Writings featured as biography in Zen are most often an idealized presentation of how a master should perform his role rather than the life of a real person. For students of the San Francisco Zen Center, one of America's oldest and most prestigious Buddhist institutions, the world has already ended. One student stated it as, "The one thing that seemed unquestionable was Richard's Transmission." It is this idealized version of Dharma transmission that claims the master is an enlightened being that is the source of the Zen master's extraordinary claim to authority. Tassajara Zen Mountain Center ("Zen Mind Temple" or Zenshinji) was the first Zen Buddhist monastery built in the United States, and the first in the world to allow co-ed practice. But the Americans didnt know that. 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. There is certainly nothing anti-authoritarian about the notion of unbroken lineage going back to the historical Buddha. Introduction In the end, both teacher and student fall prey to these fantasies. In this way the teacher was like a deity, a minor god. The question is: How do so many Zen Buddhist teachers get away with it, and for so long? Zen Nationalism Revisited by Robert H. Sharf Baker was a charismatic leader, brilliant lecturer and dedicated Buddhist. Bibliographical Notes 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. Its raison d'etre is to produce people who possess a fundamental insight into life, people who are not fooled by appearances or ideas. 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. [1] Zen Hospice Project was the subject of the Netflix 2018 Academy Award-nominated[24] short documentary End Game,[25] about terminally ill patients in a San Francisco hospital as well as at the Zen Hospice Project house, featuring the work of palliative care physician BJ Miller and other palliative care clinicians. That's what we made of it." [32], These revelations led Baker to resign as abbot in 1984. 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. In Downing's book we see that much illusion, suffering and pain has been part of Zen in San Francisco, a situation that, unfortunately, has been repeated in most every other part of America over a thirty-five year period. Suzuki-roshi, as his students called him, died of cancer in 1971. A large institution like Zen requires hundreds of such living role players. He remained abbot there until 1984, the year he resigned his position after it was disclosed in the previous year that he and the wife of one of SFZC's benefactors had been having an ongoing affair. Ruling year info. 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. 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. All the pieces don't start coming together until about halfway through the book, and it takes some patience to get there. Cases like this are important simply because the study of Zen history has shown us the whole lineage tradition is built so heavily on questionable written and word-of-mouth accounts; what is said in the present will surely be repeated long into the future. But in the 1960s and 70s, American Buddhists needed the foreigners. The idea of the enlightened Zen master authenticated through the ritual of dharma transmission and maintained by an unbroken lineage going back to the historical Buddha is at the heart of the Zen tradition. [2] From 1968 to 1971, he traveled to Japan to practice at the primary St monasteries there, including Antaiji, Eiheiji, and Daitokuji. They should take credit for the fact that we did it for many years. Explore hundreds of dharma talksby San Francisco Zen Center teachers, practice leaders, and speakers from the wider community. Soon these Westerners participated in regular services, and new non-Asian students came to outnumber the Japanese-American congregation. Baker's friends and supporters say the Zen Center never regained the spark and spiritual power of the Suzuki/Baker years. [6] One student who followed him to his new community was the priest Philip Whalen (ordained by Baker as a priest in 1973), who became tanto (head monk) of the new center. He then arrived in San Francisco, California in 1960beginning to sit with Shunryu Suzuki in 1961. Former students have said that he was addicted to power, abusive of his position, extravagant in his personal spending, and inappropriate in his love life. There is a whole lineage built on the idea that Kapleau had transmission. 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. The volunteer project's founding director was Frank Ostaseski, who served until 2004. But the percentage of the Zen clergy implicated in sexual misdeeds is many times greater than that of the Catholic clergy. A senior member relates in Downing's book that Suzuki himself refused to hear criticism of Baker by other members of the Center because, as he said, " To his [Suzuki's] way of thinking, Dick's commitment was at another level, so the rest of us were not in a position to criticize him." "[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 presided over it all like a feudal lord, hosting dinner parties with then-Gov. 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. And what was Suzuki's intention here? You have to ask whether Suzuki was aware of the claims made by Baker and, if so, why he permitted them to stand without correction. He served as Abbot there until 1978, moving the group to Jikoji in Los Gatos, California in 1979. Rather than report this to the police, Anderson returned to the body over several days to meditate over the corpse. One older student expressed it this way, "In our hands, and it was in our hands, it [Suzuki's pure teaching] became a bludgeon of power, a source of competition, jealousy, and paranoia. In not clearly explaining the meaning, to his disciples at the SFZC, of his transmission to Baker, while stressing that it was "real;" Suzuki chose to perpetuate a fiction and to dishonor the trust they had given him. Some people felt that I had committed an irrevocable betrayal of trust, and have discounted me and my teaching ever since. About. This formulaic collection of qualities of a Zen master, is not neutral. Despite extraordinary personal shortcomings, Eido Shimano continued to wield spiritual authority throughout his time at the Zen Studies Society. 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. A student was also liable to believe that her teacher was conveying the one true form of Zen Buddhism. But the Soto sect tries to have it both ways. Suzuki Roshi 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. For an analysis of the idealized, one-dimensional style of describing a roshi, the one of Suzuki in Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind being just one contemporary example, see "Simpleness" in Alan Cole's previously mentioned paper, "It's All in the Framing", p.6. [6] Baker also penned the introduction to Suzuki's famous book, Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind. He is now a professor of psychology at the University of Texas, and in December 2012 I spoke with him by telephone. 