Question: “i don’t consider myself a buddhist, but i’m really interested in buddha’s teachings and i thought about becoming a buddhist multiple times before. a few days ago though, i discovered something very shocking and horrifying about tantric tibetan buddhism. quite a lot of sources that seem trustable to me, claim that tantric tibetan monks have brutal rituals where women get raped and that it is normal for them to think that women are of minor value. i read up on this the last few days and i found out that they are also accused of sexually molesting young boys. the more i read, the more shocked i was. could you tell me if these rituals really do exist, and if so, is it only common in tibetan buddhism or also in other forms of buddhism? and if it is true, why is the dalai lama still so respected? and what do the other buddhists think about this, why don’t they help the molested girls and boys? i know those are a lot of questions but i’d be deeply grateful to hear the answers of an expert.”
Ah. Okay. The first thing to know is that Tibetan Buddhism is its whole other kind of Buddhism, aside from Mahayana and Hinayana. Though they’re under the Mahayana umbrella, Tibetan Buddhism is mostly influenced by the local religion, Bön, and local beliefs and superstitions. It is because of this super-merged local religion with Buddhism that Tibetan Buddhism (Vajrayana) is so dramatically popular with their art, deities, rituals, ceremonies, etc.
Vajrayana is usually distinguished between the “Red Hats” and “Yellow Hats.” The Dalai Lama is a yellow hat, the “good” hat. They are what most will consider nobel, virtuous, and “real Buddhism.” Red hats don’t necessarily follow monastic vows; they get married, have sex, have children, drink, eat meat, and participate in “death” rituals using human and animal bones. Among other things.
Tantric practices are different for many of the Vajrayana schools. Tantric Buddhism might also refer to Vajrayana – Tibetan Buddhism – it just means “secret teachings” that supposedly the Buddha taught. These were teachings on meditation practices and the idea of no-self.
All these practices and teachings are usually only focused in Tibetan Buddhism, no other school of Buddhism (Mahayana or Hinayana) has practices of deity worship (besides of buddhas and bodhisattvas, but they’re not considered deities anyway), or practices of witchcraft and shamanism, or extreme rituals as Vajrayana would.
Smile and be well!