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The Cult Dossier · No. 092 · Eastern-Derived

Rigpa and Shambhala International

the Tibetan Buddhist abuse cases

1970s – present · UK, France, USA, Canada, Nepal

X. RUSSIA, KOREA AND SOUTH ASIA

Fully religious — legitimate Tibetan Buddhist lineages with abusive leadership

Who led it

RIGPA: SOGYAL LAKAR (Sogyal Rinpoche, 1947–2019), author of The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, a genuine international bestseller. SHAMBHALA: CHÖGYAM TRUNGPA (1939–1987), a major figure in bringing Tibetan Buddhism to the West; his regent ÖSEL TENDZIN (Thomas Rich); and Trungpa's son MIPHAM MUKPO (Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche).

What it worshipped and taught

Authentic Vajrayana Buddhism, in which the guru-disciple relationship (samaya) demands profound devotion and in which the teacher's actions may be framed as CRAZY WISDOM — deliberately shocking behaviour intended to cut through ego. This doctrine, genuine within the tradition, was used to reframe assault, coercion and exploitation as teaching.

Who was in it

Sogyal Rinpoche; the eight senior Rigpa students who signed the July 2017 letter; Mary Finnigan and Rob Hogendoorn, authors of Sex and Violence in Tibetan Buddhism; Chögyam Trungpa; Ösel Tendzin, who continued to have unprotected sex with students after being diagnosed HIV-positive and after telling senior staff, resulting in at least one student's death from AIDS; Mipham Mukpo; ANDREA WINN, whose Buddhist Project Sunshine reports of 2018 broke the Shambhala case; the DALAI LAMA, who publicly condemned Sogyal by name in 2017 and 2018.

How it ended, or where it stands

Both organisations survive under reformed governance and continue to teach; the underlying Buddhist traditions are unaffected. Rigpa's Lérab Ling remains an active international centre.

The dead

At least one HIV-related death attributable to Ösel Tendzin

Of note

An important category: not an invented cult but an ancient legitimate tradition whose specific doctrine of guru devotion created a structure with no mechanism for accountability when the teacher offended. The Dalai Lama's public statement — that students should make such teachers' behaviour public, and that his own words are not exempt from scrutiny — is the tradition's own answer.

Its timeline

  1. JANUARY 1970 Trungpa arrives in North America; he founds the Naropa Institute in 1974 and Shambhala Training.
  2. 1975 The Merwin incident — at a Halloween party at the Snowmass seminary in Colorado, the poet W. S. Merwin and his partner are stripped by force on Trungpa's orders, an event fiercely debated for decades.
  3. 4 APRIL 1987 Trungpa dies in Halifax, Nova Scotia, aged 48, of cardiac arrest, with liver disease from heavy drinking among the contributing conditions.
  4. 1988–1990 THE ÖSEL TENDZIN AIDS SCANDAL. Tendzin, knowing he was HIV-positive, continued sexual relationships with students without disclosure. At least one student contracted HIV and died. Tendzin died in 1990.
  5. 1994 Sogyal Rinpoche is sued in the US for 10 million dollars by a woman named as Janice Doe, alleging he used his spiritual authority to coerce her into sex; settled out of court.
  6. 14 JULY 2017 Eight senior Rigpa students publish an open letter accusing Sogyal of physical assault (punching, hitting with a backscratcher), sexual coercion of students, and a lavish lifestyle funded by donations. On 11 AUGUST 2017 Sogyal retires as spiritual director with immediate effect. On 1 August the Dalai Lama had called him disgraced.
  7. 5 SEPTEMBER 2018 THE LEWIS SILKIN REPORT — CONFIRMED, AND STRONGER THAN OFTEN SUMMARISED. The UK law firm was appointed as a NEUTRAL THIRD-PARTY INVESTIGATOR and conducted confidential fact-finding interviews. Commissioned by Rigpa itself after the 2017 open letter, it found the allegations of sexual and physical abuse LARGELY SUBSTANTIATED — AND FOUND EVIDENCE OF A COVER-UP. The finding was not merely that senior figures knew, but that the organisation concealed.
  8. 2018–2019 Rigpa’s US board separately engaged AN OLIVE BRANCH, the same Zen-based reconciliation body that would later investigate Yogi Bhajan for 3HO (see 091), to work on community healing and reconciliation.
  9. 2018 Buddhist Project Sunshine reports allege sexual assault by Sakyong Mipham; he steps back. An independent Wickwire Holm investigation substantiates several claims.
  10. 28 AUGUST 2019 Sogyal dies in Bangkok, aged 72, of a pulmonary embolism while being treated for colorectal cancer.
  11. 2019–2026 RIGPA DID NOT DISSOLVE. It restructured under reformed governance, with senior Tibetan and Western teachers — among them KHENPO NAMDROL, DZIGAR KONGTRUL RINPOCHE and TSOKNYI RINPOCHE — carrying the teaching forward. Lérab Ling in France continues to operate as an international retreat centre, completing its Great Enlightenment stupa in 2025–26. NOTE: much of the reporting on the reform comes from Rigpa's own communications and from sympathetic Buddhist outlets; independent assessment of how thorough the reform has been is thin.

