Inside a Buddhist cult

Grab some headphones: I'm releasing serialized audio commentary for my book, Cultish. Here's Part 16.

I met Abbie* at a birthday party in LA while working on the first draft of Cultish, and within five minutes of chatting, her cult story came tumbling out: She’d just got out of two years in a Buddhist commune that was brought to its knees after several its members came forward with accounts of rampant sexual abuse. The group was called Shambhala, and it was totally the missing link in the religious cults section of Cultish. I was so grateful when she agreed to be a source for the chapter.

In today’s reading, I’m sharing the tail end of Abbie’s experience, along with some stories and BTS that didn’t quite make it into the book.