“Obstacles are a sign of success.” –16th Karmapa
During the meaningful and auspicious one month stay (14th February to 15th March, extended twice on request) at the beautiful setting of Sherab Ling Monastery, Himachal Pradesh, India, I was able to complete several new pieces of original writing, research and translations, and make some new suggestions to the monastery for a flower/shrub garden around 8th Tai Situpa’s golden relic stupa, a gallery space for Tai Situpa’s artworks, and to ba the sale and eating of murdered animals on monastic premises (which breaches monastic Vinaya and main Buddhist precepts).
After HH 12th Tai Situpa’s 73rd Birthday event on 25th February, my request to extend my stay at the guesthouse until 10th March was accepted, and then extended again until the 15th March. All these new articles, research and translations were completed while staying at the Sherab Ling guesthouse:
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- Vision of red activity hat White Tara and suggestion of Golden Relic Stupa flower garden (15th February).
- Two new reports on the Mahakala protector Gutor ritual and Losar event, here and here. (20th and 22nd February).
- 73rd Birthday offering of White Tara artworks to Tai Situpa and lay and monastic community and golden stupa (25th February).
- Article on Eight Great Mahasiddhas paintings by 8th Tai Situpa and suggestion of a small Gallery space/room for 12th Tai Situpa’s artworks (27th February).
- Article on the Autobiographies and Diaries of 8th Tai Situpa, Moonstone Mala (6th March).
- 8th Tai Situpa’s Collected Works: Seeking their location, and an original and new compilation and translation of the contents outline (kar-chag) in Tibetan and English (13th March).
- Suggestion to stop the sale and eating of slaughtered animals on the Sherab Ling monastery premises (15th March).
For this Dharma Protector and New Moon time, here is a summary/report of that activity, overcoming some of the challenging obstacles that arose while staying there.
No-one at the monastery or at the guesthouse raised any issues with me in-person about my conduct or activities. However, in the last week of my staying there (after 12th Tai Situpa’s birthday) an individual white, European woman from Norway, whom I had not spoken to while there and do not know personally) arrived, and began to verbally harass and demand that I leave the guesthouse and monastery premises, calling me a demon and that it was “her home” and I had no right to be there. Thankfully, the guesthouse staff did not succumb to her demands either, and allowed me to continue staying there and to extend the stay again a second time from 10th until 15th March. For more details about that incident, see endnote below.
Despite her “efforts” to disturb her, my and others’ minds while I was staying there, I tried my best to remained focused on the Dharma activities (which at that time was completing the first compilation and translation of the outline (kar-chag) of 8th Tai Situpa’s Collected Works). And helped along by my devotion to Buddha Dharma, sentient beings and HE 9th Gyalton Rinpoche in particular, some new and creative Dharma activities arose. Thankfully, with some patience and compassion from my side, these obstacles were overcome and did not hinder the research and translation Dharma activities too much.
1) Vision of red activity hat White Tara and suggestion of Golden Relic Stupa flower garden
A red-hatted White Tara, and red and white flower garden surrounding the golden relic stupa of 8th Tai Situpa arose in a pure vision while I was meditating next to the stupa. So, I also suggested in writing (and offering a private donation) to create flower/evergreen shrub gardens in the borders and corners there, as aligned with the vision.
The following day after publishing the White Tara and flower garden article (19th February 2026) , Lama Dragpa (General Secretary Office) –who also kindly offered me a new Kalacakra diary for free, when I went into the office– told me someone had shown him my new article, and he sweetly responded he thought I had a pure motivation for suggesting it. But if I was going to raise any funds for it, to do that privately and not announce it on the website/social media, which I agreed. Neither he, nor anyone else mentioned there being any issue with the red-hat White Tara image, which had been published in the article, see:
2) Two new reports on the Mahakala protector Gutor ritual and Losar event
I attended the Gutor Mahakala ritual and Losar events and wrote about them. They passed by without any issues, and as I wrote, I felt very included and welcome in the events by the monastic community, other lay devotees and by 12th Tai Situpa and 9th Gyalton Rinpoche. If I had not felt that, I would not have continued staying there.
3) 73rd Birthday offering of White Tara artworks to 12th Tai Situpa and to the lay and monastic community and golden stupa
As a birthday offering, I then arranged the printing of some A4 and A3 laminated copies of the new image, to offer and show Tai Situpa and as a gift to people in the community, if they wished. I went up to Tai Situpa’s throne and offered a katag and then also asked him to give a blessing (rab-ney) on the framed image of the White Tara and the other prints below, which he kindly did.
In any case, almost everyone (bar a few) were happy with the White Tara image and accepted it as an offering without question and with joy.
For example, the lama in the retreat centre/Drubkhang accepted it without questions, and placed it on the throne in the retreat room, after he requested to do a short meditation of ten minutes with me present, in which the Vajravarahi arose in me and wisdom blessings descended. Also, the lama who looks over the Golden Relic Stupa accepted it happily for himself, for the elderly lama living upstairs, and even suggested I place the framed image of the new artwork as an offering on the golden stupa itself.
