A response to: “Potential harm to mental and physical health through exposure to The New Kadampa Tradition (NKT-IKBU)”, January 17, 2020
Summary
One of the most extensive and scathing critiques of the New Kadampa Tradition (NKT) is by Dr Michelle Haslam, a clinical psychologist who for a short time was a resident at Nagarjuna Kadampa Meditation Center in Northamptonshire, England. There, by her own acccount, she had a love affair that went wrong with a fellow student, which broke her heart and caused her to leave. She subsequently wrote a long report about all the supposed problems with Kadampa Buddhism and posted daily videos.
All this is clear from her own accounts. No one from the New Kadampa Tradition has responded to Dr Haslam’s criticisms before now and I am therefore hoping that this article will help clear up some misunderstandings.
As I hope to explain, I think many of Dr Haslam’s criticisms arise from fundamental differences between the Buddhist understanding of the mind and some contemporary psychological approaches, as well as from misunderstandings of particular Buddhist teachings and practices. Other concerns deserve to be considered on their own merits.
Introduction
As we will see, many of Dr Michelle Haslam’s concerns relate to the content of Buddha’s teachings and not the practices of the New Kadampa Tradition (NKT).
The NKT is attempting to present the teachings of Buddha for modern society all around the world. The NKT has been learning from growing pains and mistakes made along the way by teachers, managers, and other individuals, and is determined to keep improving. Please also consult this article if you have time and want to know more: Are the NKT survivors really exposing abuse in the New Kadampa Tradition? It looks in more detail at criticisms raised by some former members of the NKT, including those who describe themselves as “NKT survivors,” acknowledging concerns that I believe are justified while also providing context and responding to claims that I believe are misleading or inaccurate.
While we agree with Dr Haslam that it is important to highlight any areas of concern in the organization, we are also gravely concerned about her misunderstandings of Buddhism because these have led to unjustified criticisms. If people believe them, they will be dissuaded from attending Kadampa Buddhist classes and even other Buddhist centers, therefore not deriving benefit from meditation and Buddhism.
Dr Haslam’s report is very lengthy (one hundred pages), and so we will address the main criticisms in each section.
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Recruitment
This section of Dr Haslam’s report accuses the NKT of being on a recruitment drive to acquire members by mis-selling the benefits of meditation, making false claims that it can help with mental health issues, hiding the ‘dangers’ of meditation, and making a false claim that Buddhist practices can make you happy. She also accuses the NKT of ‘lovebombing’ people so that they will become attached to their local center and practices.
The ‘cult’ accusation
Dr Haslam frequently uses the word “cult” to describe the NKT, but it is not always clear what definition she is using or what criteria she believes the NKT meets. She also suggests that NKT practitioners may find the term “triggering.” Given the strongly negative associations of the word, it is worth looking more carefully at what is actually meant by it.
The Cambridge Dictionary defines a cult as:
a religious group, often living together, whose beliefs are considered extreme or strange by many people.
By such a broad definition, unfamiliar beliefs and practices in many established religions could appear strange or extreme to people outside those traditions. A number of the NKT beliefs and practices Dr Haslam questions are not unique to the NKT but come from Mahayana Buddhist teachings and traditions.
For this reason, simply applying the label “cult” tells us relatively little. A more useful question is whether specific features commonly associated with harmful or high-control religious groups are actually present, and what evidence there is for them. These are the claims I will look at more closely below.
The teachings found in Venerable Geshe Kelsang’s books can be found in the books of the 14th Dalai Lama and many other respected teachers of Buddhism. They are mainstream Buddhism, not new or strange religious ideas with no lineage or foundation.
Dr Haslam takes issue with the degree of Guru devotion expressed by Kadampa Buddhists, but Guru yoga or Guru devotion was taught by Buddha. It is possible for this teaching to be abused by Gurus or teachers; but throughout his life Geshe Kelsang remained very humble and never claimed to be special. This continued when he passed away – he wanted no ceremonies, for his body to be quietly cremated, and for his ashes to be cast into the sea. He didn’t want a shrine or a stupa or collective prayers for him to return. He always made it clear in his words and his actions that his teachings and hard work were all about the Dharma, not about him.
By way of comparison, many people are sincere followers of the Dalai Lama and regard him as an emanation of the Buddha of Compassion; but Tibetan Buddhism as a whole is not therefore labelled a cult.
Any inappropriate or concerning behaviour by teachers or managers in the NKT needs to be reported and addressed through the organization’s safeguarding and accountability procedures. In his oral teachings, Venerable Geshe Kelsang also encouraged students who felt that a teacher’s behavior was inconsistent with the Dharma they were teaching to ask them about it. He always emphasized that an important quality of a Buddhist teacher is to set a good example by putting the teachings into practice themselves.
