Pure Perception and Pure Suffering

A Reflective Testimony on Devotion, Coercion, and Recovery

This text was originally written for publication in a Routledge volume on Health and Healing, but was withdrawn due to legal concerns about institutional defamation.

It is a personal, critical, and trauma-informed account of my experience within a Tibetan Buddhist organisation. It reflects on the bodily and spiritual impact of coercion, silence, and the complex entanglements of devotion and power.

I share this as part of a larger inquiry into truth-telling, rupture, and reclamation within contemplative and artistic practice.

Please read with care. This work contains references to spiritual abuse and psychological trauma.

Access is available upon request

View of the moon rising over the Himalayas, Sidhpur, Himachal Pradesh, India, photographed by Damchö

I share this text with gratitude for those who have walked similar paths, and in support of conversations rooted in integrity, mutual care, and healing.