Controversial 'Buddhist' Teachers & Groups

"When teachers break the precepts,

behaving in ways that are clearly damaging to themselves and others,

students must face the situation,

even though this can be challenging, criticize openly, that's the only way."

His Holiness the Dalai Lama

Having thought long and hard about making this page or not, I decided to go ahead to avoid people getting into trouble with questionable teachers and organizations who claim to be Buddhist, but whose motivation and behavior is questioned. For obvious reasons, this page itself is controversial, as people who are involved with such teachers or groups will usually deny the controversy or even claim not to be aware of it.

From shimanoarchive.com:

Similarly, Zen teachers issued an open letter confronting abuse early 2015 to make a clear stance against abuse of power by Buddhist teachers.

The following statement ensued from the meeting: “Each student must be encouraged to take responsible measures to confront teachers with unethical aspects of their conduct. If the teacher shows no sign of reform, students should not hesitate to publicize any unethical behavior of which there is irrefutable evidence. This should be done irrespective of other beneficial aspects of his or her work and of one's spiritual commitment to that teacher. It should also be made clear in any publicity that such conduct is not in conformity with Buddhist teachings. No matter what level of spiritual attainment a teacher has, or claims to have, reached, no person can stand above the norms of ethical conduct.” Signed: Fred von Allmen, Brendan Lee Kennedy, Ven. Ajahn Amaro, Bodhin Kjolhede Sensei, Jack Kornfield, Martine Batchelor, Dharmachari Kulananda, Stephen Batchelor, Jakusho Bill Kwong Roshi, Alex Berzin, Lama Namgyal (Daniel Boschero), Ven. Thubten Chodron (Cherry Greene), Ven. Tenzin Palmo, Lama Drupgyu Crony Chapman), Ven. Thubten Pende (James Dougherty), Lopon Claude aEsnee, Lama Surya Das (Jeffrey Miller), Edie Irwin, Robert Thurman, Junpo Sensei (Denis Kelly), Sylvia Wetzel.

On March 16-19, 1993, a meeting was held in Dharamsala, India, between His Holiness The Fourteenth Dalai Lama and a group of twenty-two Western dharma teachers from the major Buddhist traditions in Europe and America. Also present were the Tibetan lamas Drikung Chetsang Rinpoche, Pachen Otrul Rinpoche, and Amchok Rinpoche. The aim of the meeting was to discuss openly a wide range of issues concerning the transmission of Budhadharma to Western lands.

The list below is my own personal list of teachers and groups of which I know that serious questions have been raised. I do not intend to play policeman or judge, and I cannot verify if all these claims are true. I merely hope to warn innocent newcomers about potential problems and controversy. The teachers and groups below are not all criminals or necessarily involved in distorting Buddhism, but serious complaints have been made about conduct such as sexual harrassment, abuse, abuse of funds etc., and/or distortion of the teachings of the Buddha.

Especially in China and Taiwan, and teachers from there, I would recommend serious caution when people are called "Living Buddhas". Such kind of title pretty much goes against all Buddhist ideas of modesty. Also when teachers promote practices for wealth and fame, or even promise 'instant enlightenment', it may be good to start asking some serious questions about the main purpose of their own 'Buddhist' practice. See also this article of the Global Times.

If you are aware of any currently active teacher or group that is controversial, but not on below list, please help other people and .

For the rest, please remain aware of the dangers of cults or abusive teachers, and take responsibility for your own life. Especially in Tibetan Buddhism, reliance on a personal teacher is seen as essential for spiritual progress, so better make really, really sure that you chose a genuine master; the more impressive the titles, the more critical one should investigate...

Useful information in English:

Useful information in other languages

Teacher Group/

organization Problems reported

Shoko Asahara Aum Shinrikyo Group responsible for the 1995 sarin gas attack in the Tokyo subway. Asahara also claimed to be the Christ. Probably needless to say this is an insane & dangerous group

Alon Bagwan Rinpoche See Dharmaling forum

Dogo Barry Graham /

Dogo Graham Sensei

The Sitting Frog

Zen Center, City Cave Zen Serious questions about not only his references and qualifications as Dharma teacher, but also serious allegations of sexual misconduct and emotional abuse of women, see The Graham Scam and for a quick overview at Smilin Buddha Cabaret

Ram Bahadur Bomjan (or Bomjon), a.k.a. the Buddha Boy, Palden Dorje, Maitriya Guru Maha Sambodhi, Dharma Sangha Bomjon became internationally known because of his seemingly endless meditation in Halhoria Forest in Nepal 2005. He has now built a strong following in Nepal and influential following abroad. However, several reports have appeared in the media on acts of corruption, violence, torture and abduction by this person who believes himself to be Maitreya Buddha (yes, another one, see under Maitreya below). This report by a victim of him gives an overview of the reported problems.