The New Kadampa Tradition has an elected system of leadership, as outlined in A Moral Discipline Guide ~ The Internal Rules of the New Kadampa Tradition. The positions of General Spiritual Director, Deputy Spiritual Director and National Spiritual Director depend upon election by the Education Council. Spiritual Directors and Resident Teachers can also be dismissed for inappropriate behaviour. These provisions are intended to provide accountability if, for example, someone behaves in an authoritarian or inappropriate way, or leads practitioners in a direction contrary to Kadam Dharma and the Internal Rules.
Does the NKT mis-sell the benefits of meditation?
Dr Haslam describes herself as an atheist, and many of her criticisms of the NKT seem to me to be criticisms of Buddhist beliefs and practices more generally, rather than of the NKT specifically. She frequently applies contemporary Western psychological theories to her critique of Kadampa Buddhism. These can provide a useful perspective, but they start from different assumptions about the mind, the self, suffering and human potential. Some of her objections therefore reflect a longstanding disagreement between religious and non-religious ways of understanding human experience, rather than something particular to the NKT.
Buddhism is a religion that has existed for over two and a half thousand years, and countless people have found its teachings and meditation practices beneficial. A central Buddhist idea is that our experience of happiness and suffering depends greatly upon our state of mind, and that meditation can be used to cultivate greater inner peace. These methods have been practised and taught for centuries, and those who teach them generally do so on the basis of their own study and experience. Dr Haslam questions some of the claims made for Buddhist meditation, but this does not in itself demonstrate that these methods cannot help people become happier or more peaceful.
Dr Haslam also expresses suspicion about “freebies,” including Geshe Kelsang’s decision to make his ebook How to Transform Your Life freely available. From a Buddhist perspective, however, there is nothing particularly suspicious about giving Dharma teachings away. Generosity is itself a central Buddhist practice, and Geshe Kelsang explained that his purpose was to make Buddha’s teachings freely available to anyone who might benefit from them. There is no need to assume a hidden motive where an ordinary Buddhist explanation is sufficient.
It would be possible to examine every point in Dr Haslam’s report in detail. For the purposes of this article, however, I will concentrate on some of the main criticisms and explain where I think they arise from misunderstandings of Buddhist teachings or from interpreting them through a very different psychological framework.
Can Buddhist meditation help or not with mental health issues?
In his 84,000 teachings, Buddha gave many explanations of the causes of suffering and mental unhappiness and how to cure these. He explained that although our nature is healthy, we have uncontrolled thoughts called “delusions”, which are like mental sicknesses or afflictions that cause us suffering. Buddhist meditation therefore helps with many mental health issues such as anger, depression, anxiety, etc. This is the personal experience of many people who meditate, and one of the reasons why people who are suffering seek out meditation classes in the first place, sometimes following the advice of their doctors. To claim that it cannot help with mental health issues, as Dr Haslam does, is simply not true.
As Dr Haslam correctly points out, most NKT managers and teachers are not mental health professionals (some are). And nor do they claim to be. Kadampa meditation is not claiming to cure illnesses such as bipolar, schizophrenia, personality disorder, and so forth, nor aiming to replace professional mental health services that specialize in these diseases. Venerable Geshe Kelsang always encouraged students to rely on their doctors. However, Buddhist meditation can sometimes help and support.
Is the NKT a ‘happiness cult’?
Dr Haslam describes the NKT as a “happiness cult” that is “obsessed with happiness.” Arguably, however, the wish to be happy is hardly unusual — Buddhism starts from the observation that everyone wants to be happy and free from suffering. Dr Haslam interprets the Buddhist claim that meditation can make us more peaceful and therefore happier as meaning that we are expected to be happy all the time.
But this is not what Buddhism teaches. It would clearly be impossible for people who are still experiencing delusions — which, from a Buddhist perspective, means all of us — to be happy all the time. Rather, Buddhism teaches that by gradually reducing and eventually eradicating delusions, we can become increasingly peaceful and happy, ultimately attaining permanent inner peace.
Dr Haslam is of course free to disagree with that possibility. But this particular claim is a traditional Buddhist one rather than something invented by the NKT, so the disagreement here is primarily with a Buddhist teaching rather than with the NKT itself.
Does the NKT engage in ‘lovebombing’?
