TarcherPerigee, an imprint of the Penguin Group, has discontinued its relationship with Lodro Rinzler, an author and Shambhala Buddhist teacher, and will no longer publish his upcoming book, How to Be Decent, which was scheduled for the fall. The decision follows an accusation against Rinzler of sexual misconduct from a woman associated with the global meditation organization Shambhala International, according to ThinkProgress.
The report indicates that Rinzler, a teacher at Shambhala International and the author of six books on meditation, allegedly forced the unnamed woman into sex with him in 2013 during a book tour for Walk Like Buddha (Shambhala Publications). The accusation surfaced in July after several women came forward with allegations of sexual misconduct against Shambhala International’s leader, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, of whom Rinzler was a student. Rinzler left Shambhala International on July 1 citing the internal investigation of Sakyong Mipham, though the organization was already conducting an internal investigation of Rinzler as well, according to ThinkProgress.
According to the book’s description, How to Be Decent was to feature “entertaining and useful advice on everyday mindfulness” from Rinzler, who is the chief spiritual officer at MNDFL, a for-profit meditation center with three locations in New York City. Rinzler's other books include The Buddha Walks into a Bar and Love Hurts, both published by Shambhala Publications, which is an independent Buddhist publisher unaffiliated with Shambhala International.
“We have no new projects planned with Lodro Rinzler, but we will continue to keep our backlist titles by him in print," Shambhala's executive v-p and co-owner, Sara Bercholz, told PW.
This story has been updated with new information.
