One woman, named only as Jane Doe 2 in court documents, said she enrolled in a $13,000, nine-week instructor training course taught by Mr Choudhury, where he insisted students wear "tight, skimpy clothing" and banned them from having green clothes.
Students were allegedly taught that Bikram Yoga could "cure cancer" and "enable practitioners to live to be 100 years old" and that Mr Choudhury "is on the same level as Jesus Christ or the Buddha".
Mr Choudhury allegedly singled out Jane Doe 2 among his students, telling her: "You will be greater than Mother Teresa, but you have to follow me."
On the night of November 18, 2010, Ms Doe alleges that the guru invited her to come to his room to discuss a job offer at his headquarters.
Moments before raping her, Mr Choudhury said: "I need to spiritually enlighten you. In order to do that, we need to become one," according to court documents.
Larissa Anderson, another of the plaintiffs, claimed she "found herself drawn into a cult and made a victim of gender violence".
Ms Anderson claims that Mr Choudhury sexually assaulted her on Halloween, 2011, and "subsequently retaliated against...her business as a result of refusing his advances".
The Bikram Yoga school is tightly-controlled and has filed lawsuits against yoga studios that it believes are copying its methods.
Ms Anderson alleges that after she resisted him, Mr Choudhury refused to endorse her studio or allow it be listed as an official Bikram Yoga practice, causing damage to her business.
In June, Minakshi Jafa-Bodden, Mr Choudhury's former legal advisor filed suit against him, saying he presided over "a hyper-sexualised, offensive and degrading environment for women".
She alleged he was ordered not to investigate claims that a student had been raped during one of the teacher-training courses.
During a separate investigation of alleged sexual assault by male trainers, Mr Choudhury allegedly told her "those boys didn't do nothing to that stupid girl".
Mr Choudhury released a statement in March in response to one of the first lawsuits, saying he was "disappointed by the false charges" but would not comment further.
Bikram Yoga is plagued with reports of teachers preying on young women.
In Sydney Australia a teenage girl (name withheld) accused a Darlinghurst teacher, Darren Ma of plying her with drugs and trying to have sex with her. Another girl who was also underage at the time said, "He would always be touching me innappropiately but I thought this was yoga and he was adjusting me and so I tried to ignore my feelings about it. Once he tried to get me to take some drugs as he said they would help me "open up" but I refused. I talked to another woman about it and she said that he would often try to get women and girls to take drugs to get them into a state where he could take advantage of them. Once I found out that this was happening to other women too and I just left. I just wanted to get out of there so I didn't press charges but now I wish I did because he could be doing the same thing to other young girls."
Monday, December 2, 2013
Thai Monks Behaving Badly
BANGKOK — Thailand's Buddhism body said it is monitoring monks
nationwide for any inappropriate behavior after a video showed monks
using luxurious personal items while flying on a private jet.
The YouTube video showed one of the monks was wearing stylish aviator sunglasses, carrying a luxury brand travel bag and sporting a pair of modern-looking wireless headphones. It attracted criticism from Buddhists nationwide.
Office of National Buddhism director-general Nopparat Benjawatananun said Monday that the agency saw the video early this year and had warned the monks from a monastery in Thailand's northeast not to repeat the lavish behavior.
A country with the world's largest Buddhist population, Thailand has attempted to help Buddha's 2,600-year-old doctrine stand the test of time through a variety of means, including banning the sale of alcohol on religious holidays. The efforts, however, are sometimes tainted by the Buddhist monks themselves.
Last year, about 300 out of 61,416 Buddhist monks and novices in Thailand were reprimanded – and several were removed from the monkhood – because of misconduct ranging from alcohol consumption, having sex with women to extortion. The Office also received complaints about monks driving cars, and scams and false claims of black magic uses by monks.
Nopparat said the Buddhist monks in the video were acting "inappropriately, not composed and not adhering to Buddha's teachings of simplicity and self-restraint."
