Power, Money and Sex by Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche
Category:
Teachings
Buddhism has almost always relied on money and power to support its teaching and practice, but it has never relied on sex. Sex is not one of Buddhadharma’s ‘bare necessities’. We can practise the Dharma without ever having sex, but monasteries would never be built and books would never get printed without the help of powerful supporters and their money.
Today, everyone swaps stories about sex in Vajrayana Buddhism, hyping it up to such a degree that both the sexual act and Vajrayana practitioners’ attitude to sex have become the Vajrayana’s most talked about dilemmas.
Whatever the situation, sexual abuse is always wrong. The Vajrayana has never and will never make excuses for Vajrayana teachers who force students to do anything they don’t want to.
In Buddhism, sexual abuse comes under the category of ‘harm’ and all Vajrayana practitioners are supposed to avoid inflicting harm on others. But just because one lama is abusive, it doesn’t follow that the entire lineage are all abusers.
The damage done by sexual abuse is personal. The victim suffers emotionally, mentally and physically and, if the sexual abuser is caught, he suffers condemnation, reproof and sometimes imprisonment. Both his reputation and his legacy are publicly decimated. Although reports of his behaviour may tarnish Buddhadharma’s image, it is the victim and the perpetrator who suffer the most.
The vast majority of lamas are not sexual predators, which is important to bear in mind because a public accusation alone is more than enough to destroy a reputation. But, overall, the harm inflicted by sexual abuse affects fewer people than the devastation wreaked by institutional corruption, misuse of power and financial fraud.
As I write, I can feel my critics bristling with indignation: “But what about the victims!” I deplore sexual abuse in any shape or form and am, of course, deeply concerned about the victims. One of the reasons I wrote this book was to provide new Vajrayana students with the analytical tools they need to ensure that they will never fall victim to any form of abuse.
Source:
Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse
Poison is Medicine - Clarifying the Vajrayana
Siddhartha’s Intent
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