Dorje Chang Buddha III /

Wan Ko Yee /

Wan Ko Yeshe Norbu A 'Buddha' without history, flooding the internet with self-referring messages of his coming, using all the possible titles he can find.... 'Highest Buddha', 'Supreme leader of Buddhism', on and on. This makes me quite suspicious, but please check it out yourself. Google's translation of this page is miserable, but I think it denies the point that the Karmapa is supposed to have recognized 'Dorje Chang Buddha' karmapaweb.blogspot.nl/2008/09/blog-post.html. See also www.pasadenastarnews.com and laist.com

Lama Kelsang Chöpel

/Gerhard Mattioli Serious allegatios of sexual abuse, including drugging women can be found at openboeddhisme.nl (website in Dutch).

Andrew Cohen Impersonal Enlightenment Fellowship See his page on Wikipedia for some controversy links and writings. Cohen creates his own type of 'Buddhism'.

Dagri Rinpoche Former teacher at FPMT Several allegations of sexual abuse. Suspended from teaching for the FPMT. See this article in Tricycle. See also updates from the FPMT.

Ikeda Daisaku Soka Gakkai Website by 'victims'. Especially critique on Ikeda Daisaku

Candice O'Denver

aka Lama or Rinpoche Balanced View/Great Freedom Although the teachings themselves are not usually questioned, she does make unlikely claims - like being ín 'close contact' with H.H. the Dalai Lama. The organization appears to be totally focussed on money. Courses are very costly to attend and members are constantly pushed for more donations. Fundraisers for all kinds of projects which never materialize, where all this money goes is unclear. Some critical websites: here, here and here.

Lama Dondrup Dorje / Peter Yeung / Young Pathgate Institute, UK Allegations in the forum of Cult Education Institute are quite serious, but so far it seems from a limited number of sources. See also the blog pathgatesurvivors.com.

Lama Dudjom Dorje Dallas Karma Thegsum Choling Admitted sexual misconduct. The board of directors recommended to remove the lama from the center, but members elected to keep him. There are allegations of him asking for considerble donations for private use. The KTC is currently negotiating settlement of a claim against it for the sexual abuse.

Lama Ganchen Rinpoche Strong supporter of Shugden, not member of NKT (see below), but apparently rejects the views of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, just Google for shugden... These articles on Reuters expose the fact that China and Ganchen play a major role in the Dalai Lama protests for obvious political reasons. Besides this, there are reports of improper sexual behavior towards a nun, possibly more then one.

Rewatha Kamburawala Convicted for abusive behaviour as published on BBC news website.

'Geshe' Kelsang Gyatso New Kadampa Tradition (NKT)

Many centers and groups world-wide Shugden controversy, rejection of views of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, unauthorized use of the Geshe title, expelled from own monastery, self-invented ordination of monks and nuns, claims of sexual abuse by ordained members high in the organization etc. Just Google for shugden... or a website of its critics and academic research. They have a team that constantly re-writes Wikipedia to erase any critical comments. These articles on Reuters finally expose the fact that China plays a major role in the Dalai Lama protests for obvious political reasons.

Gurudas Sunyatananda

aka 'semi-retired archbishop of the autocephalic Eastern Catholic Church'

aka Khenpo

aka Dharmacharya

aka Servant-Father Francis-Maria of the Immaculata Contemplative Order of Compassion Dharma-teacher, but also archbishop of the autocephalic Eastern Catholic Church , which according to their own website, does not believe in the pope as head of the Catholic church, follows Tibetan Buddhism and he denounces the Dalai Lama (because of his understanding of the Shugden controversy) in a published book.

Jhanananda

(Jeffrey S. Brooks) Great Western

Vehicle Self-ordained monk??? According to his own About me, modesty is not one of his qualities. Whatever he is, it does not even appear to be Buddhist to me. This person cannot be a genuine Buddhist monk; probably even less a Buddhist teacher.

Lama Jigme Gyatso See Dharmaling forum - possibly a fraud begging for money

Lama Jinpa

(Asa Herschoff)

School of Tibetan Healing Chod Allegations on not being qualified to give transmissions by his own teacher, see e.g. the CEI forum and the Varjacakra website.