Monruedee Bantoengsuk, an administrative officer at Khantitham Temple in Sisaket province, confirmed to The Associated Press that the monks on the private plane lived at the temple but refused to give details about the trip.
"We can explain this, but not now," she said, saying that the abbot, who appeared in the video, is currently on a religious tour in France.
The images from the video contrasted with the abbot's message on the temple's homepage that read: "The true core of those who preach Buddha's teachings is to not to own any objects at all."
"When Lord Buddha was alive, there wasn't anything like this. There were no cars, smart phones or cameras, so the rules were much simpler," said Nopparat. "While the monks need to keep themselves abreast of new knowledge, current events and technology, they are restrained to choose the appropriate tools."
He said one way to prevent the monks from misbehaving is for followers not to spoil them with valuable objects or vices. "In many cases, it was the followers who gave the monks the luxury. Some bought them sports cars. This is by no means necessary."
The YouTube video showed one of the monks was wearing stylish aviator sunglasses, carrying a luxury brand travel bag and sporting a pair of modern-looking wireless headphones. It attracted criticism from Buddhists nationwide.
Office of National Buddhism director-general Nopparat Benjawatananun said Monday that the agency saw the video early this year and had warned the monks from a monastery in Thailand's northeast not to repeat the lavish behavior.
A country with the world's largest Buddhist population, Thailand has attempted to help Buddha's 2,600-year-old doctrine stand the test of time through a variety of means, including banning the sale of alcohol on religious holidays. The efforts, however, are sometimes tainted by the Buddhist monks themselves.
Last year, about 300 out of 61,416 Buddhist monks and novices in Thailand were reprimanded – and several were removed from the monkhood – because of misconduct ranging from alcohol consumption, having sex with women to extortion. The Office also received complaints about monks driving cars, and scams and false claims of black magic uses by monks.
Nopparat said the Buddhist monks in the video were acting "inappropriately, not composed and not adhering to Buddha's teachings of simplicity and self-restraint."
Monruedee Bantoengsuk, an administrative officer at Khantitham Temple in Sisaket province, confirmed to The Associated Press that the monks on the private plane lived at the temple but refused to give details about the trip.
"We can explain this, but not now," she said, saying that the abbot, who appeared in the video, is currently on a religious tour in France.
The images from the video contrasted with the abbot's message on the temple's homepage that read: "The true core of those who preach Buddha's teachings is to not to own any objects at all."
"When Lord Buddha was alive, there wasn't anything like this. There were no cars, smart phones or cameras, so the rules were much simpler," said Nopparat. "While the monks need to keep themselves abreast of new knowledge, current events and technology, they are restrained to choose the appropriate tools."
He said one way to prevent the monks from misbehaving is for followers not to spoil them with valuable objects or vices. "In many cases, it was the followers who gave the monks the luxury. Some bought them sports cars. This is by no means necessary."
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
Korean Buddhist monks' riot injures 40
IT SOUNDS like a scene from a Bruce Lee film, or perhaps one of the wackier Monty Python episodes: rival gangs of martial arts monks beating up one another, throwing one another down the stairs and bombarding one another with potted plants, stones, petrol bombs and fire extinguishers. But this was the scene yesterday in Seoul, the South Korean capital, after 12 hours' fighting between members of the country's biggest Buddhist sect.
By the time it had died down at dawn, 40 people had been injured, some seriously, during the worst battle yet in a civil war in the Chogye Temple.
Late on Monday 2,000 monks of the Chogye sect gathered from all over the country to seize control of their administrative headquarters from 800 dissidents who occupied it three weeks ago.
Several thousand riot police looked on as the attackers turned over a lorry and used a bulldozer to clear a barricade of logs in front of the building. Shielding themselves with panels of wood, the attackers reached the first floor, but were beaten back by a rain of stones, petrol bombs, hoses and fire extinguishers. Elderly members of the temple's congregation attempting to separate and pacify the two sides came to blows with the monks, who shouted at them to go home.
