Hate mail

Here is just a small selection of the more amusing hate mail this website has received from Diamond Way cult members:

#1

I am pretty sure this kind of false accusations is illegal, so drop this before you force anyone to turn you in. Stop with your silly accusations.
Hope you get well...

#2

Are you seeing a doctor about your condition ??? I suggest you find a hobby or try to get out more !!! Get a life.... get a girlfriend or a boyfriend... dont bother replying,,, I am bored wiv your drivel...

#3

Lama Ole Nydahl transmits the highest flawless teachings. He can switch rainbows on in the sky at will. I informed Dafyyd of these filthy lies as soon as I got it to warn other diamond way practitioners about this mindless slander.

#4

that is very disgusting what kind of arguments you are using. You are probably some woman who failed desperatelly to love with Ole. I think that Lama Ole is a GREAT teacher. He has not personal life. I saw him in Dublin last week and he had no chance even eat his meal. He had two pints and running to bed, next day London next Paris etc. That man works 24/7. He may earn money. Also he has free yogi style so he can have as many girlfriends as he wants.

#5

You and your ilk would do the world best by not pushing your neurosis on others. Please get laid more often.....

Personal Testimonies

Here are a couple of very revealing personal testimonies I have recently been sent:

#1

When I went to a Diamond Way centre for the first time I was received very warmly and surrounded with hugs and kisses. Everyone was very interested in who I was, what I was doing and what were my opinions. Then the more I stayed in the center I started to notice that what I thought was in fact pretty irrelevant. Its what the Lama says that matters. I think its so evident that all the statements that they make (The west is full of good karma, you should always be critical in your thinking, women are well appreciated in Diamond way Buddhism, Buddha would be so proud to have you as a student etc..) are merely a way to get people interested of the practice. For an example I was said that it is so good that I had critical thinking. When you spend a little more time you notice that critical thinking is the last thing that is tolerated especially if it questions even a little their beliefs.
Also, they seem to elevate themselves completely above the rest of the religions. When this was questioned as arrogant behavior they just stated that that’s just the way it is. A fact or a reality of life. I think the practice can be dangerous for a number of reasons. The very first thing I noticed in the centre was that whenever someone showed critical thinking inside the group their “leader” immediately started to talk in a very provocative way, stating “how things are” and just a long monologue of why the critical thoughts have no basis in their world. I don’t think I ever witnessed a genuine dialogue when discussing about existential matters. There was simply no room for it. It seemed to me that everyone was trying to learn by heart Oles “The way things are” and discussions always ended in someone reciting its texts. They also seem to elevate themselves above pretty much the rest of the world also. Statements such as: “Psychology can only get a sick person normal, but Buddhism can make a normal person super-normal” just show the lack of common knowledge in basic human sciences and its just ridiculous. The fact that the teachers even use this to promote themselves should put the warning lights on in everyones heads.

I saw a lot of anger based behavior but it was always seen as active compassion. Critical thinking was seen as “ego-problems” or pride and practitioners were always feeling really guilty after having these very sane reactions in an unhealthy environment. Then they went reciting mantras hoping these feelings would go away. I think it is just not healthy. Not healthy at all. All normal reactions of the mind that we should listen to and learn to work with were seen as “obstacles in our way to enlightenment” and were suppressed.

I´m not even going to go to the anti-Islam statements of Ole or the “if you have bad karma you´ll be reborn to black Africa” opinions. It is a well known fact that a cult or a sect needs to have an opposite polarity or “enemy” in order to be successful. Its not hard to see where all the anger is channeled what the members are trying so hard to suppress. These are just racist statements and I urge people to use their common sense. You shouldn’t be fooled by Ole´s charismatic appearance and his tendency to give the most simple answers to questions to which even the wisest men in the world can give simple answers. Yes, you feel what he is saying is so true, but maybe its just what we westerners want to hear in this age and time. We have little patience in our active lifestyle and we want results fast. A shortcut to wisdom and enlightenment. Its just missing the 50 years of life-experience and work that is not always easy.