Jin Pu Ti, Jin Bodhi Bodhi Meditation See the 'responses' part of this web-page of Daily enlightenment

Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo,

(Alyce Louise Zeoli) Quite some controversy over this 'first western woman to be recognized as a Tulku' can even be found at Wikipedia - the controversial stuff has been carefully edited out of the page since 2010, so pls. refer to versions from 2009 to see info on restraining orders etc. It is not quite clear to me if the accusations are genuine or just part of a personal feud. There appears to be a feud with William Cassidi - also on this very list.

Noah Levine Against the Stream Meditation Society (ATS) Noah Levine is accused of sexual misconduct, see this article in Tricycle. Levine was quickly suspended after this and the ATS plans to close all the centers soon after this news. A positive note: the handling of this situation by the ATS and Levine himself appears exemplary. See also this link, which still does not clarify much...

Lin Yun Black Tantric Buddhism Apparently he admits himself that he is an imposter (see this page). Many signs of this being a cult are being reported.

Eko (Michael) Little

former abbot of Shasta Abbey Order of Buddhist Contemplatives Mr. Little was dis-robed and kicked from the OBC after a damning inverstigation into spiritual and sexual abuse see the OBC connect forum.

Maha Vajra,

Francois Lepine Sukhi Devi's temple / mahavajra.com Another person calling himself enlightened... Received some unconfirmed messages of him producing his own version of Buddhism, and being a fraud. His 'projects' like Super Soldier, Force Combat and Mystic Knight appear to confirm his questionable reputation.

Maitreya See a long list of 'wanna-be' Maitreyas at Sarlo's Guru Rating Service.

Should I say more?

Ken McLeod Unfettered Mind Accusations of sexual inappropriate behavior in more then one case, see this blog of a victim

Lama Christie McNally Diamond Mountain University Student and ex-partner of Geshe Michael Roach (see below). Apart from her controversial relationship with a monk (Michael Roach), the way she presents herself is more then questionable, as is explained in Badkarmanews.blogspot.com

Rigdzin Namkha Rinpoche Serious allegations on sexual misconduct with women, including Nepalese nuns. The allegations are not yet officially proven as victims refuse so far to come out in public.

Dennis Genpo Merzel White Plum Asanga "Disrobed" as a Buddhist priest after admitting to sexual misconduct and resigned from the White Plum Asanga in February 2011. He still wants to continue teaching, but other Zen teachers requested him to stop teaching completely.

Dorin Genpo Osho

aka Hans Rudolf Döring

Bodaisan Shoboji In total 7 cases of sexual abuse are under investigation, see this article (in German). At the time he seemed to live in the area of Augsburg. According to German Wikipedia he is convicted for over 7 years in prison.

Lama Norlha Rinpoche

Kagyu Thubten Chöling Monastery Retired as abbot from Kagyu Thubten Chöling Monastery in 2017 after allegations of sexual misconduct. The monastery appears to have taken proper measures to avoid further abuse. See the mocd webpage for more info.

Ole Nydahl Diamond Way Buddhism Influential western teacher of Tibetan Buddhism, whose sexual behavior and opinions are frowned upon by quite a few Buddhists as 'politically incorrect' or worse, as can be seen at the Wikipedia article about him. At the Austrian ÖBR he is not welcome anymore for his racist, sexist and anti-Islamic utterings. He has also threatened with legal steps against people who report what he himself says. See more in this article in German.

Panchen Lama Gyaltsen Norbu Fake head of Tibetan Buddhism, chosen by the (anti-religion!) Chinese government. The current Dalai Lama named Gedhun Choekyi Nyima on May 14, 1995 to be the true rebirth. The latter (genuine rebirth) vanished from public eye shortly after being recognised, aged six. (from Wikipedia)

Lama Norbu

aka Nurbu Lama, Longbu Author of 'Love Sutra Lama' was convicted for sexual assault end of 2015. See this report of the court case in 2018. Difficult to figure out for me what is the complete truth in this story, but it appears serious enough for a caution.

Dorin Genpo Osho

aka Hans Rudolf Döring Hakuin Zen Gemeinschaft According to Augsburger Allgemeine, accused and partial admittance of sexual abuse of several children, see Augsburger Allgemeine link1, link2, link3, In total, 7 cases of abuse are now in court, see this article.