Dr Michelle Haslam accuses the NKT of love-bombing – when people first come to a class, everyone is kind and draws them in; and later the trouble begins. Another version of this criticism: in Kadampa photos everyone is smiling a lot because the NKT is all about being happy clappy and not dealing with negative emotions.
However, dealing with painful feelings without in any way suppressing or repressing them is an integral part of the Buddhist mind-training (Lojong) teachings. It is necessary to identify our delusions or disturbed states of mind, and learn to sit with them patiently with the view to gradually reducing and abandoning them. Dharma is profound medicine and it can take time to master this art, but this is how Buddhists are taught to take responsibility and mature spiritually.
There can be a honeymoon period when people first come to a Buddhist Center – everyone appears perfect. But gradually, where we expected to meet Buddhas, instead we meet Buddhists; and some people become disillusioned by their apparent faults. This disappointment usually has more to do with expectations and holding Buddhists to higher standards, which sets up the scene to blame them. There is no agenda to manipulate new attendees or draw then into a cult. Buddhists are simply people who are trying to train their minds.
Does the NKT engage in flattery?
Dr Michelle Haslam claims that “Many survivors report in their testimonies that when they first attended an NKT center they were told that they must have ‘imprints’ from a previous life or ‘fortunate’ karma to have discovered their version of the dharma, and therefore are special.” While there is no NKT policy to say this to newcomers, it could sometimes arise in conversation because it is a Buddhist belief that meeting Buddhism is connected with karma created through previous practice. This does not necessarily mean that the person is “special,” as suggested, but that they are considered fortunate to have encountered the Dharma. In its Buddhist context, this is a traditional belief rather than necessarily a method of flattering people into becoming more committed.
More generally, Dr Haslam makes clear in her report that she does not share Buddhist beliefs. This is of course entirely reasonable, but at times her criticisms seem to arise from interpreting Buddhist principles from a very different perspective. Where this happens, it is worth distinguishing a criticism of the NKT itself from a disagreement with, or different understanding of, Buddhism more generally.
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The practices and potential harm
In this section, once again many of Dr Haslam’s objections concern Buddhist practices as taught within the NKT, rather than practices unique to the NKT. It is therefore important to distinguish criticism of the NKT as an organization from disagreement with Buddhism itself.
Dr Haslam suggests that a ten-minute breathing meditation at the beginning of a class would be mostly harmless, reflecting her concern that meditation can sometimes have harmful consequences. It is true that some people have reported adverse experiences from meditation, particularly with intensive practice or in particular circumstances, and good meditation teaching should take this seriously. However, simple and appropriately taught meditation has been practised within Buddhism for over 2,500 years as a method for developing a calmer, clearer and more positive mind. In recent decades, a substantial body of scientific research has also associated meditation and mindfulness practices with benefits including reduced stress and anxiety and improved emotional wellbeing. Dr Haslam’s concerns about meditation therefore need to be considered in this much broader context, and separately from the question of whether the NKT itself is harmful.
Dr Haslam also applies Lifton’s (1961) eight components of thought reform, as developed from Andres and Lane (1988), to the NKT. The important question, however, is whether these criteria accurately describe what happens within the NKT or whether ordinary Buddhist teachings and practices are being interpreted through a framework designed to identify thought reform. The sources she cites in support of her assessment also appear to include a number of people already strongly critical of the NKT. This does not invalidate their testimony, but it does make it important to consider a wider range of experiences before drawing conclusions about the tradition as a whole.
She also describes as “magical thinking” the belief of Kadampa practitioners in the existence and activities of Buddhas. Such beliefs are religious rather than materialist, but belief in beings or realities beyond what can be established empirically is hardly unique to the NKT. Her objection here therefore seems to concern a religious worldview rather than something distinctive about the NKT.
Similarly, Dr Haslam raises concerns about the Buddhist teachings on emptiness and Tantra. These are not innovations of the NKT but longstanding and sophisticated elements of Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism that have been studied and practised for centuries. It is reasonable to examine how such teachings are presented and practised, but their presence within the NKT is not in itself evidence that the NKT is a cult or that these teachings are psychologically harmful.
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Does the New Kadampa Tradition (NKT) use coercive control to encourage live-in members and volunteers to self-neglect?
In this section, Dr Haslam argues that NKT managers may fail to recognise deteriorating mental health in Center residents, regard approaches other than Buddhist teachings as “degenerate,” and discourage people from seeking conventional treatment.
