When the Dalai Lama came to Albany on May 6, 2009, he came at the invitation of Keith Raniere and his trip was funded by Clare and Sara Bronfman. He spent several hours with Nxians and spoke in the afternoon at the Palace Theatre for more than an hour, before a crowd of about 2700.
His lecture was entitled “Compassionate Ethics in Difficult Times.”
Clare and Sara Bronfman sat on stage with the Dalai Lama, along with Bishop Howard Hubbard of the Albany Diocese and Albany Mayor Gerald Jennings.
In the audience were Keith Raniere, Nancy Salzman and many of the high rank of Nxivm.
At the beginning of the speech, the Dalai Lama presented the Bronfman sisters and Mayor Jennings and Bishop Hubbard with white silk scarves called “kataks,” which, according to Tibetan culture, symbolize purity.
At the end of his talk, he addressed several questions submitted earlier by audience members.
At the end of the lecture, The Dalai Lama presented Raniere with the white scarf of purity and placed it around his neck.
The press release put out by Clare and Sara Bronfman for the event went so far as to say the Dalai Lama showed his support for Raniere and the foundation he conceived of – and the Bronfman sisters funded – the World Ethical Foundations Consortium [WEFC].
The press release reads in part, “When asked why he decided to come to Albany, His Holiness said he met with representatives from WEFC and determined their genuine focus was to promote ethics and it was his moral responsibility, given his commitment to promoting basic human values and secular ethics, to support others doing the same. The afternoon’s events were concluded by His Holiness showing his support for Keith Raniere, conceptual founder of WEFC, by calling him on stage and placing a katak around his neck.”
Judging by the words the Dalai Lama said, however, it was not exactly an endorsement, though arguably his acceptance of the invitation can be construed as a de facto endorsement.
The Dalai Lama explained his position on Nxivm with carefully chosen words.
See the Dalai Lama video where he addresses the question of why he chose to speak in Albany
***
The following is a partial transcript of what the Dalai Lama said about why he chose to speak in Albany despite the controversy with Nxivm, with my comments and clarifications in bold.
Dalai Lama (DL): I received an invitation that, in principle, I accepted. Then I received some request that I should not go there because of this is controversial, some allegations.
Frank Report (FR): The Dalai Lama originally agreed to make a four-day appearance in Albany and attend a series of Nxivm-sponsored events. The visit was to be capped off by the Dalai Lama speaking during a conference at the 17,500 seat Times Union Center in Albany. A raft of negative outcry ensued, following coverage by the Albany Times Union of the Dalia Lama’s visit sponsored by Nxivm.
In response to the controversy, Clare Bronfman told the media, ‘His Holiness spent an entire year vetting us out. I believe him to be an incredibly well-educated man of deep critical thought who considers his participation in anything he does very deeply. Given the data of who we are and the research he has done on us for a year, he is still coming.”
But the controversy was too intense. The Dalai Lama canceled his originally planned four day appearance. He said he could not come at all. But he changed his mind, after Raniere, Nancy Salzman, Sara Bronfman, the Lama Tenzin, and Mark Vicente went to Dharamsala to film the historic meeting of what Nxians believed was the two great spiritual leaders of the world.
See video clip of the two men shaking hands
DL: Then we carry further investigation. Then finally, including this organization’s teacher, and his, some friend, came to see me in Dharamsala and I discuss, I observe, basically, they are carrying some kind of movement about ‘ethics.’
FR: After the Dalai Lama canceled his appearance, Keith Raniere, Nancy Salzman, Sara Bronfman and her friend, the Lama Tenzin Dhonden, flew to Dharamsala, India, the headquarters of the Dalia Lama to persuade him to reconsider.
