Well spoiled little rich tart Sara Bronfman was said to be hanging out in the Catskill village of Woodstock NY this past weekend, paling around with his royal highness, grand poobah, king of kings, enlightened one and stud muffin Ogyen Trinley Dorje.So who is Mr. Dorje? Well it’s complicated, see first you got the Dalai Lama, but he ain’t getting any younger and someone must carry on the Billion dollar a year enterprise known officially as the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" branch of Buddhism. Now unlike the Pope who is elected the next Lama is reincarnated from an old Lama. But as you could guess when ever a Lama is in a position to control over a billion dollars in assets, lands and trusts the selection process can be a little messy HERE. Now we have a bunch of Lamas Here
But right now Mr. Dorje seems to have the upper hand, despite being visibly too old for his stated age along with accusations of being a Chinese spy Here
and being found with a million or so under his mattress HERE
as long as he has the big Dalai’s blessing he’s the man. here
The entire case is here all 166 or so pages for the serious Buddhist student, free, no charge, no spyware here
So just for kicks I headed up to the Village today for Mr. Dorje’s long anticipated public appearance at 3:00 at the Comeau park in downtown Woodstock to get a picture of the saffron robed fellow with Sara perhaps in tow.
So I set myself up in a nice spot and watched as a flat bedded truck was pulled up, then decorated with flowers all in a pouring rain. Then a caravan of black Cadillac Escalades came up and some mean looking men packing heat with earpieces on jumped out. Next a Chrysler 300 with full tinted glass pulled in looked around and sped away quickly followed by the caravan of Escalades. Next monks in now very wet saffron robes packed up the flowers as men and women were left weeping in the wet field as it became apparent Mr. Dorje had no intention of getting wet. The zoo continued as more and more people attempted to enter the one lane road only to turn around to go back, the police were called to clean up the mess.
I on the other hand scooted up the mountain to the Buddhist compound known as the Karma Triyana Dharmachakra or KTD Here
But unlike my other visits the closed sign was up and no one was letting me in. Later from their website Ogyen Trinley Dorje gave a private talk to the chosen few in the very dry and richly ornate throne room, I have no word on Sara or if she is spending the night.
Videos of the talk are here
A video of his Royal entrance and his heavy security detachment is here
Sara Bronfman has a history of befriending various Lamas. here
Insiders tell me this is done at the urging of her master Keith Raniere who is said to have convinced her that she is she is descended from the Mindrolling lineage, known for its great female masters, and is a Tulku, a reincarnated teacher. Sara desperate to find any meaning in her life and in an attempt to justify her unearned billion dollar inheritance laps it up like a little dumb puppy.
Anyone who thinks this is anti-Buddhist, nothing could be farther from the truth. This is anti bullshit and anti-corruption. I just don’t like to see people living like Pashas while devoted followers live in squalor in dirt floor shacks while donating some of their meager earning so Mr. Dorje’s saffron robe can find its way to Sara’s bedroom floor.
I’ve spent a considerable amount of time in Thailand and have enjoyed the hospitality of many Buddhist friends, but most of these are largely of the Theravada school who have no Lamas just ordained monastics who are forbidden from standing for office or voting in election.
Most return to lay life after two or three years and go one to have families. I dare say most of them find the fascination of rich Americans with Tibetan Buddhism as a bit silly
14 comments:
You rock JT...thanks for the truth!
"Anyone who thinks this is anti-Buddhist, nothing could be farther from the truth. This is anti bullshit and anti-corruption."
You're preaching to the choir John!
"Most return to lay life after two or three years and go one to have families. I dare say most of them find the fascination of rich Americans with Tibetan Buddhism as a bit silly"
Amen.
They're not the only ones. I've always found it rather ridiculous and self-indulgent. These foolish people attribute an almost celebrity-like glamorization to a lifestyle that is far from it. Ironically, they seem to suffer from constant bouts of short term amnesia, repetitively forgetting that Buddha was a prince who gave up his riches, renounced materialism, and the world itself!
Sure, many of these people are sincerely seeking and have good intentions, but they don't seem to realize one thing:
Religion has never been a fad. People need to stop treating it as such.
Sara and Clare, that's not something you seem to understand.
Perhaps you may learn this one day! One can only hope for your own sake.
Excellent story!
I can't believe Oygen Trinley actually said (jokingly admitted) that he is so bad with numbers, at times, HE CANNOT REMEMBER HIS OWN AGE! In fact, he has inconsistently reported it and a recent study concluded that he is at least 4 years older than his 'managers' would prefer him to be. (BTW, the study was stolen at about the same time all that yen loot was discovered earlier this year, but there are copies.)