The violence began last month after the sect's "executive chief", the Venerable Song Wol Ju, announced his intention to stand for re-election to the position. His opponents objected that this was against the rules: according to the sect's constitution, an incumbent abbot is not allowed to serve more than two terms, and the Venerable Song was proposing to stand for a third time. But his supporters say his first term, a six-month stint in the 1980s, did not count - after falling out with South Korea's then military rulers, he fled the country, cutting short his tenure. In any case, the rule about a third term was passed only in 1994, after he had been elected for the second time.
On 11 November, the night before the election, a dissident group, the "Committee for Purification", stormed the headquarters, ejecting the Songist forces. The election was cancelled and the chief monk said he had changed his mind about standing.
But the occupation has continued, despite an initial attempt to retake the temple a fortnight ago. "Those religious figures who are supposed to set good spiritual examples for ordinary people are only showing their vulgar humanity," wrote the Korea Times under the headline "Shame on Buddhist Monks!". "One cannot help but shake one's head in dismay on seeing the violence."
But there is a lot at stake in the leadership of the Chogye sect, founded on principles of meditation and contemplation 1,000 years ago during Korea's Koryo period.
As head of the order the chief monk commands a budget of $10m (pounds 6.2m) a year; 1,700 appointments are his to make. The local monastic chiefs he chooses manage substantial properties owned by the order
"The rival monks are proving themselves to be the stereotypical greedy monks," the Korea Times said. "As [one] saying puts it, `They are indifferent to the prayers to Buddha. They are only interested in the rice offered to Buddha'."
The dispute is bringing relief to a small corner of the economy, ravaged by the Asian currency crisis. Hotels and restaurants near the temple are enjoying a boom with the patronage of the angry monks and hundreds of "bodyguards" hired to do their dirty work.
By the time it had died down at dawn, 40 people had been injured, some seriously, during the worst battle yet in a civil war in the Chogye Temple.
Late on Monday 2,000 monks of the Chogye sect gathered from all over the country to seize control of their administrative headquarters from 800 dissidents who occupied it three weeks ago.
Several thousand riot police looked on as the attackers turned over a lorry and used a bulldozer to clear a barricade of logs in front of the building. Shielding themselves with panels of wood, the attackers reached the first floor, but were beaten back by a rain of stones, petrol bombs, hoses and fire extinguishers. Elderly members of the temple's congregation attempting to separate and pacify the two sides came to blows with the monks, who shouted at them to go home.
The violence began last month after the sect's "executive chief", the Venerable Song Wol Ju, announced his intention to stand for re-election to the position. His opponents objected that this was against the rules: according to the sect's constitution, an incumbent abbot is not allowed to serve more than two terms, and the Venerable Song was proposing to stand for a third time. But his supporters say his first term, a six-month stint in the 1980s, did not count - after falling out with South Korea's then military rulers, he fled the country, cutting short his tenure. In any case, the rule about a third term was passed only in 1994, after he had been elected for the second time.
On 11 November, the night before the election, a dissident group, the "Committee for Purification", stormed the headquarters, ejecting the Songist forces. The election was cancelled and the chief monk said he had changed his mind about standing.
But the occupation has continued, despite an initial attempt to retake the temple a fortnight ago. "Those religious figures who are supposed to set good spiritual examples for ordinary people are only showing their vulgar humanity," wrote the Korea Times under the headline "Shame on Buddhist Monks!". "One cannot help but shake one's head in dismay on seeing the violence."
But there is a lot at stake in the leadership of the Chogye sect, founded on principles of meditation and contemplation 1,000 years ago during Korea's Koryo period.
As head of the order the chief monk commands a budget of $10m (pounds 6.2m) a year; 1,700 appointments are his to make. The local monastic chiefs he chooses manage substantial properties owned by the order
"The rival monks are proving themselves to be the stereotypical greedy monks," the Korea Times said. "As [one] saying puts it, `They are indifferent to the prayers to Buddha. They are only interested in the rice offered to Buddha'."
