This new Buddha is also alive and homegrown and hence more immediate and real. The flow of his consciousness is not the fixed repetitive patterns of our usual self-centered consciousness, but rather arises spontaneously and naturally from the actual circumstances of the present. Also see his Zen War Stories to be published December 2002. After six months, he returned to his position. In this scheme, each teacher can trace his lineage and hence, authenticity, back to the historical Buddha. It is hard to avoid the conclusion that Suzuki, in so many ways an admirable person, had a large hand in the problems that followed his death. With this view in place, the entire spectrum of permissible thought is now caught and limited within Zen's mythological presentation, which was a completed creation by the eleventh century in China. People interviewed had the luxury of hindsight. Soon these Westerners participated in regular services, and new non-Asian students came to outnumber the Japanese-American congregation. It is interesting to keep in mind that Suzuki's lineage is alive today at the San Francisco Zen Center because of transmissions through Hoitsu. The Board of Directors at SFZC also began election of leaders. By saying this, he was emphasizing his guarantee that the essence of the Zen lineage resides in Baker. When Katagiri left, Tenshin Reb Anderson assumed Abbotship of the Zen Centerserving until 1995. In fact, it was often not based on spiritual attainment at all, most especially so in Japanese Soto Zen, which is the sect of Suzuki, Baker and the San Francisco Zen Center. 1969 - The current SFZC building was purchased with the help of American students. [6] Baker also penned the introduction to Suzuki's famous book, Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind. In 1971, he became resident priest at Haiku Zen Center, a practice center in Los Altos where Suzuki-roshi had been giving lectures, and soon after the sangha there grew and changed its name to Bodhi. But for the [Zen Studies Society,] my gullibility, spiritual gullibilityI didnt realize that it was a borderline cult. [The teacher] had been in a Zen monastery for a year in Japan. It should be kept in mind that the senior members, by 1982, were often over forty years old and had been practicing at Zen Center for fifteen or more years. Stuart Lachs, October 2002 "Hollow" transmissions such as those between father and son are incorporated into the unbroken lineage to the Buddha. Some people felt that I had committed an irrevocable betrayal of trust, and have discounted me and my teaching ever since. Upon Suzuki's arrival at Sokoji, the congregation was composed entirely of members of the Japanese-American population. [6], San Francisco Zen Center expanded quickly with Baker at the helm. Surely others felt the same way, but only Schnyer and Kelly have been so bold or articulate, have made clear the amorality, and the misogyny, that can infect Zen practice and enable its malefactors. The leadership of San Francisco Zen Center required Anderson to take a leave of absence from his position as abbot. Sarasota, Florida. This "history" has added weight because it is presented as biographical fact. I don't know for certain but Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind was published in 1970, only one year before Baker himself received Dharma transmission and the title, Zen master. Obedience, subservience, and discipline were well rewarded at a large institution like the San Francisco Zen Center, as Downing's book amply shows. 4 Thank Kai C . 3. This recommended class series offers listeners an overview of the fundamentals of Buddhism and Zen. As in any field, there is a need for experienced and knowledgeable teachers. It was high. The same myth was later used in Japan for similar purposes, with Shintoism being the competing indigenous teaching. Downing reveals that by 1969 Suzuki had made it known to Baker and others at the Center that Baker was to be his Dharma heir. However, it should be noted, that he let interviewees voice any number of inaccuracies without comment. In the West in general, but particularly in America, we place great importance on each person's individuality and uniqueness and hence on our personal experience. He became the leader of the Sanbokyodan school of Zen started by Yasutani. This is a convenient and economical way to stay in the city while experiencing life in a Zen Buddhist temple and enjoying the serene elegance of a building designed by Julia Morgan. There's too much court intrigue and "monastic" gossip, and not enough effort to put the Zen Center and its scandal in the larger story of American Buddhism and the spiritual supermarket's never-ending list of gurus-gone-bad. Sokojifounded by Hosen Isobe in 1934had been housed in a former Jewish synagogue that is now Kokoro Assisted