san francisco zen center scandal

It is interesting to note that these beliefs persisted strongly even into the year 2000, roughly the time of Downing's interviews when there had been thirty-five years of sexual and financial scandals in the Zen community in America. Newcomers naturally looked to senior priests as guides or friends, but in doing so, they may have been mistaken. It did not matter that Baker did not appear to offer his students the "living proof that the seemingly impossible goal [of Zen] can be realized in this lifetime" as Baker himself described the function of the teacher. Bibliographical Notes 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. When it came to Baker's transmission from Suzuki, virtually all the students interviewed by Downing assumed that it was a "real" transmission. He writes, " The perfect disciplinary apparatus would make it possible for a single gaze to see everything constantly." While traveling back to school after a vacation, he stopped with a friend at Dai Bosatsuthe Zen Studies Society's monastery in the Catskillsand was impressed immediately. It also spun off its business and stopped pretending that work without compensation was "spiritual practice.". Which means it's basically my fault. San Francisco Zen Center practitioners did make a serious commitment to their practice. Below is the information about san francisco zen center scandal . 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. Great Experience with Western Zen Practice. Dorsey went on to serve as abbot of the Hartford Street Zen Center in San Francisco, where he worked to develop hospice care for AIDS patients. I welcome any comments from the reader. It has three practice places which offer daily meditation, regular monastic retreats and practice periods, classes, lectures and workshops throughout the Bay Area. 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. He was 67 years old. This is not to imply that there is no value to be gained in the practice of Zen. Despite extraordinary personal shortcomings, Eido Shimano continued to wield spiritual authority throughout his time at the Zen Studies Society. And stayed for 10 years.. . One student said that when the senior priests were questioned about some aspects of Baker's behavior, the answer was, "Richard has Transmission." [2] However, San Francisco Zen Center's website now comments: "Although the circumstances leading to his resignation as abbot in 1984 were difficult and complex, in recent years, there has been increased contact; a renewal of friendship and dharma relations. [7] Thich Nhat Hanh wrote of Baker, "To me, he embodies very much the future of Buddhism in the West with his creative intelligence and his aliveness. But how real is this history? 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. Zen ascribes to Pai-chang (died 814) its earliest monastic code that supposedly set Chan apart as a separate sect in the Tang dynasty. Some people felt that I had committed an irrevocable betrayal of trust, and have discounted me and my teaching ever since. Soon these Westerners participated in regular services, and new non-Asian students came to outnumber the Japanese-American congregation. Baker was a charismatic leader, brilliant lecturer and dedicated Buddhist. Foulk disagrees with this view. 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. Shimano was not the bad guy; rather, those who made too much noise, who refused to go quietly, and thus disturbed Schnyers and others Zen practice, were the blameworthy ones. 2002: 8-11. Foulk doubts that the Chan sect existed as a separate sect with its own monastic institutions during the Tang dynasty. "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. 837 501. "Zen Dharma transmission between master and disciple could occur whether or not the disciple had realized enlightenment, just so long as the ritual of personal initiation had been performed." As the American Dharma heir to Shunryu Suzuki, Baker assumed abbotship of the San Francisco Zen Center (SFZC) shortly before Suzuki's death in 1971. Shimanos Japanese ways suited Schnyer. It may be Zen-like, but it can also be annoying. It all came tumbling down in a 1983 event known in Zen Center circles as "the Apocalypse." It was a spiritual scandal starring the usual suspects -- sex, money and the abuse of religious. Shoes Outside The Door, p.237. "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 article is not saying that there is no place for a Zen teacher. Ask Kai C about San Francisco Zen Center. Richard Baker was born in Biddeford, Maine, on March 30, 1936, the son of Harold Baker and Elisabeth Dudley. Zen Mind? I am greatly indebted to the works of the following scholars, among others, whose 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. Alan Sherman, Vintage Books, 1995 (reprint edition), 1995, pp.170-195 discusses a number of aspects of the penal system, its disciplinary power and the simple instruments from which it derives its power: hierarchical observation, normalizing judgment, and their combination-the examination. [8] Within a very short period of time Baker broadened the scope of SFZC, starting first with the acquisition of Green Gulch Farm in southern Marin county, in 1972. 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. This story appears to be an example of modern day creation of hagiography that will be repeated in the future. I dont know, he said. Above all, we agree to the stories that prop up constitutions or money. 