The Truth About Dharma Ocean: What You Need To Know

Dharma Ocean is a non-profit foundation with the single mission and purpose of teaching and transmitting meditation according to a specific Tibetan Buddhist lineage.

Dharma Ocean is not a community in the usual sense of being driven by the wide range of desires, interests, and needs typically found in any large group. The various Dharma Ocean community structures and activities are oriented around and in support of our core mission of teaching meditation. Dharma Ocean is modeled on a university system, with students taking courses, then “graduating” and moving on.

Because enduring organizations can develop insular, myopic views within the “bubble,” Dharma Ocean has consistently relied on outside eyes — people with no connection to our community or to Buddhism — to examine and evaluate our organization from top to bottom. Professional auditors review Dharma Ocean’s financial records and vet all income and expenses on a yearly basis. The findings are publicly posted on the Dharma Ocean website. In its history, there has never been an instance of financial abuse or embezzlement in Dharma Ocean — only full compliance with the financial statutes and laws as they apply to non-profit organizations. Dharma Ocean also relies on expert legal evaluation to ensure that no actionable activities occur within the organization.

For several years Dharma Ocean has engaged consultants to observe and evaluate its community culture. These evaluations include extensive, confidential interviews with community members at every level. The results are collated and made publicly available. Based on the information and feedback, Dharma Ocean engages in an ongoing process to change and improve organizational structures, communication, and transparency. One such highly regarded consultant has been working continuously with Dharma Ocean for the past three years.

Sexual Harassment and Conduct Policies

While the organization is currently transitioning to an online format, historically, Dharma Ocean held courses and events at its Blazing Mountain Retreat Center, with up to 150 participants at a time. To ensure the integrity of these events, Dharma Ocean developed a long-standing relationship policy that is, by current standards, conservative and strict.

This means that teachers and those in leadership positions are prohibited from initiating or being receptive to romantic relationships with students and attendees. Those who have violated this policy, whether they are instructors, senior students, or administrators, have been disciplined.

Dharma Ocean also has adapted a strictly enforced, zero-tolerance sexual harassment policy. Instructors that have violated this policy have been separated from the community. Beyond this, Dharma Ocean has policies and procedures regarding conduct based on Rosenberg’s model of non-violent communication, considered the gold standard of acceptable communication. This is a dynamic process requiring ongoing evaluation.

Inclusivity

Dharma Ocean has a strong inclusivity and diversity policy. Dharma Ocean has historically been based mainly in Colorado; as a result, our community demographic has been largely white. At the same time, we have welcomed people from other racial and cultural groups with appreciation and openness, reflected in the policy of extending opportunities such as scholarships. People of color are found among our most senior teachers and our board of directors in a percentage exceeding the general demographic. No person of color has ever accused Dharma Ocean of racism.

Since its beginning, LGBTQI people have been part of the Dharma Ocean community and have occupied key leadership positions, including on the Dharma Ocean board of directors, heading key committees, and standing among our most senior teachers. While some LGBTQI individuals have reported a lack of sensitivity among cisgender or heterosexual people, this does not equate to homophobia.

Hierarchy and Gender

Dharma Ocean has two lineage holders: a woman, Caroline Pfohl, and a man, Reggie Ray. During most of its history, Dharma Ocean has been overseen and managed by Caroline. Dharma Ocean’s senior teachers are more than 50% women. The senior member of Dharma Ocean’s board of directors is a minority woman.

The larger group of Vajrayana Mentors, an empowered group of senior meditation instructors, are also more than 50% women. Over the past ten years, our board chair has often been a woman, and women have usually made up the plurality of board members. Most Dharma Ocean’s senior staff are women. This is fitting because this lineage represents, in Tibetan terms, “the Mother Lineage,” and its teachings are historically believed to derive at least in large part from female teachers.

Over the past five or six years, Dharma Ocean has been moving to decentralize, distributing authority and responsibility more widely, and empowering senior students as teachers in their own rights. In addition, with our current worldwide sangha and students participating in programs from the US, Canada, Mexico, South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia/New Zealand, we are creating a holacratic model with an international oversight group that shepherds the community, setting the values and priorities of the whole, but delegating most of the decision making to the local communities.

