At the time, Schnyer was just 24 years old, yet he had been a Shimano student since he was a teenager. They have a daughter, Sofia Baker, born on March 1, 2001, in Alamosa, Colorado. One justification sometimes heard, glib to my ear, is that enlightenment is not about morality. Shocked by the series of scandals involving its senior teachers, the organization decided to appoint two abbots, who would share the position at any one time. This imputation of power and attainment has given one Zen roshi after another the power to abuse their position while remaining beyond reproach. In short, the biographical approach to history seems to be used because it has intimate real-life immediacy. The Zen understanding of wisdom imputes Foucault's "single gaze to see everything constantly" to the Master. What passes for "knowledge" in society is built on the foundation of language. Baker claimed the Center was "denying 2,500 years of how Buddhism was developed and continued" He made a number of other historically inaccurate claims, and finally dropped the suit saying that he was pressured to institute the threat by a lawyer student of his: "There was a lawyer who kept bugging me." Tassajara baked bread for student and guest consumption since 1967, and Edward Espe Brown's Tassajara Bread Book, demonstrated consumer interest. 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. Likewise, Dharma transmission was as much about institutional prosperity, prestige, authority, continuity and acceptance and control by imperial authorities as it was about notions of enlightenment and spiritual perfection. Ruling year info. 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. Introduction In 1983 Tenshin Reb Anderson received shih from Zentatsu Richard Baker, becoming Baker's first Dharma heir (though Baker disputes this). ", 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). For an analysis of the inherent power relations in the one-dimensional description of a roshi and how it is taken for being natural, see "Symbolic Violence and Social Reproduction" and "Uses of Language" in, Jenkins, Richard, Pierre Bourdieu, Routledge, 1992, pp.103-110 and pp.152-162 respectively. But that is the way that Suzuki or Baker or any roshi is presented. A student was also liable to believe that her teacher was conveying the one true form of Zen Buddhism. Some Zen followers believe that Zen is only concerned with enlightenment and is not concerned with personal behavior or with ordinary morality. Also see, Brown, Edward Espe, Not Always So: Practicing the True Spirit of Zen, Harper Collins, 2002, Branching Streams Flow in the Darkness: Zen Talks on the Sandokai, Ed. 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. Why do we need to rehash this one again? Baker's friends and supporters say the Zen Center never regained the spark and spiritual power of the Suzuki/Baker years. This is not to imply that there is no value to be gained in the practice of Zen. That's what we made of it." [1][15], In 1983 Tenshin Reb Anderson received shih from Zentatsu Richard Baker, becoming Baker's first Dharma heir (though Baker disputes this). For some thirty years a significant group of scholars have been investigating the development of the Chan sect in Chinese Buddhism. But, given that no one interviewed in the book expressed any view outside of the standard Zen model, one may ask, was the Zen history taught at the Zen Center just more of Zen legend? 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. Anderson remembered stowing the revolver away in the San Francisco Zen Center's garage and quickly retrieved it. Michel Foucault in "The Means of Correct Training" in Discipline and Punish, Trans. He found willing assenters, willing children eager to listen to his fairy tales. 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. (If the reader wants to argue that Dharma transmission in the Rinzai sect or in the modern Sanbokyodan sect so popular in the West matches the ideal of Zen rhetoric, please feel free to email me at my address listed in the Notes.) Under the Zen approach, the Chan masters are clearly more potent than the monastics of other Buddhist sects, who merely explicate the Dharma through texts, often texts that are further distanced from their authoritative origins by the act of translation. Baker was a charismatic leader, brilliant lecturer and dedicated Buddhist. It is noted that after 1983 the study of sutras, Zen texts and history was instituted. 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. Even though the bureaucratic "transmissions" in the Soto church have nothing to do with spiritual insight, the Soto institution does nothing to dissuade people thinking that there is a mind-to-mind connection between its "roshis" and the historical Buddha. From 1986 to 1988 he served as abbot of the San Francisco Zen Center, and from 1988 to 1995 he served there as co-abbot with Sojun Mel Weitsman. Yamada gave Dharma transmission to Robert Aitkin, though Aitkin and his Diamond Sangha later separated from the Sanbokyodan organization after Yamada's death. In particular, Suzuki's San Francisco Zen Center lineage continues through his bureaucratic "transmission" to his son Hoitsu. 4.5. 