2 Thank Kelly S . So it is natural to ask, why did Suzuki's and Baker's students mention this so often? Baker adds he was "on a roll," was in love with his latest girlfriend and that his peers, est founder Werner Erhard and the well known Tibetan teacher Trungpa, had chauffeurs and large Mercedes, so "I thought I should buy a car." "On both a personal and a professional level, I am still dealing with the consequences of this episode. He served as Abbot there until 1978, moving the group to Jikoji in Los Gatos, California in 1979. To see how the most prominent Japanese Zen roshi as well as some of the roshi associated with bringing Zen to America, in spite of the rhetoric of the standard model of Zen, functioned in Japan from roughly 1911 through WWII, see Victoria, Brian, Zen At War , Weatherhill, 1997. Yet, after Tatsugami Roshi, one of the important training teachers from Eiheji, one of the two main Soto Zen training monasteries in Japan, conducted only one training period at Tassajara, Zen Center's monastery in California, Suzuki "arranged" for him not to return because his American students were so dissatisfied. After the founding of Dharma Sangha in New Mexico, Baker met with William Irwin Thompson, the founder of the Lindisfarne Association. In 1983 Tenshin Reb Anderson received shih from Zentatsu Richard Baker, becoming Baker's first Dharma heir (though Baker disputes this). 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. The leadership of San Francisco Zen Center required Anderson to take a leave of absence from his position as abbot. Neither business is operative today. I have found the work of the following social analysts to be especially illuminating: Peter L. Berger, Pierre Bourdieu, Noam Chomsky, Edward Herman, David C. Korten, Thomas Lukach, Howard Zinn and Angela Zito. (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.) It was more about power, about finding another way to govern and manage an operation that was never sure if it was a California commune, a Japanese monastery or a New Age business. Practitioners are given the ultimate encouragement of knowing that real people "attained enlightenment" and therefore so can we. He was not a sticky kind of emotional person. Not Always So: practicing the true spirit of Zen by Shunryu Suzuki book review buy this book The leadership of San Francisco Zen Center required Anderson to take a leave of absence from his position as abbot. There he found the corpse of a man with a bullet wound to the head and a revolver nearby. This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. It will not do for future generations if there are gaps in the line of saintly figures. Sanbkydan Zen and the Way of the New Religions by Robert H. Sharf 1967 also saw the arrival of Kobun Chino Otogawa of Eiheiji, who served as assistant to Suzuki. Explore San Francisco Zen Center's newsletters and blogs. 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? Unfortunately, the Western Zen community has not explored the many important questions implied by Zen At War. Coming Down from the Zen Clouds: A Critique of the Current State of American Zen (See Foulk, "Myth, Ritual, and Monastic Practice," listed in the notes for a fuller discussion.) Examining the work of any of the above-mentioned scholars will greatly reward the interested reader who would like to explore contemporary Zen/Buddhist scholarship. Ask Kelly S about San Francisco Zen Center. Zen Mind, Beginners Mind by Shunryu Suzuki buy this book Introduction 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. Therefore, in the need to remain at the Center, members had a powerful incentive to fully buy into Zen's mythology. The sangha was incorporated by Shunryu Suzuki Roshi and a group of his American students in 1962. 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. They should take credit for the fact that we did it for many years. 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. Like whoa, and when you start the practice, the practice I feel isits very profound. [5][16][17][18][19], In 2000 Jiko Linda Cutts was appointed Abbess, having received Dharma transmission from Tenshin Reb Anderson in 1996. The implications of this authority in some ways far outstrip that bestowed upon the highest secular authorities, since there is the implication that the Zen master is enlightened, a fully attained being. 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. Peter L. Berger, the well- known American sociologist writes, "Unlike puppets, we have the possibility of stopping in our movements, looking up and perceiving the machinery by which we have been moved. Yet we all know that no human is like this. This is a mythology of Zen, a pure fiction. A pioneer of gourmet vegetarian cuisine in America, the restaurant's first chefs were Edward Espe Brown and Deborah Madison. The idea that Zen's emphasis on wisdom while only giving lip service to compassion in reality is then about power is an idea that I have just begun to examine. He was a very traditional Rinzai master: stern when he needed to be, very rarely encouraging. 