It is important here to distinguish between spiritual support and professional mental health care. The New Kadampa Tradition is a Buddhist tradition whose teachers and managers offer Buddhist teachings, spiritual advice and practical support; they are generally not trained mental health professionals and are not expected to diagnose or treat mental illness. There is no NKT teaching or policy that mental health treatment is “degenerate,” or that people should rely upon Buddhist practice instead of appropriate medical or psychological care. On the contrary, people experiencing mental health difficulties are encouraged to seek qualified professional help and to take prescribed medication where appropriate. If an individual teacher or manager were to discourage someone from obtaining necessary professional treatment, that would be a departure from NKT policy.
Centers do, however, have a responsibility to take the wellbeing of their residents seriously. If someone appears to be struggling, managers should offer reasonable support and, where appropriate, help them access professional care. This respects both their responsibility towards residents and the limits of their own expertise.
Dr Haslam also seems to interpret the Buddhist concept of self-cherishing as being opposed to self-care, whereas in Buddhist teachings these are quite different things. Self-cherishing refers to a self-centered attitude that considers our own happiness and wishes more important than those of others; it does not mean looking after our physical or mental wellbeing. The suggestion that the NKT discourages self-care is difficult to reconcile with what is actually taught at NKT Centers, where courses on self-care and related themes are common. Of course we need to look after ourselves and our wellbeing — otherwise it becomes harder both to make spiritual progress and to help others.
Dr Haslam also raises concerns about NKT managers, teachers, and volunteers becoming overworked. This is a legitimate issue for any organization that depends heavily upon committed staff and volunteers. Managers need to take care not to pressure people into doing more than is reasonable, while individuals also need to feel able to set appropriate limits on what they take on. People can sometimes work too hard out of enthusiasm or a sense of responsibility, and this is something NKT Centers, like other organizations, need to remain attentive to.
The supposed abuse
Buddhism teaches that when we encounter unavoidable suffering, we can learn to respond to painful feelings with patience rather than anger. But patience does not mean passively accepting mistreatment or abuse. No Buddhist teaching should be used to excuse harmful behaviour or to discourage someone from speaking up about it.
Dr Haslam describes instances of individual managers behaving badly or unreasonably. Such things can and unfortunately do happen. Teachers and managers are themselves practitioners, with delusions and varying levels of experience and skill, and there have been occasions when people have been treated poorly and have left the tradition as a result. This is deeply regrettable, and where people have been hurt through inappropriate behaviour, their experiences should be taken seriously.
Bad behavior should be acknowledged and addressed. Within the NKT there are channels for raising concerns, including with Center management and, where appropriate, directly with the NKT Office. The standards expected of teachers and managers are set out in Buddhist precepts and the Internal Rules, alongside the basic principle of treating others with kindness and respect.
5. The supposed institutionalization and lack of capacity
Dr Haslam’s next claim is that, by living in an NKT Dharma Center, residents can become institutionalised and unable to live independently in the outside world; and that this then leads to dependence on the center and the tradition. This is clearly not the idea and we welcome the opportunity to address this.
Buddhism teaches us to take responsibility for our own lives so that we can increase our compassion and wisdom and take responsibility for the happiness and freedom of others. We need to take responsibility for our own spiritual journey. Sometimes people follow the rules in a workplace, school, army, monastery or spiritual center, etc not out of their own volition but because they are told to, expected to, or scared not to — like children. However, actual moral discipline is based on our own discrimination of what to do and not to do, and our own resultant adult decision/intention.
If we are in a spiritual center yet are not becoming genuinely happier, more open, and more flexible as the years go by, we can check to see if we are voluntarily taking responsibility for training our mind or whether we have fallen into institutional modes of thinking and behaving. Also, if we are too attached to, and fearful for, our position in the pecking order, or our job, or our status within the organization, this indicates that we have fallen prey to the eight worldly concerns and need to address this with integrity.
6. The supposed center-hopping, ‘cult-hopping,’ and lack of economic resources
Dr Haslam claims that within NKT Centers people were asked to leave their accommodation at short notice. She also claims that if a sponsored person’s sponsorship ended badly they would be bullied until they left the center because they were seen as a burden and no longer of use. Whenever these unkind or transactional relationships have taken place, they need to be called out and reported and/or resolved with the managers. Managers at NKT Centers are encouraged to cherish each person and not fall prey to the fallacy of the “greater good” at the expense of the individual.
People are sometimes asked to leave Centers because they are causing disharmony or unhappiness that cannot be dealt with in other ways. This is perfectly reasonable in any organization, although it can regrettably cause upset in those who are asked to leave.
Dr Haslam’s phrase, ‘Many survivors ‘cult-hop’ to other Buddhist organisations,’ indicates that Dr Haslam views other Buddhist traditions as cults too.
