Rigpa’s renewed apology
Rigpa
In July 2017, serious complaints were raised regarding the relationship of Rigpa’s founder, Sogyal Rinpoche, with some of his students. At the time, Sogyal Rinpoche stepped down as Spiritual Director of the Rigpa and retired. Following a serious illness, he passed away in August 2019.
In response to the complaints, Rigpa undertook a number of reforms. Alongside taking practical measures, we have reflected on how we contributed to this situation as a community.
We have come to terms with the fact that, as a community, we should have supported people much more in their relationship with Sogyal Rinpoche and renew our deepest apologies to each person who has come forward to express their hurt in the past.
Each individual who has had a connection with Rigpa or Sogyal Rinpoche is dealing with the past four years in a different way, and many have experienced shock or grief. We are deeply sorry about this.
We continue to take action to ensure this never occurs again, learn from the situation and actively make changes, both cultural and practical, including creating a safe environment in Rigpa, offering support, including via the restorative process and grievance councils, to those who have been hurt, and sharing what we have learnt with the whole Buddhist community in the West so that such situations do not happen again.
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