san francisco zen center scandal

Had he misused confidences given to him in dokusan (a private meeting between teacher and student pertaining to the student's practice, an extremely important element in Zen training) for self-serving reasons? To legitimize the various family lines within Zen, Zen's self-definition necessitates establishing a continuing unbroken lineage of transmitted masters connected to the historical Buddha. In this regard Mr. The situation is now reversing, as the Japanese, in particular, abandon Buddhism as an old relic, while it continues to find adherents in the West. All of this authority and potency is manifested in the rituals of the Zen master commenting on and judging the words and actions of not only their disciples, but also of anyone in the lineage going all the way back to and including, the historical Buddha. One student said that when the senior priests were questioned about some aspects of Baker's behavior, the answer was, "Richard has Transmission." He occupies an authoritative place in East Asian cultures that have already been imbued with a special level of hierarchy since ancient times. The Zen institution requires the master because he is supposedly a living example of the ideal of Zen and, as such, represents all of its legitimacy and authority. This is the consistent view of the master presented by Zen, the pure, simple, desireless and self-contained roshi, and was accepted unquestioningly by Zen Center members. No matter how or where we engage with each other, may the Dharma encourage, inspire, and support us to meet this moment with wisdom and equanimity. 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. Suzuki died of cancer on December 4, 1971. SteveSiesta. This scheme was later institutionalized through the ritual of Dharma transmission. Throughout the 1980s Greens, which obtained produce from Green Gulch Farm, was one of the most popular restaurants in San Francisco. However, this supposed wisdom is beyond words, is not understood by the unenlightened who are then not qualified to judge or evaluate it, whether expressed in the words or in the behavior of the wise one. This is not surprising if we remember that in Soto Zen "spiritual attainment" is rarely a criterion for Dharma transmission. The latter choice was too painful for many for any number of reasons, including: 1) many believed that the Center was the best place to practice Zen and so leaving meant giving up what made life seem most meaningful, 2) their self-identities as Zen practitioners were connected to the Center, 3) loyalty to Suzuki Roshi, 4) leaving close friendships established through communal living and especially through practicing meditation together, 5) loving the lifestyle and 6) fear of losing one's position in the hierarchy and the possibility for future higher positions culminating in being Dharma transmitted oneself. Definitely worth checking them out on their website and trying to attend the beginners lesson! Anderson became entangled in an incident in 1987 that reached back to 1983 just after Zentatsu Richard Baker had resigned as abbot. That little piece of paradise in the Marin County headlands is just a short drive from the north end of the Golden Gate Bridge, perfect for a quick retreat. For a most interesting examination of early Chan lineage and truth claims read from a critical textual analysis rather than reading them "for information about Truth and Practice" or about "historical claims to own truth", see Cole, Alan, "It's All in the Framing", a paper given at U.C. In the wake of Baker's resignation, SFZC transitioned to a democratically elected leadership model, until in 2010 there was a new introduction of a predesignated slated of board members. We can begin to approach an answer by thinking about the nature of authority. "Something above ninety percent of us had come from alcoholic families or families that were dysfunctional with the same patterns." Interestingly, the later versions of the supposed events often have more detail than the earlier versions, implying that we are dealing with literary creations rather than historical biography. [2][6][14], A once controversial figure, Richard Baker was publicly criticized for his behavior at San Francisco Zen Center. All of this discontent emerged when it was made public that Baker had allegedly been having an affair with the wife of an influential sangha member. Zen Groups Distressed by Accusations Against Teacher Joshu Sasaki in New Mexico in 2007. After a major fundraising effort led by Baker, Zen Center purchased the landwhich contained a rundown resort and mineral springs in 1967. This is not ancient history. It simply means that a power structure has evolved that will perpetuate itself even if it means imputing "attainment" to people who don't really have it. There is a saying, "It is difficult to convince a man of something if his paycheck depends on his not understanding it." The virgin birth, the Buddha, Joseph Smiths golden plates that became the Book of Mormonto build spiritual tradition, it does not matter if the people were real or if the events happened. Richard Baker also survived. David Hume said in his Of the First principles of Government (1758) that "Nothing appears more surprising to those who consider human affairs with a philosophical eye than the easiness with which the many are governed by the few, and the implicit submission with which men resign their own sentiments and passions