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. The issue here is not how individual students behave foolishly or even in a self-serving way, it is the admonition to "just sit" - even for twenty thousand hours - is no guarantee against foolishness or delusion. Greens Restaurant, opened in 1979 in Fort Mason of San Francisco, was another business venture by SFZC under the influence of Baker. Supporting tools to make this narrative seem real and unconstructed include the particular methods of meditation and interactions between teacher and student as well as an abundance of validating mythologies most often presented as history in the form of biography, along with accommodating literary and ritual devices. 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. Zen Center Members But the percentage of the Zen clergy implicated in sexual misdeeds is many times greater than that of the Catholic clergy. Baker's introduction to Suzuki's edited words in the well known book, Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind gives a description of Suzuki as the ideal of a fully realized Zen master. If you counted the blow-ups, youd say just a few [women,] but we think he ran his life like a Japanese businessmanlots of affairs, but most of them discreet. By Kurt Wolff, Free Press Paperback, 1950 for a discussion of authority, prestige, subordination, and sociability. 837 501. Months later Suzukiwith the help of his American studentspurchased the current (and larger) City Center building, located on 300 Page Street. And the teachings in it. 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. 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. It is because one was wrong about him, because one misinterpreted the states of his soul and drew as sharp a line as is possible between oneself and him, as if he were something utterly incomparable and strangely superhuman-that he gained that extraordinary power with which he could dominate the imagination of whole peoples and ages. It means, "Don't ask. 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. The conception of an unbroken lineage based on the idea of mind-to-mind transmission going back to the Buddha superceded a previous idea of authority that was based on texts, i.e., the sutras, which were understood to embody the words of the historical Buddha. . Foulk, T. Griffith, "The Zen Institute in Modern Japan", pp.157-177. It acquired property worth around $20 million and built up a network of affiliated businesses staffed by Zen Center students, which included the vegetarian Greens Restaurant in Fort Mason, a bakery, and a grocery store. 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. He also ran a temple virtually under the control of Japan's repressive fascist era government. The Zen Institution Not surprisingly, virtually 100% of the time these breaches of morality serve the pleasure and interests of the supposed enlightened one. The past generations are presented in a saintly and exalted manner, which adds to the prestige of the tradition as a whole, but most importantly, to the prestige of the last name on the lineage chart, the living teacher. . Mark Oppenheimer hosts the podcast Unorthodox for Tablet magazine and writes for The New York Times Magazine, Mother Jones, and GQ, among other publications. Kwong's transmission was later completed by Suzuki's son, Hoitsu.[1][11][12]. The land was purchased from one of the founders of Polaroid, George Wheelwright. Located atop a bumpy 10-mile (16km) road which is difficult for some vehicles to climb, Tassajara offers shuttles to and from the retreat for those inclined to forgo trying to make the trek on their own. This has a direct bearing on the Baker story and the way mythology continues to be constructed even in the present. It is important to remember now that the interviews Downing conducted in 1998-2000 were long after the events at the SFZC took place. For a peek into a period only shortly before our own, we can use Brian Victoria's book Zen At War. Bibliographical Notes Definitely worth checking them out on their website and trying to attend the beginners lesson! His focus on having the Center grow quickly and on reforming Soto Zen in Japan may also have contributed to the problems. This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Despite this, few people interviewed seemed to be aware that by continually repeating the transmission story without reflection and without making the effort to understand what they were part of, they were in fact becoming an integral component in the creation of a new myth-which was then used by people like Richard Baker. The sangha was incorporated by Shunryu Suzuki Roshi and a group of his American students in 1962. But Shimano is hardly alone; his is not an isolated case. Therefore, in the need to remain at the Center, members had a powerful incentive to fully buy into Zen's mythology. Yet, I have found that within the Zen community there is little self-examination about Zen as an institution and its self-definitions and what the effects of these are in the world of flesh and blood people. The other was to establish Chan's primacy over the indigenous teachings of Confucianism and Taoism in the eyes of the state and the elite of society. It is a sanitized description wherein any one roshi is replaceable by any other roshi, which is really no person at all. Below is the information about san francisco zen center scandal . He became the leader of the Sanbokyodan school of Zen started by Yasutani. Whose Zen? [7], Baker received Dharma transmission from Suzuki in 1970,[2] and then was installed as abbot of San Francisco Zen Center during the "Mountain Seat Ceremony" on November 21, 1971. 