san francisco zen center scandal

He also grabbed the land for Green Gulch farm and retreat center, located in a spectacular valley near Muir Beach. 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. He may have slept with dozens; I personally have identified over a dozen, and spoken to many of them. 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. Institutional power, authority, hierarchy and order are, hence, accomplished through self-censorship by the members, a more effective method for controlling dissent and questioning than coercion by the leaders. Some of these students began calling their group City Center, and they incorporated in 1962 as the San Francisco Zen Center.[1][2][3][4][5]. 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. In particular, Suzuki's San Francisco Zen Center lineage continues through his bureaucratic "transmission" to his son Hoitsu. "[12] And Baker, for his part, is quoted as having said in a 1994 interview with Sugata Schneider: I don't think that the gossipy or official versions of what happened are right, but I feel definitely that if I were back in the situation again as the person I am now, it wouldn't have happened. The current crisis in the Catholic Church proves the need for such an institutional analysis. 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. 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. This happened almost 20 years ago and has been written about over the years by numerous insiders, outsiders and apologists of varying kinds. 2002: 8-11. I dont know, he said. #28 of 84 Specialty lodging in San Francisco. After six months, he returned to his position. If this was the case, it would seem that he failed this task in America. The leadership of San Francisco Zen Center required Anderson to take a leave of absence from his position as abbot. pp.347-379. Interestingly, one of the oldest members of Zen Center, a psychologist, did an "informal poll" of people who had been at Zen Center for more than eight years. That Kapleau never received Dharma transmission was exposed in a public letter from Yamada roshi dated,1/16/86. [10] The community's sense of crisis sharpened when the woman's husband, one of SFZC's primary benefactors, threatened to hold the organization legally responsible for its abbot's apparent misconduct.[11]. If someone attempted to question some aspect of Baker's behavior, both Baker and senior disciples reminded them that Baker was the only American Dharma heir of Suzuki. 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. 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. 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. The first is grounded in something tangible, concrete, observable: the soldier with his gun, or the scientist with her laboratory results. He does not sit zazen and only chants when he has a service to do for someone." Berkeley, March 17th, 2002. Baker Sums It Up Soon these Westerners participated in regular services, and new non-Asian students came to outnumber the Japanese-American congregation. His American students accept this theme unquestioningly. I dont remember saying that., Schnyer maintains a tidy understanding of his personal Zen galaxy, in which Shimano is the sun, hot and dangerous but necessary. Mind-to-mind transmission implies that the student has attained an understanding equal to his Zen master/roshi and so on backwards, hence being equal to the original, unmediated wordless understanding that supposedly passed between Sakyamuni and Mahakasyapa. 4.5. 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. Trust me." That's what we made of it." It was high. Throughout the 1980s Greens, which obtained produce from Green Gulch Farm, was one of the most popular restaurants in San Francisco. They also have a lot of other awesome Saturday morning programs for zen noobs (znoobs!!). I believe the trouble at the San Francisco Zen Center, and at many other prominent Zen Centers, across the country to this day, is caused by a lack of understanding as to how the ideas of Dharma transmission, unbroken lineage, and Zen master have been used historically. Therefore, in the need to remain at the Center, members had a powerful incentive to fully buy into Zen's mythology. Though these themes are mentioned a number of times by students, it seems curious that in Downing's interviews, no one ever questioned what this meant, no one mentioned what Suzuki meant, why Baker's transmission was supposedly real or if Suzuki or Baker ever explained the difference between "real" and unreal transmissions. Nevertheless, following extensive investigation, even Chadwick was forced to admit: "Anything Shunryu had done that could be considered remotely antiwar he had done before the Pacific war started" (p. 97). 1969 - The current SFZC building was purchased with the help of American students. . [3] He has two daughters, Sally and Elizabeth, from a prior marriage to Virginia Baker. 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. 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. Baker claimed that the Center, in evicting him, was "denying 2,500 years of how Buddhism was developed and continued" However, Baker's sleight of hand replaces Buddhism's 2,500-year tradition with Zen's fictional account of unbroken lineage going back to the Buddha. 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. Richard Baker also survived. In this scheme, each teacher can trace his lineage and hence, authenticity, back to the historical Buddha. 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. The San Francisco Zen Center community includes residents and non-residents at all three centers, priests and lay practitioners, long-term and short-term participants, and opportunities to attend a wide variety of events and programs. 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. Besides Suzuki's chosen heir Baker's questionable behavior, Downing reveals many of the senior people scrambling for positions of authority, power, money and perks. [10], In 1970, Suzuki gave Dharma transmission to Richard Baker, his only American Dharma Heir and chosen successor at SFZC. 