Domo Geshe Rinpoche,

aka Marjorie Wangchuk,

aka Tara Wangchuk,

aka Marjorie Tara Dadak (Marjorie Quinn-Dadak) White Conch

Dharma Center Serious doubts about her being the rebirth of Geshe Domo and more, see this specific website, which undermines her most important claims.

Lu Jun Hong,

Lu Taizhang Oriental Radio Claims to be Guanyin Bodhisattva’s manifestation in publicity materials, mixes Dharma teachings with his own inventions . See the 'responses' part of this web-page of Daily enlightenment. Also, see this from Major Buddhist associations in Malaysia, which says e.g. "not the real teachings of the Buddha".

Kim Katami

aka Pema Rinpoche Open Heart Completely over-the-top claims of his own realisations. Read for example through this discussion at Dharma Wheel. The Open letter to Buddhist forums by Open Heart Sangha makes an interesting read, but merely confirms Katami is a self-proclaimed teacher with extraordinary paranormal gifts - unconfirmed by qualified masters.

Reggie Ray

Shambhala, Dharma ocean Reports on abuse of power and emotional/psychological abuse of students. See links in the Reddit forum on ShambhalaBuddhism: 1, 2, 3, 4. See also this open letter by former students. A special website on the abuses: leavingdharmaocean.com

Shenphen Rinpoche Accusations of severe child abuse & rape, unconfirmed report of him being sentenced for that in Slovenia. However, I also heard reports that the local Catholic community invented everything to rid themselves of a non-Catholic teacher.

Lama Kunzang Dorje

aka Robert Spatz Ogyen Kunzang Choling Very disturbing allegations and actual conviction for sexual abuse, see this website, especially notice the slides at then end with some very disturbing quotes on what KD believes to be the correct behavior towards one's teacher - like never listening to other teachers: a clear red flag for cults.

Lodro Rinzler MNDFL meditation studios

ex Shambhala Allegations of sexual misconduct, see this link. Not sure if this was part of an attack on him as he left because of accusations against Sakyong Mipham .

Luis Kunga Choedak Riesgo Allegations noted at: http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=147681110732&id=673604575&ref=nf , or even worse, I saw a psychological evaluation that mentions "many serious psychological symptoms", a bad start for any teacher to say the least. Riesgo claims that the evaluation and allegations are regarding his father and not him.

Rients Ritskes zen.nl (Dutch) His own teacher, Tsushimoto Roshi accuses him of teaching his own, self-invented teachings and unjustly using titles like zen-master, roshi sensei and dai-osho. Zen.nl is a commercial organisation which appears to earn a lot of money by 'educating' Zen teachers rather then religious or non-profit as one would expect. See this Dutch blog. Zen.nl

Geshe Michael Roach He apparently managed to 'qualify' as Geshe by paying donations to a monastery and receiving an honorary geshe-title. Since a few years, he makes outrageous claims of realizations. He also claims to be a monk, but has sexual relations and wears long hair; clear contradictions to the monks vows he has taken. His Dharma teachings appear to go way off in a similar way. See e.g. http://www.diamond-cutter.org and see this letter from His Holiness the Dalai Lama's office (scroll down the page a little).

Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche

Shambhala Sexual abuse of women; links Tricycle.org, Lionsroar.com, New York Times. Shambhala has apologised. It should be noted that Shambhala's founder Chögyam Trungpa was well-known for his alcohol abuse and womanising. American-born Ösel Tendzin was leader of Shambhala between Sakyong and Trungpa, and he is known for having sex with people while having AIDS and not informing his partners, see this article in the NYT.

Sangharakshita

(died in 2018)

Friends of the

World's Buddhist

Order (FWBO)

a.k.a. Triratna See http://www.ex-cult.org/fwbo/fwbofiles.htm Most criticism appears directed towards the founder Sangharakshita and his sexual habits. Being a large organisation, the intentions of the FWBO itself are sometimes questioned as well, but appear generally not serious.



Joshu Sasaki Former Abbot of Rinzai-ji Serious allegations of fraud and seual misbehavior, see http://sasakiarchive.com/ and http://sweepingzen.com/tag/joshu-sasaki/

Sheng-yen Lu,

'Living Buddha Lian-shen' , Lu Sheng Yan

Not be confused with respected Zen Teacher, Ven. Sheng-Yen (or Chen-Yen) True Buddha

School

(Zhen Fo Zhong) See: http://www.buddhismaustralia.org/cults.htm or Wikipedia Shen-yen's extravagant claims of authority as a Buddhist master are questionable at best. He even gives Kalachakra initiations based on...who knows...