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. [6] Baker also penned the introduction to Suzuki's famous book, Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind. For students of the San Francisco Zen Center, one of America's oldest and most prestigious Buddhist institutions, the world has already ended. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews. This story appears to be an example of modern day creation of hagiography that will be repeated in the future. Not Always So: practicing the true spirit of Zen by Shunryu Suzuki book review buy this book 145 41. [5], In 1983 Tenshin Reb Anderson received shiho (Dharma Transmission) from Richard Baker. Me and my friend always had suspicions he had ongoing relationships with Japanese women that were kept quiet, and were more or less continuous. 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. Zen Center members accepted and internalized most all of Zen's self definitions, history and social forms. San Francisco Zen Center 300 Page Street San Francisco, California 94102 www.sfzc.org. 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. Look, theres a certain type of person that is looking for something else in another culture, said Ed Glassing, the former resident monk at both Zen Studies Society locations, whom Shimano maligned as a homosexual. Sort of like, something they dont have, so its mysterious, exotic, its like whoa. [2][6][14], A once controversial figure, Richard Baker was publicly criticized for his behavior at San Francisco Zen Center. These events are a helpful reminderboth to me and to othersof my vulnerability to arrogance and inflation. One member quoted Baker as saying, "I always act from pure motives; I never worry about the world." Unfortunately, this issue is not raised or considered by any of the Zen Center members interviewed in the book. 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." Downing quotes a prominent older student who expressed it differently, "Dick tried to take over Zen Center again." 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. I approached it with a searching spirituality aspect, reading Huxley and Timothy Leary, and that leads you down the road to the Beat generation and Zen. 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? 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. There is certainly nothing anti-authoritarian about the notion of unbroken lineage going back to the historical Buddha. Many women and others in the Zen community have suffered as a result, and we regret and apologize for our collective failure to stop this harm. Victoria describes how the most prominent roshis from all sects of Japanese Zen interpreted Zen's teachings to support the imperial and militaristic goals of Japan from the early twentieth century through the end of World War II and beyond. 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. "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. [5] Baker was ordained a St priest by Suzuki in 1966 just before the opening of Tassajara Zen Mountain Center. Zen Groups Distressed by Accusations Against Teacher Joshu Sasaki in New Mexico in 2007. 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. It was a spiritual scandal starring the usual suspects -- sex, money and the abuse of religious authority. "[16], On September 25, 1999 in Salem, Baker married Marie Louise, daughter of Maximilian, Margrave of Baden, and grandniece of Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. 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. I finally asked Schnyer if he had said what Zournas attributed to him: He hasnt raped anyone yet, has he? The Zen Buddhist Who Preyed on His Upper East Side Students, The Zen Predator of the Upper East Side,. As is common among members of new religions, they viewed themselves as special. The idea of electing an abbot is, no doubt, a distinctively American innovation in a centuries-long pattern of religious authority. This scheme was later institutionalized through the ritual of Dharma transmission. This is a mythology of Zen, a pure fiction. Also see his Zen War Stories to be published December 2002. Despite its iconoclastic image, Zen has in actuality been a remarkably conservative institution throughout its history, almost always tied to and controlled by the state and elite elements of society. 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). In particular, Berger, Peter,L. Zen Center members did not think there was any thought control or propaganda necessary to escape when it came to Zen. The focus itself is on the master. "On both a personal and a professional level, I am still dealing with the consequences of this episode. Mark Oppenheimeris the author of three other books, includinga memoir of high school debateand atravelogue about crashing bar mitzvahs. He was doing what Japanese roshis are supposed to do, what they have done for centuries. On reforming Soto Zen in Japan may also have contributed to the problems in Mason. Direct bearing on the foundation of language Zen Institute in Modern Japan '', pp.157-177 ]. 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