The Dalai Lama is scheduled to meet on Friday in the Netherlands with a group of Western Buddhists who say they were sexually abused by their religious teachers, RFA’s Tibetan Service has learned.
The group of 12 had sent a petition to the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader on Monday requesting the meeting, which will take place following the Dalai Lama’s arrival in Rotterdam from Malmo, Sweden, on Sept. 14.
Members of the group include students from Austria, Australia, Belgium, France, the Netherlands, and the United States, RFA’s sources said, adding that five Tibetan lamas were named in the group’s complaint.
Sex scandals involving several Tibetan lamas teaching in the West, including Sogyal Rinpoche of the Rigpa organization and Sakyong Mipham of Shambhala International, have surfaced in the news in recent months.
An independent investigation into the allegations made against Sogyal released its report last week, upholding many of the accusations made against him.
The meeting with the 83-year Dalai Lama comes as the Roman Catholic Church faces a major crisis of its own in dealing with victims of clergy abuse in the United States, Europe, and elsewhere.
Reported and translated by RFA's Tibetan Service. Written in English by Richard Finney.