DL: Then, as I mentioned earlier, it is my moral responsibility to support any movement by any person who carry, who are working for ethics…I felt, I feel it is my moral responsibility, but, at the same time, these allegations
FR: There were many allegations of Raniere being an unethical person and of Nxivm being a cult that the Dalai Lama got wind of. This was offset in part by the donation that the Bronfman sisters planned to make. The Dalai Lama is fighting the most vicious monster the world has ever known – the Chinese Communist Party – who seek to destroy him. He needs donations to continue to keep the Tibetan culture alive. The CCP stole Tibet and made their people slaves. The Dalai Lama lives in Dharamsala as the leader of the Tibetan government in exile. I was told at the time arrangements were first being made to secure the Dalai Lama’s presence in Albany that a donation of $1 million was offered.
DL: So when I met them personally in Dharamsala, I told them very friendly, very openly, ‘As far your sort of work for promotion of ethics, I fully support. Is my moral responsibility, but, at the same time, those allegations you must make very clear. If you have done something wrong, you must accept, you must admit, and change, make correction. If you not done, make clear all these allegations, truthfully, honestly, openly, transparently.’
FR: According to the Dalai Lama, he told Raniere and company to be transparent. I think it is fascinating that while he was so doing before him was his own monk, Lama Tenzin Dhonden, and Sara Bronfman. Bronfman was bankrolling Tenzin and also having a secret affair with him in contravention of his vows as a monk, which are chastity and poverty.
DL: “Then some media, I always telling media people, ‘media people should have long nose, as long as —
FR: At this point, on stage Clare Bronfman breaks out in side-splitting laughter.
FR: Sara also laughs once she gets the joke, or so she thinks.
FR: In the audience, Nancy Salzman and other Nxians are laughing exultantly.
FR: They all missed the point. They thought the Dalai Lama was calling the media, as a class, liars – and that the reference was to Pinocchio, the wooden puppet whose nose grows longer with each lie. The Dalai Lama perceived that some of the audience misapprehended his meaning…
… wait, wait, wait…
FR: The applause dies down.
DL: ….as long as an elephant nose and smell, in the front and behind. That’s very important. And make clear to the public what’s going on…. I want to tell the media people, ‘please carry continuously, all these spots where you have some doubt, thorough investigation.’
FR: In short, he is advising the media to investigate Nxivm and report truthfully.
DL: “And those concerned people’s side: ‘Also make clear. All your work must be transparent.’
FR: He is advising Raniere to make his work transparent. It is ironic that the very thing that caused his downfall was a secret group called DOS that purported to be a sorority. DOS branded women on their groins with Raniere’s initials and hid the fact that a man, Raniere, led the sorority.
DL: So, that’s my view. So, I feel, no problem, come here, meet people, and talk. Because of some criticism remain distance? Not much use., Come face to face and talk, friendly, bluntly. Truth always win. So, more talk, more investigation, truth will become more clear clear, clear, like that. So, that’s my answer.
FR: Applause followed this remark. There was more investigation, which I might immodestly assert, I had a hand in, and also in making the truth more clear. It resulted in the cratering of Nxivm and the conviction of Keith Raniere, Clare Bronfman, Nancy Salzman and others in Nxivm. Raniere is serving a 120-year sentence. Bronfman an 81-month sentence. Salzman is awaiting sentencing.
It is my understanding that the Dalai Lama got an additional donation from the Bronfmans, over and above the $1 million. My investigation into the roundabout way the donation was made suggests that $2 million was donated to a US-based charity in his name and under his control. Based on the examination of the non-profit tax returns, it appears that the money was donated by the Bronfman sisters.
The Lama Tenzin got into hot water for his own alleged deeds and was almost defrocked. Somehow, he managed to survive his removal as a monastic associated with the Tibetan Buddhists.
So sad the DALAI LAMA was reduced to this; sitting with a total Psychopath for big money to try and save his people while China is trying to crush & destroy him & Tibetan culture completely.
🎶And that’s Patriarchy folks!🎶
Women betraying & torturing other women physically & psychologically at the direction of a man who tortures them & calls it love.
Enlisting people with the promise of great goal achievement, Ethics (!?!), great success & Empowerment in all areas; it doesn’t get much darker than this total mind f*cking.
We are living in an Insane Patriarchal Capitalistic Culture that feeds on endless greed & power. I am so glad I never had children. To live as a woman in this world is a horror.