The dispute is bringing relief to a small corner of the economy, ravaged by the Asian currency crisis. Hotels and restaurants near the temple are enjoying a boom with the patronage of the angry monks and hundreds of "bodyguards" hired to do their dirty work.
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
An Open Letter to the Yoga Community One Year After Resigning My Anusara Certification
Almost one year ago I resigned my Anusara certification.
Between then and now I’ve done a lot of processing, a lot of quiet mulling and a lot of speaking up. I’ve been inspired by new freedom. I’ve invested in some close new friendships while thrilling to say, “Sayonara!” to other former associates. I have grown myself up.
None of my experience is relevant to Yoga Journal. They have yet to find the disintegration of Anusara yoga newsworthy.
One of the best–and hardest–things for me this year has been the shattering of beloved protocols I knew both by heart, and by rote. I’ve taken steps–tentative at first and then more assured–outside the comfortable box in which I had safely–or so I thought!–dwelled for over a decade. I have decided what I think makes for good yoga and also reclaimed interests in things other than yoga. I’ve questioned pretty much everything–including whether or not to continue on in this profession.
Questioning everything is good work but it’s exhausting. Moving on: it’s not the unilaterally forward trajectory we might hope for. All this year I have looked both forward and back. Word trickles in, mostly through Facebook; John Friend is teaching again.
Oof.
It hurts.
It hurts to learn that some knowingly choose to attend his workshops. I mean, it’s not an incapacitating kind of hurt, or something I ruminate upon every moment of the day, but it is something I think about. I realize that it is beyond my control. I don’t presume to tell anyone what to do. I’m just explaining how it lands on me.
It’s like saying, “Hey, I know this person broke your heart and the hearts of so many others, and detrimentally affected your livelihoods, and made having sex with him one of the most viable ways to advance professionally in his organization. I have heard the accounts of how he predated upon women who’d been sexually abused, and engineered career-devastating blacklists against teachers who dared stand up to him. So he subjected uncomfortable workers in his office to viewing photos of himself being fellated? So he used the Anusara data base as a mechanism for inflicting unwelcome sexual advances? So he is a self-admitted, ‘Master Manipulator’? So he intended to fire employees while assuring them that their jobs were secure? So what? My desire to have a good time is more important than all that.”
It feels about equivalent to being flipped the bird.
“No matter what he’s done, he’s still a good teacher,” I read on Facebook.
To which I say, “No.”
No.
No, because good teachers do not prey upon their students and employees. Good teachers may have private lives but they do not have secret lives. Good teachers don’t lie. They don’t injure students so severely that they can’t walk or even sit, and then climb upon stage boasting: “Not a single person has ever been hurt during any of my events.” Good teachers don’t abruptly, imperiously demand 10% of community earnings because they’re overextended and short on cash.
Good teachers do not do any of these things. Therefore by my calculations John Friend cannot be good teacher.
No matter how it gets dismissed and spun, the outrage of the community was never about a little pot and a little sex. It was always about the abuse of power. I’ll never understand why we resent the Bernie Madoffs and Jeffrey Skillings of the world but don’t seem to mind abuse at the hands of famous, charismatic yogis.
“But what about forgiveness, forgiveness, forgiveness?” so many of us are asked. “When do you forgive, forgive, forgive? You’re only hurting yourself, yourself, yourself…”
Well, I believe in forgiveness. Much like respect, I believe it is a privilege that is earned rather than a god given entitlement. I decline indiscriminate forgiveness and am here to report that it’s not deleterious.
Where my trust has been violated, I determine when–and if–to forgive. Claiming that prerogative for myself is a way of respecting myself. Being too quick to forgive is a good way to enable people who need help, a better way to encourage repeat abuse, and the very best way to bypass emotions that–although painful–would be better felt.
