Addressing Harm

Shambhala Boston is part of a global community which aspires to awaken kindness, goodness and wisdom within society. This vision is rooted in the principle that every human being has a fundamental nature of basic goodness. to honestly hold this vision and aspiration means we cannot ignore the pain, confusion and harm that are also part of our experience. We need to look directly at the ways we maintain traditions, habits, power structures, language patterns, and other forms that perpetuate this – individually or collectively, whether consciously or unconsciously.

Our History: Beginning in the 1970s, Chögyam Trungpa founded meditation centers, retreat centers, organizations of all kinds, as he discovered multiple ways to work with his Western students to make the most potent teachings of Tibetan Buddhism accessible. The organization and the culture that grew up around him and his students was magnetizing and brilliant and hundreds of teachings were given, fully planting the dharma in the west. At the same time, there was a shadow side to that society and culture – including blind spots around alcoholism, misogyny, patriarchy, hierarchy, classism, and racism. As a global community, Shambhala is beginning to acknowledge and deal with these ethical issues – including Chögyam Trungpa’s own use of alcohol and his sexual relationships with his students – undercurrents that have long been part of our history. 

#MeToo Crisis: In early 2018, credible allegations of sexual misconduct and misuse of power by Chögyam Trungpa’s eldest son and the lineage holder of Shambhala, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, toward his students rocked the worldwide community, causing an existential crisis. These reports have been investigated by a third-party investigator, Wickwire Holm which you can read here. In July 2020 the Board of the Shambhala Meditation Center of Boston issued a strong statement standing with all those who had been harmed by Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche’s behavior and lack of accountability, stating that we could not in good conscience move forward with him as either our Center’s spiritual or secular leader. 

In 2021 Shambhala Global Services adopted a new Code of Conduct that applies to everyone (previous codes of conduct did not apply to the Sakyong), with a Code of Conduct Council empowered to adjudicate concerns and complaints as they arise. 

The Code of Conduct Hub website includes processes and resources and the five policies: Shambhala Code of Conduct, Child Protection Policy, Policy for People Holding Positions of Authority, Policy to Address Sexual Misconduct, and Policy on Diversity, Inclusivity and Anti-Discrimination. Every person in authority in Shambhala is bound by the Code of Conduct. 

Where We Are Now: In February 2022, a legal agreement between Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche and the Global Shambhala Board altered Shambhala’s organizing documents so that the legal entity Shambhala USA, of which the  Boston Shambhala Center is a part, is now self-governing and financially independent of Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche. He is not engaged with the Shambhala organization and is teaching through his own organization, the Sakyong Potrang.

The Boston Shambhala Center remains committed to teaching and practicing meditation, and to working together as a community towards collective liberation. At the same time, we are clear that meditation is not a replacement for therapeutic healing of trauma. We aspire to create a supportive and healing environment for those who come seeking to ease their suffering. We recognize that we will  continue to make mistakes, that not intending harm doesn’t prevent harm, and we will never give up. We are working on getting better at having challenging conversations.. We are working on training our community to better recognize and undo the causes of all kinds of suffering.

Our community is more engaged than ever before in acknowledging our history and transforming our culture to recognize and stop harm. We look forward to continuing the  work needed to examine and interrupt the causes of harm which show up in our own hearts and minds.

We welcome you to join us in this practice.