Its people

Sogyal Rinpoche

Sogyal Lakar

Founder, Rigpa · 1947 – 28 August 2019 · active 1979–2017

Author of The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, a genuine international bestseller, and head of a global Buddhist network. In July 2017 eight senior students published an open letter accusing him of punching and hitting students, sexually coercing female students, and funding a lavish lifestyle from donations. He used the doctrine of 'crazy wisdom' — real within Vajrayana — to frame the behaviour as teaching. The Dalai Lama condemned him publicly by name. An independent investigation commissioned by Rigpa itself substantiated the allegations.

Before the law. Never criminally charged. The 1994 US civil suit settled confidentially.

Where things stand. Deceased 2019. Rigpa continues, restructured.

  1. 1979 Founds Rigpa.
  2. 1992 The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying published.
  3. 1994 Sued in the US for sexual abuse; settled out of court.
  4. 14 July 2017 Eight senior students publish the open letter; he steps down in August.
  5. SEPTEMBER 2018 THE INDEPENDENT LEWIS SILKIN REPORT — the UK law firm acting as a NEUTRAL THIRD-PARTY INVESTIGATOR, commissioned by Rigpa itself — finds the allegations of sexual and physical abuse LARGELY SUBSTANTIATED, AND FINDS EVIDENCE OF A COVER-UP. The finding was not merely that senior figures knew, but that the organisation concealed.
  6. 28 August 2019 Dies in Thailand.

Checked 2026-08-24

Chögyam Trungpa

Chökyi Gyatso

Founder, Shambhala International and Naropa Institute · 5 March 1939 – 4 April 1987 · active 1970–1987

One of the most important figures in bringing Tibetan Buddhism to the West, and a genuinely original teacher whose books remain widely read. He also drank heavily, slept with students, and practised a deliberately provocative 'crazy wisdom' that included the 1975 Merwin incident, in which the poet W. S. Merwin and his partner were stripped by force at a Colorado seminary on his orders. He died at 48 of cardiac arrest, with liver disease from heavy drinking among the contributing conditions. His appointed regent Ösel Tendzin then continued having unprotected sex with students after being diagnosed HIV-positive and informing senior staff; at least one student died of AIDS.

Before the law. Never charged.

Where things stand. Deceased 1987. Shambhala survives in restructured form.

  1. JANUARY 1970 Arrives in North America.
  2. 1974 Founds Naropa Institute.
  3. 1975 The Merwin incident at the Snowmass seminary.
  4. 4 APRIL 1987 Dies in Halifax, Nova Scotia, aged 48.
  5. 1988–90 The Ösel Tendzin AIDS scandal; Tendzin dies in 1990.
  6. 2018 Buddhist Project Sunshine reports allege sexual assault by his son and successor Sakyong Mipham, who steps back.