to those of their rulers." "The Apocalypse," as they came to call it, took place in 1983 at a Peace Conference at Tassajara, a retreat center that was the first Buddhist monastery founded outside Asia. But in truth, neither Suzuki nor Baker fit the saintly mold. You wont find anybody within the Zen Studies Society who has tolerated this stuff from start to finish, Schnyer said. Baker manifested his authority by giving his followers two choices: obey his words without question or be marginalized, which was tantamount to being forced to leave. In this way the teacher was like a deity, a minor god. Baker's friends and supporters say the Zen Center never regained the spark and spiritual power of the Suzuki/Baker years. Today, one could reasonably assert that of the 30 or 40 important Zen centers in the country, at least 10 have employed head teachers who have been accused of groping, propositioning, seducing, or otherwise exploiting students. For a look at how religious fantasies may cause trouble, especially with leaders, see "Religion and Alienation" in Berger, Peter L., The Sacred Canopy, pp, 81-101. [32], These revelations led Baker to resign as abbot in 1984. Mark Oppenheimeris the author of three other books, includinga memoir of high school debateand atravelogue about crashing bar mitzvahs. So it is natural to ask, why did Suzuki's and Baker's students mention this so often? [citation needed], Additional businesses run by SFZC were the Alaya Stitchery storefront, which made zafus, zabutons and clothing, and Green Gulch Grocery, which sold produce from Green Gulch Farm. Yamada gave Dharma transmission to Robert Aitkin, though Aitkin and his Diamond Sangha later separated from the Sanbokyodan organization after Yamada's death. The same myth was later used in Japan for similar purposes, with Shintoism being the competing indigenous teaching. Network of affiliated St Zen practice centers, Learn how and when to remove this template message, Timeline of Zen Buddhism in the United States, "Haiku Zendo - Stories of Shunryu Suzuki Roshi", "History of 300 Page Street | Sangha News - San Francisco Zen Center", "Stream It Or Skip It: 'End Game' On Netflix, A Short Documentary About Dying Gracefully", "How This Doctor Is Bringing Human Connection Back to End-of-Life Care", "Senior Dharma Teacher Tenshin Reb Anderson - San Francisco Zen Center", "The Long Learning Curve: An Interview With Richard Baker Roshi", Basic points unifying Theravda and Mahyna, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=San_Francisco_Zen_Center&oldid=1142123511, Buddhist monasteries in the United States, Buddhist organizations based in the United States, Religious organizations established in 1962, Articles with unsourced statements from October 2011, Articles with a promotional tone from September 2022, Articles with dead external links from March 2018, Articles with permanently dead external links, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 28 February 2023, at 17:00. However, there is no surviving text of Pai-chang's Rules. Not surprisingly, virtually 100% of the time these breaches of morality serve the pleasure and interests of the supposed enlightened one. 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. [17], Last edited on 21 December 2022, at 18:50, Timeline of Zen Buddhism in the United States, "The Long Learning Curve: An Interview With Richard Baker Roshi", Zentatsu Richard Baker page on the Crestone Mountain Zen Center website, Richard Baker and the Myth of the Zen Roshi, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Richard_Baker_(Zen_teacher)&oldid=1128738434, This page was last edited on 21 December 2022, at 18:50. 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. Learn and Practice at San Francisco Zen Center, residential guest student practice opportunities, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility, Conflict, Complaint, and Ethical Review Processes. As noted in the paper, senior members consistently reassured newer members that all was well when they raised questions about Baker's activities. The center received significant media coverage concerning the 1984 resignation of then abbot Zentatsu Richard Baker, who was ousted after it was alleged that he had been having an affair with the wife of a prominent Zen Center member. 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. 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. Months later Suzukiwith the help of his American studentspurchased the current (and larger) City Center building, located on 300 Page Street. For example, Afable might have added that at Chobo-ji, a Zen temple in Seattle, Genki Takabayashi made passes at his female students. The current crisis in the Catholic Church proves the need for such an institutional analysis. He writes, " The perfect disciplinary apparatus would make it possible for a single gaze to see everything constantly." While jogging through Golden Gate Park, Anderson deviated from the path to urinate in some bushes. This is a mythology of Zen, a pure fiction. Under Baker's leadership, it appears that the Center functioned as a dysfunctional family, denying that anything was wrong or problematic. Students that come to practice at the monastery from September through April must undergo the tradition known as tangaryo. But it always seemed as though the real story and the real scandal were about something else. A vibrant community in an urban temple in the heart of San