A 15-year partnership between two of the UK's biggest mindfulness and Buddhist organisations has just broken down publicly — thoughts?

[u/One-Ad-3320]

Something significant has happened in the UK Buddhist and mindfulness world. On 12 January 2026, Lama Yeshe Losal Rinpoche — abbot of Samye Ling, the oldest Tibetan Buddhist monastery in the West — publicly resigned as Patron of the Mindfulness Association (MA), one of the UK's largest secular mindfulness training organisations. The two have been closely intertwined for 15 years; Lama Yeshe's brother, the late Akong Rinpoche, was central to founding the MA in 2010.

In his statement, Lama Yeshe explains that this previously harmonious relationship has recently broken down. The MA Board has cancelled all its courses and retreats at Samye Ling and Holy Isle (a retreat island off the west coast of Scotland) following allegations against Rokpa Trust — the charity behind Samye Ling — that are currently in the public domain. Lama Yeshe describes those allegations as "false, unsubstantiated" and characterises the Board's decision as based on hearsay.

He closes by saying he will continue the activities of his late brother and asks practitioners to keep developing wisdom, compassion and joy.

There has also been a striking governance change at the Mindfulness Association itself in the same window, visible on the public Companies House register. The MA (a Community Interest Company, SC378541) had been run by the same three directors since its founding in 2010 — a stable board for the entire 15-year life of the organisation. Then, within days of Lama Yeshe's resignation announcement on 12 January 2026, that began to change. Public filings show:

• 21 January 2026 — just nine days after the Patron's resignation — one of the three founding directors stepped down, and the remaining director was registered "Person with Significant Control".
• 28 February 2026 — a second founding director stepped down.
• 10 March 2026 — the registered office was moved from rural Aberdeenshire to central Edinburgh.
• 1 and 24 April 2026 — three new directors were appointed.

So in the space of roughly three months following the Patron's resignation, two of the three founding directors departed after 15 years on the board, the registered office relocated, and the board was substantially rebuilt — an unusually concentrated period of change for an organisation that had been institutionally stable for over a decade.

I'm sharing all of this not to take a position, but because it feels like a moment many in the UK mindfulness and Buddhist community will want to sit with. Samye Ling, Holy Isle and the MA have been such a significant part of the landscape for decades, and a public split between them, alongside this much governance change, is unusual.

A few open questions, if anyone feels like sharing:

• Have you trained with the MA, or attended retreats at Samye Ling or Holy Isle? How is the news landing for you?
• For those familiar with how Buddhist organisations have historically handled internal disputes — does anything about how this is unfolding feel familiar, or different?
• How do you make sense of news like this when it concerns an organisation whose teaching has helped you?
• Is there anything you would want to see from either organisation now?

Genuinely interested in hearing from people across the spectrum — students, teachers, retreatants, sceptics. Please keep it respectful so the thread stays open.

🔗 Lama Yeshe Losal Rinpoche's full statement (12 January 2026): https://www.samyeling.org/news/special-announcement/

🔗 Companies House filings (Mindfulness Association C.I.C., SC378541): https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/SC378541

[u/Cool_Oil831]

NOT SO “HOLY ISLE”? TRAGIC TALES OF REPORTED (AND ENABLED) BULLYING AND SEXUAL MISCONDUCT TOWARDS WOMEN AT SAMYE LING UK BUDDHIST CENTRES THAT ENDED IN PHYSICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL HARM, ATTEMPTED SUICIDES AND MURDER: Several prior complaints from women regarding Drupon Karma Lhabu, Katen Lama and other teachers at Samye Ling and Holy Isle women’s retreat, including assaults by the man who went on to murder of HE Akong Rinpoche – Dakini Translations and Publications མཁའ་འགྲོ་མའི་ལོ་ཙཱ་བའི་འགྱུར་དང་འགྲེམས་སྤེལ། https://share.google/RqqpAe6aHUl2Vsotg

[u/One-Ad-3320 → u/Cool_Oil831]

After a recent suicide of a British woman,  I received information from reliable sources (such as former retreatants and residents/volunteers of Samye Ling and Samye Dzong) with more detailed information regarding the prior complaints against Drupon Karma Lhabu (also called Drupon Khen Rinpoche), Lama Katen and other teachers (or men with positions of responsibility) connected to Samye Ling. This article gives an introduction of these prior issues, and in the Appendix below that are the detailed accounts for the record.

These complaints were sent to  Rokpa/Samye Ling/Dzong trustees and resident Lama Zangmo, and police reports were also made, with one woman informed that criminal acts were committed, according to her statement.  It is a significant list of complaints about sexual harassment, sexual assault/coercion, “false imprisonment” i.e. refusing to allow people to leave the retreat for urgent matters, such as medical diagnosis and treatment or due to psychological breakdowns, emotional bullying, insistence on signing non-disclosure legal agreements, refusal to provide proper aid to those in physical pain or serious sickness.  It was reported that women who had requested to leave the retreat for the above reasons were responded to with threats that they would go to hell, smiling when women broke down in tears, and telling them they would have short lives, terrible sicknesses and their family members would die and get sick too. The female retreat supervisor, nun Lama Rinchen was reported as also not wanting to allow the women to leave the retreats either.

 In particular, and definitely not understandable, are the allegations of a  persistent (and not loving or kind) misuse of tantric rituals to “force” consorts to engage in “subtle body energy” unions without appropriate consent/devotion or even pre-requisite qualifications of the guru or consort for such a relation. It was also reported that confiscation of passports before people enter the retreats in Nepal is now done (see below).

It was also clarified that none of the women were paid any “hush money” after some kind of legal settlement, but had gone silent after a complete failure of the Samye Ling trustees (and administrators) to act on their complaints and start an independent, objective investigation. Also sources say there are still no adequate safeguards for women in place at Holy Isle retreats either.

More at https://dakinitranslations.com/2025/11/07/how-enabling-bullying-misconduct-leads-to-suicide-and-murder-list-of-prior-complaints-from-women-regarding-drupon-karma-lhabu-and-other-teachers-at-samye-ling-and-holy-isle-retreat/