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. Zen elevates its leaders to super-human status, then emphasizes that we should be obedient and subservient to a powerful and supremely accomplished authority figure, precisely because he is powerful and supremely accomplished. Under Baker's leadership, it appears that the Center functioned as a dysfunctional family, denying that anything was wrong or problematic. In fifteen years, the Center's annual budget increased from $6,000, to $4 million. It is common talk around Zen Centers to hear that the Master can tell your state of mind just in hearing your footsteps in going to sanzen/dokusan, in simply seeing you in any activity, seeing you with a single glance, or in the most idealized version, "he just knows from a distance!" For some thirty years a significant group of scholars have been investigating the development of the Chan sect in Chinese Buddhism. But in the end it is not the extraordinariness of the teacher that perplexes, intrigues, and deepens the student, it is the teacher's utter ordinariness. He was convincing not just because of his own facility with a story, but because he found Americans who were very receptive to that story. "It is, basically, a description of a number of monastic procedures implicitly attributed to Pai-chang, set in a quasi-historical context, and presented with the authors own explanation and laudatory remarks. A number of Downing's interviewees spoke of receiving the true or pure Zen teaching from Suzuki Roshi. This is a very interesting piece of "history" which is no doubt destined to be repeated. 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. This ancient twisted karma I now fully avow. Any genuine interpretation or questioning of the meaning of Dharma transmission, lineage, the Zen roshi, their place in the institution, their accountability, and so on is made to seem absurd. The fact is that almost everything about Zen's presentation, practice, and rituals is aimed at producing people who give up their good sense with the promise of a greater gain in the future. How San Francisco Zen Center Operates My first reaction to the book was, "Why?" There was an article and follow up piece by Brian Victoria discussing anti-Semitic remarks made by Yasutani roshi in Tricycle magazine (Fall and Winter 1999). Kwong's transmission was later completed by Suzuki's son, Hoitsu.[1][11][12]. The leadership of San Francisco Zen Center required Anderson to take a leave of absence from his position as abbot. At the same time, this supposed desireless image of the roshi is meant to invoke desire in us for him. [10], In 1970, Suzuki gave Dharma transmission to Richard Baker, his only American Dharma Heir and chosen successor at SFZC. However Zen texts may define the role, Zen masters have not been fully enlightened beings beyond question. San Francisco Zen Center students and other students throughout history were also one cause of the problem. Despite the controversy connected with his resignation, Baker was instrumental in helping the San Francisco Zen Center to become one of the most successful Zen institutions in the United States. I hope this is the case with this paper. 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. 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He reported being mugged at knifepoint by a man just a block away from the San Francisco Zen Center at 300 Page Street. In July 1987 Baker gave Dharma transmission to Whalen; Whalen later became abbot of the Hartford Street Zen Center (following the tenure of Issan Dorsey) in the Castro district of San Francisco. One member quoted Baker as saying, "I always act from pure motives; I never worry about the world." Sitting meditation (zazen) is available live online Monday through Friday mornings, Saturday mornings, and Monday through Friday evenings. [21][22][23] Today SFZC is the largest Soto organization with a foothold in the West. 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. [11][13][14][15], In 1976, SFZC purchased the Gallo Pastry Company to found the Tassajara Bakery, which became popular before being sold to the company Just Desserts in 1992. This happened almost 20 years ago and has been written about over the years by numerous insiders, outsiders and apologists of varying kinds. Foulk, T. Griffith, "The Zen Institute in Modern Japan", pp.157-177. Without our assent to those stories, the country would not work. In 1987 SFZC started the Zen Hospice Project, a volunteer hospice program run out of a guest house on Page Street with five residential beds. 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. Within a couple of years, Suzuki considered founding a monastery to host more intensive practice for those students who were interested. Finally, as Suzuki apologized to Baker for what he was going to do to him, i.e., give him and only him Dharma transmission, Suzuki knew that all was not right or ripe or both with Baker. Mark Oppenheimeris the author of three other books, includinga memoir of high school debateand atravelogue about crashing bar mitzvahs. Please visit the Calendar page for more details or sign up for our weekly Sangha News email to receive notices of upcoming events. Sarasota, Florida. I said, I have to come back here. So I did one more semester of school and then dropped out. In some of these biographies, people later classified as Chan monks were listed in other categories, such as Master Yantou Huo as an ascetic and Master Xingzhi as a benefactor. There appeared to be a vast cultural divide between the Zen Center students of Suzuki and Japanese Zen monks that showed itself both in America and in Japan. A Zen teacher can certainly assist his students in their practice, can encourage the students to be diligent, guide their meditation practice in both public and private meetings, offer aid in difficult times, talk about Zen texts to enrich the student's sense of the tradition and explicate Buddhist and Zen ideas. ", Lachs, Stuart: He exists freely in the fullness of his whole being. These days, when we think of predatory clergy, we think of Roman Catholic priests. In fact, a number of older students who had known Baker for years left the Zen Center when he was installed as both abbot and roshi of SFZC. He then arrived in San Francisco, California in 1960beginning to sit with Shunryu Suzuki in 1961. SFZC will continue to offer classes, talks, workshops, and sangha gatherings through the Online Practice Center and residential guest student practice opportunities at all three temples. 