◼ A 105-year-old Buddhist teacher in Los Angeles allegedly groped, molested and even raped female followers throughout his decades-long tenure as a leading Buddhist figure. - Cal Coast News
An investigation conducted by a council of Buddhist leaders suggested that Joshu Sasaki Roshi may have abused hundreds of women in his 50 years since arriving in Los Angeles.
“We see how, knowingly and unknowingly, the community was drawn into an open secret,” the council wrote. “We have reports that those who chose to speak out were silenced, exiled, ridiculed or otherwise punished.”
The Buddhist council investigation into Roshi began after a Zen website published a letter by Eshu Martin titled, “Everybody know.”
“It’s been sort of a tribal secret for 50 years, and I just wanted to provide an opportunity for people to start talking about this in an open forum that couldn’t be shut up,” Martin said about his letter.
