answers to some questions about An Open Letter

Thank you to all who have been reading the blog, and especially to those who have taken the time to make comments.  I appreciate all of your contributions very much.

I wanted to briefly address some of the questions you have raised either publicly or privately:

  

"Are we to take it that the idea of setting up a grievance procedure has been dismissed out of hand?”

 I don’t really know, but I hope not!  The only person who can really answer that definitively would be someone from within Unfettered Mind.  I do know that, so far, there has been no response to the invitation extended by An Olive Branch last April to Stephanie Siebert, President of Unfettered Mind, to offer help to her and the board in setting up such a procedure.

“I wonder why you felt the need to "take to the streets"?”

Because there has been no movement using other means.   Prior to the publication of An Open Letter, and over a period spanning almost three years, we have tried different avenues to engage Unfettered Mind in addressing conflict and/or grievances: direct communication between the affected parties, an informal mediated dialogue and, now, recourse to an outside party to help us set up a formal grievance process.  All have been ignored or rejected by Unfettered Mind.

The only avenue currently available to students is to submit concerns in writing to Stephanie Siebert, President of Unfettered Mind.  Beyond that, there is no transparent procedure available as a guideline for any grievance process, and students who have used this avenue have felt dismissed and re-wounded.

“[your] objective is to ruin the reputation of a longtime respected teacher.”

This forum is not intended as a place to air personal grievances, or call into question the valuable contributions of a well-loved Buddhist teacher.  Its sole intention is to openly report on a serious impasse within his organization that has badly affected at least two students.  

I hope that nobody will harshly judge anyone else for any errors committed during this process; we are just human after all and even at times, as Peter reminds us, just fools.  But there is basic human goodness in every one of us and I hope that this is what will ultimately guide this discussion to which I invite everyone to participate freely.

I would again like to invite Mr. McLeod, the President and board of Unfettered Mind to participate in this discussion and to please correct me if I have misrepresented the situation in any way.  I do hope that you will ultimately agree to committing to a fair, compassionate and transparent way of handling conflict within your organization and this without jeopardizing anybody’s reputation.