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 by James Ishmael Ford Means of Authorization: Establishing Hierarchy in Ch'an/Zen Buddhism in America According to revelations that have tumbled out over the past two years, and which I chronicle in-depth in a new e-book, Shimano has spent 50 years preying sexually on his students. Baker's use of Dixon's words begins the description of Suzuki Roshi, with the strange phrasing "a roshi is" This substitutes what is supposed to be a description of their close and beloved teacher Suzuki Roshi, a real person, with an abstraction, "a roshi." 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. In the last few decades as opposed to the past, we have had a clear personal view of the actual people involved, Richard Baker being only one. Religion occupies a distinctive place in this enterprise." It was considered "real" because it came from the saintly Suzuki and Suzuki made a point of saying it was "real." Sokojifounded by Hosen Isobe in 1934had been housed in a former Jewish synagogue that is now Kokoro Assisted Living. And the teachings in it. As noted in the paper, senior members consistently reassured newer members that all was well when they raised questions about Baker's activities. Institutional mythology, which created a seamless picture of unbroken lineage along with pure, desireless perfection and attainment housed in the body of the master, was not questioned, and hence, remained intact. Students in their early 30s, even younger, could find themselves among the senior monks at Dai Bosatsu, in a tradition that is supposed to be ungraspable even after a whole lifetime of study. Zen practice is not required to stay at Green Gulch, though guests are welcome to participate in zazen or any other activities. After six months, he returned to his position. Ironically, one may ask, is that what Suzuki hoped to reform? 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. 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. As long as it was understood that Baker was the only Dharma heir of Suzuki, it was exceedingly difficult for any one to question Baker's behavior and style. One student said that when the senior priests were questioned about some aspects of Baker's behavior, the answer was, "Richard has Transmission." Some former students say they were encouraged to believe that being groped by him was part of their. At that time, Baker also became the official leader of the San Francisco Zen Center (SFZC). This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. . In particular, Berger, Peter,L. Trust me." 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. 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. 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. For an outstanding article on Sanbokyodan Zen, a Zen sect important in the West see, Sharf, Robert, "Sanbokyodan, Zen and the Way of New Religions", Japanese Journal of Religious Studies, Fall 1995, Vol. I assume that Downing would have included a broader view if he had heard it from any of the interviewees. It is fashionable among practitioners in the West to consider critical thought as "un-Zen." 3. The focus itself is on the master. I hope this is the case with this paper. 3-101 applies the social construction of reality theory to religion. Baker is the sole western heir of Suzuki Roshi, a Japanese Zen teacher who founded the SFZC and its mountain training center, Tassajara established in 1967. 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. 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. "To sum up the situation, we have no sources at all from the T'ang which mentions or describe explicitly "Chan" institutions," p. 267. 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. I have seen such a view expressed in four other major Zen communities as well as in a Tibetan community. This paper can also serve the non-scholar as an overview or introduction to modern Zen scholarship and introduce a critical view of the important Zen ideas of master, Dharma transmission, and unbroken lineage. It was high. Dharma transmission has been awarded and is still awarded for many reasons besides spiritual attainment. "If you scratch under the bitterness, there's a lot of beauty there," says Norman Fischer, abbott of the Zen Center from 1995 to 2000. 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. There are some good, and unavoidable, reasons for Americans dependence on Japanese roshis (and, more recently, as Americans have become interested in Tibetan Buddhism, for their dependence on foreign teachers like the Dalai Lama). He found willing assenters, willing children eager to listen to his fairy tales. ", 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). 13 reviews of San Francisco Zen Center "This place is really awesome! It is clear from Downing's interviews that Zen Center members assumed that there was no ideology to be questioned, i.e., the unreliable history of Zen, the hagiographic picture of the lineage, along with its mythology of Dharma transmission, unbroken lineage, and enlightened Zen masters. [The teacher] had been in a Zen monastery for a year in Japan. It also spun off its business and stopped pretending that work without compensation was "spiritual practice.". In 2003 Paul Haller, who received transmission from Sojun Mel Weitsman in 1993, was installed as co-abbot with her. 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. Reviewed December 27, 2012 . Also see his forthcoming book on early Chan texts for a unique dissection of early lineage claims and their supporting texts . He does not sit zazen and only chants when he has a service to do for someone." Students that come to practice at the monastery from September through April must undergo the tradition known as tangaryo. #28 of 84 Specialty lodging in San Francisco. "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. I too was a member of a Zen center where we also felt that our group and style of practice were in some ways unique. Tassajara Bakery was a Zen Center venture promoted by Richard Baker as an extension of the baking practices at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center. For some thirty years a significant group of scholars have been investigating the development of the Chan sect in Chinese Buddhism. 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. by Steven Heine and Dale S. Wright, Oxford University Press, 2000. It is important to remember now that the interviews Downing conducted in 1998-2000 were long after the events at the SFZC took place. An organic farm and garden in a beautiful coastal valley in Marin County, A monastery and retreat center in a remote mountain valley in the Ventana Wilderness. 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