It seems there are numerous credible allegations, documented in these links, that Sogyal has sexually assaulted his women followers. In one case, a young woman student visited him alone at his apartment to receive what she thought was to be spiritual counseling. Within minutes of her arrival, he raped her.

Come to think of it, I have Rinpoche's 1992 blockbuster book, The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, on my shelf. I can't say I ever idealized the man, or had much emotionally invested in his teaching. I wasn't shattered, then, in any direct or personal way, by reading of the sexual allegations.

I'd enjoyed parts of "Living and Dying," particularly Rinpoche's how-to-meditate discussion, which has struck me as warm and accessible after my attempts at Zen practice. In addition, Rinpoche's descriptions of the Tibetan cosmology are mesmerizing. In language as intricate and sumptuous as the patterns in any Asian rug, Rinpoche describes what happens to an individual's conscious essence between death and rebirth: "As...the time for rebirth gets closer, you crave more and more for the support of a material body, and you search for any one that might be available in which to be reborn. Different signs will begin to appear, warning you of the realm in which you are likely to take rebirth. Lights of various colors shine from the six realms of existence, and you will feel drawn toward one or another, depending on the negative emotion that is predominant in your mind. Once you have been drawn into one of these lights, it is very difficult to turn back." I've been known to read this stuff at night when I can't sleep, in lieu of a Jane Austen novel.

On principal, I believe the accounts of women who say Rinpoche assaulted them. I denounce him on their behalf. I question his spiritual authority. It even crossed my mind to toss my copy of "Living and Dying" into the recycle bin, in a gesture of solidarity with his alleged victims.

But that's overkill. If I tossed every book on my shelf whose author's arrogant, hypocritical, or merely naive indiscretions had caused serious mischief, I'd have myself down to slim pickins.' The C.J. Jung would have to go, so would the Ernest Hemingway--as, for that matter, would the New English Bible--to name a few. Better to keep "Living and Dying" around and enjoy it as the cultural artifact it is.

There is another noteworthy feature of this case. In Don Lattin's article about the Dalai Lama's official response to the allegations of sexual misconduct among his disciples, I was struck by the contrast to the response of ranking Roman Catholic clergy to the sex abuse scandal. You remember that pompous idiot Cardinal Law in Boston telling the media that "the priests' young victims were complicit in their own abuse"? You remember how the Vatican didn't challenge these remarks in the slightest? The Dalai Lama and members of his coterie, by contrast, at least expressed an appropriate concern over the allegations of abuse by their clergy. The Lama is said to have enjoined local authorities to "print stories in the newspaper, if need be," to start to recompense the abusers' wrongs.

The Tibetan Buddhist gestures of accountability, at least in word, are heartening. Perhaps they're a sign Tibetan Buddhism is ultimately a tradition of greater "structural integrity" and doctrinal consistence than Roman Catholicism. Or maybe the Dalai Lama is just better at PR than the Cardinals.

One story that I remember, from Sogyal Rinpoche's extensive web site, in the context, chills me to the bone. I found the piece a long time ago and "filed it away," but it's come vividly to mind in light of the personal news about Sogyal. I sincerely regret that I could not dig up the item again, to spare my first-born child.

The story concerns a woman who hadn't had much interest in spiritual matters during her life. She developed a terminal illness, and then took a keen interest in Sogyal Rinpoche's work. Her family reported that his writings and teachings became her guide in practice and her one comfort as she approached death. She passed away steeped in the end-of-life traditions of Tibetan Buddhism.

Thank goodness this woman was never aware of Sogyal Rinpoche's betrayal of her. I felt it sharply enough.
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