For a couple of years, a small number of former trainees of the Monastic Academy for the Preservation of Life on Earth (MAPLE) has been spreading various false claims online about their experiences here, the organization, and the Head Teacher, Soryu Forall.
At the same time, most of them say they’re just trying to help us. Not only that, but they also still go to Forall in private for support with their practice, romantic relationships, even job hunting. They still tell him things like, “You are the only person I can trust”, “When it comes to the really important stuff, I don't have anyone else I can really count on.” One person remarked that Forall tells the truth even when it puts him in danger, and said, “Like, where can you find that?”
How are they capable of continuing to ask for care and benefit, while actively preventing many people from coming to visit or train, and receiving the kind of care and benefit that they received? In February 2026, Forall held a discussion with us that was the most illuminating yet.
He shared with us that even a decade back, when he made trainees stop doing things like talking for hours about their feelings so that they would work more for the benefit of the world, a group of them staged a protest in one of the org public events saying that MAPLE was abusing them, and people should stop supporting the organization. Afterwards, they all got back into the org car and happily went back to the academy, showing no sense that there was a break or departure.
Friend Kōshin made a helpful analogy. This is similar to how people would stage a huge protest in the city, perhaps light cars or buildings on fire. Afterwards, they wouldn’t imagine that they’d stop receiving protection from the police or military, using the transportation systems, or being subject to the law. In other words, they wouldn’t have any sense that they’d stop depending on the societal system. He said our modern society tolerates and even encourages civil disobedience, because it has found a way to use forms of protest to make the system itself more powerful.
Forall said that this isn’t the case for all cultures. Historically, Western cultures in Europe thrived on disagreements and competition, while Eastern cultures such as China strove for harmony and unity, so those influenced by Eastern cultures would tend to see acts of defection, betrayal and harm accurately as such, while those influenced by Western cultures could see them completely differently, as supporting and helping.
I was totally stunned when I heard this. “What? They’re just really delusional?”
At that point, a question had puzzled me for about a year. I’m of Chinese (Han) descent, born in China, and came to the U.S. when I was ten years old, so I grow up partly in both cultures. In China, I learned from many children’s stories that if someone helps you out, especially if they save your life, then the right thing to do is to repay them, perhaps with your own life. If instead a character hurts their benefactor, then they’re understood to be either immature or ignorant.
About a year ago, some people I had personally trained with started harming the community online. I had cared for them, and seen how deeply the community had cared for them, and how much benefit they received from training here. So I had been baffled, pondering: "How are they capable of hurting those who cared for them so?” This discussion finally resolved it. Something deep inside welled up, and I couldn’t help but exclaim, “Barbarians!”
Many people laughed, including Forall, an American of Scottish descent. It was a perfect microcosmic demonstration of what we were discussing.
The conversation continued, with many related aspects explored, such as how Europeans welcomed and even invited critiques about European civilization from native people such as the Iroquois in order to use those to reorganize their own civilization during the Renaissance. Near the end, Forall reminded us that for all these reasons, there is no reason to hate the people attacking us.
While I was still struggling with anger and disappointment towards them, the discussion helped me bring forth more compassion for the extreme depth of their confusion, and wish for them to be free from it.