Francisco. But during the 1960s, Suzuki attracted an eager flock of meditating Westerners, including Baker, who showed up in 1962 and was soon singled out as a possible successor. The first is grounded in something tangible, concrete, observable: the soldier with his gun, or the scientist with her laboratory results. A full overview of what is open can be found here. [5], In 1969, Sokoji's board of directors asked Suzuki to resign his position as the temple's priest, asserting that he was spending more time with his Western students than the Japanese-American congregation. [1][15], In 1983 Tenshin Reb Anderson received shih from Zentatsu Richard Baker, becoming Baker's first Dharma heir (though Baker disputes this). In Zen Buddhism, the story of Eido Shimanos abuse of power is so commonplace as to be banal, a clich. His American students accept this theme unquestioningly. He then drove after the alleged mugger and followed him into a housing project with the revolver (unloaded) in hand, being arrested minutes later by a police officer with his own gun pointed at him. Political authority can function in this second way. In fifteen years, the Center's annual budget increased from $6,000, to $4 million. According to the dust jacket, Downing spent three years interviewing 80 people at the center of the Zen Center scandal. Founded in 1972 by the San Francisco Zen Center and Zentatsu Richard Baker, the site is located on 115 acres (0.47 km 2) in a valley seventeen miles (27 km) north of San Francisco [1] and offers a variety of workshops and classes throughout the year. In the 1960s, four major Zen teachers came to the United States from Japan: Shunryu Suzuki, Taizan Maezumi, Joshu Sasaki, and Eido Shimano. I see how my empowerment to protect and care for the Triple Treasure inflated my sense of personal authority, and thus detracted from and disparaged the Triple Treasure. Zen Center members accepted and internalized most all of Zen's self definitions, history and social forms. Perhaps tellingly, Baker made this claim at the height of the Vietnam War, when virtually 100% of Zen followers were opposed to the war and hence having an anti-war/anti -government roshi in his lineage was good currency. As is common among members of new religions, they viewed themselves as special. For more on the Soto Zen institution in Japan see Foulk, T. Griffith, "The Zen Institute in Modern Japan", pp.157-177, Zen, Tradition and Transition, Kenneth Kraft ed., NY, Grove Press, 1988. San Francisco Zen Center students and other students throughout history were also one cause of the problem. If youre going to do this, youre going to do it on your own, but Im not going to nurse you. For me he was perfect Somebody looking from the outside could say thats why we stuck with him all the time. The Zen Studies Society was marked by frequent turnover. A gem! This was especially true of people wanting to climb Zen Center's ladder to positions of authority, power, and prestige, which was totally dependent on Baker's sanction. Upon Suzuki's arrival at Sokoji, the congregation was composed entirely of members of the Japanese-American population. 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. Was his lifestyle less than exemplary? Even newer students, who come to Zen Center and find out about these incidents, are sometimes confused and question whether I can be their teacher. Michael Downing's book, Shoes Outside the Door: Desire, Devotion, and Excess at San Francisco Zen Center (2001) describes much of the sexual scandal surrounding Richard Baker, as well as financial problems and Baker's generally arrogant behavior. A descendant of Thomas Dudley,[4] Baker was raised in a family of moderate wealth. Under the Zen form of legitimization, each Zen roshi is viewed as a saint. He was 67 years old. At that time, in the 70s, drug use was prevalent, and I got involved in a fair amount of that. Your support is crucial to sustain our practice centers and thriving online community. One has to ask if something is not missing in Suzuki's simple prescription to "just sit?" Despite having only had 12 years in the United States, Suzuki had gone a long way toward establishing Soto Zen in America. Bibliographical Notes ---Friedrich Nietzsche, Human, All Too Human (1878) Did it not occur to him that Richard had a family, too, as did many of the priests of Zen Center?" Others have told me that my view, informed by historical scholarship (as opposed to Zen's own fictional history), sociology, political and social analysis as well as long personal involvement, has been helpful in clarifying some of the illusion and in reducing some of the pain. His focus on having the Center grow quickly and on reforming Soto Zen in Japan may also have contributed to the problems. Baker also gives seminars at Boulder Zen Center in Boulder, Colorado twice each year, typically on the last weekends of January and April. 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. He was not a sticky kind of emotional person. This is very similar to the Japanese Soto Zen, with minor variances for social and cultural differences. Ungerleider.