[.ca] The Buddha from Brooklyn: A Tale of Spiritual Seduction (ISBN 0375726489)

From Amazon.com:
Buddha from Brooklyn begins like the biographies Crooked Cucumber and Cave in the Snow--a venerated Buddhist teacher from humble beginnings is surrounded by respectable Western students. Unlike the seasoned masters Shunryu Suzuki and Tenzin Palmo, however, Jetsumna Ahkon Lhamo, the red-headed woman from Brooklyn who wore a black leather jacket and stick-on nails, had no Buddhist training. And still she had managed to build up the largest monastery of Tibetan Buddhists in America. Martha Sherrill, a journalist for The Washington Post, introduces us to Jetsumna's monastery outside Washington, D.C., and to the world of Tibetan Buddhism. With a measured hand, she unfolds the life of Jetsumna and her acolytes, revealing the unshakable devotion, the enormous sums of cash, the ostracism, and the mysterious magnetism of the highest-ranked woman in Tibetan Buddhism. Jetsumna joined the illustrious ranks of Tibetan lamas after being discovered to be an enlightened reincarnation by the same lama who would later discover Steven Seagal. As Sherrill learns, Jetsumna did appear to be enlightened, and her students believed in her infallibility. They became model Tibetan Buddhists, doing prostrations, building stupas, saving all sentient beings. So why did the group occasionally seem like a cult? In a narrative of complexity and sensitivity, Sherrill struggles with the answers to this and other doubts even while she is attracted to the religion herself but troubled by its embodiment in this stretch of wilderness outside America's capital. --Brian Bruya

Life and Times of a Material Girlru:
This is a terrific book. Many of the reviewers here have commented on the virtues and flaws of the spiritual leader of this group, Catharine Burroughs, known to her community as Jetsunma. I was interested in the other side of the equation that Martha Sherrill explored: the behavior of the folks who became her devoted students. Some people joined this group when they were very young, and it is not surprising that some of these young converts later concluded that they had made the wrong decision in choosing this person as their teacher. But many of the people who joined came to KPC as mature adults - intelligent, often well educated. Many had all the indications of a good life - they held responsible jobs, were married to someone they loved, were good parents to their kids. And yet they made the decision to abandon their own autonomy and hand over decision-making about personal matters in their lives to their teacher. They were prepared to follow her directions not only with respect to spiritual matters, like whether they were World Prayer Center members or actually Tibetan Buddhists, but also with respect to the decisions in their personal lives, like whether they should separate from a spouse and how they should raise their children. And yes, they were prepared to work fingers to the bone so that they could contribute as much money as possible to KPC, even though they knew that much of the money was going to support their teacher's extravagent lifestyle. They could believe themselves to be compassionate because their teacher told them that prayer for the world made them so, and yet- apparently without reservation - join the mob mentality in attacking anyone she condemned. Every human, including individuals like Catharine Burroughs and Steven Seagal, both of whom have been identified by Penor Rinpoche as Tibetan lamas in a previous life, has a dark side as well as a light side. The people who chose Catharine Burroughs as their teacher endorsed her opinion that she was a divine being, perfect in all ways - someone without a dark side. And we all know what happens to us flawed humans when we fail to recognize our own dark side: we end up projecting it. It doesn't disappear, it just re-emerges in other ways. Is it so surprising then that this teacher, who was herself sexually active, would turn with such venom on a young nun who had engaged in a much more innocuous relationship? In one of his book - Path with a Heart, as I recall - Jack Kornfeld discussed the reasons why spiritual teachers in the Buddhist tradition (and others for that matter) can end up going astray, and having problems with alcohol, sexual involvements with their students, money. Students have a role to play in discouraging inappropriate behavior by teachers. People who seek the spiritual path should not blindly follow a teacher. They should use their own talents - wisdom, intelligence, discernment, common sense - when there is a dissonance between what the teacher teaches and what she does. It seems to me that becoming a Buddhist shouldn't mean retreating into immaturity and allowing, or expecting, your teacher to tell you whether to become ordained or not, whether to separate or stay married, what colors to wear, whether to eat white bread or whole-wheat. I recommend this book. Martha Sherrill's description of the relationship between teacher and students is informative. The people who consented to let this teacher dominate their lives are not the only people in America who have surrendered their own autonomy to another person. It is useful to consider what leads people to make this choice, and what leads them away from it.

the true believers speak out?:
i notice ,reading the numerous thoughtful and well written reviews of this book,that several highly critical ones appear.All but one are from a readers either in maryland/washington DC,or arizona/southwest-and as this is where the Burroughs woman is located!!So,i suspect these may be written by some of her cult followers.It seems more honest in those instances where the reviewer identifies their actual relationship,positive or negative,with burroughs and her group,and so their comments read with that in mind as a backround.For the record,I am a long time Tibetan Buddhist,i have met cathrine burroughs,and can say she is in my opinion,a stain on the tradition.I wonder mostly how to extract ,even protect,the legitimate aspects of the Vajrayana system from the numerous distortions such as those burroughs cultivates and seeks to spread.I give the book 3 stars because it doesn't make the final conclusion with sufficent emphasis,ie that this lady is bad news ,and is not acting in accord with the traditions of Vajrayana Buddhism.Also,the difficult subject of how the hierarchy has been unwilling,or unable to discipline her,or failing that,enact some censure,has not been addressed.