Frank, thank you for the work you do. It takes great courage & integrity.
The Dalai Lama is a wise man. His opinion means a lot to me and other spiritual people. But he’s not a white Christian.
Q: Why are people attacking his choices and wisdom?
A: Racism
The rumors about Tenzin Dhonden are just that: rumors. Was any of that testified to under oath? Did any of that come out in Keith’s show trial? Wonder why not? 🤔
Because Tenzin sleeping with a Salzman wasn’t a crime or relevant to the trial. There you go. Now you can stop wondering.
You are welcome.
The amount of sex trafficking of women in this country that is ignored & allowed to continue by public officials is shocking & horrifying. Keith Reneire, Epstein, a recently learned of sex trafficking circle in my small suburban neighborhood!!! SMASH THE PATRIARCHY!!!!
[…] When he spoke in Albany on behalf of Nxivm, the Dalai Lama was diplomatic but he made some verbal hints, especially regarding honesty and transparency. Perhaps he wasn’t aware of the disappearance of Kristin Snyder in 2003 from a Nxivm intensive in Anchorage, when he visited Albany to speak, six years later. […]
Horrible to see such a slime bag on the stage with the DL, A true spiritual person.
Shame, shame, shame on you KR for thinking you deserved to be in the same room as him.
Is it just me or is the DL’s matching visor the worst fashion choice ever? It might make a smashing combo with former Pope Benedict’s red shoes though.
I forced myself not to comment on it but yah. It’s crazy. He wears all kinds of visors. But this one really looks extra.
You got me right in the funny bone with your observation. Maybe the visor was a gift to the Dalai dolly from one of Richard Gere’s wives or lovers?
Irresistible. Let us pause now for a moment, to think of poor Ramtha, sporting her booze-soaked rodeo wear and bellowing, so profoundly, in her guttural fashion.
I knew a guru among gurus in India long ago, whose beloveds flew in Coca-cola to him by the cases, especially after it was banned and replaced over there by “Thumbs-Up.”
Having pored during the wee hours, through all of the best and worst fashion photos, etc. from the 2021Grammy festivities, I just need to thank you. I so love photos, too. Fascinating!
The Dalai Lama really is kind of a bashful, kind sweetheart with a lot on his shoulders. I see a dear fellow.
“Free Tibet” is the only sticker on my ancient and garaged car. It is the land of such incredible dreams, at least for me. And now it’s governed like a Chinese prison puzzle, via fascism and intimidation.
By the way, equally interesting are the fashion (non)statements that were made by Raniere, Salzman and the two Bronfmans, while they were pestering the Dalai gentleman.
Absolutely pathetic, except for Sara B. She was comfortable wearing her saran wrap and her sassy, available grin. Somewhat of an incontrovertible sensualist, being somewhat overly familiar with certain others was just cellular for her. She couldn’t help it.
It probably is only somewhat conscious on her part. She is a kind of sexual dilletante, from what I can evaluate. She might be actually likable, with only a couple of makeovers, if she ever ditches Igtet. Alas. From one jackass to another.
It’s too bad that Sara Bronfman Igtet ever hooked up with Raniere. She could’ve been quite content simply being a sybarite or perhaps a “socialite muse.” Sara could have just gotten lost (or lust) in Paris.
“You’ve got to when to hold ’em
Know when to fold ’em
Know when to walk away
And know when to run….”
Thank you, Kenny Rogers. Thank you, wise man.
Papal shoes [From Wikipedia]
The Papal shoes were the red leather outdoor shoes worn by the Pope. They should not be confused with the indoor Papal slippers or the Episcopal sandals, which are the liturgical footwear proper to all ordained Catholic bishops of the Latin Rite.
As did many noblemen, the Pope wore slippers (pantofole) inside his residences and leather shoes outside. The indoor Papal Slippers were made of red velvet or silk and were heavily decorated in gold braid, with a gold cross in the middle.
