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In addition to his own open sexual relations with students, the sexual relations of Trungpa's first appointed Vajra Regent, [[Ösel Tendzin]], have been a cause for some dissent due to the Vajra Regent's [[HIV]] status. See [[Ösel Tendzin]] for details.
Others have been disturbed by behavior that appeared to be abusive. Most famously, at the Halloween party at the Fall,1975 Snowmass Colorado Seminary, after many had been disrobed, including Trungpa himself, on Trungpa's orders his Vajra Guard forced entry into the locked and barricaded room of poet [[W. S. Merwin]] and Merwin's girlfriend Dana Naone; brought them, against their will, to the party; and forcibly stripped them of all their clothes, onlookers ignoring Naone's pleas for help and for someone to call the police (Sanders, 1977, throughout; Miles 1989, pp. 466-470; and Clark 1980, pp. 23-25). However, Merwin and Naone remained at the Seminary for several more weeks to hear the Vajrayana teachings, with Trungpa's promise that "there would be no more incidents," and Merwin and Naone's assertion that "it would be with no guarantees of obedience, trust, or personal devotion to him." (Sanders, 1977, pg. 88) Following the Seminary, Trungpa made no public statements about the incident. However, in a 1977 letter to members of a Naropa class investigating the incident, Merwin concluded, "My feelings about Trungpa have been mixed from the start. Admiration, throughout, for his remarkable gifts; and reservations, which developed into profound misgivings, concerning some of his uses of them. I imagine, at least, that I've learned some things from him (though maybe not all of them were the things I was 'supposed' to learn) and some through him, and I'm grateful to him for those. I wouldn't encourage anyone to become a student of his. I wish him well." (Sanders, 1977, pg. 89) It later became a [[cause célèbre]] among some poets and artists, with Turtle Island Press publisher Bob Callahan circulating a petition calling for a boycott of Naropa (Miles 1989, pp. 476-482). Poet [[Kenneth Rexroth]]'s comment was that "Trungpa has unquestionably done more harm to Buddhism in the United States than any man living." (Clark 1980, back cover)
Despite-- or perhaps because of-- his unconventional methods, which are often described in terms of the Tibetan tradition of "crazy wisdom", or teaching that confounds social conventions, Trungpa is widely recognized as a preeminent teacher of Tibetan Buddhism in the West. Rick Fields, historian of American Buddhism and long-time student of Trungpa ([http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0877736316?v=glance]), said "He caused more trouble and did more good than anybody I've ever known" ([http://www.levity.com/interbeing/authors.html]). == Chronology ==
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