Rev. Danny Fisher

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

University of the West is was founded in 1991 and accredited by WASC in 2006. It is one of three accredited Buddhist universities in the United States and the only one of the three offering a Master’s in Business Administration degree. Its current enrollment is approximately 260 students. UWest is located at 1409 N. Walnut Grove Ave., Rosemead, CA 91770.

This from the Save Darfur Coalition:

The women in Darfuri refugee camps regularly fall prey to a targeted campaign of rape encouraged by the Sudanese government.

Peacekeepers have tried to protect women, but they have failed because they are short of resources and stretched too thin to do the job.

…Call on Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to act on behalf of the women of Darfur by pushing for full UNAMID deployment.

Petition Secretary Rice here.

Like a lot of you, I was surprised about the recent legal threat made toward a pal in the Buddhoblogosphere: Nate DeMontigny of the fantastic Precious Metal. Not long ago, Nate posted the full version of an article that appeared in the UK newspaper The Daily Mail over a year ago. The piece was about the mother of a young man named William Van Gordon. Van Gordon is currently one of two “monks” at the “Tranquil Abiding Buddhist Retreat” (and formerly of the “Pine Forest Sangha”) in rural Wales, which makes dubious claims about its Buddhist affiliations and more. Because of High Court proceedings filed against the publishers by Van Gordon and another member of the community named Edward Penney (AKA – “Edo Shonin”), the article has since been removed from The Daily Mail‘s website, as you will notice here. (The reprinted article still appears at Precious Metal, The Buddhist Channel, and elsewhere on the web, though.) Nate, citing the First Amendment, has refused to remove the article from his blog. Our friend has chutzpah, that’s for sure, but the law appears to be on his side too: in a post about Nate and the fracas over this U.K. community at his blog Bartholomew’s Notes on Religion, author Richard Bartholomew noted two American court decisions that would seemingly protect Nate from litigation. Specifically, these decisions protect bloggers, listserv users, and others from being charged with libel for republishing material from other sources.

Of course, the Daily Mail piece is only the tip of the iceberg. Wales On Sunday did an article about Van Gordon and Penney, which, among other things, reported that there were concerns about their organization’s governance and financial management. (The U.K. Charity Commission never did an investigation, though, because the organization’s trustees dissolved the “Pine Forest Sangha” in response to “all the negative publicity.”)

An investigative piece by Kooi F. Lim for The Buddhist Channel dug deeper into the matter of Penney’s past and Buddhist “credentials.” Lim began with a brochure that used to be circulated by the “Pine Forest Sangha” (pictured to the left), and which claimed the following:

Edo Shonin has been a monk in the Nygma and Shingon traditions for 43 years. Born to a devoted Buddhist family in 1957, his monastic education began at 5 years of age.

Penney’s father (now deceased), mother, and sister were contacted directly, and refuted this completely, stating that none of them were Buddhists and that Penney had been born in Glasgow. (Their statements were confirmed by Penney’s birth certificate.) Lim also detailed changes to the now-defunct “Pine Forest Sangha” website after an ordained Shingon monk had contacted The Buddhist Channel to say, “Edo Shonin is no Shingon monk.” He wrote:

Thus far, Mr. Penney has refused inquiries and requests to offer up his Letters of Office or his Teacher’s names that he has posted on his past websites, indicating somewhat that he has something to hide.

While Mr. Penney has a history of changing his claims on his website when faced with questions from the Buddhist Community, it is his ever changing tone and awkward inconsistencies over the claims of his monkhood that has become a concern.

A number of letters from readers also appeared at The Buddhist Channel. An anonymous Zen monk wrote to say that not only was Penney wearing his robes incorrectly in photographs, but that they were not the correct robes for the traditions with which he claimed affiliation. Another letter noted rampant plagiarism on the closed “Pine Forest Sangha” website. Another further detailed the sketchy and constantly changing claims about lineage, affiliation, and fundraising efforts at the old website. Another shared that there had been serious concerns at Thich Nhat Hanh’s Plum Village about Penney’s honesty while he was there as a (non-monastic) resident. Yet another person who got to know Penney at the French monastery wrote to chronicle his troubling experiences with him there and beyond. (This last letter also includes pictures of Penney wearing a perplexing variety of monastic garb from different Buddhist traditions.)

Obviously, things are still developing with this story. I will continue to follow news about Penney, Van Gordon, and the “Tranquil Abiding Buddhist Retreat” with great interest and concern. And you should too. Perhaps Lim articulates best why this is all so important to those of us working in Buddhist ministry:

[This] has become a case that is testing the community’s resolve to confront fraudulent claims of monkhood and thereby assist in the process of safeguarding the integrity of the Noble Buddha Sangha. It is up to social justice activists within the Buddhist community to take an active role in continuously observing and reporting over the state of affairs surrounding Mr. Penney and his [organization].

Beliefnet is currently showcasing excerpts from Thich Nhat Hanh and Wietske Vriezen’s upcoming children’s book Mindful Movements: 10 Exercises for Wellbeing.

For more about Thầy’s mindful movements, check out the clip below from a video published by Sounds True.