Living. A good part of the goal of Buddhism is to reduce illusion and suffering. It is available on the internet at http://www2.h-net.msu.edu/~buddhism/aar-bs/1999/lachs.htm (here you can also access the other papers from the panel on Ch'an ) or at http://www.darkzen.com/Articles/meansofauthorization.htm (one can also find other essays on Zen at this site). Another error is seen in the statement that Yasutani roshi rescinded the Dharma transmission he gave to Philip Kapleau. Importantly, teachers can inspire followers by setting a living example through interactions with their students and others and, with the conduct of their own life, demonstrate that Zen practice can make one a wiser and more compassionate human being. Dorsey went on to serve as abbot of the Hartford Street Zen Center in San Francisco, where he worked to develop hospice care for AIDS patients. And as complete neophytes in Buddhism, they were apt to believe most anything a teacher said: The Americans had no competing knowledge, no critical faculties, no grounds to challenge the teacher, no fixed point on which to stand. (I don't mean to say that Kapleau is any more or less qualified to teach for receiving transmission or not, and in fact he is one of the few major teachers not involved with sexual or other scandal though one of his disciples did have a major scandal.) Guests stay at the Lindisfarne Guest House, a traditional Japanese building with a wood-burning stove as the heating source. Suzuki Roshi, the founder of the San Francisco Zen Center and its leader until his death in 1971, was an impressive person, sincerely loved by most all the Center's members. City Center A vibrant community in an urban temple in the heart of San Francisco. After a major fundraising effort led by Baker, Zen Center purchased the landwhich contained a rundown resort and mineral springs in 1967. A Zen teacher can certainly assist his students in their practice, can encourage the students to be diligent, guide their meditation practice in both public and private meetings, offer aid in difficult times, talk about Zen texts to enrich the student's sense of the tradition and explicate Buddhist and Zen ideas. is co-abbess of the San Francisco Zen Center. The Zen Studies Society was marked by frequent turnover. Political authority can function in this second way. Seeing Through Zen by by John R. McRae book reviews buy this book, Coming Down from the Zen Clouds: A Critique of the Current State of American Zen, Means of Authorization: Establishing Hierarchy in Ch'an/Zen Buddhism in America, The Zen Master in America: Dressing the Donkey with Bells and Scarves, Holding the Lotus to the Rock: reflections on the future of the Zen sangha in the West, Sanbkydan Zen and the Way of the New Religions, Finding Safe Harbor: Buddhist Sexual Ethics in America, Shoes Outside the Door: Desire, Devotion, and Excess at San Francisco Zen Center, Crooked Cucumber: The Life and Teachings of Shunryu Suzuki, Not Always So: practicing the true spirit of Zen by Shunryu Suzuki. Reviewed December 27, 2012 . "Something above ninety percent of us had come from alcoholic families or families that were dysfunctional with the same patterns." Cole, who teaches at Lewis and Clark College, also has two very provocative books soon to be published, one on the Mahayana sutras and the other on early Chan texts and the "birth" of Chinese Buddhas. Others were more forgiving, but their trust in me and my integrity was permanently shaken. By Kurt Wolff, Free Press Paperback, 1950 for a discussion of authority, prestige, subordination, and sociability. Zen Mind? Yet, after Tatsugami Roshi, one of the important training teachers from Eiheji, one of the two main Soto Zen training monasteries in Japan, conducted only one training period at Tassajara, Zen Center's monastery in California, Suzuki "arranged" for him not to return because his American students were so dissatisfied. When I heard about it, I was like, Thats for me. Soon, Schnyer was practicing Buddhism. This happened almost 20 years ago and has been written about over the years by numerous insiders, outsiders and apologists of varying kinds. Zen priest Mel Weitsman served with Anderson as a co-abbot during the remainder of his term, and the tradition of two sitting Abbots continued for the next few decades. The duo published a book of recipes in 1987 titled The Greens Cookbook. These events are a helpful reminderboth to me and to othersof my vulnerability to arrogance and inflation. Ungerleider.