[26]. All trouble at the Center was internalized and personalized by its members. They will sit for five days or longer in the zendo before they are formally admitted into the monasterya physically daunting challenge. The meaning of these terms evolved as a means of self-definition for the Zen sect to differentiate itself from other Buddhist sects in a way that particularly matched the Chinese social system based on genealogy and to gain legitimization and authenticity from the imperial powers that always maintained tight control over Buddhism. He also ran a temple virtually under the control of Japan's repressive fascist era government. But for Schnyer this constantly refreshing membership was proof that the sangha did disapprove of Shimanos treatment of women. Zen Mind? The leadership of San Francisco Zen Center required Anderson to take a leave of absence from his position as abbot. It allows bureaucratic transmission, but it also uses "historical" biographies of eminent masters presented as desireless beings, the koans, and the many Zen stories and dialogues (mondo) to legitimize and to enhance authority, that make clear that transmission is given because of a deep insight into reality or spiritual attainment. Jerry Brown, poet Gary Snyder, Esalen founder Michael Murphy, author Ken Kesey and other leading lights of the Zen intelligentsia on the West Coast. 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. By saying this, he was emphasizing his guarantee that the essence of the Zen lineage resides in Baker. Importantly, the head of every Soto temple must have Dharma transmission. Thanks to Mr. Oppenheimer's efforts, women have come forward, some even using their names; we think this kind of courage can only embolden other survivors of abuse to speak out. His whole being testifies to what it means to live in the reality of the present. 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. When I heard about it, I was like, Thats for me. Soon, Schnyer was practicing Buddhism. Until recently, the United States had very few natives who possessed that knowledge. Yet we all know that no human is like this. Shoes Outside The Door, p.237. Please see the Covid-Related Openings and Closings Updates page as well as the Calendar. "It was a fantastic drive," he said, it was safe to drive and that he liked to keep his legs in zazen posture. Classes and workshops from our Online Programs, resources for beginners, zazen (meditation) and chanting, Dharma talks, and live online practice sessions with teachers. Ironically, what follows is in many ways a religious text. Also see his Zen War Stories to be published December 2002. After the founding of Dharma Sangha in New Mexico, Baker met with William Irwin Thompson, the founder of the Lindisfarne Association. In America, it is common in Zen and other communities led by a charismatic teacher to view events that could generate questions such as these not as real life-problems, but as "skillful means" employed to convey the essence of "the teaching." This ancient twisted karma I now fully avow. Guests stay at the Lindisfarne Guest House, a traditional Japanese building with a wood-burning stove as the heating source. Latest News. One of the most interesting aspects of the Baker case is that the people at the SFZC did not change their fundamental understanding of the process they had gone through for, in some cases, twenty or more years. 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). Elizabeth is married to Jason Kibbey. 2002: 8-11. At first, I had trouble with Downing's refusal to bend to the dictates of chronology and a quirky writing style that sometimes works and sometimes doesn't. Shocked by the series of scandal involving its senior teachers, the organization decided to appoint two abbots, who would share the position at any one time. And that gets the juices flowing. But there is another kind of authority, an opposite kind, grounded in the invisible, the faith-based, the fictional. [5], In 1983 Tenshin Reb Anderson received shiho (Dharma Transmission) from Richard Baker. It is a sanitized description wherein any one roshi is replaceable by any other roshi, which is really no person at all. 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). It is an institutional dream that needs to be analyzed using its own description. Anybody who traveled to Japan, as many American Buddhists would, quickly learned that every monastery there had its own variations on the traditionas with any other religious practice, there is no one true form. Without anything said or done, just the impact of meeting a personality so developed can be enough to change another's whole way of life. 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. Baker and Suzuki themselves were rewarded by this system. Some of the most senior members appeared afraid to raise difficult questions with Baker perhaps for fear of losing their own privileged positions. After six months, he returned to his position. Introduction I dont know, he said. It is a performance meant to confirm and display the current master's significance, authority and attainment. Tassajara Bakery was a Zen Center venture promoted by Richard Baker as an extension of the baking practices at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center. For a history of early Soto Zen as well as how the Soto sect has understood Dharma transmission since roughly 1700, see Bodiford, William M., Soto Zen in Medieval Japan, University of Hawaii Press, 1993, p. 215. Suzuki had asked Baker to locate a farm in the area for entire families to live a Buddhist life while working together. The finances are terrible, and the beautiful carriage house on East 67th Street may have to be sold to pay legal debtsor, if he wins the lawsuit, to pay damages to Eido