Dagri and Zopa as controversial teachers

Hi Tara,
Sorry for the very late response, I rarely check the forum these days...

In the mean time, I have added Dagri Rinpoche to the list of controversial teachers.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche's response may have seemed very inappropriate and cultic, but I can assure you that it was in no way intended to approve sexual misconduct in general.

One thing most people overlook is that the response is directed at students of Dagri Rinpoche, so it should be read from a Tibetan Buddhist perspective (and not from a Me too perspective). The main intention is to not have students lose faith in Buddhism and Buddhist teachers in general. I personally find it hard to understand why people in the FPMT have been so naive to publish this response without further explanation, as it can obviously be read as a complete justification of wrongdoings by Dagri Rinpoche. And let's be clear: sexual misconduct, in particular for a monk, goes a full 100% against Buddhist ethics and cannot be tolerated inside or outside a Buddhist context. But let me try to explain what I think is the real intention of Lama Zopa Rinpoche's message.

Vajrayana or tantric practice is considered a very important aspect of the Tibetan tradition. However, due to the nature of the practice, it has always been kept as private and secret as possible. With 'the nature of the practice' I mean the point that it is a very powerful meditation method to transform the mind into more positive states, and ultimately Buddhahood. But because of its power and effectiveness, it is essential that the practice is carried out correctly; just like we need to handle a sharp knife carefully to avoid cutting ourselves or others. In order to ensure the careful handling of the practice, traditionally, there has always been a very personal strong connection between the teacher and the disciples. A student should have complete trust in the teacher for his/her own mental safety and in order for the practice to be succesful. Experimenting with tantric practice without proper supervision can be dangerous. This complete trust in, and respect for the teacher is also called Guru devotion.
As His Holiness the Dalai Lama has mentioned repeatedly; this Guru devotion is essential for proper Vajrayana practice, but it has a shadow side when the teacher is not properly qualified or behaves against Buddhist principles.
From the perspective of Guru devotion being essential for practice, when a student completely loses trust and respect for a tantric teacher, all of his/her practice and any positive results of the practice are in danger. Possibly the student could even lose all faith in Buddhism as a path leading out of suffering, and so can ruin his/her own long-term future.

In my 30+ experience with Lama Zopa Rinpoche, he always has this long-term future of people in mind, up to the point where he can appear to make odd (or even wrong) short-term decisions. I am absolutely sure this is such a situation. His response is written out of concern that Dagri Rinpoche's students would turn away from Buddhist teachings and practice, and so bring harm to themselves. In his additional advice (mentioned in above message) he apologises for any unhappiness his initial response caused.

As mentioned before, I am very sad and disappointed about the naivity of the people at FPMT who apparently did not realise that the message would likely be interpreted as justification of sexual misconduct. At least, the FPMT quickly suspended Dagri Rinpoche from teaching, and an independent investigation in the allegations has been launched, be it all just a little and too late.