One of Shambhala Buddhism’s most prominent figures announced she’s stepping down as a senior teacher. Pema Chödrön, best-selling author and Buddhist nun, has had a decades-long association with Gampo Abbey in Cape Breton. She sent a letter to the Shambhala board announcing her resignation from her position as an acharya, then shared it more broadly […]
Stephanie Domet
Posted inNews + Opinion
Avalon Sexual Assault centre is underfunded, overwhelmed and stalled on best steps forward
There’s not much the board and staff at Avalon Sexual Assault Centre agree on these days. Tension has built since last fall, and came to a public head this spring, with a union certification vote and closure of the organization’s wait list—a list that had survivors of sexualized violence waiting up to two years for […]
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Final Shambhala International report lacks accountability and follow up
The final phase of an investigation into misconduct in Shambhala International reveals a community ill-equipped to deal with the reports of physical and sexual assault, child abuse, bullying and harassment its members brought forward. After the release last year of the first two Buddhist Project Sunshine reports, the then-Kalapa Council (Shambhala International’s governing body) hired […]
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Shambhala survivors left to do recovery work for themselves.
Human nature abhors a vacuum. In the absence of a definitive official response to allegations of abuse and misconduct by senior teachers of Shambhala teachers and the group’s leader, Mipham Mukpo (known as Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche), survivors and others are taking matters into their own hands. Pam Rubin has tried for years to help Shambhala […]
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New report in Shambhala investigation sheds little light
This time of year is usually one of celebration for Shambhalians. Shambhala Day coincides with the Tibetan new year—February 5, this year. The day is marked by celebrations around the world, and the community’s leader, known as sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, is usually at home in Halifax or Boulder, Colorado, to address his international community. This […]
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Dartmouth Shambhala group downsizes
The Dartmouth Shambhala Meditation Group is giving up its rented space at the MacPhee Centre for Creative Learning and will no longer regularly bring in teachers to address a dwindling group of participants, says Margaret Angus, the group’s coordinator. Angus has been with the group since it was established in 2006. She remembers a more […]
Posted inArts + Music
Kate Inglis soothes her beast
An evening with Kate Inglis Monday, November 19, 7pm ViewPoint Gallery, 1459 Brenton Street Free Kate Inglis talks about death. Kate Inglis doesn’t just talk about death, her new book Notes for the Everlost: A field guide to grief (Shambhala) is all about death. Kate Inglis doesn’t just talk about death and write about death, […]
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Shambhala financial show cash-flow problem
A chartered accountant in Halifax with experience in the finances of religious institutions sees cause for concern in the latest financial update from Shambhala Global Services to its membership The late-September financial report is “not saying the barn is on fire and the fire is getting worse every minute,” says Andrew Murphy. “But there is […]
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Clouds over Buddhist Project Sunshine
Senior Shambhala leaders are now speaking out against Buddhist Project Sunshine and the multiple reports of sexual abuse that have been published over the past several months. The third report in that series of grassroots investigations, which documents several allegations of sexual assault over a period of decades, arrived on August 23 in a blaze […]
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How many knew about Shambhala abuses?
The third report from Buddhist Project Sunshine was released this week, containing new allegations of sexual assault committed by Shambhala Buddhism’s spiritual leader and head, Osel Mukpo, known as Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche. And as in earlier Project Sunshine reports, there’s mounting evidence the sakyong’s inner circle—including Shambhala’s governing body, the Kalapa Council—knew of Mukpo’s sexual […]
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Unanswered questions about Shambhala investigation
Red flags are waving for two women whose stories are in the Buddhism Project Sunshine reports, and for the retired lawyer who carried out the investigations into allegations of abuse and sexual assault from Shambhala Buddhism’s spiritual leader, Osel Mukpo, known as Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche. All three are asking questions about what Shambhala International calls […]
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Portrait of the sakyong as a fallen man
Correction: This story originally stated the Shambhala School is owned by Shambhala International. While the two organizations share a name, they are not affiliated. The story has been updated to reflect this. Rhonda Newcombe can’t look her guru in the eye. There are a couple reasons for that, chief among them the allegations against Sakyong […]