Yet I find no shortage of people who tell me how to feel; no lack of readiness to police my emotions. I would be shamed if I allowed myself to be.
But I refuse.
I shall of course receive emails after posting this letter. I shall be the recipient of advice from those who would police my feelings and tell me–for my own good and with love–exactly what should be in my heart. Let the illuminating begin.
The irony is that I’m mostly not dwelling on John Friend. I’m about the happiest I’ve ever been. I’m exhausted but, emotionally, feel good. This blog post is just a tiny snippet of my reality–not its sum total.
So, yeah, sometimes I find myself revisiting the past and it bugs me but then I remember the present. Sometimes I even dare to dream a little daydream about the future.
And I smile.
Bernadette Birney
Between then and now I’ve done a lot of processing, a lot of quiet mulling and a lot of speaking up. I’ve been inspired by new freedom. I’ve invested in some close new friendships while thrilling to say, “Sayonara!” to other former associates. I have grown myself up.
None of my experience is relevant to Yoga Journal. They have yet to find the disintegration of Anusara yoga newsworthy.
One of the best–and hardest–things for me this year has been the shattering of beloved protocols I knew both by heart, and by rote. I’ve taken steps–tentative at first and then more assured–outside the comfortable box in which I had safely–or so I thought!–dwelled for over a decade. I have decided what I think makes for good yoga and also reclaimed interests in things other than yoga. I’ve questioned pretty much everything–including whether or not to continue on in this profession.
Questioning everything is good work but it’s exhausting. Moving on: it’s not the unilaterally forward trajectory we might hope for. All this year I have looked both forward and back. Word trickles in, mostly through Facebook; John Friend is teaching again.
Oof.
It hurts.
It hurts to learn that some knowingly choose to attend his workshops. I mean, it’s not an incapacitating kind of hurt, or something I ruminate upon every moment of the day, but it is something I think about. I realize that it is beyond my control. I don’t presume to tell anyone what to do. I’m just explaining how it lands on me.
It’s like saying, “Hey, I know this person broke your heart and the hearts of so many others, and detrimentally affected your livelihoods, and made having sex with him one of the most viable ways to advance professionally in his organization. I have heard the accounts of how he predated upon women who’d been sexually abused, and engineered career-devastating blacklists against teachers who dared stand up to him. So he subjected uncomfortable workers in his office to viewing photos of himself being fellated? So he used the Anusara data base as a mechanism for inflicting unwelcome sexual advances? So he is a self-admitted, ‘Master Manipulator’? So he intended to fire employees while assuring them that their jobs were secure? So what? My desire to have a good time is more important than all that.”
It feels about equivalent to being flipped the bird.
“No matter what he’s done, he’s still a good teacher,” I read on Facebook.
To which I say, “No.”
No.
No, because good teachers do not prey upon their students and employees. Good teachers may have private lives but they do not have secret lives. Good teachers don’t lie. They don’t injure students so severely that they can’t walk or even sit, and then climb upon stage boasting: “Not a single person has ever been hurt during any of my events.” Good teachers don’t abruptly, imperiously demand 10% of community earnings because they’re overextended and short on cash.
Good teachers do not do any of these things. Therefore by my calculations John Friend cannot be good teacher.
No matter how it gets dismissed and spun, the outrage of the community was never about a little pot and a little sex. It was always about the abuse of power. I’ll never understand why we resent the Bernie Madoffs and Jeffrey Skillings of the world but don’t seem to mind abuse at the hands of famous, charismatic yogis.
“But what about forgiveness, forgiveness, forgiveness?” so many of us are asked. “When do you forgive, forgive, forgive? You’re only hurting yourself, yourself, yourself…”
Well, I believe in forgiveness. Much like respect, I believe it is a privilege that is earned rather than a god given entitlement. I decline indiscriminate forgiveness and am here to report that it’s not deleterious.
