#1
When I went to a Diamond Way centre for the first time I was received very warmly and surrounded with hugs and kisses. Everyone was very interested in who I was, what I was doing and what were my opinions. Then the more I stayed in the center I started to notice that what I thought was in fact pretty irrelevant. Its what the Lama says that matters. I think its so evident that all the statements that they make (The west is full of good karma, you should always be critical in your thinking, women are well appreciated in Diamond way Buddhism, Buddha would be so proud to have you as a student etc..) are merely a way to get people interested of the practice. For an example I was said that it is so good that I had critical thinking. When you spend a little more time you notice that critical thinking is the last thing that is tolerated especially if it questions even a little their beliefs.
Also, they seem to elevate themselves completely above the rest of the religions. When this was questioned as arrogant behavior they just stated that that’s just the way it is. A fact or a reality of life. I think the practice can be dangerous for a number of reasons. The very first thing I noticed in the centre was that whenever someone showed critical thinking inside the group their “leader” immediately started to talk in a very provocative way, stating “how things are” and just a long monologue of why the critical thoughts have no basis in their world. I don’t think I ever witnessed a genuine dialogue when discussing about existential matters. There was simply no room for it. It seemed to me that everyone was trying to learn by heart Oles “The way things are” and discussions always ended in someone reciting its texts. They also seem to elevate themselves above pretty much the rest of the world also. Statements such as: “Psychology can only get a sick person normal, but Buddhism can make a normal person super-normal” just show the lack of common knowledge in basic human sciences and its just ridiculous. The fact that the teachers even use this to promote themselves should put the warning lights on in everyones heads.
I saw a lot of anger based behavior but it was always seen as active compassion. Critical thinking was seen as “ego-problems” or pride and practitioners were always feeling really guilty after having these very sane reactions in an unhealthy environment. Then they went reciting mantras hoping these feelings would go away. I think it is just not healthy. Not healthy at all. All normal reactions of the mind that we should listen to and learn to work with were seen as “obstacles in our way to enlightenment” and were suppressed.
I´m not even going to go to the anti-Islam statements of Ole or the “if you have bad karma you´ll be reborn to black Africa” opinions. It is a well known fact that a cult or a sect needs to have an opposite polarity or “enemy” in order to be successful. Its not hard to see where all the anger is channeled what the members are trying so hard to suppress. These are just racist statements and I urge people to use their common sense. You shouldn’t be fooled by Ole´s charismatic appearance and his tendency to give the most simple answers to questions to which even the wisest men in the world can give simple answers. Yes, you feel what he is saying is so true, but maybe its just what we westerners want to hear in this age and time. We have little patience in our active lifestyle and we want results fast. A shortcut to wisdom and enlightenment. Its just missing the 50 years of life-experience and work that is not always easy.

#2
When I first joined Diamond Way, all the other members were very friendly towards me, however as time went on, they were more and more gossiping about each other and me behind my back. There also was a huge pressure to donate money to the group, which got more and more over time. For every meditation ritual, you had to buy a new book. You were not allowed to borrow anyone elses. You were also encouraged to buy photos of Ole Nydahl and various deities. Whenever Ole Nydahl or one of his 'travelling teachers' was in the country, there was a huge pressure to go to lectures, which always cost a lot of money. As time went on, the pressure grew, and other members became more and more manipulative. At this time, I realied something was very wrong with the group as a whole and the racism, homophobia and hatred Ole Nydahl was teaching (and how little it had to do with Buddhism). It was about this time that I also found out about Ole Nydahl's sexual abuse of female followers. Unfortunately, I was deep in, and brainwashed, so it took me another year and a half to finally leave. After I left, I was accused by members (who had insisted they were my friends while I was in the group) of being 'mentally ill' and that was what they gossiped inside the group as being my reason for leaving. I then recieved abusivg e-mails, letters and phone calls from these people, several of which accused me of somehow stealing books that I had paid for.