As the White Tara image arose in meditation next to the golden stupa, and is similar to the artwork of the 17th Karmapa’s black-hat Green Tara image, which was painted by the 17th Karmapa, and later also painted by a contemporary artist, I never thought anyone would find it offensive at all. It is an image of two sacred objects, the red hat, and White Tara together.
4) Article on Eight Great Mahasiddhas paintings by 8th Tai Situpa and suggestion of a small Gallery space/room for 12th Tai Situpa’s artworks
5) Article on the Autobiographies and Diaries of 8th Tai Situpa, Moonstone Mala
I also wrote a new article on the Autobiographical and historical works of 8th Tai situpa and his student, Belo Tsewang Kunkhyab, in particular the Moonstone Mala:
6) 8th Tai Situpa’s Collected Works: Original and new compilation and translation
I visited the monastery library a few times and discovered there was no easily accessible version of the great 8th Tai Situpa Chokyi Jungne’s Collected Works there. After several visits to the library, I was eventually able to see the volumes of the Collected Works. They were hidden in cupboards beneath the main bookshelves and needed to be dusted off when taken out.
I did not see or read a contents outline (kar-chag) of the Collected Works in the library or online. So, I created a contents outline in Tibetan with my English translation of it. I was surprised that after almost forty years of its publication, there was no such kar-chag. So, I have published it on my website for public use and view, and will send an electronic copy later to the office email address for Sherab Ling Monastery and followers to use and edit as you wish. See: https://dakinitranslations.com/2026/03/13/the-key-that-opens-hundreds-of-doors-translating-outline-8th-tai-situpa-chokyi-jungne-collected-works-adele-tomlin/
Suggestion to Sherab Ling monastery stop the sale and eating of slaughtered animals at a private restaurant next to the main monastery on monastery premises
I also kindly requested the monastery office, as a follower of the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa, Karma Kagyu and Shakyamuni Buddha, as well as someone who cares about the welfare and protection of animals, that slaughtered animals not be available to buy and eat on the Sherab Ling monastery grounds in the private restaurant (above the shop, which is right next to the main monastery and shrine hall). I did mention it briefly at the restaurant when I firsst arrived there, out of shock it was on sale there, but it seemed to go “in one ear and out the other” as we say.
As you know, historically and currently, the head of Karma Kagyu, 17th Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje has taught many times, that he and previous Karmapas before in the Garchen encampment were all strict vegetarians and did not even permit it during tantric tshog gatherings. He taught that it breaches the monastic Vinaya and Bodhisattva vows, and (as we can see in public view in India) it very cruel to animals in terms of how they are bred, kept and killed. I created some video clips (with my translated subtitles) of some of the Karmapa’s recent teachings on this topic, here is speaks about why eating animals is strictly forbidden in the Karma Kagyu tradition: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Netxvah37d4
Smoking is banned on the premises. Not alcohol though, which one could see when the rubbish was emptied, so many cans and bottles of alcohol! So why not eating murdered animals?
The website section to the Tai Situpa lineage, now contains links to these articles, and other prior research: https://dakinitranslations.com/khenting-tai-situpa/
Conclusion: Obstacles are a sign of success
The challenges I faced during the last week or so at Sherab Ling monastery guesthouse, reminded me of the obstacles, sabotage and jealousy even great masters like Marpa the Translator faced from so-called Buddhists, and how he persisted in not being too distracted by others’ afflictions/obscurations. I realised that jealousy, aversion and anger are very destructive emotions indeed, and we should try to minimise and pacify these as much as possible.
As the 16th Karmapa said though, if we are not really doing anything in the Dharma, there will be few if any obstacles because that is the obstacle: you are not really doing much of anything but sitting around in cafes, restaurants or shops chit-chatting, or even worse spreading nasty and malicious gossip and lies about a lone woman, and the occasional puja/meditation here and there. And thus no real transformation of mind and heart is happening!
Stay at the monastery guesthouse for one month, extended twice with no issues until a white, European woman began harassing me in the final week
I stayed at the monastery guesthouse there from 14th February to 15th March 2026. The guesthouse monastic staff kindly let me extend my stay there twice, to 10th March, and then again to 15th March. I wanted to extend a little longer, but the monastic staff there told me they needed the room back to clean and get ready while they went to Delhi to prepare for forthcoming courses there. No-one there ever mentioned to me personally that my conduct or presence was a concern, nor that I was being “kicked out”.
However, in the first week of March 2026, a white European woman (whom I do not know personally and did not speak to at all while there) arrived at the guesthouse and actively went out of her way to stop and intimidate me from staying there, and to disturb her, my and others’ minds to encourage people to have a negative view of me, and to remove me from the guesthouse. She verbally and physically harassed me on two separate incidents (6th March and 14th March) while I was peacefully minding my own business alone. When I reported these incidents to the guesthouse, the monk who worked on the guesthouse reception informed me that she had tried to get me removed from the guesthouse when she first arrived, saying she was unhappy I was staying there. But as they did not request me to leave as she wished, she then moved to another guesthouse nearby. However, she then persisted in harassing me and encouraging others at the monastery (who also did not know me) to view me in a negative manner as a “troublemaker”, even though I had no issues prior to her arrival and had been allowed to extend my stay at the guesthouse twice. See more detail on this incident in endnote [i].
