Who and what is Dakini Translations? Today, in this informative post, for the “public record” so to speak (and to quash some anonymous, unsourced, false, malicious and defamatory content falsely claiming that I am not who I claim to be in my bio, [that has been circulating online since June 2025 by an anonymous stalker/fan [1]]. I have been ignoring it gracefully, but now as a few publicly rectify some of it. So, here are a few pertinent facts:
- I am an ex-barrister, who having completed Bar Finals, and a one year pupillage in London, was called to the Bar as a member of the Inner Temple and was awarded the prestigious Duke of Edinburgh Entrance Inner Temple scholarship. This can all be verified with official documents, photos and testimonies. I am not a practising barrister now, and so no longer a member of Inner Temple.
- I have a Bachelor’s Degree in Law, and two Master’s degrees in Philosophy (King’s College, University of London, with a special commendation for my thesis by an Oxford University Professor “Definitions of Happiness”), and Tibetology (Hamburg), for which I was awarded the highest ranking from my supervisor, an eminent Prof. Dorji Wangchug.
- I am the sole creator, author and editor of the Dakini Translations website and associated media, such as articles, translations, reels, videos, photos and so on. I am not a group of people ( even though that may be hard to fathom, it really is me producing all this!). I travel in Asia a lot and so the countries cited as admin locations on Facebook reflect that.
- The work is mainly self-funded and created voluntarily, non-profit. Unless it was a specifically funded project, such as Taranatha’s Collected Works, and Ashoka Grant funded Innate Kālacakra. More recently, there have been kind, generous sponsorship, donations and gifts from individual supporters who follow and enjoy reading my work.
- I am not politically motivated or funded by any political interest groups. My historical research on Gelugpa sectarianism and Tibetan Buddhist history, is done in the continuing context of independent academic research. I am not the first or only scholar or researcher who writes about such matters, and these are cited as sources in my work on the topic.
- My motives for creating this website and work are due to my love and passion for the Buddha Dharma, the lack of women in the Buddhist translations field online, and wanting to use my skills to benefit and support my teachers, in particular the 17th Karmapa, sentient beings (including voiceless animals), and to make the Buddha Dharma accessible, contemporary, relevant, and interesting “alive” in a way which also preserves the academic rigour and original research elements.
- I have written a few (less than ten) articles exposing misconduct and corruption by male teachers (and their enablers) against women within the Vajrayana context, including myself. However, contrary to defamatory unsubstantiated gossip, the vast majority of the work is research, translations, interviews, talks, podcasts, music, reels etc on the Buddha Dharma and benefiting beings.
Hope that is clear! For more on my academic background and studies, teachers, and motives, see this short video I made in 2022 on why I created Dakini Translations (apologies for the sound quality). For my personal website, see adeletomlin.com and for CV, read/download here.
Also this rare interview with Guru Viking (November 2022):
And with Olivia Clementine in:
Endnotes
[1] An anonymous person, who to put it mildly has a psychologically unhealthy obsession with making false and defamatory statements about me, in insulting and derogatory ways, calls me a “sex pest” compares me to a porn star or piece of excrement, and falsely suggests I am a group of people, or funded by political groups to conduct a slander campaign against the Dalai Lama, falsely claims to be acting in the public interest as an unnamed group, yet provides zero accountability, and no substantive, independent or concrete evidence to back up what they say.
Their previous websites, that even included my name as part of the URL, were removed by WordPress and Blogspot for breaching community guidelines on bullying and harassment, but they continue to post the content online, and on Youtube. I cannot get their identity revealed unless I file a court case. If anyone knows who this is, please PM me.
Even more disturbing, a few people are ignoring such ‘red flags’ of unreliable and maliciously motivated content, and even citing it to justify their own smear campaigns, false and defamatory actions, and enabling and cover-ups of abuse, to discredit my reputation as a scholar-translator and survivor of misconduct. It is a clear example of how survivors who call out abuse or expose corruption are easily targeted online by anonymous people.
Here are just a few of many examples of the general tone and content referring to me as vermin, trash, excrement, a sex pest, prostitute and comparing me to a pornographic actresses. If what they say is so compelling, why the need to use such derogatory insults? Why the need to be anonymous? WordPress and Blogspot removed their content for bullying and harassment, so why are people citing it in communications about me?
They publish blatant lies such as saying I am not a qualified barrister. So this author tells you to doubt the credibility and reliability of Adele Tomlin, while spreading malicious and unreliable lies about me and my background. I was called to the Bar as a member of Inner Temple, and was awarded a prestigious Duke of Edinburgh Inner Temple scholarship too. However, as I am no longer a practising barrister, I am no longer a member of the Inner Templ. People who do not care about the truth and only interested in “smear campaigning” Adele Tomlin do not investigate these anonymous claims either and cite them like truth. Citing a liar makes them liars too.
The content is full of polemical insults and personal opinion, with out any substantive evidence or sourcing other than the anonymous author’s opinion.
They seem to be particularly annoyed about years of work related to supporting and promoting the 17th Karmapa, and also in defending the accusations of sexual misconduct against Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche (despite the fact that he has never denied these allegations, and that multiple women have accused him of similar conduct). There are many reasons not to pursue legal action including lack of money, time, resources and even a guarantee there will be a fair result!