[26]. I have copies of these letters. [2][6][14], A once controversial figure, Richard Baker was publicly criticized for his behavior at San Francisco Zen Center. Suzuki's prestige grew enormously. So why did none of Baker's students, as expressed in their interviews with Downing, show any awareness that institutional self-definition encouraged their idealization of Baker, which allowed, perhaps even fostered, the occurrence of many of the alleged abuses? My first reaction to the book was, "Why?" #28 of 84 Specialty lodging in San Francisco. defending Deshimaru's teacher Sawaki roshi's wartime involvement dating from 1905 through WWII is available on the internet at, http://www.zen-azi.org/html/guerre_e.html#replybyb. The Zen understanding of wisdom imputes Foucault's "single gaze to see everything constantly" to the Master. It is important to remember now that the interviews Downing conducted in 1998-2000 were long after the events at the SFZC took place. Downing adds, "Suzuki reminded Richard [Baker] that Hoitsu had a family and two children. 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Students that come to practice at the monastery from September through April must undergo the tradition known as tangaryo. In this regard Mr. This is not ancient history. Zen Center Members Also see, The Sociology of Georg Simmel, Trans.and Ed. On May 23, 1959, Shunryu Suzuki (then age 55) came from Japan to San Francisco to serve as head priest of Sokojia Soto Zen temple then located at 1881 Bush Street in Japantown. One student stated it as, "The one thing that seemed unquestionable was Richard's Transmission." It was like a "game" of Zen where if any one speaks out or asks the wrong question, the "game" is ruined or finished, at least for that person. In the latter part of the book, Downing points out that the San Francisco Zen Center has beaucratized Dharma transmission so that in order to receive Dharma transmission a person must spend ten or twelve years going through the system. The only one of the four whose reputation was unblemished, Shunryu Suzuki of the San Francisco Zen Center, gave his sangha over to a man named Richard Baker, who was later embroiled in a sex scandal of his own, resigned from his abbacy, and became the subject of a book with the appropriately suggestive title Shoes Outside the Door. During his interview with Downing, Baker Roshi explains that having a "nice car," girlfriends and going out to dinner were implementations of Suzuki Roshi's commitment to lay practice. Zen's highly ritualized activities added a visceral instantiation to the cognitive edifice. At times, senior disciples needed to reassure newcomers who questioned Baker's behavior that all was in order. All trouble at the Center was internalized and personalized by its members. "[36], SFZC is connected, in an unofficial capacity, to the following Zen Centers:[1], Coordinates: .mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}374626N 1222534W / 37.774009N 122.426075W / 37.774009; -122.426075. Baker and the senior priests dismissed any questioning of Baker's behavior or activities as a lack of insight into enlightenment on the part of the questioner. Bibliographical Notes He writes, " The perfect disciplinary apparatus would make it possible for a single gaze to see everything constantly." And he was also just a guy, kind of like Bill Clinton was just a guy. It all came tumbling down in a 1983 event known in Zen Center circles as "the Apocalypse." It was a spiritual scandal starring the usual suspects -- sex, money and the abuse of religious. Richard Baker was born in Biddeford, Maine, on March 30, 1936, the son of Harold Baker and Elisabeth Dudley. by Steven Heine and Dale S. Wright, Oxford University Press, 2000. A number of Downing's interviewees spoke of receiving the true or pure Zen teaching from Suzuki Roshi. "It was a fantastic drive," he said, it was safe to drive and that he liked to keep his legs in zazen posture. I have seen such a view expressed in four other major Zen communities as well as in a Tibetan community. In addition, as there are other practitioners around the teacher, it is helpful to be part of a community of fellow practitioners. Good bread, fine wine and simple, yet elegant, dining were offered by Tassajara Bakery and by Greens, the gourmet restaurant at Fort Mason that dished out vegetarian cuisine and inspiring views of the bay. Zen Center members did not think there was any thought control or propaganda necessary to escape when it came to Zen. In Northern California, Zen chic peaked in the early 1980s, and its rise and fall has much to do with the stories of two lives -- another Japanese man named Suzuki and another Westerner with a brilliant mind and roving eye. Ironically, one may ask, is that what Suzuki hoped to reform? [2] As the American Dharma heir to Shunryu Suzuki, Baker assumed abbotship of the San Francisco Zen Center (SFZC) shortly before Suzuki's death in 1971. Richard Baker is an extremely bright and talented person and a born salesman. It is possible that Suzuki had a paternal attachment to Baker. Zen elevates its leaders to super-human status, then emphasizes that we