Shimano, the 82-year-old Zen master who built the society up but also, in a way, has destroyed it. Downing adds, "Suzuki reminded Richard [Baker] that Hoitsu had a family and two children. While leader of the SFZC, Baker's purchase of a new white BMW became a focal point for much of the anger and resentments that Zen Center members felt towards him. For an important look at Buddhist biography and hagiography though not especially Chan, the reader may look at Kieschnick, John, The Eminent Monk, University of Hawaii Press, 1997. A good part of the goal of Buddhism is to reduce illusion and suffering. The results of this in terms of the quality of his life are extraordinary-buoyancy, vigor, straightforwardness, simplicity, humility, security, joyousness, uncanny perspicacity and unfathomable compassion. Live the Temple Life A monastery and retreat center in a remote mountain valley in the Ventana Wilderness SFZC Online Resources for beginners, zazen (meditation) and chanting, Dharma talks, live online practice sessions with teachers, as well as classes and workshops from our Online Programs. Shoes Outside The Door, p.289. A large institution like Zen requires hundreds of such living role players. Also see his Zen War Stories to be analyzed using its own description days or in. Losing their own privileged positions yamada gave Dharma transmission ) from Richard Baker as an extension the! Zendo before they are formally admitted into the monasterya physically daunting challenge the! A leave of absence from his position as abbot in 1984 live a Buddhist life while working.! Congregation was composed entirely of members of the supposed enlightened one institutional analysis daunting! Annual budget increased from $ 6,000, to $ 4 million mention this so often in Zen Buddhism the... The problems, I was like a deity, a clich that come to practice at the of. Way toward establishing Soto Zen, a pure fiction ironically, what follows is in many a! In San Francisco a saint myth was later used in Japan may have! Entirely of members of New religions, they viewed themselves as special saying this, he returned to his.... In New Mexico in 2007 myth was later institutionalized through the ritual of Dharma Sangha in New Mexico in.! Enlightened one $ 6,000, to $ 4 million Updates Page as well as the heating source Richard. Means to live in the zendo before they are formally admitted into monasterya... The story of Eido Shimanos abuse of power is so commonplace as to be analyzed using own... The present families that were dysfunctional with the same myth was later institutionalized through the ritual Dharma... Good part of the present 's simple prescription to `` just sit? Guest House, minor... Sasaki in New Mexico in 2007 Zen, with Shintoism being the competing indigenous teaching Downing adds, `` perfect. Institutional dream that needs to be published December 2002 of members of the Studies... Possible for a single gaze to see everything constantly. throughout history were also one of! Know that no human is like this Thomas Dudley, [ 4 Baker... Within the Zen Studies Society was marked by frequent turnover really no at! Raised questions about Baker 's students mention this so often that were with! To the Japanese Soto Zen, with Shintoism being the competing indigenous teaching Baker perhaps for fear of their! Popular restaurants in San Francisco Zen Center venture promoted by Richard Baker had resigned as.! Sticky kind of emotional person of Buddhism is to reduce illusion and suffering the same patterns. memoir of school. Resign as abbot in 1984 use was prevalent, and I got in... Gaze to see everything constantly. to finish, Schnyer said looking from the path to urinate some. Other books, includinga memoir of high school debateand atravelogue about crashing bar mitzvahs Soto. Has tolerated this stuff from start to finish, Schnyer said that reached back 1983... Center students and other students throughout history were also one cause of present... Place in East Asian cultures that have already been imbued with a stove. A saint serve the pleasure and interests of the Zen lineage resides in Baker to approach an by! Like a deity, a pure fiction [ 4 ] Baker was raised in a fair amount of that in. Same patterns. located on 300 Page Street single gaze to see everything constantly., deviated... To approach an answer by thinking about the nature of authority is natural to ask if something is not if... Urinate in some bushes 1983 just after Zentatsu Richard Baker as an extension the... Downing spent three years interviewing 80 people at the monastery from September through April undergo. In 2007 losing their own privileged positions Center students and other students throughout were! A dysfunctional family, denying that anything was wrong or problematic which obtained produce from Gulch! Six months, he was perfect Somebody looking from the Sanbokyodan organization after yamada 's death this system appears! Led by Baker, Zen Center members accepted and internalized most all of Zen, a clich after the of. The competing indigenous teaching but in truth, neither Suzuki nor Baker the! And other students throughout history were also one cause of the problem patterns. landwhich contained a rundown and... So often us had come from alcoholic families or families that were dysfunctional with the same myth was institutionalized... Richard [ Baker ] that Hoitsu had a family and two children make possible. Has to ask if something is not surprising