Where my trust has been violated, I determine when–and if–to forgive. Claiming that prerogative for myself is a way of respecting myself. Being too quick to forgive is a good way to enable people who need help, a better way to encourage repeat abuse, and the very best way to bypass emotions that–although painful–would be better felt.
Yet I find no shortage of people who tell me how to feel; no lack of readiness to police my emotions. I would be shamed if I allowed myself to be.
But I refuse.
I shall of course receive emails after posting this letter. I shall be the recipient of advice from those who would police my feelings and tell me–for my own good and with love–exactly what should be in my heart. Let the illuminating begin.
The irony is that I’m mostly not dwelling on John Friend. I’m about the happiest I’ve ever been. I’m exhausted but, emotionally, feel good. This blog post is just a tiny snippet of my reality–not its sum total.
So, yeah, sometimes I find myself revisiting the past and it bugs me but then I remember the present. Sometimes I even dare to dream a little daydream about the future.
And I smile.
Bernadette Birney
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
TIME: 'Burmese bin Laden' — The face of Buddhist terror
A Buddhist monk Wirathu calling himself Burmese bin Laden was recently labeled on the cover of Time magazine as the Face of Buddhist Terror. He is the Buddhist monk accused of stoking religious hatred across Burma, said NBC News contributor MacGregor.
Briefly describing what’s in its printed version entitled “The Face of Buddhist Terror,” TIME says “His face as still and serene as a statue's, the Buddhist monk who has taken the title ‘the Burmese bin Laden’ begins his sermon. Hundreds of worshippers sit before him, palms pressed together, sweat trickling silently down their sticky backs. On cue, the crowd chants with the man in burgundy robes, the mantras drifting through the sultry air of a temple in Mandalay, Burma's second biggest city after Rangoon. It seems a peaceful scene, but Wirathu's message crackles with hate: Now is not the time for calm.”
Sparked widespread protests across the country, Burmese government banned the TIME magazine portraying Ashin Wirathu as the Burmese bin Laden. Circa said Wirathu leads the radical Buddhist group 969 which says that the country's Muslim minority threatens national security and racial purity. Violence against Muslims has resulted in 250 deaths and displaced 150,000 people in the past year.
NBC News contributor Fiona MacGregor said Wirathu had been accused of inciting violence against Myanmar's Muslim minority with fiery sermons claiming the growth of Islam is putting Buddhism and Burmese culture at risk. About 200 people have been killed by violence since religious riots erupted in June 2012 and tens of thousands fled after homes owned were burned by mobs. “I believe Islam is a threat not just for Buddhism, but for the people and the country and the religion,” NBC said citing the monk. Wirathu laughed at the TIME report branding him the Buddhist bin Laden. As cited by NBC he said "People used to write things like that about me on Facebook, call me that, and the 'bald Bin Laden,' all sorts of names," he said. "I ended up calling myself that as a joke ... and it got reported from there."
Members of Burma’s Buddhist majority, including some of its much-respected monks, are increasingly persecuting the country’s long-suffering Muslim minority and adopting an ideology that encourages religious violence, said Washington Post.
Talking about the same monk, the New York Times said that after a ritual prayer atoning for past sins, Ashin Wirathu sat before an overflowing crowd of thousands of devotees and launched into a rant against what he called the enemy — the country’s Muslim minority. “You can be full of kindness and love, but you cannot sleep next to a mad dog,” Ashin Wirathu said, referring to Muslims. “I call them troublemakers, because they are troublemakers,” Ashin Wirathu told a reporter after his two-hour sermon. “I am proud to be called a radical Buddhist.”
The world has grown accustomed to a gentle image of Buddhism defined by the self-effacing words of the Dalai Lama, the global popularity of Buddhist-inspired meditation and postcard-perfect scenes from Southeast Asia and beyond of crimson-robed, barefoot monks receiving alms from villagers at dawn. But over the past year, images of rampaging Burmese Buddhists carrying swords and the vituperative sermons of monks like Ashin Wirathu have underlined the rise of extreme Buddhism in Myanmar — and revealed a darker side of the country’s greater freedoms after decades of military rule.