7. The supposed gaslighting and character assassination of former members and whistleblowers.
Dr Haslam claims that people who leave a Dharma Center may subsequently be subjected to character assassination by managers.
There is no expectation that people will live at a Dharma Center indefinitely. Residents come and go regularly for many different reasons — work, relationships, family circumstances, finances, moving elsewhere, or simply because they want a change. Leaving a Center is therefore not in itself unusual or regarded as a rejection of the NKT.
Sometimes, particularly where someone has held a position of responsibility, it may be necessary to explain their departure to other members of the community. Any such explanation should be factual, respectful and limited to what people reasonably need to know. It should never become an opportunity to criticize, demean or speculate about the person who has left.
I do not believe character assassination is a normal or accepted practice within NKT Centers. If individuals have been spoken about unfairly after leaving, however, that should not have happened and is something to regret and learn from.
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NKT and its representatives are narcissists
Dr Haslam also repeatedly describes the NKT and some of its representatives as “narcissistic.” It is therefore worth looking more closely at what this term means and how it relates to Buddhist practice. The Cambridge Dictionary defines narcissism as:
Too much interest in and admiration for your own physical appearance and/or your own abilities.
Buddhism explains how all of us suffer from a state of mind called ‘self-cherishing’ where we regard ourself and our own happiness and freedom to be more important than anyone else’s. This is something that Buddhist practitioners are keenly aware of and trying to overcome. The whole practice of Kadampa Buddhism, wisdom and compassion, is an antidote to narcissism.
Moreover, the NKT’s system of governance provides mechanisms for addressing inappropriate behaviour and for removing leaders from their positions where serious problems such as abusive or authoritarian conduct arise.
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The supposed threats to life, health, reputation, and livelihood (‘Fair Game’) from senior NKT
Dr Haslam reports that ex-NKT practitioners have reported:
- Death threats (e.g. their parents receiving funeral brochures with their names on)
- Being stalked in person by current members
- Legal threats (e.g. Gary Beesley, Oxford University Press, Ashgate, Inform, my workplace)
- Threats to ruin their reputation by ‘Indy Hack’ for the purpose of ruining their livelihood and discrediting their testimony
- Propaganda created about them by ‘Indy Hack’ on his website and Twitter account (Tenzin Peljor, Carol McQuire, Kieran Atkins)
- Hacking of their survivor-based Twitter accounts and attempts to ban survivors’ tweets
- Sabotage of access to mental health services
Legal threats, where it is known that a person is planning to publish distorted views of the tradition and to defame the character and purpose of the NKT, are fully justified under British libel law because everyone has the right to legally defend their reputation.
Personal threats are not acceptable. No sincere practitioner of Kadampa Buddhism should make them – this is anathema to what Kadampa Buddhism espouses and stands for. It is hard to believe that a Kadampa Buddhist would engage in such actions unless they were heavily deluded. Again, insofar as this has happened, we deeply regret it and will do everything in our power to stop this kind of behavior. To reply to a few of Dr Haslam’s claims:
‘Indy Hack’ is not a Kadampa Buddhist. He has made that very clear himself. His opinions are his own.
Dr Haslam concludes by relating her experiences with a ‘Dr Robert Harrison’. The NKT does not know who this person is. He has not acted with the NKT’s knowledge or sanction. He says that he has nothing to do with the NKT. Since Dr Haslam related these experiences, the NKT has not been able to find out anything about him.
Dr Haslam unfortunately assumes that Dr Harrison is an NKT member and accuses the NKT of thinking of her as ‘fair game’ because of her report. For his part, Dr Harrison says that he is a fellow clinical psychologist who is concerned about her seeming obsession and its effect on her patients. However, whoever he is and whatever his motivations, the NKT is neither privy to nor behind any of his alleged attempts to cyberstalk, cause mental distress, or get her dismissed from her job.
We are very sorry that Dr Haslam was treated in this way, while also needing to clarify where we believe her attribution of responsibility to the NKT is unjustified.
9. The supposed psychological suffering after leaving
Finally, Dr Haslam reports that some former NKT members have experienced psychological suffering after leaving the tradition, including PTSD, grief, loneliness, isolation and other mental health difficulties. She also describes sensory cues triggering painful memories and experiences of past trauma. These experiences should be taken seriously, but their existence does not by itself establish either their cause or that the NKT is a cult. Grief and loneliness can arise for many reasons, including the loss of a community in which people had close friendships, a sense of belonging, and relationships with people who genuinely cared for them.
For why the NKT is a legitimate Buddhist tradition, not a cult, please see: Is the New Kadampa Tradition a cult?