Throughout Church history, the color red has been deliberately chosen to represent the blood of Catholic martyrs spilt through the centuries following in the footsteps of Christ. The red papal shoes are also linked to Christ’s own bloodied feet as he was prodded, whipped, and pushed along the Via Dolorosa on his way to his crucifixion, culminating in the piercing of his hands and feet on the cross. The red shoes also symbolize the submission of the Pope to the ultimate authority of Jesus Christ. Beyond this, it is said the red papal shoes also signify God’s burning love for humanity as exhibited during Pentecost when red vestments are worn to commemorate the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles as tongues of fire rest upon their heads. [1]
The papal shoes, along with the camauro, papal mozzetta, and cloak (tabarro), are the only remnants of the former red color of the papal garments. Pope Pius V (1566 – 1572), who was a Dominican, changed the papal color to white by continuing to wear the white color of his Dominican religious order, and it has remained so since.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papal_shoes#:~:text=The%20indoor%20Papal%20Slippers%20were,in%20the%20footsteps%20of%20Christ.
[…] before the Dalai Lama’s appearance in Albany on May 6, 2009, [see Fact Checking Nxivm Stories: Did the Dalai Lama Endorse Keith Raniere and Nxivm? Clare and Sara Bronfman funded the publication [Ethical Publishing LLC] of a 352-page hardcover […]
Frank, I’ve followed & admire your expose of NXIVM. A small correction: in China, the Land of Silk, & its neighbors, silk was actually used as a currency, like gold. A thin scarf of silk, or katak, became a traditional gift, e.g., “offered” to people before they departed on journeys, to a Lama before & or after teachings, by the Lama to the sponsors of a teaching, & other special occasions when a Lama is greeting, blessing students/devotees. So other than “white” being traditionally associated with “purity” in many cultures, katak don’t have such associations. Also, katags come in all the primary colors, and receiving a gold katak from a Lama Is a far higher compliment than the very common white katak.
Also, the naughty Lama who was seduced into compromising His Holiness in this affair is the orphaned nephew of His Holiness Senior Attendant, i.e., a monk who has been with him every day for many decades. After the senior attendant’s sister died, he took a very parental interest in his nephew’s well-being which brought him into a position he’s not qualified to hold. And thirdly, the Tibetan “Government-in-Exile” is essentially an NGO caring for the educational, medical/health, housing, etc., welfare of a large Tibetan refugee population in India, along with supporting the precious religious heritage, including monasteries, of Tibetan Buddhism in Indian exile. His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, has overall responsibility for the exile community and is called upon to lend himself to fundraising on its behalf.
I don’t think the DL endorsed NXIVM, but he DID give them more than just a superficial credibility, and that is all that really mattered to Keith, the Bronfman sisters, the Salzmans, current members, etc. Before this event, NXIVM was suffering blow after blow in the public relations department. It was a bit of a public relations coup that NXIVM management was able to change the mind of the DL after the negativity in the media caused his handlers and others associated with him to convince him to turn down the original event after he had agreed to it. It allowed the organization to further maintain control over its existing members and sell itself as a credible ethical organization to others after the event simply due to the reputation of the DL.
The DL fell a few steps as a moral leader in my eyes after these set of events. A certain amount of money was enough to wheedle him into changing his mind so his reputation could be “bought” for a little while, even if he didn’t give the group any kind of ringing endorsement and urged them to be transparent and truthful. The latter just seemed like a way to walk the fine line between sincerity and insincerity that rationalization often engenders.
Anthony Fauci’s vaccine murdered boxer Marvelous Marvin Hagler
Hearns: Hagler Battled ‘After Effects’ of Covid Vaccine Before Death
Boxing legend Marvelous Marvin Hagler was “in an ICU fighting the effects of the vaccine,” before his death Saturday at the age of 66, according to friend and former rival Tommy Hearns.
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2021/03/14/hearns-hagler-battled-after-effects-covid-vaccine-before-death/
Anthony Fauci is the Joseph Mengele of America.
