A new report claims His Holiness the Dalai Lama was paid $1 million by an Upstate New York "sex cult" that brands women to speak at their event.
According to The Daily Mail, the Dalai Lama received the fee to speak in front of 3,000 members of NXIVM (pronounced "nexium"), which has recently come under fire from former members. The Buddhist leader is seen in a photograph placing a khata, a traditional ceremonial Tibetan scarf, around the neck of the group's founder, Keith Raniere, in Albany.
NXIVM describes itself as a self-help organization, but former member Sarah Edmondson filed a complaint in July against a member who branded her. She said female members are required to be branded with Raniere's initials, "KR," and also must give their "master," or recruiter, naked photos or other compromising materials of themselves; Ranier allegedly manipulates women with sex and intimidates people who try to leave the group, threatening to expose those materials.
The New York Times reported last year that DOS, a women's only group within NXIVM, has been described as a "secret sorority" that also brainwashes members, puts them on starvation diets and beats them if they don't recruit enough "slaves." DOS, led by former "Smallville" actress Allison Mack, allegedly stands for "dominus obsequious sororium," Latin for "master over the slave women."
Members also reportedly include former "Dallas" star Catherine Oxenberg's daughter India Oxenberg, and wealthy Seagram's heiresses Sara and Clare Bronfman.
The Daily Mail reports Sara Bronfman helped book the Dalai Lama to speak at the Albany event in 2009 while in a relationship with his "personal emissary of peace" to the U.S., Lama Tenzin Dhonden. Bronfman can be seen on stage next to the Dalai Lama during the event in a YouTube video.
The Guardian reports Dhonden was replaced last month amid allegations of corruption. A Seattle-based technology entrepreneur claims Dhonden extorted him for "unjustified payments" between 2005 and 2008, in return for setting up an event with the Dalai Lama; Dhonden has denied all wrongdoing.
Whistleblower Frank Parlato has repeatedly detailed the allegations against NXIVM and Dhonden on his website, The Frank Report. He posted photos of Bronfman with Dhonden, a Buddhist monk that would have taken a vow of celibacy.
"Everyone in NXIVM knew the monk was a fraud. NXIVM used him to get the Dalai Lama to come to Albany and endorse the cult leader, Keith Raniere. The Dalai Lama was too wise to fall for this and DID NOT endorse the cult or its leader," Parlato wrote.
According to the Daily Mail, the Dalai Lama initially canceled the Albany event and several others in the U.S. that year due to controversy surrounding NXIVM. Bronfman and Raniere reportedly convinced him to come a month later by saying all the allegations of misconduct were false.
The Justice Department began a federal investigation of NXIVM in December, examining Raniere, the group's business dealings, and recruitment practices. NXIVM officials and associates have repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and dispute any allegation that it is a cult.
NXIVM, based in the Albany suburb of Colonie, has over 16,000 members in chapters nationwide, as well as in Canada and Mexico. A "20/20" special report focused on the group last month:
