Sofia May
Comedian and former volunteer/assistant at Tara Mandala who shares personal experiences of spiritual abuse and recovery, and whose reporting and comedy work have exposed misconduct in that community.
Top 3 podcasts with Sofia May
Ranked by the Snipd community
12 snips
Feb 12, 2026 • 59min
The Guru Wears Prada: Sofia May on Surviving Tibetan Buddhism at Tara Mandala (Part 2)
Sofia May, comedian and former assistant at Tara Mandala who exposed misconduct there, shares raw memories of spiritual abuse and recovery. She recounts how reverence, hierarchy, and manipulation mixed in retreat life. The conversation covers tailored coercion, hazing, gaslighting, and the turning point that led her to leave. She also discusses healing through therapy and comedy and why discernment matters in spiritual communities.
9 snips
Feb 9, 2026 • 35min
The Guru Wears Prada: Sofia May on Surviving Tibetan Buddhism at Tara Mandala (Part 1)
Sofia May, stand-up comedian and former Tara Mandala practitioner, recounts life inside a Tibetan Buddhist retreat community. She describes the allure of trauma‑informed, female‑centered spirituality and how it coexisted with secrecy, hierarchy, and guru devotion. Short scenes cover volunteer life, becoming a personal assistant, early red flags, and how humor helped her process difficult experiences.
May 25, 2022 • 1h 14min
78.Ain’t no single-use puss with Sofia May
Sofia May, a survivor of the abusive Tibetan Buddhist cult Tara Mandala, joins the conversation to share her harrowing experiences and journey to reclaiming her self-worth. They dive into the dark underbelly of supposedly supportive spiritual communities and reveal the manipulative tactics of charismatic leaders. Laughing through trauma, Sofia balances her stories with light-hearted reflections on modern dating misadventures and the pressures of being a personal assistant, all while exploring the fine line between humor and gravity in life’s absurdities.
