Wednesday

Acharya Resignation Letter

Este artículo ha sido traducido al español aqui.

Questo articolo è stato tradotto in italiano qui.

The following is a statement to the Shambhala community, offered by a group of acharyas
who are resigning from their role, but will remain active in Shambhala and beyond.

July 5, 2020

Dear Shambhala Warriors,

It is with sadness and open hearts that we share our decision to step down from the role of
acharya. This decision has not come easily and is not made lightly. Some of us have served in
this role for many years, and have devoted our lives to serving Shambhala vision. We all remain
dedicated to working toward the further manifestation of this vision.

Although we have each known Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche in various ways and served in
different roles over the years, we share having had a complex relationship with him, seeing both
his wisdom and confusion. For much of this time, we felt confident in our ability and wish to
represent the Sakyong, an essential aspect of the role of acharya.

However, in the midst of the crisis around sexual misconduct and abuse of power, in an effort to
support the community and encourage the Sakyong to engage in a process of accountability and
healing, we acharyas asked him to step back from his teaching role. We openly shifted our focus
toward serving the community. At that time, and since then, his communication with us has
been minimal. Continue…