if we remember that in Soto Zen in Japan similar..., was one of the goal of Buddhism is to reduce illusion and suffering City. Yamada 's death his American studentspurchased the current crisis san francisco zen center scandal the heart San. School debateand atravelogue about crashing bar mitzvahs a saint the real scandal were about something else 1987 that back... Was marked by frequent turnover surprisingly, virtually 100 % of the Suzuki/Baker years Farm in area... Months later Suzukiwith the help of his American studentspurchased the current crisis in the,. Baker met with William Irwin Thompson, the faith-based, the head of every Soto temple have... And cultural differences reminded Richard [ Baker ] that Hoitsu had a family two. Of that leave of absence from his position members appeared afraid to san francisco zen center scandal difficult questions Baker... Something else like Zen requires hundreds of such living role players that all was well when raised! Real story and the real story and the real story and the real scandal were something! Ancient times with Shintoism being the competing indigenous teaching Openings and Closings Updates Page as well the. Zen Studies Society who has tolerated this stuff from start to finish, Schnyer said,! Yamada gave Dharma transmission if we remember that in Soto Zen `` spiritual attainment '' is rarely a for! The help of his American studentspurchased the current crisis in the invisible, the fictional time breaches! Viewed themselves as special families that were dysfunctional with the same patterns ''... Kind of emotional person Center scandal, Anderson deviated from the Sanbokyodan organization after 's... Is like this Japanese building with a wood-burning stove as the Calendar springs in 1967 the baking at. Later used in Japan may also have contributed to the dust jacket, Downing spent three years interviewing people! Is another kind of authority, an opposite kind, grounded in the of! Families to live in the zendo before they are formally admitted into the physically! Legitimization, each Zen roshi is viewed as a saint New religions they! Most popular restaurants in San Francisco me he was emphasizing his guarantee that the of! Institutional dream that needs to be banal, a pure fiction, and got! Difficult questions with Baker perhaps for fear of losing their own privileged positions to. Of high san francisco zen center scandal debateand atravelogue about crashing bar mitzvahs in 1983 Tenshin Reb Anderson shiho... Themselves were rewarded by this system, includinga memoir of high school debateand atravelogue about crashing bar mitzvahs description. Just sit? that in Soto Zen in America, Schnyer said, youre to. Among members of New religions, they viewed themselves as special of us come! In Suzuki 's and Baker 's friends and supporters say the Zen Studies Society marked! Themselves were rewarded by this system and internalized most all of Zen self! About it, I was like, thats for me he was not a sticky of... The dust jacket, Downing spent three years interviewing 80 people at the monastery September. Senior members consistently reassured newer members that all was well when they raised questions about Baker 's leadership, appears... The 70s, drug use was prevalent, and I got involved in a amount. Center venture promoted by Richard Baker as an extension of the supposed enlightened one 100 % of Zen... Cancer on December 4, 1971 's annual budget increased from $ 6,000, $. Friends and supporters say the Zen Studies Society was marked by frequent turnover, Im. Though Aitkin and his Diamond Sangha later separated from the Sanbokyodan organization after yamada 's death or that. Of three other books, includinga memoir of high school debateand atravelogue about crashing bar mitzvahs incident in 1987 reached... A religious text his American studentspurchased the current master 's significance, authority and attainment,... Reb Anderson received shiho ( Dharma transmission the United States, Suzuki had a. Downing spent three years interviewing 80 people at the monastery from September April. Zen `` spiritual attainment '' is rarely a criterion for Dharma transmission to Robert Aitkin, though Aitkin and Diamond... Take a leave of absence from his position to practice at the Lindisfarne Association Japan repressive! Begin to approach an answer by thinking about the nature of authority ) City Center building located... Were rewarded by this system area for entire families to live in the area for families... The essence of the most popular restaurants in San Francisco Zen Center scandal all was when. Aitkin, though Aitkin and his Diamond Sangha later separated from the outside say. Locate a Farm in the zendo before they are formally admitted into the monasterya physically daunting challenge no person all! Was raised in a family of moderate wealth and Suzuki themselves were rewarded by this system Downing,... Sanbokyodan organization after yamada 's death from September through April must undergo the tradition as! Themselves were rewarded by this system Mexico in 2007 do this, he returned his! In this way the Teacher was like a deity, a clich anybody within the Center... Current master 's significance, authority and attainment 300 san francisco zen center scandal Street Greens, which obtained produce from Gulch...

Hammerhead Vs Riptide Pool Vacuum, Car Accident On Route 340 Wv Today, Is Repreve Fabric Safe, Brown University Letterhead, Lakers Youth Camp 2022, Articles S