Sakyong Mipham

In February 2018, Buddhist Project Sunshine, an organization founded as a survivors' network for former Shambhala members, reported multiple allegations of sexual assault within the Shambala community. In June 2018, Buddhist Project Sunshine issued a second report detailing sexual misconduct by Sakyong Mipham that occurred as recent as 2011 and claimed that those within Shambhala International had concealed the misdeeds. In response, Sakyong Mipham stepped aside from his leadership role and the Shambhala governing council resigned. Sakyong Mipham also issued a statement saying "...that some of these women have shared experiences of feeling harmed as a result of these relationships. I am now making a public apology." In July 2018, Naropa Institute removed him from their board following the allegations of sexual misconduct.

In August 2018, Buddhist Project Sunshine released another report containing further allegations against Sakyong Mipham that included sexual encounters with minors, a charge that Shambhala International has denied. In December 2018, the Larimer County, Colorado Sheriff’s Office opened an investigation of the allegations of sexual assault. In February 2019, Shambhala International's interim governing council issued a report by Wickwire Holm, a Canadian law firm, that detailed two credible allegations of sexual assault against Sakyong Mipham. Later that month, six members of his Dorje Kasung (body protectors) wrote an open letter corroborating his physical and sexual assaults upon others. Sakyong Mipham subsequently stated that he would cease teaching for the "foreseeable future.". He returned to teaching in March, 2020.

Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche is the head of the Shambhala organization, a global network of meditation and retreat centers. He has written several books, including the national bestseller Turning the Mind into an Ally, Ruling Your World, Running with the Mind of Meditation, and The Shambhala Principle. His most recent book, The Lost Art of Conversation, was released in October 2017. In 2018, he stepped back from all teaching and administrative duties due to ongoing investigation and public discussion of his alleged sexual and organizational misconduct, then resumed teaching in March 2020.

The Sakyong holds and propagates the teachings of Shambhala, an enlightened society that is either legendary or historical. This tradition emphasizes confidence in the basic goodness of all beings and teaches courageous rulership based on wisdom and compassion. The term "Sakyong" literally means "earth-protector" in Tibetan, although it is colloquially understood to mean "king". Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche is regarded as a chögyal (Sanskrit dharmaraja) – "king of truth" – who combines the spiritual and worldly paths. The first Dharmaraja of Shambhala, Dawa Sangpo, was said to have been empowered directly by the Buddha. The Sakyong is the earthly embodiment or emanation of the Rigden — enlightened awareness — and in this sense he is a tulku (Tibetan), or nirmanakaya (Sanskrit) of the Rigden.

The consort of the Sakyong is referred to as the Sakyong Wangmo. The first Sakyong Wangmo was Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche's wife, Diana Mukpo. The current Sakyong Wangmo is Sakyong Mipham's wife Khandro Tseyang Ripa Mukpo, the daughter of Terton Namkha Drimed Rabjam Rinpoche. The Sakyong and Sakyong Wangmo were married on 10 June 2006 in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Khandro Tseyang was officially empowered as Sakyong Wangmo by Penor Rinpoche at a ceremony in Halifax in August 2008. The Sakyong and Sakyong Wangmo have three daughters. The first, Drukmo Yeshe Sarasvati Ziji Mukpo (Lady Dragon Wisdom), was born on 11 August 2010. The second, Jetsun Yudra Lhamo Yangchen Ziji Mukpo, was born in March 2013. The third, Dzedrön Ökar Yangchen Ziji Mukpo, was born on 10 April 2015.

In 1979, Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche performed a ceremony officially investing his son Ösel Rangdröl with the title of Sawang ("earth lord"). This confirmed Ösel as his Shambhala heir and the future Sakyong. After his father's death in 1987, the Sawang moved to Nepal and studied with Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche for three years, while Osel Tendzin, the Vajra Regent, succeeded Trungpa Rinpoche as Buddhist lineage holder and head of the various organizations established by Trungpa, including Vajradhatu, Shambhala Training, and Naropa University. When Tendzin died in 1990, the Sawang was acknowledged as Trungpa's successor in the Kagyu, Nyingma and Shambhala lineages and head of the organizations. In May 1995 the Sawang Ösel Rangdröl Mukpo was formally enthroned as Sakyong at a ceremony performed by Penor Rinpoche. After the enthronement, Penor Rinpoche recognized the Sawang as the tulku of Mipham the Great.

Sakyong Jamgon Mipham Rinpoche, Jampal Trinley Dradul (born Ösel Rangdrol Mukpo on November 15, 1962) is an American and Tibetan Buddhist descendant of the Shambhala lineage and Shambhala, a worldwide network of urban Buddhist meditation centers, retreat centers, monasteries, a university, and other enterprises, founded by his father, Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche. In July 2018, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche stated that he is stepping back from his duties due to an investigation into his alleged sexual misconduct.

Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche was born Ösel Rangdröl Mukpo in Bodhgaya, India on November 15, 1962. His father, Chögyam Trungpa, was a Buddhist monk who fled Tibet in 1959 (at age 20) and gradually became the head of a large party of refugees. His mother, Könchok Paldrön, was a young nun who met Trungpa in Tibet and fled with him to India. For several years, Mukpo lived with his mother in a Tibetan refugee camp in northwest India. His father left India in early 1963 to study at Oxford University. At the age of seven, he went to live with his father at Samye Ling in Scotland. Trungpa moved to the United States in 1970, and Ösel Mukpo joined his father there, in Boulder, Colorado along with his new stepmother Diana Mukpo in 1972. Ösel Mukpo has two younger half brothers (Gesar Mukpo and Tagtrug “Taggie” Mukpo) and one younger step brother (Ashoka Mukpo). All four of Trungpa’s sons were recognized at different intervals as reincarnated Buddhist masters or Tulkus.