Checked 2026-09-17

Ösel Tendzin

Thomas Frederick Rich

Vajra Regent, Shambhala · 1943 – 25 August 1990 · active 1976–1990

An Italian-American from New Jersey, appointed by Chögyam Trungpa in 1976 as his Vajra Regent and dharma heir — the first Westerner ever given such a position in a Tibetan lineage. In the late 1980s it emerged that he had known he was HIV-positive for around three years while continuing unprotected sexual relationships with students, and that senior board members had known and said nothing. At least one student contracted HIV and died. He maintained that Trungpa had told him his practice would protect his partners. He died of AIDS in 1990.

Before the law. NEVER CHARGED.

Where things stand. Deceased 1990. At least one student died of AIDS contracted from him.

  1. 1976 Appointed Vajra Regent by Trungpa.
  2. 1987 Trungpa dies; Tendzin leads Shambhala.
  3. c.1985–88 Continues unprotected sex with students while knowing he is HIV-positive; senior staff are informed and do not act.
  4. December 1988 The community is told; the organisation splits.
  5. 25 August 1990 Dies of AIDS-related illness.

Checked

Mipham Mukpo

Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche

Leader, Shambhala International · born 1962 · active 1995–2018

Chögyam Trungpa's son, who took over Shambhala in the 1990s and rebuilt it into a large international network with a strong public presence in secular mindfulness. In 2018 the Buddhist Project Sunshine reports, compiled by Andrea Winn with an independent investigator, alleged sexual assault and misconduct; a subsequent independent investigation by the law firm Wickwire Holm substantiated several claims. He stepped back from leadership and the organisation's entire governing board resigned.

Before the law. NEVER CRIMINALLY CHARGED.

Where things stand. Living, based in Nepal. He teaches through his own body, the Sakyong Potrang. SHAMBHALA IS NOW FULLY SEPARATE FROM HIM — self-governing, financially independent, and no longer under his direction.

  1. 1995 Formally enthroned as Sakyong.
  2. 1990s–2010s Expands Shambhala internationally.
  3. 2018 Buddhist Project Sunshine reports published; he steps back and the board resigns.
  4. 2019 The Wickwire Holm investigation substantiates several allegations.
  5. 2020s SHAMBHALA BECOMES SELF-GOVERNING AND FINANCIALLY INDEPENDENT OF HIM. He is no longer engaged in its activity.
  6. 2025–2026 Relocated to Nepal; continues to teach independently through his own organisation, the SAKYONG POTRANG, and not through Shambhala.

Checked 2026-08-24 · living: health details are kept at home

Andrea Winn

—

Shambhala survivor and investigator · born c.1966 · active birth–2018

Raised in the Shambhala community, she was sexually abused as a child within it and spent years attempting to raise the issue internally without result. In 2018 she launched BUDDHIST PROJECT SUNSHINE independently, commissioned an outside investigator, and published three reports documenting allegations against Sakyong Mipham and others. The organisation's entire governing board resigned, and the independent Wickwire Holm investigation subsequently substantiated several claims. She did what the institution refused to do, from outside it and at her own expense.

Before the law. Never charged.

Where things stand. Living — no death record found, but nothing consulted reports on her since about 2020, when she STEPPED DOWN FROM BUDDHIST PROJECT SUNSHINE, effective 4 February, the project having run its course after two years. WHAT ONE PERSON’S GRASSROOTS PROJECT ACHIEVED IS WORTH STATING PLAINLY. She launched it in FEBRUARY 2017 as a second-generation Shambhalian. THE PHASE 1 REPORT forced the Shambhala leadership to publicly acknowledge widespread sexualised violence in the community. THE PHASE 2 REPORT set out allegations of sexual misconduct and assault against SAKYONG MIPHAM RINPOCHE, the head of the community — HE STEPPED DOWN FROM ALL DUTIES AND THE KALAPA COUNCIL, THE GOVERNING BODY, RESIGNED EN MASSE. A Phase 3 final report followed.

  1. 1960s–70s Raised in the Shambhala community; abused as a child.
  2. 1990s–2010s Attempts to raise the issue internally without result.
  3. February 2018 Launches Buddhist Project Sunshine.
  4. 2018 Publishes three reports; the Kalapa Council resigns in full.
  5. 2019 The Wickwire Holm investigation substantiates several allegations.

Checked 2026-08-24 · living: health details are kept at home

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