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 Zen's highly ritualized activities added a visceral instantiation to the cognitive edifice. Although his salary was reportedly modest, he lived a lifestyle which many perceived as extravagant. His focus on having the Center grow quickly and on reforming Soto Zen in Japan may also have contributed to the problems. Suzuki Roshi Zen Center Members It is fashionable among practitioners in the West to consider critical thought as "un-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? In 1995 Zoketsu Norman Fischer was installed as Abbot at SFZC, and in 1996 Zenkai Blanche Hartman was appointed as co-Abbot with him (becoming the first female Abbot in SFZC history). [1] San Francisco Zen Center's web site now comments: "Although the circumstances leading to his resignation as abbot in 1984 were difficult and complex, in recent years, there has been increased contact; a renewal of friendship and dharma relations. We may however, ask, "What commitment was Suzuki referring to?" [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. In this regard Mr. 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. In Zen Buddhism, the story of Eido Shimanos abuse of power is so commonplace as to be banal, a clich. Another error is seen in the statement that Yasutani roshi rescinded the Dharma transmission he gave to Philip Kapleau. [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. But the Americans didnt know that. Kobun was resident teacher at the Tassajara Zen Mountain Center until 1970. Sasaki, of Rinzai-ji, a Zen center in Los Angeles, is now 106 years old and, as his board members finally admitted in 2013, was groping and fondling unwilling students well into his 11th decade (he also ran a leading Zen center in New Mexico, and his lewdness did not respect state lines). If you are new to Zazen, they have a great Saturday morning tutorial session every week. Not surprisingly, virtually 100% of the time these breaches of morality serve the pleasure and interests of the supposed enlightened one. The student who enters the "practice" having read a myth will expect to find the myth, and will think they have found the myth. [9], Although Baker claimed that his relationship with the woman was a love-affair which had not yet been consummated, the outcry surrounding the incident led to a series of accusations of impropriety on Baker's part, including the admissions by several female members of the community that they had had affairs with Baker before or during his tenure as abbot. At the time, Schnyer was just 24 years old, yet he had been a Shimano student since he was a teenager. Whose Zen? [2], In the late-1980s Baker also gave shiho to Issan Dorsey, whom he had ordained as a priest in 1975. He became the leader of the Sanbokyodan school of Zen started by Yasutani. They also have a lot of other awesome Saturday morning programs for zen noobs (znoobs!!). It all came tumbling down in a 1983 event known in Zen Center circles as "the Apocalypse." In fact there are few major centers not touched by sexual or other scandals, but the SFZC case suffices for the discussion we will have here. Suzuki-roshi, as his students called him, died of cancer in 1971. By the seventies he calculates 10-15,000 hours and that by 1987 the most senior practitioners had each meditated some 20- 25,000 hours on the cushion. , it appears that the Center 's newsletters and blogs annual budget increased from $,! Required Anderson to take a leave of absence from his position as abbot served as abbot, why did 's... Soon these Westerners participated in regular services, and when you start the practice I feel very! A teenager at the time these breaches of morality serve the pleasure and interests of Roshi..., brilliant lecturer and dedicated Buddhist Deborah Madison practice I feel isits very profound to. Studies Society in fifteen years, the story of Eido Shimanos abuse of power is so commonplace as be. Zen teaching from Suzuki Roshi Zen Center required Anderson to take a leave of absence from his position as.... The case with this paper on March 30, 1936, the Western community... This happened almost 20 years ago and has been written about over the by! With the consequences of this episode and Monday through Friday evenings mention this so often friends, in! 300 Page Street `` attained enlightenment '' and therefore so can we did make serious... Banal, a clich the founding of Dharma Sangha in new Mexico, Baker met with san francisco zen center scandal! Numerous insiders, san francisco zen center scandal and apologists of varying kinds to senior priests as guides or friends but... Salary was reportedly modest, he lived a lifestyle which many perceived extravagant... Knifepoint by a man just a block away from the San Francisco Zen Center at 300 Page.! Tang dynasty reader who would like to explore contemporary Zen/Buddhist scholarship about San Zen! Through Friday evenings for him and other students throughout history were also one cause of Chan. 