There were a lot of beautiful young women in the group. It was a cult. Then she found a younger man. Sometimes the love is love. Banished from paradise, she began a dangerous new journey. I was like ahoh. I said it was just a matter of time before someone dies down here. And in the dark of his desert cave someone did. There was a book, hindu goddess of death that was laying on the ground outside the cave. Im lester holt, and this is dateline. Heres Keith Morrison with danger on Diamond Mountain. Deep in the arizona desert, surrounded by kak tie and brush and jutting columns of red rock a mountain rises among the famous area of american history. Here is where geronimo finally surrendered. And this mountain is the site of his last stand. A haunted place, some say. Or perhaps cursed. For those who dare to occupy its silenced sloped. But on a hot, dry, april afternoon in 2012, the mountain was not silent at all. Helicopters swooped in to rescue two people holed up in a cave below the summit where something terrible has happened. What i didnt understand was why she hadnt called earlier. For help. She is this woman. Her name was, remember this name, Christi Mcnally. And her companion was alexander dorsons big brother ian. Crazy to go off like that. Is it hard to think of them like that in a cave like that . Its just weird because it was already so isolated. But by then something had gone very wrong with those two bright and promising people. They were not in their right mind in my opinion or he wasnt. No, neither one most likely. And how they ended up that way is a very strange story about the buddha, the diamonds and the eastern goddess and tantric sex and whatever else the guru decreed out here in the desert. The vibe that i got around Diamond Mountain is that it can turn into a jim jones kind of thing. Once it was so different for this one. So privileged. Ian was a brilliant kid. His parents sent him to the best prep schools in new york city. Alexandria was six years younger, and she adored him. I looked up to him. I was inspired by him to say the least. I wanted to do everything he was up to, followed him and his friends. It was really no surprise, rather, it was expected that ian would be accepted at stanford university. Did he handle it well . He did. He may have experimented with drugs maybe too much or partied too hard or joined a frat. Maybe overdone it . I think so. He still graduated with honors but yeah, could have done a little too much. As soon as he graduated, ian set out on an adventure, his plan was to travel around the whole world. He went to europe and russia. He was researching a book. Yeah, you could say that. He was also traveling and enjoying his time. And he did have journals, but, yeah. So india was one of the stops. Yes. Amazing, complicated, spiritual india. When ian finally returned to new york city, alexandria began to notice changes in the brother she loved so much. The most initial concern was he was not pursuing a career as a young person. Right. Needs to. It was so gradual, too. At first it was just frustrating. I would fight with him, like, come on. You know, lets do these things that you used to love, surf and different activities. The guy you knew wasnt there anymore, somehow . Yeah. Yeah. I couldnt communicate, like it wasnt, we were in a different set of social rules. Different world, really. Yeah, so i couldnt share with him anymore. But alexandra did get some insight into why her brother had changed so when he took her to listen to a teacher he met in india, a man named Michael Roach, a sort of guru whose followers seemed to think roach held the key to solving lifes great problems which he explained in several of home maid videos posted online. I travel around the world type offing people about how to make their dreams come true. Some people want financial independence. Some people want to have a great relationship with a beautiful partner, family. Some people want to be younger. Roach was an unconventional teacher. Eccentr eccentric, even, but he also demanded and apparently succeeded in getting, total devotion from his followers. That, he taught them was essential to their enlightenment. And ian believed him. Abandoned and rejected all else in his life as he scrambled to obey and serve his teacher. But alexander didnt trust roach at all and began to worry she was losing her brother to a man who, well. How would you describe him . Like creepy, like a snake. Like something slithering. Coming up. Some might have seen Michael Roach as a snake. But others were willing to trust him with their lives. He had all this wisdom. And women, one in particular, seemed captivated by the lama. We were all called into a room and all his consorts. His religious sexual partners were in the room. Stanford grad ian had fallen under the spell of Michael Roach, the offshoot of tibetan buddhism. Hi, my name is geshe Michael Roach. I attended Princeton University and spent 25 years in a tibetan the buddhist monastery. The title is a very big deal, like a highly advanced degree in buddhism. And i got there, said roach, after accepting a challenge from his teacher, to make a bundle in diamonds. Could you learn to adjust reality itself. Could you change the flow of the future and could you prove that you had done it by, for example, starting a business in manhattan. And bringing it, maybe, to a Million Dollars within a year or something, using the ancient wisdom that weve taught you. Seriously, said roach. Buddhism for profit. And he claimed it worked. I helped to found a business, a die hond business called ending international. And it became one of the Fastest Growing companies in the history of new york. It reached 250 million in annual sales. And it was recently purchased by warren buffett. Whos one of the wealthiest men in the world. Roach plowed much of his earnings into the school that trained him. And it was after that that he emerged at a geshe and began to teach. If you meditate, you can finish them. That exotic accent you hear . You are very strange. Were not sure what that is because he was raised born in california raised in arizona. What was it about this guy . Super charismatic. He got up and talked. He was riveting, especially at first. He just, he had all this wisdom. Sid johnson was completely taken with the charismatic leader. He was a struggling musician curious about buddhism who had traveled to might roach in the late 1990s. I really wanted to be part of this, like Something Big was coming, and he was going to be part of this. And i really bought into that at the time. At first, roach was celebrated as an ambassador of tibetan buddhism for americans, but there was something unorthodox about this monk. Most buddhists are stuffy older people, but these were all really goodlooking young people. And many of those were attractive women. Actually there were two women at the time with him. And he disappeared with them at night . Yeah. One of them was that woman you heard about at the beginning, the one they were rescuing on the mountain. I come from a lineage, a tibetan lineage. She had gone to india. Then met roach when she got back to new york and quickly became his star pupil. She called him her lamlama, meag revered teacher and very, very close. I was actually glued to the side of my lama for 12 years which is a very traditional time for being an apprentice for the lama. And ian . Ian was equally devoted but was one of the group. They called them the ducklings. There were a group of people who were really devoted and wanted to be in close proximity a long time. One of them was ian. So devoted that along with two other devotees followed their guru out west and roach founded what he called Diamond Mountain university. This is where geshe roach called it his holy mountain. He bought a thousand acres here in the arizona desert. One of his followers built that shrine, the one with the tibetan flags fluttering in the breeze. And here they began a kind of buddhism that perhaps hadnt been heard of anywhere else. A type of buddhaism that was at odds with others. He and his female students would undertake a retreat, three years, three months and three days in isolation and total silence. The only communication allowed, handwritten notes, and only to one another. Sid built the tent structures where he assumed each would live alone. But soon it dawned on him he was not building them for one. Its becoming clear to me that hes going to be living here with christi. Which wouldnt be a big deal but as a monk. As a monk. Its kind of like a Catholic Priest living with a girl. Yes. Im sorry. I dont want to sound suspicious, but really . A guru and his women . Yeah. It was pretty strange. And a lot of people were starting to ask questions about it. To which Michael Roach had an astonishing answer. He wasnt living with a m would, he said. Christi mcnally was the reincarnation of a Tibetan Buddhist goddes. There would be sex for sure, but sex with an explanation. So im not a monk having a human consort. No. Im a geshe who has ha superhuman deity as a consort. Yeah. And thats okay. He said hed never had sex with a human woman. And no one protested. Certainly not ian when the geshe agreed that only women would be allowed on retreat with him. It was as if roach could do no wrong. Another follower said he watched as his geshe became increasingly outrageous. We were all called into a room. And all his consorts, his religious sexual partners were in the room. And he told us as students that if you want to stay here, if you want to do this practice you have to see all these people as buddhas. And when most everyone including ian began to believe, this buddha began to get a bad feeling that this was morphing into a cult. The vibe i got around Diamond Mountain, that it could turn into a jim jones thing, and thats dangerous. Coming up, strange doings in the desert. Michael takes a ritual dagger and slams it through his hands. We hear at the dawn of the new millennium, ian and christi why hard core devotees of tibetan buddhism studying at the threshold of Michael Roach. Roach told the l. A. Times about the rigorous nature of his threeyear vow of silence. And you have to say goodbye to everybody, because you dont know whos going to be alive after three years. And ian would be left out. As muchs wanted to participate, it was only opened to the closest female disciples. So now he was separated from his guru. I think it was very difficult for ian because he suddenly didnt have his anchor. By thin, ian had been stuck like a shadow to the geshe and the god des. His family hired deprogramming experts and went to Diamond Mountain. They felt that he brainwashed their son. Ian agreed to return to the family home on new yorks long island. But the efforts to break the spell were in vain. He was so much older, he wasnt a teenager, so we couldnt force him. How did he react . Not well. He kept doing his practices that he would do in the mornings and throughout the day. And one time i, i was making fun of him and the group because there were a lot of young women, beautiful young women in the group. And so i made comments oh, theyre, you know, whats he doing with them in the desert. That joking about sex in the desert seemed to push one of ians buttons. We were in the car at that point, and he like, was like jumping out. My mom had to, like, pull over really fast. We were on our way to the beach and he started running. He was angry at you and the family for trying to make him stop doing that stuff. It was just so sad. Back in arizona, roach would periodically emerge from his silent retreat to give a teaching, blindfolded. His followers listened with rapt attention. There was an air of mystery about it all. And rumors started to spread about bizarre things happening on the inside. Wed hear these, you know, weird sex stories. Him being dressed in lingerie and stuff like that. NiMichael Roach . Yeah. We heard these stories that came out. And they were never really denied or confirmed. Near the end of the three years, three months and three days, roach and his disciples emerged and roach made an astonishing claim. He had come to understand emptiness, he said. Noes in other words, he had become enlightened and had done it by living with christi. Christies my partner. Youre encouraged