In particular, the anonymous person does exactly what they accuse me of, cyberbullying, false and defamatory accusations, bullying and sexist and misogynist harassment of a woman and survivor. Out compassion, love and various other reasons, I did not “take the legal route” despite much evidence to prove my allegations, and the existence of other females who had complained about the same teacher. It also costs a lot of money and time to take cases to court, which I do not have. In addition, to take a case against a well-known religious figure, is often not successful, especially if the legal system (or lawyers) can be easily bribed and corrupted, or not sympathetic to female survivors.
am sorry about the bad comment/s. i have benefited a lot from reading Adele Tomlin’s criticisms , & it is life saving. otherwise i was planning to stay at Thrangu Rinpoche Monastery Nepal or Sekhar Ling- & would probably hve been killed. i am still very desperate though & wish she would give a LOT more info & advice. including good resources for old dharma students in their 60s, seeking lots of safe places for short or long retreats – where we who are still beginner or inferior level – can do meditation at last, after decades of abuse & injury. there still is not much real info provided, in all the buddhist victim help groups .how can this be ? i have found the problems in Samye Ling & Rokpa 100% accurate & a big warning. as in Scotland yrs ago & am fr cape town & indeed many high lamas have their finger in the kill pointing position right now & thus many business men & govts are copying this & my life is under attack. but would Interpol or police help ? seems they all the same, is a terrible kill & die disaster going on right now for millions of animals & beings all under great stress & no lamas nothing.
Yes there does seem to be a lot of extremely aggressive actions taken by men, and not much (if any) love, compassion, talking it through, resolving, understanding. Just judge without their presence or testimony, punish, exclude and demonise/bully.
These issues are indeed real, extremely serious, and those responsible should be held accountable. In addition, Esteemed Madam, please take a moment to check your email, I have some urgent questions that require your assistance. Thank you.
I too am so sorry that you and your work have been unfairly maligned. I was particularly upset by the accusations that you were funded by Chinese agents to cause trouble in Tibetan Buddhist circles. You are a very gifted translator, Adele. I believe that there are many more people that are grateful for your illuminating rare texts and generously sharing them online, than there are those who are jealous and fearful of you.
Many thanks Linda! Yes those accusations are classic Gelug sectarian ones too, anyone who dares to challenge anything about the Dalai Lama institution, or Gelug history in Tibet, the glib response is “you are a Chinese spy!”. not only false, defamatory and pointless but also not helpful in terms of the Tibet-China issue either.
generally, would like to know if there is a special healer, for those who have become ill from buddhist or other abuses ?
thank-you for comment. have slacked my practice because of terror from psycho attacks, in my own home alone. the fear , knowledge that they want me to die, & being totally alone in cape town. damage done trying to find healers. yet want to carry on & do retreats, after starting 1981 cape town. wave of cancers & abuses in buddhist circles & worse. money disappears out of accounts, missing person, .i also wish retreat rules would change – not locked in the box with no outside contact . i need to use my laptop 1-2 a week. need walks. need someone to phone or visit me – or even a police or equestrian , someone. need support when you start to rejuvenate -one can go immortal in retreat but now bad things happen. & no more shave the head & heavy robes in hot weather. looking for helpers, intermediaries, because not 1 lama is ok not 1 priest. & what when one dies – there is nothing for death protection . terrible risks. is a disaster.
Kind regards Adele,
The research carried out on the Dakini Translations website, in which you are the one who creates and directs its publications, has allowed me to value with authentic and high esteem the contribution you make to the dissemination of the Dharma so appreciated in this time of de Generation.
Being Compassionate and Wise we will be able to ignore the illusory, when it is most required, so that Peace and Harmony are realized for themselves with the truth firmly established in each of our expressions.
– Happy and auspicious future.
With affection,
María Sol Gil
Thank you Maria for your kind words and support. Happy to hear you find the work beneficial and helpful.
You are so compassionate and righteous, do not mind the gossip, it will eventually fade away. But please remain vigilant. My support is with you always, Esteemed Madam!
As a “lapsed” male meditator, not on social media, I feel as if I am discovering a hidden world of which I knew nothing! I started to look online for some inspiration and instead found all this “stuff”! I always knew that Tibetan Buddhism was culturally biased towards male archetypes but nothing on the scale or toxic intensity suggested by what I have recently read. Paradoxically, I don’t feel so “guilty” about my “lapsed practice” as by any contemporary “common sense” standard, it would appear that some of those who have been fully immersed in the dharma are “men behaving badly”! I can understand how this culture of “group think” has developed. I will need to reflect on this stuff; quite mind boggling. A few “obvious” points:
1. If you are running a “spiritual” organisation in the UK then you have to comply with UK laws & standards, whatever the content of your “teachings”. You cannot use esoteric philosophy to escape material obligations. If you punch somebody then you have punched them; you can’t make it something else. Sexual harassment is “real” in our society so it cannot be philosophised away. Ditto legal “duties of care”.
2. Nemo iudex causa sua: you can’t investigate yourself or ask your relatives or pals to do so; there has to be impartiality, objectivity etc. Use external advisers as necessary.
3. You can’t “lock in” long term retreatants or deprive them of legal/human rights.
4. It’s entirely inappropriate (and frankly foolish/naive) for male gurus to place themselves in potentially “compromising” situations with female retreatants, esp if each party knows very little about the background of the other. Surely they can’t be ignorant of what’s been going on in our society for the past few decades, Me Too et al?
It’s “dead simple”. Women are the first and “oldest” social group to be treated less fairly than men; sexism predates racism and every other social evil. All men, and esp men in positions of power have an on going responsibility to ensure that they are contributing to the on going “work in progress” of “restoring the equalities balance” rather than creating further injustice. There is no obvious reason why dharma practice in the UK cannot be effectively promulgated without resorting to inappropriate cultural stereotypes which place women in positions of emotional & physical risk. Any “teacher” who doesn’t “get that” should be removed from any position of power over others.
I will continue to observe and wish you well in your endeavours. I feel that for me, “every day is a school day”! Fascinating!