Frank, make sure your readers understand the Covid vaccine killed a world famous athlete
The most awkward moment in “The Vow” is when Keith, Nancy, and Sarah are meeting with the DL in Dharmsala. The DL gestures in KR’s general direction, and Keith grabs onto his hand as if the DV were attempting to warmly hold Keith’s greasy paw, which he clearly wasn’t. Minutes of awkward male hand-holding ensues.
“My investigation into the roundabout way the donation was made suggests that $2 million was donated to a US-based charity in his name and under his control. ” Frank Parlato
“Well, Hello Dalai!” Keith Raniere.
Let’s get real.
If Andrew Cuomo donated two million dollars to the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan Holy Man would give Cuomo a white scarf of Purity.
Interestingly enough, Andrew Cuomo was the NYS Attorney General when the Dalai Lama came to Albany, NY. And while he was in that position, Cuomo repeatedly refused to investigate the reported crimes of NXIVM and Keith Raniere.
Maybe Raniere had the goods on Cuomo.
I remember one of Andrew Cuomo’s predecessors, Elliott Spitzer, liked to patronize prostitutes.
Shadow, how could you?
How could you omit that bit of disheveled tragi-comedy?
That bit. That bite. That byte.
Cuomo being walked around outdoors by one of his daughters.
And he is looking rather like a very fucked-up and miserable simian-faced maybe human, who has said no, over and over again
to ever, EVER going to “rehab.”
Shrouded in a white shawl or a blanket
He bitterly stalks his own backyard.
Maybe he will accept a nursing home position or try some of his specially brewed hospice horse piss, one day soon.
I had finally worked up the nerve to propose to you — and then you used the word “irregardless” in one of your comments. Now, I have to reconsider whether you are, in fact, my long-sought-after soul mate.
Long ago hairbrained was put aside. Sacré bleu, forgive a little.
And here I’d dreamt that I had retired.
The adventures never really end.
My, my.
After 60 minutes of meditation, a full-body massage and seaweed wrap, and a half-bottle of crisp chardonnay, I have concluded it was I who transgressed. Clearly, I need to open up my mind to the freedoms that are part of the left coast experience irregardless of whether some of them make me uncomfortable.
I haven’t ever quite recovered from Dr. Zhivago when Yuri came to Lara in that Russian winter. My God.
She gazed at him and could only say, “Darling. My darling!”
You see what is really a COMPLETELY hopeless case, when you decide to want to look at me. A disappearance?
Certainly, it is all undefined, cannot be defined.
“Me no know me no tell, me push button, go like hell.” This was one of my auntie’s favorite lines. She was always generous.
I haven’t heard your auntie’s line since I was about 10-years old. Clearly, we are destined for one another.
The Dalai Lama sold his endorsement for 2 million dollars, doubling his price and cutting short the endorsement when he found out Nxivm was corrupt.
He’s far from the first religious leader to behave this way.
The White Sash of Purity being draped over Raniere’s neck is just priceless. Raniere the cheat, Raniere the philanderer, Raniere the liar, Raniere the child pornographer. Raniere the felon.
“The White Sash of Purity being draped over Raniere’s neck is just priceless. Raniere the cheat, Raniere the philanderer, Raniere the liar, Raniere the child pornographer. Raniere the felon.” Aristotle’s Sausage
They say that Clothes Make the Man.
Did their sexual relationship start only AFTER the Dalai Lama spoke, or did Sara offer up sex BEFORE, to induce Tenzin to help bring the Dalai Lama to Albany?
It began before and I believe it was offered to seal the Dalai deal.
The Dalai Lama was diplomatic but he made some verbal hints, especially regarding honesty and transparency. Perhaps he wasn’t aware of the disappearance of Kristin Snyder, in 2003 from a Nxivm intensive in Anchorage, when he visited Albany to speak, six years later.
I do have a sense that the Dalai Lama smelled a big rat, though. Probably he wasn’t made of aware of certain details, from his distance. He was wanted as a celebrity guest, to endorse what Raniere and his group were doing. His own cause could benefit via a hefty slice or two of Bronfman “large$$e,” and then there was that mess with one of the Tibetan celi-BUM-bate monks and Sara Bronfman. That could have been something that was brought up and discussed, later and privately, with the easily temptable “monkey monk” himself.