The things people will believe! You gotta read this one!:
Totally engrossing! This is a must read for anyone interested in the inner workings of a cult -- and hopefully for anyone contemplating the experience of any irrational system of thought, particularly any that demand uncritical devotion to a charismatic leader. Just imagine: The same old Tibetan lama who decided the action-movie "actor" Steven Seagal is a reincarnated exulted lama discovers this "big-haired, much-divorced Brooklyn-born Jewish-Italian woman" -- and she's one too! She was already a practicing psychic: working out of her basement, giving readings, channeling, claiming that in past lives she was, among other things, a ruler of galaxies -- and she already had the charisma necessary to inspire a cadre of middle-class New Age believers. But look out now! Suddenly, she's Jetsunma Ahlon Lhamo, with all the pedigree and credentials of a reincarnated perfectly compassionate whatever, come to help all sentient beings -- and Lord Acton's take on what power does to the powerful never seemed more apropos -- or more tacky. Throughout the book, you keep asking incredulously: What WILL this woman do next? You never cease to be amazed -- and often disgusted -- as her shenanigans turn more and more lurid. From the way she's shown to walk all over her followers: seducing them, working them till some of them literally drop, taking their money, belittling them, even telling them they'll go to a Buddhist hell if they leave her sway (yet most of them love her and keep coming back for more, though some do manage to escape her dominance) to the really sick stuff, like when Jetsunma publicly browbeats -- and savagely beats -- an errant monk and nun, or the time she hosts a "Divorce Party," attended by her compassionate American-Buddhist followers, and an effigy of her ex-husband is stabbed, driven over with cars, and ultimately urinated on! There's plenty of pathos and frustration in why her followers, some of whom come across as quite charming and sympathetic, put up with all this: how willingly they accept Jetsunma's version of "Correct View" (sound like 1984?), how they can believe their fantastic mental structures are any more real than the material world that everyone seems to experience (the so-called illusory samsara), how they constantly overlook their leader's incredibly blatant hypocrisy. That old saw about actions speaking louder than words never seems to surface around an enlightened being who can do no wrong, whatever she does -- though even the Dalai Lama himself counsels: "The problem with the practice of seeing everything the guru does as perfect is that it very easily turns to poison for both the guru and the disciple . . . . Should the guru manifest un-Dharmis qualities or give teachings contradicting Dharma, the instruction on seeing the spiritual master as perfect must give way to reason . . ." Jetsunma seduces a number of her followers -- literally (she tells another lama she knows how to pick 'em) -- into becoming nuns and monks renouncing sex and most other worldly pleasures, even while, beside their other chores around the temple, they hold outside jobs to support her -- all as she keeps being waited on hand and foot and having affairs and shopping till she drips. After all, Jetsunma's lofty goal is to bring the Dharma to America -- and, in the process, Americanize Buddhism (in Tibetan Buddhist tradition, the lama provides for the material support of his monks and nuns -- not the other way around). Speaking of her goals, there's also a lot of raucus humor, particularly in the way all of Jetsunma's frenzied forays into self-promotion, business, finance, and marriage seem to go awry -- considering all the supernatural insight and wisdom and good karma she's supposed to have. But guess who ends up paying for everything. While the author seems sympathetic to the practice of Buddhism, even after reporting all the above and much, much more, there seems to this reader plenty here to indict Buddhist leadership -- particularly their practice of "recognizing" reincarnated tulkus (selecting new leaders). The obvious questions: How was this woman picked? Why in the world was she left in place after all that she did? beg for answers -- which, unfortunately, are not forthcoming.

Sorry, Folks, No One Is Perfect:
I grew up in Utah, where the Mormon cult, as I consider it, controlled virtually everything in the state. So I am not surprised when religious organizations seem to behave just like secular ones, with the same problems of dealing with power, greed, and control. Why should Buddhist organizations be any different? And yet, we Westerners too often expect Eastern religious organizations to be different, to be somehow more pure and more holy than our mundane Western monotheistic belief systems. Surely their spiritual leaders are nearly perfect--aren't they? Sherrill's book is an attempt to provide an "insider's view" of the KPC temple of Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo. But Sherrill is not exactly an insider, and sometimes her account sounds as gossipy as the temple members it describes. Nevertheless, it is an interesting look at how a religious organization can have real-world problems that sound not much different from infighting at the local PTA. Any starry-eyed view one might have of exotic lamas and untainted spiritual practice will likely be brought back to earth with a thump. Sherrill wrote the book she thought she should write--and it is probably not the book that KPC and Jetsunma expected. Readers should keep in mind that this book doesn't present the whole truth and nothing but the truth, although it does raise questions that everyone should be asking about any organization. I heard a talk by Jetsunma at KPC in late 1998, and regardless of the picture this book paints of Jetsunma's flaws and the organization's problems, I found her teaching to be truthful, inspiring, and easy to comprehend. Hearing her talk was a turning point for me in terms of my spiritual direction, and I am grateful to her for her teaching. Another excellent book along these lines is THE DOUBLE MIRROR by the late Stephen T. Butterfield. It is an account of the organization of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, another controversial teacher, as seen from an insider's perspective.

