Southsea Sangha Official Statement

Friday 30th March, 2018. GMT 1.30pm

It with deep regret that Southsea Sangha are postponing teaching commitments with dharma teacher, Noah Levine, until the investigation by the US Against the Stream (ATS) Board of Directors, around reports of sexual misconduct have been completed.

If you have purchased a ticket for our Summer Retreat, please keep a close eye on your emails. We will make an announcement around the status of this retreat and the options available very soon.

This announcement may have an emotional impact on you and our growing sangha community. We acknowledge how difficult this could be for all involved.

May you take refuge in buddha, dharma and sangha. We will be in touch shortly. And breathe.

You can read the official ATS statement.

Noah Levine’s Response

To all who care about the Refuge Recovery, Against the Stream, Dharma Punx, and affiliated dharma communities:

Many of you received a letter yesterday from Against the Stream. The letter and the action taken by the board are based on a false allegation.

I have spent the last 30 years healing, recovering, and trying my best to help others do the same. I am certainly not a perfect or enlightened person, but I have found in the dharma a path that has led to an embodied honesty and transparency about any shortcomings I have. It is with that same transparency and honesty that I write this letter to make clear that what I am being accused of is absolutely untrue.

Here’s what is happening-

Recently a letter was sent out to members of our community and to undisclosed recipients. The letter contains an allegation made through a third party regarding a woman I was dating who has apparently made a claim that some of our consensual contact was somehow non-consensual. This never happened. All of our interactions were mutual with clear and open communication. The breadth and clarity of our conversations makes this accusation all the more surprising to me and those who know me.

I have made myself available to all involved parties to discuss the matter – not just to deny the allegation, but to make sure that every concern, every question, and every fact is addressed openly and truthfully.

Further, all of the governing bodies of the organizations I am involved with are aware of and responding to the letter. This includes the boards of Against the Stream and Refuge Recovery as well the executive team at Refuge Recovery Treatment Centers. The ethics council at Spirit Rock Meditation Center is also aware of this and will be doing their own inquiry into this accusation. I have also informed my teachers Jack Kornfield and Ajahn Amaro and will continue to be in direct contact with them.

I am doing my best to meet all of this with forgiveness and compassion, bringing mindfulness to all of the unpleasant thoughts, feelings, and sensations that are arising and passing through my heart, mind, and body.

With kindness, compassion, appreciation, and as much equanimity as I can embody in this present moment.

Noah Levine