The age significance, the insistence that he is only 26, is this: A prediction letter allegedly left by the 16th Karmapa (his predecessor), which has been disputed as a forgery but that's another story, proclaimed that the 17th Karmapa would be born in THE YEAR OF THE OX per the Tibetan calendar. That would be 1985, the year Ogyen is SAID to have been born.
Apparently, this detail was lost on the boy when he first supposedly 'escaped' from Chinese-Occupied Tibet, where he was named by the Chinese government as the Oracle Of CHINA, and stated the wrong age to the media.
You are really doing a phenomenal job keeping up with this! Sara is a mindless, spoiled child/basically dumb as a bag of hair. sounds like fun. Not good pool weather anyway.
From the KTD website
"If the lama is a high Rinpoche, and especially one's own teacher, it is customary traditionally to prostrate three times upon arriving and once when leaving"
Two words Fuck You
"Useful items are also good offerings, and money, needless to say, is perhaps the most useful gift of all"
Ya I bet
@11:29 Good comment. Would be funny if not for the fact that the disparity in wealth between the monasteries and the Tibetan people is truly heartwrenching. While this religeon, like most, holds billions in properties, relics and cash, donated in part, by American supplicants in our naive belief that we are "freeing" Tibet and upholding the Buddhas' teachings of compassion, etc. the people continue to starve and suffer. Even the Tibetans in India are desperately impoverished, though, albeit not tortured and oppressed as they may be in China.
I wonder how long anyone with any compassion in their soul who has seen the suffering of these people could sit thru a high lama teaching in an ornate shrine room at the feet of gold-leafed, sky-high, Buddha statue without puking in their mouth.
In India and Tibet there is more food layed at the alters of these idols than most Tibetans see in a month.
Where do all the donations the likes of the Bronfmans make to hear the lamas' pearls of wisdom (er, rather to enhance the image of their personal guru, Keith Raniere, through a bribed association) go?
Another note on the Karmapa's age matter:
Tibetans believe that their high lamas are incarnate beings, that the successor to one is the real reincarnation of the predecessor in a different body.
So, if this 17th Karmapa were (in theory) the reincarnation of the 16th Karmapa who died in November of 1981, and allowing 9 months for gestation in his mother's womb prior to birth, he could not have been born before October of 1982 to be the reincarnation. If he's over 29 years old, as the studies indicate, he cannot be the 'true' Karmapa (academically speaking).
Maybe Raniere packed on all of those pounds so that he'd look more like Buddha???
4:22....very funny, he is very FATTTTT....One month to V-Day bet he can't wait for his Birthday cakes!
Excellent JT
Sara and the lama were made for each other
Sucker and suckster
Ain't Sara Bronfman just the Sickest Buddhist evah!
@2:14 PM
Interesting and rather humorous video within the context of the current discussion.
This whole New 14 Movement new age (I presume that is what NXIVM stands for) reminds me of the movie "The Guru". Jimi Mistry plays a love guru who gets his "wisdom" from a porn star, played by Heather Graham, and essentially manipulates - although rather innocently because all he wants to be is a an actor - a bunch of rich people who have too much time on their hands who pay him top dollar for his "advice". Marissa Tomei - who's a beautiful 47 year old women by the way - encapsulates a character that is too similar to these Bronfman brats - rich, wealthy, bored, seemingly air-headed, seeking something missing - which makes it all the more ironic.
One day Ramu (Jimi) gets fed up with (Lexi) Marissa chasing him down like a little puppy dog seeking answers and he essentially states the following words of wisdom:
Ramu Gupta: You need to do your own thing. Live your own life.
[walks away angrily]
Lexi: I'm going to meditate on that.
Yes, girls. Meditate on that!
I thought raniere claimed to be a scientist.
Oh I forgot he only has a bachelors degree.
that's why his stupid ass believes in reincarnation and all this nonsense.
Real scentists don't play that game...they use science not bullshit.
Raniere has been exposed long time ago but it doesn't seem to be doing any good. The stupid sisters are still following him around like little puppies and eating his shit like it's going out of style.
one day they will wake up and figure out they have been conned by a con man which is what raniere is no more no less.
Any news on the "celeb" members? Kreuk, Allison Mack, etc.?
I have a client who revealed that he paid 5K for a 'monk' to rid his home of 5 ghosts. The exorcism involved a chicken. All I could do to suppress a laugh as I watched the exorcism video thinking: time to change careers and join a monastery, or start a cult like NXIVM. Get to laugh all the way to the bank.
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