to have a partner and go further. Which you can do with a partner. Ian . Right now he was back with the group, always a few steps behind his leader and seemingly eager to serve the power couple. Not everyone was pleased, especially about the sex. That, in itself, a Buddhist Monk is not supposed to go behind a closed door with females. Thats it. Youre not a monk anymore. Its over, kid. You broke your vow. The stories about sex, roachs grandiosity and his claims of finding enlightenment were finding their way all the way to the top. To the dalai lama himself. The dalai lama became annoyed. Hes always compassionate, but he got an a little fed up, lets say. The thurman who happens to be the father of uma thurman studied under the dalai lama for years and took it upon himself to confront roach about his behavior. I said, look, just resign as a monk. And he said ill never give up my vow. And i said you gave it up already. He said i never had sexual contact with any human female. And i turned to her and said are you human . And she says he said that, i didnt. And he says well, she understood emptiness and once you understand emptiness you can do anything you want, and i said no way. Roach was undeterred. In fact, his unconventional style only became more intense, and he increasingly insisted is that his own students study under his consort, now lama christi. She started to take over the teachings or they would coteach or teach on her own. She would do these meditation classes and want people to take a log of their meditation. She could be very rough and critical. She really developed this kind of power that she just kind of took off with. Did she seem to enjoy that . Oh, yeah. As the power of these two grew, the environment around them became increasingly bizarre, even frightening. This man recalls one night at Diamond Mountain that sent chills down his spine. She is teaching on following your teacher and saying you have to do everything that your teacher says. She says, if your teacher says cut off your hand, you have to do it. So michael takes like a ritual dagger out of a bag and slams it through his hand, and everybody in the crowd is, like, ooh and ah. And its all drama. And i looked around and said this is not tibetan buddhism. This is theater, this is street art. This is like cult. I dont know what this is here. After that, the lama began to warn whoever would listen to live at Diamond Mountain you have to abandon your own judgment. When i was there, it was a cult. You have to abandon any sound judgment. Ian did not heed those warnings. In fact, a very human thing began to happen. Ian was drawing ever closer to his lama, christi. And she to him. So this is ian. This is christi. As we say, almost shakespearen. Of course the trouble is coming. Wont be long now. Coming up. A strange ritual. Ten years of buddhism and here i am like an idiot getting get up. And a secret marriage on the rocks as lama christi takes a new lover. When a guy doesnt get his way, its not good for anyone. Cleaning his cabin, mr. Clean likes to keep things simple. Thats why he brings his magic eraser extra power. It quickly cleans hundreds of different surfaces, so you can get back to doing what you really want. The magic eraser extra power. [ female announcer ] bandaid brand waterproof toughstrips. Designed with a foursided seal. Theyre waterproof, shielding out water, dirt, and germs. cause bandaid helps heal me [ female announcer ] use with neosporin antibiotic. Those spots are actually leftover food and detergent residue that can redeposit on your dishware during the rinse cycle. Gross. Jetdry rinse agent helps wash them away so the only thing left behind is the shine. Jetdry rinses away residues for a sparkling shine. Mmis that ice cream . Mmm uh, no, its breyers gelato indulgences. You really wouldnt like it. Its got caramel and crunchy stuff. I like caramel and crunchy stuff. [ female announcer ] new breyers gelato indulgences its way beyond ice cream. Wash in sweet dreams with tide, downy, and bounce. The sweet dreams collection has scents so relaxing so you can tuck in and turn off after a day oh so taxing. [ click ] Beautiful Day in baltimore where most people probably know that geico could save them money on car insurance, right . You see the thing is geico, well, could help them save on boat insurance too. Hey okay. Im ready to come in now. Hello . Im trying my best. Seriously, im. Im serious. Request to come ashore. Geico. Saving people money on more than just car insurance. I like to have sock monkey here and moxie to sit with me and just before i go to sleep and before they go to sleep we sit, i have some starbucks coffee. Michael roach had convinced his followers that his particular teachings would bring them personal success and save the world. By helping others, by saving others we plant seeds for success and peace of the whole world and inner peace. But i also demanded devotion from his followers like ian who dropped family and friends to follow him everywhere as he lectured around the country and the world. And when he declared that his consort, Christi Mcnally was the reincarnation of a goddess, apparently they believed him. I think somebodys like me. She went looking for a teacher. She found him. For 15 years she lived in this world where she became treated like a deity, as a nonhuman. You must know on some level hes manipulating people around him. Meanwhile, the rituals grew ever more bizarre, like what happened at a special group event, he said. Something particularly disturbing. Ian and the others were blindfolded and one by one were led into roach and christies tent for a very private and he was told sacred ritual. Anhear them giggling. They lay me down on this bed and they both lay down beside me. And part of me is like, what are you doing . This is like, im a grown man, and this is like something you do in high school. But then theres a part of me like this is some kind of sacred ritual. And perhaps something, you know, really amazing is going to happen. And so i feel christies hand on my forehid. And my chin and, and she goes all the way down and actually puts her hands down