Conclusion of Fact-Finding Assessment Regarding Dagri Rinpoche

Dagri Rinpoche was one of the Tibetan teachers on the FPMT Tibetan Teachers List for many years. In May 2019, FPMT Inc was informed of a formal complaint from a woman who was on a commercial airline flight with Dagri Rinpoche in India. Subsequently, additional allegations were made about misconduct by Dagri Rinpoche. 

FPMT Inc suspended Dagri Rinpoche from the FPMT Tibetan Teachers List, and commissioned a fact-finding assessment to investigate the allegations and also a Safeguarding Audit.

Fact-finding assessment from FaithTrust
FPMT Inc commissioned a fact-finding assessment from FaithTrust Institute which provided a confidential FaithTrust email, inviting those with concerns to come forward and take part in this assessment. The goal of this assessment was to allow anyone who may have experienced or witnessed harm from Dagri Rinpoche in his role as spiritual teacher at FPMT centers, to confidentially contact FaithTrust Institute.

As part of the assessment, FaithTrust Institute also conducted training for FPMT Inc leaders on best practices for healthy boundaries in spiritual student/teacher relationships and best practice in responding to allegations of misconduct.

At the conclusion of the fact-finding assessment, FaithTrust prepared a report and provided the Board of Directors of FPMT Inc with a confidential review and assessment of the findings, along with recommendations for next steps that FPMT Inc could take related to the findings.

Using a standard for civil legal proceedings based on a preponderance of the evidence, FaithTrust Institute concluded from witness interviews, statements and corroborating evidence that Dagri Rinpoche did engage in a pattern of inappropriate behaviour over a number of years towards women who were in his company. 

Based on the conclusions of the report, FPMT Inc apologised for the suffering experienced by the victims and reached out to each of the victims who shared their testimony with FaithTrust Institute during the Dagri Rinpoche investigation, to offer financial support for therapy.

FPMT Inc permanently removed Dagri Rinpoche from the list of Tibetan teachers from which FPMT centers can choose to invite to provide Dharma teachings.

Safeguarding Audit from Thirtyone:eight
FPMT Inc become a member of a UK safeguarding charity called Thirtyone:eight and commissioned them to conduct an independent review of our safeguarding policies and guidelines. (A Safeguarding Audit).

Our purpose in commissioning this audit was to invite this experienced safeguarding body to scrutinize the policy and guidelines related to protecting adults and children (safeguarding), which FPMT Inc has provided for its affiliated centers, projects, and services and to identify any gaps and areas for improvement.

FPMT reviewed the findings of this safeguarding audit and established a team to implement all the recommendations to improve the policies to better protect and support students and teachers.

Steps Taken to Improve Safeguarding Policies
In response to recommendations we received from FTI and Thirtyone:eight during our safeguarding audits, the following steps have been taken in order to help enable those in leadership positions in the FPMT organization maintain safe and healthy environments in their center, project, or service. It is our sincere hope and belief, that with the support of all involved in our community, these steps will be of help to us all.

Protecting from Abuse Policy:  A Protecting from Abuse Policy was developed and has been put out as a new FPMT policy, with a training course designed to unpack and support the policy. Our aim in providing these new resources, in addition to the current ethical policy and guidelines, is to help provide learning, tools, and strategies to better ensure protection from abuse in FPMT affiliates, and to help ensure that any complaints can be appropriately reported, processed, and resolved.

Protecting from Abuse Training: Alongside the new policy, a new online Protecting from Abuse training course was developed and launched. This training is mandatory for all in leadership positions within the FPMT organization, including registered teachers, and has been reviewed by Thirtyone:eight and other stakeholders within the FPMT organization. It includes guidance regarding sexual abuse, healthy boundaries, power imbalance, and crisis intervention. The training course is provided in English and also translated into several languages, including Tibetan. Additionally, FPMT Foundation and Teacher Development Service Seminars refer to and make use of the new Protecting from Abuse policy and training.

FPMT Inc Policies: We implemented a number of new policies specifically for FPMT Inc, including updating our complaints procedure and confidentiality policy. We implemented additional internal steps to ensure that clear pathways are described for making and processing complaints, as distinct from requests received for spiritual advice.

Education Materials: Guru Devotion: We have received various requests to have additional guidance and materials available about Guru Devotion, and have implemented steps to develop further guidance in this area.

To find out more about current FPMT policies and guidelines instituted to uphold a safe, respectful environment in local FPMT centers, projects, or services, please visit Safeguarding in FPMT Entities. This leads to our public information about Ethics and Protecting from Abuse in the FPMT organization, and includes links to our policies, including the FPMT Ethical Policy.

 We are sincerely grateful to all those who have contributed to the process of making these changes and improvements, directly or indirectly through their feedback or input. We want to express our deep thanks for the support of all involved in our community for the implementation of these important new policies.

Please contact the Center Service Director with any questions.

• Tagged: dagri rinpoche, ethical policy