One of the west’s largest Buddhist organisations has admitted to sexual abuse by its teachers, announcing it will take urgent measures to tackle the problem.

Leaders of Shambhala International, which has more than 200 meditation centres across the world, including several in the UK, admitted to major failures in how it dealt with “abhorrent sexual behaviour”.

They said the #MeToo movement, in which women share stories of sexual assault and harassment, prompted the community to go through their own “collective wake-up call”.

In an open letter to the community published online, the Kalapa council, the international leaders of Shambhala, said: “In our complex history there have been instances of sexual harm and inappropriate relations between members and between teachers and students. We are still emerging from a time in which such cases were not always addressed with care and skill.

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