[jack_pp]

While I've never heard it put exactly that way I have been listening to a lot of Ram Dass and he has a few talks where he discusses Trungpa Rinpoche ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C3%B6gyam_Trungpa#Controver... ). The way I remember it for Ram Dass he saw Trungpa as enlightened so all the "bad" stuff he did was sort of ok because that was Trungpa's dharma and he did it in a detached state.

I understood it like.. just as there are people who's dharma is to reduce suffering in the world there are people who produce it and that's fine and normal.

LE: I think Ram Dass used the Hindu meaning for dharma which afaik means "path in life" not "teaching" like in Buddhism

[DasCorCor]

Or maybe his brutal exile from Tibet due to Chinese invasion traumatized him in some way. I’m not a fan of rationalizing abusive behavior or hypocrisy. People can gain a lot of skill at something but it doesn’t make them a good person. Elon Musk falls in a similar category IMO.

[jack_pp]

I don't think enlightened beings can be traumatized. A better theory I've heard it's that it is easy to keep vows when you live in a temple and never been tempted.

[DasCorCor]

My memory is that he had to escape through the Himalayas as a teenager. I don’t think teenagers can be enlightened beings. He failed to keep 2 of the 5 layperson Buddhist vows - a temple has nothing to do with it. From what I understand jhana >> booze, so why choose booze?