Sat, 18 Sep 2010
The Mess at KTD
There's been a blowup at Karma Triyana Dharmachakra (KTD). A new list of authorized teachers has been drawn up and several teachers who were formerly on this list are no longer on it, most notably Bardor Tulku. Two years ago Byron Coulter, who was the administrator of KTD, was summarily dismissed by KTD's president Tenzin Chonyi. And in the aftermath some angry words were exchanged between Bardor Tulku and Tenzin Chonyi. Bardor Tulku then resigned from the board of KTD and devoted his time to building his own center on the other side of the Hudson River. So there's some suspicion that the decision to drop Bardor Tulku from the list of speakers is payback. The decision has provoked a lot of outrage. Long time staff members have resigned and I hear that donations are being withheld.
So much for the back story. The reason I'm throwing my two cents in is that I don't think people are drawing the correct conclusion from this problem. At least not clearly. Some are saying that the problem is that KTD is too traditional and autocratic, where the Tibetan lamas are the aristocracy and the Westerners the serfs. Others are saying that Tenzin Chonyi is incompetent and erratic and needs to be replaced. But I think the real problem is that there is a lack of consultation between KTD and its members, particularly in the satellite centers, the KTC's. If you are going to change the list of authorized teachers and especially if you are going to drop formerly authorized teachers, you had better consult with a wide circle of members before making that decision. And if you do not, the result will be the disaster that we see now. So it's not a matter of improving the central board at KTD by expanding it or replacing members. Which is the solution that HH Karmapa's office tried after Byron was fired. The solution is to have a better understanding of what decisions the central board can take without consulting its members before hand. It's not a question of what the bylaws say, it's a question of understanding how people are. "Give us your money and shut up and do as you are told," does not work as an organizational model. The way to fix this problem is not to fire Tenzin Chonyi. It's to apologize for revising the list of authorized speakers without consulting the members, to resort the old list in the interim, and to draw up a new list after consulting.
Of course, no one at KTD or in the Karmapa's Office has asked me for advice. But I feel like a steward on the Hindenburg telling a passenger not to use his cigarette lighter.