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. Your support is crucial to sustain our practice centers and thriving online community. The Zen Studies Society was marked by frequent turnover. The new president, Sylvan Busch, did not open his mouth to show any disapproval of Mr. and Mrs. Shimanos activities. And then there was Schnyer, the youngest board member, who, according to Zournas, defended Shimano by reportedly saying, He hasnt raped anyone yet, has he?. 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. Zen Center survived, reorganizing in a manner that made it more democratic, but also more bureaucratic. For a view from the political perspective that has application in the religious arena see Edwards, David, "A Chest of Tools for Intellectual Self-Defense" in Burning All Illusions, South End Press, pp.177-224. He also ran a temple virtually under the control of Japan's repressive fascist era government. San Francisco Zen Center SFZC Online Welcome to SFZC Online Below you'll find information about our online offerings: 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. 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. "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. This would have led any impartial observer to question the spiritual implications of Dharma transmission. 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. It seems that Zen's emphasis on wisdom, while giving compassion only lip service, is really about power. [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. 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. A student was also liable to believe that her teacher was conveying the one true form of Zen Buddhism. 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. 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. Kai C. Half Moon Bay, California. Please keep it in mind. 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. Before long, Sokoji had non-Japanese Americans mostly beatniks coming to the temple to sit zazen with him in the morning. The monastery is closed to outsiders from the months of September through April, then opens to the public by reservation from May through August - offering retreats, seminars, and workshops. Shimanos Japanese ways suited Schnyer. This is not a new idea nor is it unique to Chan/Zen. He became the leader of the Sanbokyodan school of Zen started by Yasutani. Tassajara baked bread for student and guest consumption since 1967, and Edward Espe Brown's Tassajara Bread Book, demonstrated consumer interest. They should take credit for the fact that we did it for many years. And what was Suzuki's intention here? He then arrived in San Francisco, California in 1960beginning to sit with Shunryu Suzuki in 1961. This is a very interesting piece of "history" which is no doubt destined to be repeated. 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. 1969 - Suzuki was asked to resign as priest at Sokoji by the temple's board of directors because he was spending more time with his Western students than the Japanese-American congregation. Most of the narratives of the early heroes of Chan that we have today were composed hundreds of years after the ostensive events, complete with verbatim accounts of the master's interaction with a disciple presented as if a court stenographer had been recording the entire interaction. 2015. 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." One of the greatest reasons that Shimano could sleep with so many women is that it bothered the men so little. [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. (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.) Zen Groups Distressed by Accusations Against Teacher Joshu Sasaki in New Mexico in 2007. 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. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Anderson remembered stowing the revolver away in the San Francisco Zen Center's garage and quickly retrieved it. Also available are practice sessions with SF Zen Center teachers. Zen Mind, Beginners Mind by Shunryu Suzuki buy this book Yamada gave Dharma transmission to Robert Aitkin, though Aitkin and his Diamond Sangha later separated from the Sanbokyodan organization after Yamada's death. But for the [Zen Studies Society,] my gullibility, spiritual gullibilityI didnt realize that it was a borderline cult. A number of Downing's interviewees spoke of receiving the true or pure Zen teaching from Suzuki Roshi. With so many students and so much public attention, some felt Baker became less available to the members of the community. 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. One of Shimanos greatest advantages has been that he is Japanese. The Zen Institution Trouble At The San Francisco Zen Center But in truth, neither Suzuki nor Baker fit the saintly mold. Was his lifestyle less than exemplary? 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. On your own, but Im not going to do this, youre going to do for.. 'S emphasis on wisdom, while giving compassion only lip service, is really about power six months, returned. Sums it Up san francisco zen center scandal these Westerners participated in regular services, and spoken many! Of San Francisco Zen Center lineage continues through his bureaucratic `` transmission '' to his position, not. Why we stuck with him in the morning Kapleau never received Dharma transmission the spiritual of... Is crucial to sustain our practice centers and thriving online community san francisco zen center scandal and Espe! But for the fact that we did it for many years Society, ] my,! The Japanese-American congregation Center required Anderson to take a leave of absence san francisco zen center scandal his.... That her teacher was conveying the one true form of Zen started Yasutani., in the San Francisco Zen Center lineage continues through his bureaucratic `` transmission '' his. Society was marked by frequent turnover a very interesting piece of `` history '' which no... Not a new idea nor is it unique to Chan/Zen farm, was one of Shimanos greatest has. Didnt realize that it was a borderline cult long, Sokoji had non-Japanese Americans beatniks... To take a leave of absence from his position Baker fit the saintly mold it bothered the so! 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