#2

When I first joined Diamond Way, all the other members were very friendly towards me, however as time went on, they were more and more gossiping about each other and me behind my back. There also was a huge pressure to donate money to the group, which got more and more over time. For every meditation ritual, you had to buy a new book. You were not allowed to borrow anyone elses. You were also encouraged to buy photos of Ole Nydahl and various deities. Whenever Ole Nydahl or one of his 'travelling teachers' was in the country, there was a huge pressure to go to lectures, which always cost a lot of money. As time went on, the pressure grew, and other members became more and more manipulative. At this time, I realied something was very wrong with the group as a whole and the racism, homophobia and hatred Ole Nydahl was teaching (and how little it had to do with Buddhism). It was about this time that I also found out about Ole Nydahl's sexual abuse of female followers. Unfortunately, I was deep in, and brainwashed, so it took me another year and a half to finally leave. After I left, I was accused by members (who had insisted they were my friends while I was in the group) of being 'mentally ill' and that was what they gossiped inside the group as being my reason for leaving. I then recieved abusivg e-mails, letters and phone calls from these people, several of which accused me of somehow stealing books that I had paid for.

Updates!

Ole Nydahl admitted having sex with his female students in this article: Click here. He then goes on to claim this acceptable and not sexual and power abuse!!

To the right is a picture of Ole Nydahl 'blessing' female students whilst kissing them and sticking his hand down their tops!

On a lighter note, to the left is a picture of Ole Nydahl keeping up the whole 'fake Lama' charade by wearing a Karmapa-esque hat and his own version of all the connected regalia. He clearly enjoys dressing up!

Norwegian & Danish article

Here is an article in Norwegian (and parts in Danish) that exposes Ole Nydahl's sexual abuse of female followers and calls his Diamond Way group a dangerous cult. There are four pages in pdf format:

Page 1
Page 2
Page 3
Page 4

Ole Nydahl admits having affairs with his students

Here is an article that recently came to light where Ole Nydahl admits having affairs with his students:

La Crosse Tribune article

Ole Nydahl & Diamond Way accused of sexual abuse in Switzerland

Here is a newspaper article from Switzerland recently brought to my attention:

Lama Ole Nydahl missionaries are accused of abuse, sexual questionable and racism. The Diamond Way Buddhist church, which operates five centers in Switzerland, led by their leader, Lama Ole Nydahl, is a real cult. Now former members and leaders complain of the racism and abuse of power due to questionable relationships with students.
"I've seen the group as elitist, racist and sexist", says the 32-year-old communications consultant Marianne Huber (all names have been changed by the editor).
She was there two years. At first she was fascinated. "Lama Ole's charm is that he his followers full enjoyment of life, sex, success and enlightenment promises" says the cult expert and professor of theology at Zurich Georg Schmid. The ex-boxer Lama Ole likes driving fast motorbikes and sex. In the seventies, for drug deals he went to prison.

In Schawinski he boasted of having had sex with more than 500 women.

But the glory of Ole Nydahl quickly rubbed off for Marianne Huber. His handling of sex and women was intolerable to her: she has noticed in a summer training camp as Nydahl in addition to its two official women who take turns at the side of the Lama. In six months, he had sex with many of his female students. "These women should still be happy because they were in contact with him", Nydahl told her when she criticized him.

The same has also seen by ex-follower Anne Dietrich. "These young women were allowed to accompany him on his travels and sit at his feet when he lectured." Nydahl told her this would help their development. Dietrich accuses him of abuse of power, because such relations are problematic among equals, but inexcusable in a teacher-pupil ratio.

He is on the Internet photos showing him almost always surrounded by women - or in tight swimming trunks and brown burnt bodies. Nydahl escapades also criticized the German Buddhist Union (DBU). "Many dislike its dealings with women as simply scandalous."

Finally, Anne had enough after Nydahl claimed Africa's poverty was it's own fault and that sperm banks should be set up for white men to 'spread themselves'.
Baffled by those comments during Nydahl's tirade, she wrote to him about her discomfort. His answer: "We can now avoid that we have in a few years even larger ghettos of foreigners, which is undermining our society, which is a big win."

"He is almost following a Nazi ideology. Rhetorical racism, a coarse slogan, which also xenophobic statements in it are lying, "says Schmid.

The followers are repeatedly brainwashed. This was an important characteristic of a sect. The are told "Nydahl is also an elitist preacher of the best religion for the best people. It combines Buddhism with arrogance, judges Schmid. An example of an ego trip by Nydahl when asked about recent natural disasters: "It is their own fault" he said in an interview. And he added smugly: "As long as the women would be beautiful and no speed limits on the highways, nothing else matters".

A couple of updates

An interesting website with lots of people's experiences of Ole Nydahl's Diamond Way cult:

http://olenydahl.wordpress.com/

Also, on the 18th September, Ole Nydahl will be back in the UK to spread his hate speech and pseudo-scientific rubbish.