#3
I am a former member, and during my time inside the group (about 2 years), i experienced sexual abuse, extreme pressure to donate money people didn't have, and guilt if it was not donated, or if the sexual abuse was reported. If it was reported to anyone else in the group, it was dismissed, and said to be the abused's fault for not accepting it.
Their leader, Ole Nydahl, calls himself 'Lama Ole', despite having never completed the 3-year retreat needed to qualify for the title of Lama. He has sexually abused his followers, and an affair with one of the group's members, despite being married to his (now dead) wife, Hannah. I don't doubt he had other affairs that were better covered-up. All members are encouraged to be either celibate or monogamous. Typical cult 'do as I say, not as I do' and 'one rule for the leader, another for everyone else'. Ole Nydahl is now well-known in Buddhist circles for being a fraud and regarded as dangerous. Members are not allowed to read books by anyone other than their leader, Ole Nydahl, and any books found being read by anyone else will be banned from the centres. There is a huge uclt of personality around Ole Nydahl, and he is surrounded by a large number of groupies who prevent any embarrassing questions being asked.
Ex-members who admit to the group about leaving are harassed and pressured to re-join the group. Members of the organisation are urged to edit Wikipedia and similar websites in order to provide a one-sided favourable view on the internet of their organisation and leader. Members are also encouraged to get media attention to spread similar messages.
All this before even getting onto the reasons why what they teach is not authentic Buddhism!!

#4
In my personal experience, the more I learn and understand about Tibetan Buddhism, the more I see how shallow and superficial Ole Nydahl's Diamond Way teachings are. Truly it is Buddhism Light, or Coca Cola Buddhism, it really is Buddhism that's been watered down and westernized. One thing is the shallowness and superficial teachings, his hate-speech concerning Muslims is hardly compassionate or tolerant, it borders on outright racism.
As for the freewheeling, relaxed attitude towards sex observed at Diamond Way centers, it would be less disturbing if Ole Nydahl didn't exploit his lama status to frequently have sex with female students, something that went on even while his wife, the late Hannah Nydahl, was alive, and continues to this day.
I agree that Diamond Way is a cult built around Ole Nydahl's personality. Ole Nydahl haven't done the traditional 3 year retreat that other lamas go through, and after the death of HH the 16th Karmapa hasn't done any substantial studies. He simply does not have the same deep knowledge of the dharma that more qualified lamas have. Yes, he is higly praised by the 14th Sharmapa and Trinley Thaye Dorje, the less recognized of the two 17th Karmapa candidates, but it's a push-me-pull-you-setup. He backs them up in claiming that Trinley Thaye Dorje is the real 17th Karmapa, in return they assure everyone that he is fully qualified to bear the title of lama when no other lamas in their right mind would do the same.
Ole Nydahl compensates for his lacking knowledge of the dharma with his charisma and talk of his succes. When you go to a Diamond Way dharma talk with Ole, you will hear him talking alot about his successful work with setting up Diamond Way centers around the world. Time that could be spent talking about the dharma.
It is truly a shame that many Western people get introduced to Tibetan Buddhism by a teacher lacking deep knowledge of the dharma, a teacher so prejudiced and a teacher with extremely bad ethics when it comes to sexual teacher/student relationships.

#5
You are absolutely correct. I’ve attended the DW centre in Holborn (London, UK).
Yes Diamond way is a cult, I've had extremely painful experiences with them. It took me the larger part of a year to recover from them.
I confirm every point you made. (And well written too). I classify them as dangerous and even evil.
They sell alcohol, (without a drinks license) in the centre despite the Buddhist precept which negates the drinking of alcohol. Yet Ole recommends they go out drinking!!
I've known a few people part with their money and regret it.

#6
It´s nice to see that I´m not the only one out there. I really urge people to write about their experiences. I´m sure there is lots of others also with similar experiences but who are afraid to write about them. I was also told that you are going to have lots of bad karma and unpredictable obstacles in your life if I decided to talk against them. If thats not manipulation and using fear as a motive to keep people quiet I dont know what is. Textbook Cult behaviour.
What strikes me the most is the omnipotent position that mr. Nydahls has aquired for himself. He can pretty much do or say anything and most members think he is always right because he's an "enlightened" man. They think that because he is enlightened he can see further than us in all matters of life. Therefore our crical or disturbing (as they like to put it) thoughts are just a reflexion of our pride and ego etc... and have no basis.