should be obedient and subservient to a powerful and supremely accomplished authority figure, precisely because he is powerful and supremely accomplished. Read any of these texts of Zen, The Book of Serenity, a Soto sect koan collection, being one prominent example, and this will be abundantly clear. Green Gulch Farm ("Green Dragon Temple", or Soryuji), located in Sausalito, California in a valley on the Pacific Ocean, was acquired by SFZC in 1972. San Francisco Zen Center (SFZC), is a network of affiliated St Zen practice and retreat centers in the San Francisco Bay area, comprising City Center or Beginner's Mind Temple, Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, and Green Gulch Farm Zen Center. Some Zen followers believe that Zen is only concerned with enlightenment and is not concerned with personal behavior or with ordinary morality. How San Francisco Zen Center Operates What I mean by the "Zen" institution, for the simple purpose of this conversation, is the organized set of structures that support the standard model of Zen. I have been involved with Zen in America for over thirty years during which time there have been many upheavals and problems, some similar to the Baker case described in Michael Downing's, Shoes Outside The Door, others more subtle and less obvious in nature. The bakery supplied Greens Restaurant and some local grocers.[16]. And stayed for 10 years.. Shoes Outside The Door, p.289. Which means it's basically my fault. The supposed enlightened Master gets the last word in judging not only the student's behavior and verbal responses, but also the whole of the past enlightened lineage including the historical Buddha by commenting on and judging any and all of the past Masters in the old cases (koan) and in their recorded sayings. Nor did anyone even think to view the situation through the lens of the Buddhist teachings themselves or even the particular teachings of their beloved founder Suzuki. Zen Mind? Zen Center members accepted and internalized most all of Zen's self definitions, history and social forms. Spiritual attainment, insight into timeless truth(s) or any other profound changes in one's inner life play virtually no part in the majority of these Dharma transmissions or in the every day functions of these roshis. I had a kind of insecurity and self-importance, which I didn't see for a long time, that was a bad dynamic in the community. Examining the work of any of the above-mentioned scholars will greatly reward the interested reader who would like to explore contemporary Zen/Buddhist scholarship. I hope this is the case with this paper. As is common among members of new religions, they viewed themselves as special. I am thankful for Michael Downing's work, which is extremely valuable. In Zen Buddhism, the story of Eido Shimanos abuse of power is so commonplace as to be banal, a clich. Suzuki had asked Baker to locate a farm in the area for entire families to live a Buddhist life while working together. Not what the holy man is but what he signifies in the eyes of those who are not holy gives him his world- historical value. Some former students say they were encouraged to believe that being groped by him was part of their. The volunteer project's founding director was Frank Ostaseski, who served until 2004. Dharma transmission has been awarded and is still awarded for many reasons besides spiritual attainment. ", Lachs, Stuart: Please visit the Calendar page for more details or sign up for our weekly Sangha News email to receive notices of upcoming events. I remember many heated arguments, he told me, and no doubt one of my many arguments was: this is personal behavior, not illegal behavior., Denis Kelly, a former Dai Bosatsu vice abbot, and himself no model of sexual continencehe too has had affairs, he told me, including one that almost broke up his current sanghashared Schnyers understanding of the proper hierarchical relationship between the Zen master and his female students. Foulk doubts that the Chan sect existed as a separate sect with its own monastic institutions during the Tang dynasty. Money, too, is worth something because we believe it iswe give the $20 bill the magical properties of being worth more than the $1 bill, even though the paper and ink are identical. One of the earliest texts extant is "Regulations of the Chan Approach" (Ch'an men Kuei-shih, which cannot be dated earlier than 988) that some scholars think was the preface to Pai-chang's Rules. Suzuki enabled the ensuing trouble by transmitting only to Baker to the exclusion of other westerners, by failing to understand Baker's character, by failing to mitigate his authority in any way, and by failing to explain clearly the historical and common way that Dharma transmission was and is used in Soto Zen. Right now, Manhattans Zen Studies Society, perhaps the most