Organizational Feedback Practices

Many years ago, the Dharma Ocean community created “mandala” councils — small groups of practitioners who were responsible for overseeing various aspects of community life, including the family council, a counsel for health and wellbeing, a council for our aging members, a diversity council, practice, study, and finance councils, and so on. These groups link community members with one another and with the board of directors, administration, and other leadership. This allows a system of receiving and sharing feedback from the community.

Dharma Ocean has an ombudsman’s office, with counselors from outside the organization available when needed. This office manages procedures for reconciliation for anyone feeling wronged by their teachers, other sangha members, or the organization. This area is overseen and assisted by an outside counselor.

In addition, the community regularly hosts various online agenda-free forums for open discussion and feedback. These are typically for groups ranging from the entire global Dharma Ocean community to Vajrayana practitioners, meditation instructors, and mentors, to smaller ongoing cohorts of eight or ten practitioners. Some are peer-led, others are hosted by senior practitioners, teachers, or occasionally hosted by outside facilitators.

Meditation, Vajrayana Buddhism, and Psychology

Dharma Ocean serves those who seek effective, accessible training in Somatic, or embodied meditation. Many are satisfied with utilizing these methods to develop a meditation practice — others choose to enter Dharma Ocean’s path to Vajrayana Buddhism. Those who prefer to simply learn these methods are not required to enter the Vajrayana path, and the non-dogmatic, secular Somatic Meditation practices are compatible with any spiritual or religious model — all are welcome.

Somatic meditation methods potentially trigger dormant or unrecognized psychological issues — some find it helpful to engage in professional counseling for support as they develop their meditation practice. This “stirring of the depths” of the psyche is a recognized pattern that some encounter when embracing a consistent meditation discipline. Traditionally this is viewed as an auspicious opportunity to recognize and release habitual tendencies and beliefs that do not serve an individual’s spiritual growth and development. Seeking support and counseling is a healthy, proactive way to work through arising issues, and serves the development of spiritual and emotional maturity. Dharma Ocean wholeheartedly endorses this option but does not offer such services — this is beyond the scope of Dharma Ocean’s mission and purpose.

For those who wish to continue with the Vajrayana teachings, Dharma Ocean offers a clear training curriculum that, over time, leads one into the Vajrayana methods. This journey demands commitment and discipline on the part of the student and teacher. Those who find that this is not appropriate for their lives, or simply “not a fit,” are free to withdraw from the training curriculum at any time. Dharma Ocean encourages participants to be honest with themselves regarding their capacity and to slow down if needed. Meditation practice and Vajrayana Buddhism are not replacements for psychological counseling, and the Dharma Ocean community is not a platform for healing unresolved family relationships and other traumas.

The Student/Teacher Relationship

Within the ancient Vajrayana tradition, the taking of or being accepted by a qualified teacher is a pivotal moment, ideally meaning that the student is willing to accept teaching and direction that will challenge misconceptions regarding self and others. In the West, we often regard our view of self and world as an identity to defend and protect.

Within the tradition, the teacher’s role is to point out one’s own internal obstacles to realization — this is potentially anathema to the “western” ego and sometimes obsessive focus on one’s egoic identity center. For most anyone on this journey, going through the spiritual process of unmasking the ego can provoke strong, antagonistic responses. Surrendering to spiritual authority in the tradition may be mistaken by Westerners as a surrender of self-determinism. Paradoxically, it is the opposite. Freeing oneself from the unconscious determinants of an exclusively ego-based view of oneself and the world leads to true freedom and self-determination.

The rigors of Vajrayana are not for everyone, nor do authentic Vajrayana teachers claim to offer a panacea for all of life’s challenges. Those who are drawn to Vajrayana Buddhism must carefully consider whether the practices, the particular lineage, and its senior teachers are appropriate for their lives. If not, the student would ideally exercise the emotional maturity needed to recognize that this is not what they seek. The teacher(s) cannot easily make this determination but may arrive at that conclusion on the student’s behalf over time.

