Namkha Rinpoche’s Name Cleared after Swiss Investigation, Accusations Revoked

DHARAMSALA, 23 Sept: A court has cleared Rigdzin Namkha Gyatso Rinpoche’s (Namkha Rinpoche) name and revoked all accusations after he was accused of sexual abuse.

“Following accusations of sexual abuse in 2018, an investigation was conducted by prosecutor Joelle RACINE of the ‘Ministère Public de l’arrondissement de Lausanne’ in Switzerland. This was mainly a preliminary investigation, evaluating whether the case could stand in court. After hearing various witnesses, the investigation was fully closed on December 8, 2023,” a source from Namkha Rinpoche’s Rigdzin Community said.

“No charges have been brought against Namkha Rinpoche and all accusations have been revoked,” the source added.

Catherine Guye Lausanne from Switzerland accused Namkha Rinpoche of sexually abusing her. According to buddhismcontroversyblog.com, she said she was a student of Rigdzin Namkha Rinpoche from 2006 until 2013 in the Rigdzin community-based in Lausanne, Switzerland.

She claimed, “I have to confirm he holds sexual relationships with a number of his female students, arguing his ability to balance their minds. The risk for sexual misconduct is huge. This practice should remain secret so that women cannot speak about what they feel. Namkha Rinpoche’s wife is aware of these practices and suffering from them.” Namkha Rinpoche heads the Rigdzin Community, which has dharma centres in various European countries, such as Switzerland, Spain, France, and Italy.

She says on the same blog, “It took 3 years after I first mentioned Namkha Rinpoche’s behaviour with his students until it was made public.” However, with the case dismissed and Rinpoche cleared of any wrongdoing, the source added that “Namkha Rinpoche chose not to file a complaint for defamation but to let the situation rest as it is.”

Earlier in 2018, Catherine Guye Lausanne was among a dozen victims of alleged sexual abuse by Buddhist teachers in the Netherlands who met with the Tibetan spiritual leader, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, to share their experiences of sexual or psychological abuse.

A representative of Rinpoche refuted the allegations then and said they had already informed the Dalai Lama of their point of view.

Along with Namkha Rinpoche, a series of Tibetan Lamas have been accused of sexual abuse by some of their students, starting with Sogyal Rinpoche in 2017. Another common factor among the Lamas is that they all head Buddhist centres and communities spread across the West and Europe. As such, it cannot be completely ruled out that accusations were also being made to get a finger in the pie.