None of his followers so far have been able to explain to me how he became a qualified Kalachakra master, they merely re-state his unfounded claims; please feel welcome to email me if you can actually substantiate his qualifications.

Eido Shimano Roshi

aka Tai San

aka Muishitsu Eido Sotai Shimano, Roshi Former abbot of Dai Bosatsu Zendo, New York, and

chairman of Zen Studies Society Severe accusations of sexual harassment and more at shimanoarchive.com, see e.g. this article

Sogyal Rinpoche Rigpa Some people claim that not Sogyal Rinpoche, but Andrew Harvey wrote The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying. More on that here. But things have gone much worse, see this blog and this blog . See also this disturbing open letter from 8 of his senior students from 2017. See this disturbing Independent Investigation Report, and a Blog of ex-students.

Tara Drolkhar Rinpoche / Tara Tulku Drimed Drolkar /

Tara tulku

(Alenka Bone) See Dharmaling forum

Tshong Tulku

(Pavel Hanč) See Dharmaling discussion forum

Traktung Rinpoche Flaming Jewel

Sangha See: http://www3.telus.net/public/sarlo/Ynonice.htm#belowor http://approachingaro.org/hhdl Quite presumptuous claims, little or no proof? Relation with controversial Aro Ter. No major controversy reported though. Sorry, the links appear to change often and may be dead; whether this is a good or a bad sign, I don't know...

Brian Ruhe Besides spreading half-truths and incorrect information about Buddhism, he mocks Buddhist traditions other then 'his own' Theravada tradition. This Canadian 'teacher' also appears to be a fan of Hitler and NAZIs, is and enemy to Jews in general and denies the holocaust. Other hobbies appear to be UFO's, alien abductions and conspiracies. Only his calls for donations are consistent... Recently received a report of sexual harrassment to make the list of someone with mental problems complete. Check the Brian Ruhe Show.

Tsem Tulku Kechara, Malaysia After years of denial, Tsem Tulku has admitted he practies or at least practiced Shugden. This practice is of course his own decision, but not being straightforward about his practice is controversial at best. In recently publicised teachings of around 2005 he vehemently declares he will never stop this practice. Around 2008 he apparently vowed he stopped, but still supported the website shugden.com. These articles on Reuters finally expose the fact that China plays a major role in the Dalai Lama protests by Shugden protesters for obvious political reasons.

Tulku Urgyen Tenpa /

William Cassidi

Not to be confused with Tibetan Tulku Urgyen Some quite heavy accusations vented e.g. in this blog. However, I received information that this blog was created by students of Jetsunma Ahkon, who is on this very list. I have no idea what is true or false here.

Phra Dhammachayo / Dhammajayo /

Phrathepyanmahamuni Wat Phra Dhammakaya/ Dhammakaya Foundation See: http://www.buddhismaustralia.org/cults.htm, Wikipedia, Rick Ross, and Dhammawheel, it seems that the 'World Fellowship of Buddhist Youth in Thailand' has practically become part of the Dhammakaya organisation.

I Kuan Tao

(Tian Tao) /

Yi Guan Dao See: http://www.buddhismaustralia.org/cults.htm

Ani Tenzin Kalsang a.k.a.

Carol Watt

Tengye Ling Tibetan Buddhist Temple Very disturbing points listed in a blog that is unfortunately not accessible anymore, varying from physical and emotional abuse to misuse of funds and unfounded claims of titles and spiritual realizations etc.

Thich Thien Son Pagode Path Hue Allegations of inappropriate sexual behavior, see http://blog.buddhistische-sekten.de/ . The 'Deutschen Buddhistischen Ordensgemeinschaft e.V.' expelled him as member in 2010 after receiving 5 different written statements of sexual abuse and abuses of power. Apparently, he also admitted sexual abuse of a 12 year old boy.

Tri Dao a.k.a.

Hai “Harry” Hoang

According to this News website, he impersonates as security guard, possibly police, and now a monk. Likely suffers from mental illness. Claims to be ordained at Chua Phat Phap (Southwest Florida Buddhist Inc), but the abbot says he was not ordained there.

'Living Buddha' Dechan Jueren

aka Master Yu Dari Rulai Temple, Puente, Ca, USA Charges outrageous course fees, focuses on practices for wealth and success - especially his own. He appoints 'Vajracharya's' (tantric masters) after rediculously short trainings. In March 2011 charging £375 for (1 U$) masks supposedly against radiation sickness during the Japanese nuclear disaster after the tsunami!