It was Wirathu who led a rally of monks in Mandalay to defend President Thein Sein's controversial plan to send the Rohingya to a third country said the Guardian. One month later, more violence broke out in Rakhine state. Thein Sein and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi have been criticized for not taking a greater stand against the violence that has racked Burma in recent months. Some have pointed to the seemingly planned nature of many of the attacks; UN special envoy Vijay Nambiar said the violence had a "brutal efficiency" and cited "incendiary propaganda" as stirring up trouble.
Briefly describing what’s in its printed version entitled “The Face of Buddhist Terror,” TIME says “His face as still and serene as a statue's, the Buddhist monk who has taken the title ‘the Burmese bin Laden’ begins his sermon. Hundreds of worshippers sit before him, palms pressed together, sweat trickling silently down their sticky backs. On cue, the crowd chants with the man in burgundy robes, the mantras drifting through the sultry air of a temple in Mandalay, Burma's second biggest city after Rangoon. It seems a peaceful scene, but Wirathu's message crackles with hate: Now is not the time for calm.”
Sparked widespread protests across the country, Burmese government banned the TIME magazine portraying Ashin Wirathu as the Burmese bin Laden. Circa said Wirathu leads the radical Buddhist group 969 which says that the country's Muslim minority threatens national security and racial purity. Violence against Muslims has resulted in 250 deaths and displaced 150,000 people in the past year.
NBC News contributor Fiona MacGregor said Wirathu had been accused of inciting violence against Myanmar's Muslim minority with fiery sermons claiming the growth of Islam is putting Buddhism and Burmese culture at risk. About 200 people have been killed by violence since religious riots erupted in June 2012 and tens of thousands fled after homes owned were burned by mobs. “I believe Islam is a threat not just for Buddhism, but for the people and the country and the religion,” NBC said citing the monk. Wirathu laughed at the TIME report branding him the Buddhist bin Laden. As cited by NBC he said "People used to write things like that about me on Facebook, call me that, and the 'bald Bin Laden,' all sorts of names," he said. "I ended up calling myself that as a joke ... and it got reported from there."
Members of Burma’s Buddhist majority, including some of its much-respected monks, are increasingly persecuting the country’s long-suffering Muslim minority and adopting an ideology that encourages religious violence, said Washington Post.
Talking about the same monk, the New York Times said that after a ritual prayer atoning for past sins, Ashin Wirathu sat before an overflowing crowd of thousands of devotees and launched into a rant against what he called the enemy — the country’s Muslim minority. “You can be full of kindness and love, but you cannot sleep next to a mad dog,” Ashin Wirathu said, referring to Muslims. “I call them troublemakers, because they are troublemakers,” Ashin Wirathu told a reporter after his two-hour sermon. “I am proud to be called a radical Buddhist.”
The world has grown accustomed to a gentle image of Buddhism defined by the self-effacing words of the Dalai Lama, the global popularity of Buddhist-inspired meditation and postcard-perfect scenes from Southeast Asia and beyond of crimson-robed, barefoot monks receiving alms from villagers at dawn. But over the past year, images of rampaging Burmese Buddhists carrying swords and the vituperative sermons of monks like Ashin Wirathu have underlined the rise of extreme Buddhism in Myanmar — and revealed a darker side of the country’s greater freedoms after decades of military rule.
It was Wirathu who led a rally of monks in Mandalay to defend President Thein Sein's controversial plan to send the Rohingya to a third country said the Guardian. One month later, more violence broke out in Rakhine state. Thein Sein and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi have been criticized for not taking a greater stand against the violence that has racked Burma in recent months. Some have pointed to the seemingly planned nature of many of the attacks; UN special envoy Vijay Nambiar said the violence had a "brutal efficiency" and cited "incendiary propaganda" as stirring up trouble.
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