An engaging but limited view. A missed opportunity.:
I bought this book because I wanted to learn more (the good, the bad, and the ugly) about the organization I currently turn to for spiritual development. I write this book review from the perspective of one who has personal experience with the organization described in the book, and as one who prefers to hear and consider all sides of an issue. I found "Buddha from Brooklyn" to be an interesting and engaging book in the way that one finds a soap opera engaging and entertaining. I like certain soap operas, so that is not intended as a negative statement. The book starts and ends with many positive and complimentary statements about Jetsunma Ahkön Lhamo and Kunzang Palyul Chöling (KPC). It also includes many descriptions of people and events that the reader could interpret as negative and highly critical depending on one's perspective. The author is obviously a very skilled writer and has an engaging writing style that may be too heavily affected by the author's experience as a reporter in Washington, D.C. The author missed the opportunity to convey what it feels like to be a future Buddha (as we Buddhist believe we all are) from Brooklyn (or any other U.S. city). I had hoped the book would describe what it is like to be an American who becomes a practitioner and leader within a religion that is not the dominant religion in the United States. I wanted to hear more about the "culture shock" and the energy and dedication it takes to learn the prayers, rituals, and extensive doctrine. I wanted to know about how someone deals with the many questions, challenges, prejudice, criticisms, and at times, one's own self doubt. The "Buddha from Brooklyn" is not that book, though it provides a too limited discussion of that perspective. Even though the book is well written, I find it hard to recommend it for several reasons. First and foremost, this book seems like a violation of the friendship, confidence, and trust of its subjects. I have not met Jetsunma Ahkön Lhamo or most of the people described in the book even though I have attended KPC-Maryland since January 2001. Many of the ordained are involved in religious instruction and other activities at various temples, schools, and retreat centers. Even so, I can imagine how these individuals must have felt to have their private life interpreted and that view laid bare for the world to read and scrutinize. The feeling must be one you might have if your best friend or a family member wrote and published a "tell all" book about you. Reading this book reminded me of the type of reporting commonly applied to politicians, movie stars, and other public figures. The really disturbing aspect is that many of the individuals described in the book are not public figures. They are private citizens who "go to church" and practice their faith. Many people turn to religious leaders and organizations to help overcome or adjust to emotional, physical, medical, and other personal problems. Activities and discussions within that context are like a confession with a priest, or a consultation with a counselor, and should remain private. The author's detailed discussion about private marriages, divorces, children, sexual orientation, and similar factors was irresponsible, in poor taste, and an assault on personal privacy. The book also includes many unimportant and highly subjective descriptions of people. This type of information was wasted effort and distracting. I also hesitate to recommend the book because I feel that if I had read it before making my first visit to KPC, then I might not be there now. I first felt shock, and then laughed out loud, when I saw the word "cult" being used so carelessly and loosely in regard to this Buddhist temple and its spiritual leader. I've seen Baptist and Catholic churches that are more "cult like" than KPC, and I wouldn't call any of these churches a cult. In many ways, KPC seems to me like most Christian churches. People come and go freely. I have never seen an incident where pressure has been applied to anyone to do (or not do) something. Open discussion and analysis of issues is encouraged in the classes that I have attended. People are free to accept or reject any information presented to them. KPC and its members are an active and respected part of the religious community in Maryland. But if I had read the book before my first visit to KPC, I might have missed out on these truly positive and life improving experiences. Having said all this, I advise anyone who reads this book to read other sources of information including the KPC web site and the web site of His Holiness Penor Rinpoche. Consider all opinions and then make your own informed decision based on personal knowledge and experience. As for me, all I have seen and experienced at KPC is an amazing capacity to accept people as they are while teaching "cause and effect" and other principles of Buddhism. I believe that what one gets in a situation is highly dependent on what one brings and contributes to that situation. So even after reading this book I choose to continue to learn about and practice the Buddhist faith at KPC. I still look forward to meeting Jetsunma Ahkön Lhamo and other sangha members one day. I pray that Jetsunma Ahkön Lhamo and all other religious leaders continue to grow into and develop in their leadership roles with wisdom, compassion, courage, and perseverance. And may all who choose to read this book (be it with a positive or negative impression) benefit by it as appropriate to their needs.