But Raniere and company always made promises which they had zero intention of keeping, as what they were heading was a congame, packed with elaborately designed bait-and-switch, short and long cons, with no hesitancy to behave criminally, in order to protect their entire congame setup, irregardless of what was true or false. Deceivers cannot afford to confront truthfulness.
Nancy Salzman can be seen in photos taken with the Dalai Lama. She can be seen, sitting tensely and literally CLAMPING her mouth down, shut. I look at her and have no doubt what that clamped mouth signifies, out of Nancy Salzman. It is, essentially fear. She had too much that had to be suppressed and concealed, personally and as a so-called leader.
And Nancy Salzman knew that back then in 2009, and most likely is still contending with what she wants to hide, even now.
This appears to be the only thing authentic about Nancy Salzman. The mouth that roared so vaingloriously as a “leader” is really a mouth clutched in rigid tension, and she has one helluva task, keeping that mouth of hers shut.
Salzman, like Raniere, is totally unprepared. She never will be ready, from her position, to contend with anyone who can see through her. She has been attached to her role as a complete phony and seems to not want to find the courage, or the honesty, to come clean. Who can guess what goes on in her mind now, really? Her fake reputation as a reliable light, on the road to self-enhancement, is officially dead.
Having watched quite a lot of others play Nancy Salzman’s starring role, to me, Nancy has always been a repugnantly falsified fool, attached to gratifying her ego and gaining a lifestyle based upon outright deception. Not that she has been the only one next to Raniere who disguised her materialistic, egotistical motives and pretended that Nxivm, Executive Success, Nexium, etc. was selling self-help. There are more of these sorts of personalities, still hoping to hide in plain sight.
The Dalai Lama smelled $3MM. He’s a platitude spouting con man. I doubt he was too much impressed by Raniere, but game respects game.
Keith has the reverse Midas touch. Everything and everyone he touches becomes tarnished. Keith turns gold into polluted smoke. Keith is a reverse miracle worker. He cripples the healthy. Keith weakens the strong. He turns the sighted blind. Keith makes the successful destitute. Like an evil magician, Keith will make your money disappear with one hand and put you in handcuffs with his other while distracting his audience of followers with cheap stagecraft and his harem of succubus assistants in colorful scarves.
Parasitic. Grifting. Destructive. Luciferian.
I agree, Keith is a loser. Not to get all biblical but there’s a great passage there saying something like you will know (the truth of) people by their fruits. Suffering and destruction seem to surround this man. You said it so eloquently. And I find it so sad.
Its just so obvious. Once again, nxivm people with their sex, money and power at work. For the same reason a woman shouldn’t seduce a married man, Sara had no business seducing a celibate monk. Except that this was just business as usual.
It seems this group must, at all costs, tempt and manipulate people into damaging situations. The Lama Tanzen could have known better. Because now he stands defrocked while she carries on with her life happily married to another man.
I’m not here to judge their relationship. But if the Nxivm leadership was so great and ethical, why did nobody slap her upside the head? Sara had almost nothing to lose by having sex whereas this man had his entire life.
$3,000,000 buys a lot of enlightenment, apparently.
Knowingly or unknowingly, the Dalai Lama endorsed Nxivm. To the general public, it was an endorsement. Here’s a recent historical analogy: Donald Trump denied Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky an invitation to the Oval Office, because Trump didn’t want to endorse Ukraine over Russia (and because Trump wanted campaign help from Ukraine).
“To the general public, [the Dalai Lams’s visit] was an endorsement.”
And the clueless Nx-ers thought so too. A couple years ago the FR asked ex-Nx-ers if the cult felt he endorsed Kieth or criticized him, and they said Nx-ers all thought it was an endorsement. Money well spent.
Sterling,
Spare us your ‘historical analogies’! Ukraine is a land, a product of several annexations from actual countries! It is just an amalgamation executed via brute force and mass murder.