In June 2019, Damcho Dyson, Tahlia Newland and Jacki Wicks are delivering a paper together on Sogyal Rinpoche’s abuse and the fallout it caused as part of the Sakyadhita International Association of Buddhist Women’s 16th International Conference. Jacki emailed Tenzin Palmo asking about an aspect of the conference and also asked what her thinking was on things like samaya and guru devotion in the context of abusive teachers. I found Tenzin Palmo’s reply refreshingly sensible and direct and asked if I could post it here. She gave her permission, so here it is:
Samaya goes both ways: the student has samaya to the teacher but the teacher also has samaya to the student. The student’s samaya is to cultivate devotion, trust and openness in order to receive the mind blessings of the guru. The teacher’s samaya is, through their knowledge and compassion, to develop the spiritual potential of the student. Therefore…
View original post 598 more words
