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High Demand groups like Triratna create very particular patterns of abuse and trauma.
Academic papers and discussions which focus on Triratna and issues around New Religious Movements like Triratna
One of the leading researchers into the psychology and dynamics of New Religious movements, otherwise known as High Demand Groups or Cults
Triratna, like other cult-like groups, has an opaque an unaccountable approach to leadership and power based on "Charistmatic Authority"
The patterns governing High Demand Groups are quite well understood, and Trirtata exhibits most of these typical features
Those who have been deeply drawn into Triratna are likely to have been abused and traumatised as a result. The patterns of recovery from involvement in such groups are becoming better understood.
One of the ways that Trirata most clearly resembles a standard "High Demand Group" rather than a true Buddhist Sangha is in the way it has supported various bizarre and fanatical ideologies.
Triratna likes to think of itself as a traditional and authentic Buddhist community. However, it actually fits much better the sociological category of "New Religious Movement", and as such is more just Buddhist inspired than authentically Buddhist
Triratna has been subject to periodic exposés over the years, in newspapers and televised documentaries.
Many of the articles on this site are long and very in-depth .... here are some of the shorter pieces, in case you are short of time
Many people find it hard to distinguish the Dharma from various Western ideas promoted by Romantic thinkers and artists in the nineteenth century. Unfortunately, Sangharakshita was one of these people.
The darkest aspects of Triratna's past are in the area of sexual exploitation of disciples by Sangharakshita and his senior disciples. It is no longer possible for Triratna to completely deny and cover up these episodes, but neither have they been fully acknowledged, let alone the implications squarely faced
What would it take for Triratna to overcome its troubled past? What efforts have been made in this direction, and how have they fared?
Sangharakshita never had a thorough grounding in traditional Buddhist doctrine and practice. As a result, his approach to the Dharma is idiosyncratic, speculative, and in many places simply wrong, misleading his followers far from the realisation that the Buddha pointed to. Various critiques of Sangharakshita's misunderstandings are presented here.
Some of the most alarmingly distorted teachings in Triratna have clearly been conjured up in order to satisfy Sangharakshita's desires. The most notable and well-known example is the teaching that young men can benefit spiritually from sexual contact with older mentors. However, this is an example of wider pattern, not a one-off isolated case.
How can intelligent people get caught up in cults? Particularly when those cults can be abusive? Modern psychology has a good deal to say about how this happens
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