Endnotes
[i] Details about the woman who attacked and verbally harassed me to leave the monastery and guesthouse. A white, European woman from Norway arrived at the monastery guesthouse at the beginning of March 2026, after Losar and birthday events had finished without any issue, and on two separate occasions, verbally attacked and physically harassed me twice while I was alone at the monastery. First time (6th March) , I was sitting at the monastery café alone, I got up and walked away and did not engage in any discussion. I reported the incident to guesthouse staff, but asked them not so take action on it but as a record only.
The second time (14th March), she was waiting outside my guesthouse (even though I had been told she was not staying there). This second attempt was more severe and as soon as I arrived outside the guesthouse, she actively blocked my way from entering the guesthouse, and shouted aggressively as I tried to walk calmly away from her, that I was a demon, that I should not stay at the monastery guesthouse or even visit the monastery ever again. That “ no-one wanted me to stay there”, that it was “her home” and that I was “being kicked out”. She also started filming me as I was trying to walk away from her, demanding I turn around, so that she could film herself harassing and intimidating me in front of the guesthouse I was staying at, while still preventing me from going inside. This was also a major invasion of privacy and a form of harassment.
She seemed to be under some major delusion that she had a managerial role there whereby she could tell people who could stay there or not and visit the monastery or not. Although I was being harassed and provoked by her on both occasions with insults, I did not react back physically or verbally, because I did not want to escalate the situation and so walked away calmly. She seemed very angry, jealous, unstable and mentally disturbed without good reason. While at Sherab Ling, I had not spoken to the woman at all, and do not know her personally.
The only thing I know about her is that she also is a survivor of sexual misconduct/harassment by the same Tibetan Buddhist teacher (SNR), and she told me on her FB messages and in person at the Kagyu Monlam Bodh Gaya, 2020, that she had already reported SN previously to Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo, and to 12th Tai Situpa (who stated he would speak to SN about it) but she had no other response from him than that.
She also told me verbally and in writing that she had reported it in person to Mingyur Rinpoche (her teacher) when she was there. I also reported it to Mingyur Rinpoche in person (and with a letter given to him), and to 12th Tai Situpa in a letter given to Lama Tenam at Sherab Ling around November 2019, before the Kagyu Monlam.
However, despite the woman having had similar experiences with SN, and calling him “dangerous and obsessive” and having to cut off all contact with him, later, at the same Kagyu Monlam after neither her or I got any response from Mingyur Rinpoche (she told me), she swiftly turned against me after a public audience and teaching in Bodh Gaya at Tergar monastery with Mingyur Rinpoche. After the public short teaching (which we both attended), she bizarrely accused me of acting seductively in front of him while I was sitting there fully clothed.
I have never followed Mingyur Rinpoche or taken Vajrayana empowerments from him. I attended the Bodh Gaya audience because it was public and I went there as a blessing only. However, despite her strange accusations, Mingyur Rinpoche himself never made any issue about my conduct at that time, and nor did anyone else who was sitting in the same audience at Tergar monastery. She was very emotional about it though, so it seems she was jealous of me and my meeting Mingyur Rinpoche. Since that time (six years ago) I have had zero contact as she was making false accusations about me, and refused to support me publicly in relation to my case about SN.
In any case, while staying at Sherab Ling this month, I did not speak to anyone at Sherab Ling monastery about her, nor did I object to her staying at the same guesthouse when she arrived there. However, while I was at Sherab Ling, and attended the Losar and birthday events happily there, she seemed almost “obsessed” with speaking to me, not in a friendly way, but with hostility and false accusations and in disturbing her, others’ and my mind and activities at the monastery. Thankfully I was able to continue and finish the Dharma activity work I was doing there.
I wish her peace, happiness, love, good health and may she not have to experience any heavy negative result from what she did. As we are both survivors of misconduct by the same teacher, and women, one would think women should support and help each other, but in her case she actively turned against me and started spreading lies and gossip about me to other in relation to my character and my being a survivor.
Interestingly, another woman Karen (real name) from New Zealand was also staying at the guesthouse with her adult daughter when I was there. She told me in 2019 when I was staying at at the Sherab Ling guesthouse that her daughter had been sexually harassed by Sangye Nyenpa when he visited New Zealand, and she told her daughter not to respond to him. She told me that he then turned “nasty” on her/them and told them he would never go to New Zealand again. Despite this happening, K also told me she did not want to publicly support my case even though he did it to her daughter!
So basically, there were two other women at the guesthouse/monastery while I was there both of whom had reported sexual harassment by Sangye Nyenpa, but never supported me publicly. Worse than that, one of whom actively tried to undermine, defame, slander and bully me.