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by Anonymous
Rick Finney wrote:
I'm curious: did the Dalai Lama, or
anyone in his office, respond to this poor woman's letter? Have any
further moves been made to publicize Sonam Kazi's behavior or hold him to
account, even at this very late date?
Tibetan Buddhism clearly has the
same institutional instincts for scandal-management and coverup as the
Catholic Church. What a disgrace.
Thank you for your
comments. It is heartening to have another voice, outside our group, added
to ours.
The only response we
got was the brief letter from the Dalai Lama's secretary, Tenzin Geyche
Tethong, posted by Tara at the start of this topic (along with the first
communication to her). There have been letters sent to Chatral Rimpoche
which have gone unanswered, and direct conversations with Mrs. Kazi and
their daughter, who still "keep" students in Montclair NJ.
At present this
website is the only public airing of what the Kazis have done, and in the
case of his wife and daughter, continue to do. They knew for years what he
was doing, and did NOTHING to expose him. Instead, years ago they formed
their own group, and shunned all but a few of his students. Now that they
have been approached and asked to help us, their behavior leaves no doubt
as to their complicity and guilt. Mrs. Kazi and her daughter Jetsun (who
we addressed as Rinpoche), maintain that his students, especially the
women, were responsible for Mr. Kazi's bad behavior. As they see things,
he was "funny" with women because the women subverted him.
We were taught (even
by Mr. Kazi) to see Jetsun as the reincarnated link to their lineage and
our main Refuge, but she is usually removed by her mother from direct
contact with any students, even more so with Mr. Kazi's students, and
especially from us now that we are asking such "impertinent" questions.
They do all they can to maintain the wall around their students, speak
badly of us to people we know in her group, and lie to us about what they
are doing.
Jetsun's children,
their grandchildren, are being groomed to take over the family business,
especially her son. They seem to be nice kids but most kids are nice.
Whatever their genealogical or mystical gifts, if would be shameful for
them to continue without their forbears addressing our concerns. Of course
we have no access to them.
Mr. Kazi grudgingly
"supported" his wife, daughter, and grandchildren with money collected
from his students. Mrs. Kazi denied taking any money from him, what she
calls, black money. This is a lie. I was one of those students "lucky" to
be allowed contact to both Mr. and Mrs. Kazi over the years without
endangering my relationship to either. In that position, I was often the
one that made the deposits into her bank account. Ever dutiful, I kept the
deposit slips as instructed and still have them.
Their Guru operation
served to provide him with sex, and both of them with money and power. In
between they dosed dharma like narcotics and did all they could to keep us
addicted. Our progress kept us from leaving. The only way she would leave
him alone was if he paid lip service to his daughter and cash to her.
My main hope here is
that we who see Mr. Kazi and his family for the sociopaths that they are,
can find solace in our discovery. We need no confirmation that we were
fucked over. It is a different story for those choosing to believe that we
are wrong and the Kazis are not. Despite our decades together with the
Kazis, they dismiss our stance, ask no further questions of their
teachers, and attempt to maintain their practices as if we never happened.
I don't presume to know that this might not be their best path to the
realization they seek, but I doubt it.
It is insidious,
disgraceful, and telling that our letters were treated so lightly, or
ignored. If we could gain the outspoken support of anyone in the
orthodoxy, it would hasten the end of the Kazi's business ventures here,
and add to the notice being served to other false gurus. I am ambivalent
about the Tibetan Buddhist Dharma. The exalted lineage has abandoned us,
and in effect has abandoned the Kazis by not helping them to stop abusing
their vows, us, and each other. Even now. Compassion?!?
Still, the years of
practice seem to serve some of us well in remaining sane while we extract
ourselves from them. Maybe the church's victims still think Jesus has
saved them. At this point I give more credit to embodied friends and to
each of us individually than to disembodied hopes. Like it has been with
the church, the sound of more voices will make us harder to ignore. As for
legal action, I wouldn't want to waste time on it unless there was some
reasonable chance for success. Justice in this country is often subject to
who you know, and who you have to make your case. It would also be costly,
and for most of us, we have paid enough. It would be nice to get some of
that back, for therapy, or just for a gift to ourselves, but I don't know
if others would want to get closely involved again in the stink of Kazi
now that time has helped (some of) us to get away from it.
Any suggestions
would be appreciated.
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