prestigious Zen Buddhist center in the United States, is being torn apart by lawsuits, backstabbing, and infighting. A roshi is a person who has actualized that perfect freedom which is the potentiality for all human beings. He was leader of the largest Zen center in the United States and founder of Tassajara, the first Zen monastery in America; he sent a number of American disciples to study in Japan and was surrounded, as was Baker, by hundreds of devoted, unquestioning, often young and energetic followers. It was not surprising, then, that when trouble arose at the Center it was mostly assumed that something must be wrong with the members themselves; that it was because they did not use or handle well Suzuki's pure teaching. There was an article and follow up piece by Brian Victoria discussing anti-Semitic remarks made by Yasutani roshi in Tricycle magazine (Fall and Winter 1999). If this was the case, it would seem that he failed this task in America. This would have led any impartial observer to question the spiritual implications of Dharma transmission. With this investment it is understandable that one might not want to question too closely the teacher's behavior. According to this model, mind-to-mind transmission began with an encounter between the historical Buddha Sakyamuni and Mahakasyapa, and continued, in an unbroken lineage, through twenty-eight Indian Patriarchs. This change in demography caused a rift in the Sokoji community. After the founding of Dharma Sangha in New Mexico, Baker met with William Irwin Thompson, the founder of the Lindisfarne Association. The Church hierarchy has displayed a consistent concern for protecting and maintaining the eminence of the abusive priests and the holiness of the institution of the Catholic Church, rather than concern for the children and teenagers trusted to their care. The historical Zen masters we have all come to know are always presented in terms of supposedly real people, with names, dates, and locations, and reports of purportedly real conversations and interactions with other monks and sometimes lay people as if there is no doubt at all that we are dealing with historical individuals. He writes a religion column forThe New York Timesand is on Twitter@markopp1. [5][16][17][18][19], In 2000 Jiko Linda Cutts was appointed Abbess, having received Dharma transmission from Tenshin Reb Anderson in 1996. According to a 1982 letter from George Zournas to Jack Clareman, the Zen Studies Societys lawyer, a litany of charges was read against Shimano at a board meeting on September 14 of that year. San Francisco from the 1960's into the 1980's was considered by many to be the freest city in America, especially when understanding "libre" as freedom from ideological constraints. There is a wealth of contemporary exciting Zen scholarship available in English. A theme repeated throughout Downing's book is Suzuki's injunction to "just sit," which means to do seated meditation. But there is another kind of authority, an opposite kind, grounded in the invisible, the faith-based, the fictional. This was because Aitkin, being a foreigner, was forbidden by the new leader Kubota Roshi, from giving Dharma transmission, while Japanese of equal standing in the organization were permitted this privilege (p.451). One student expressed it as, "some of the senior priests were in it for a payoff-Transmission," another stated it as, "They were ambitious, and only Richard could give it [transmission] to them, because he was the only one who had it." But the Americans didnt know that. Hence, roughly 95% of all Soto priests in Japan have Dharma transmission, most receiving it after spending at most three years in a monastery, some with as little as six months. Tassajara Bakery was a Zen Center venture promoted by Richard Baker as an extension of the baking practices at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center. Introduction ", Read more about this topic: San Francisco Zen Center, Problems, laws havent the slightest interest for meexcept in the world of science, in which they are always changing; or in the world of art, in which they are unchanging; or in the world of Being in which they are, for the most part, unknown.Margaret Anderson (18861973), One does not arrest Voltaire.Charles De Gaulle (18901970). On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. And perhaps most importantly, his authority will be understood with a taken-for-granted quality of being natural. To this end, Zen Center is engaged in numerous social and ecological initiatives. However, for an in depth review of early Chan monastic codes and how early Chan viewed and supposedly treated errant behavior by monks see Foulk, T. Griffith, "The "Ch'an School" and Its Place In the Buddhist Monastic Tradition," Diss. 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