New Shambhala Report Finds Credible Sexual Misconduct Allegations

BOULDER, CO -- The results of a third-party investigation into accusations against a Buddhist leader at Boulder’s Shambhala Center were released Sunday, detailing two cases of probable sexual misconduct. The investigation was commissioned by Shambhala International in July 2018 after reports misconduct surfaced concerning Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, the leader of the global Shambhala community, a movement that was founded in Boulder.

In the wake of the initial allegations in the summer of 2018, the Shambhala governing body, the Kalapa Council, resigned in response to community requests for new leadership. Mipham also announced that he would step back from both his administrative and teaching duties in Shambhala during the investigation.

“It is clear to me that I have much more learning to do. I am committed to engaging with women and others in our community who have felt marginalized, beginning this week,” wrote Mipham in a statement at the time. “I will be using this time of self-reflection to deeply listen and to better understand how the dynamics of power, gender, and my actions have affected others.”

In July 2018, Shambhala International hired Wickwire-Holm, a law firm based in Nova Scotia, where another Shambhala community is located, to complete the months-long investigation that culminated in last weekend’s 64-page report.

“There was enough consistency for the investigator to paint a picture that the Sakyong’s behavior in the 1990’s and up to 2005 included frequent sexual contact with women who were his students and, thus, characterized by power imbalance,” wrote the Shambhala Interim Board in a statement that accompanied the investigation’s findings.

The statement explained that the Interim Board “feels strongly that the Sakyong must take responsibility for the harm he has caused and be directly involved in the healing process,” although it did not call for the resignation of Mipham.

Wickwire-Holm attorney Selina Bath received 100 contacts during the course of the investigation, although 25 did not respond to follow-up inquiries. Forty-two of the remaining contacts concerned incidents of possible sexual misconduct. Of those, 10 were related to Mipham, 12 had evidence that corroborated other reports, and 20 were related to other teachers in the community.

Of the 10 contacts related to Mipham, two were from the late 1990s, six were from the period between 2000 and 2005, and two occurred after 2005, the investigaton showed.

Respondents described incidents of men standing too close and acting too familiar with women, of men making inappropriate comments towards women, of men having inappropriate relations with younger women, of men putting their hands on women inappropriately, and of unwanted kissing and touching, especially by men in positions of power or privilege, according to the report.

The report’s release comes a week after William Lloyd Karelis, a teacher and leader at Boulder’s Shambhala Center, was arrested following accusations of sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust.

“While many of the incidents described by individuals happened years ago, there is no time limit on the pain members of our sangha have experienced,” the Interim Board’s statement that accompanied the report concluded. “It is our aspiration that we can work together to allow all voices to be heard and together create a Shambhala culture that is respectful and caring for all individuals.”

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The Denver Post has posted the full report for public viewing here.

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