Teacher-Student Relations in Two Tibetan Buddhist Groups in Helsinki

Abstract

Based on sixteen interviews with members of two Tibetan Buddhist groups in Helsinki, Finland, this article investigates how the role of the guru, power imbalance and power abuse are perceived by the students. This qualitative study aims at understanding what shape the reverence to the Vajrayana teacher takes in the egalitarian environment of a European country, where Buddhism is a relatively new phenomenon. The interviews show that while teachers are not losing importance, ways of choosing and paying respect to them changes. They also reveal confusion in defining abuse, and emphasis on personal agency and teachers’ accountability for avoiding it.