The legitimate Vajrayana teacher has a commitment and responsibility to protect both the teachings and the students and to accept as students only those who show signs of readiness and capability. This is why many Vajrayana practices are closely held and reserved for students who have developed the view and capacity required to engage with them. Some interpret this as “secrecy,” but in fact, this is meant to protect students and the teachings. That said, no teacher is omniscient or infallible.

Both teacher and student must commit to candor and transparency. A student may perceive direct feedback as an insult to their ego or identity. If this is the case, it is best that the student seriously evaluates their inspiration to engage with the Vajrayana path. There is no blame or shame involved in stepping away from the teacher — in fact, this is seen as an act of maturity and responsibility, and part of one’s individual journey.

Challenges of a Changing Culture

Buddhism has become known in the Western world over the past two centuries. In the past 75 years, its practicing lineages — Ch’an, Zen, Vipassana, and Tibetan — have been increasingly sought out and taught. With few exceptions, these meditative traditions have been at home within the humanistic environment and values of traditional social and political liberalism.

However, over the past two decades, Western social environments have undergone dramatic and far-reaching changes that present new challenges to Buddhism. There has emerged from the humanistic, liberal world a modern leftist movement that promotes “identity politics” or “cancel culture,” which in some cases has taken the form of ideological tyranny. While the quest to challenge racism, gender bias, and inequality is essential, some principles have been tortured by the modernist left into conceptual abstractions that have been mistakenly used to shadow-box with those who are aligned with and committed to the principles of humanism and equality.

These influences have appeared within many Buddhist organizations. While there have been small numbers of these students in any given community, they are generally aggressively ardent and vocal about their views, and at times have had a disruptive impact that is disproportionate to their number. This has led to conflicts between those following the meditative path of dharma, seeking to recognize and dismantle their egoic identities, and those pursuing identity politics. Often these conflicts take the form of online targeting of established Buddhist communities.

In some cases, this approach has been coupled with attempts to replace the spiritual teachings of Buddhism with the ideology of identity politics. When such efforts have been successful, those with genuine commitment to meditation and the spiritual life have been forced to go elsewhere.

As with other spiritual communities, these dynamics have played out within Dharma Ocean over the past few years. In 2019, a small, politically motivated group published a series of accusations against Dharma Ocean online. In response, the board of directors chose to pause organizational activities and deeply examine Dharma Ocean’s mission, values, and operational methods by working with legal and HR consultants to determine whether the accusations had any possible merit. In the end, it was found that Dharma Ocean has consistently operated with integrity and transparency. Throughout this process, Dharma Ocean’s worldwide community continued to request that teachings and programs resume as soon as possible.

At the same time, the worldwide COVID pandemic emerged. For the safety of all, the Dharma Ocean board of directors canceled on-site programs at the Blazing Mountain Retreat Center, moving to an online teaching format with an enthusiastic response from students.

History shows that intellectual and social trends and theories come and go, reflecting the ever-changing nature of reality. In the end, most exhaust themselves and can be viewed, in hindsight, as passing conditions. While these events have been disruptive and challenging, it has been an important experience, deepening and clarifying Dharma Ocean’s resolve to protect and transmit the deeply human, profound spiritual teachings of our lineage, serve its students, and support other like-minded Buddhist communities in doing the same.

Dharma Ocean is a product of the Karma Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism which has endured since the 11th century. Our lineage forebear, Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, taught that connecting people with the fundamental goodness of their own innate nature and expressing respect and compassion for others is the most profound and impactful form of activism there could be. This is so because it provides the necessary foundation without which, more purely external forms of social engagement all too easily become dogmatic, accomplishing the opposite of their original intent. Dharma Ocean will continue to fulfill its mission and purpose by offering Somatic Meditation training and courses along with ongoing Vajrayana instruction and support in service of those who choose that path. To learn more about Dharma Ocean’s mission, vision, and values, click here.