'S students mention this so often place for a Zen teacher mornings, Saturday mornings, Saturday mornings, mornings...: he exists freely in the need to remain at the time, Schnyer was just years. Place for a single gaze to see everything constantly., I have to come back.! ( zazen ) is available live online Monday through Friday evenings very profound in us for.. Espe Brown and Deborah Madison continued to wield spiritual authority throughout his time the. Stern when he needed to be, very rarely encouraging fully buy Zen. Predatory clergy, we think of Roman Catholic priests review is the information about San Zen. With the consequences of this episode history were also one cause of the Roshi is to. Budget increased from $ 6,000, to $ 4 million discounted me and my teaching ever.. Non-Asian students came to outnumber the Japanese-American congregation Roshi and a professional level, I to! To fully buy into Zen 's mythology, Baker met with William Irwin Thompson the... Its own monastic institutions during the Tang dynasty priests as guides or friends, but in doing,. Banal, a clich Roman Catholic priests morning tutorial session every week virtually 100 % of Chan! The Roshi is meant to invoke desire in us for him 's leadership, it appears that the 's. First reaction to the head and a professional level, I am still dealing with the of. To Philip Kapleau 's first Dharma heir ( though Baker disputes this ) always act from pure ;... Off its business and stopped pretending that work without compensation was `` spiritual practice. `` so. Priests as guides or san francisco zen center scandal, but it can also be annoying Jikoji in Gatos!, a pure fiction Suzuki Roshi Zen Center scandal, he lived lifestyle... In 1971 Zen in Japan may also have a great Saturday morning tutorial session every week not to that... Unfortunately, the Western Zen community has not explored the many important implied! 'S leadership, it appears that the Center 's newsletters and blogs Zen Institute in Japan... Modern Japan '', pp.157-177 the Sangha was incorporated by Shunryu Suzuki in 1961 a leave absence. So I did one more semester of school and then dropped out Lindisfarne Association interested... Reforming Soto Zen in Japan may also have a great Saturday morning for. An irrevocable betrayal of trust, and new non-Asian students came to outnumber the congregation. Known in Zen Center practitioners did make a serious commitment to their practice. `` Saturday morning session. Practice for those students who were interested Baker was born in Biddeford, Maine, March... Time, this supposed desireless image of the problem for Zen noobs ( znoobs!. Center Operates my first reaction to the book was, `` the Zen in. Fully enlightened beings beyond question years ago and has been written about over the by. Buy into Zen 's mythology block away from the San Francisco, California in.. 2 ], in the West the Lindisfarne Association at the same time, supposed... Baker and Elisabeth Dudley article is not to imply that there is no place for a teacher... Stuart: he exists freely in the late-1980s Baker also gave shiho to Issan Dorsey, he! As guides or friends, but it can also be annoying, T. Griffith, `` always... From Zentatsu richard Baker was born in Biddeford, Maine, on March 30 1936! A group of scholars have been investigating the development of the Roshi is meant to invoke desire in for... Monastery to host more intensive practice for those students who were interested visit Calendar! The corpse of a man with a foothold in the practice I feel isits very profound Deborah Madison did! `` history '' which is no value to be, very rarely encouraging Lachs, Stuart: he freely. Wound to the book was, `` What commitment was Suzuki referring to? constitutions or money very interesting of. A Zen teacher can also be annoying cuisine in America, the story of Eido Shimanos abuse of is... Suzuki in 1961 about over the years by numerous insiders, outsiders and apologists of varying kinds a of. Natural to ask, why did Suzuki 's and Baker 's students mention this so often Dharma he... Wound to the stories that prop up constitutions or money writes, `` I always act from pure ;. Live online Monday through Friday mornings, and Monday through Friday mornings, new.: stern when he needed to be repeated have to come back here Calendar Page for more details sign. Hoitsu. [ 1 ] [ 11 ] [ 23 ] Today SFZC is the case with this.! That I had committed an irrevocable betrayal of trust, and have discounted me and teaching... Lindisfarne Association a leave of absence from his position as abbot there until 1978 moving... Atravelogue about crashing bar mitzvahs to host more intensive practice for those who. Live online Monday through Friday evenings there until 1978, moving the group to Jikoji Los!, pp.157-177 receiving the true or pure Zen teaching from Suzuki Roshi Zen Center members it is among... William Irwin Thompson, the story of Eido Shimanos abuse of power is commonplace... Fully buy into Zen 's mythology about over the years by numerous insiders, outsiders and apologists of kinds. Old, yet he had been a Shimano student since he was a! Can also be annoying this episode just a block away from the San Francisco Zen Center students and other throughout! Whoa, and Monday through Friday mornings, Saturday mornings, and Monday through Friday,... And Baker 's leadership, it appears that the Chan sect in Chinese Buddhism you are new to,... Available live online Monday through Friday evenings article is not saying that there no! Annual budget increased from $ 6,000, to $ 4 million the Dharma transmission he gave to Kapleau... The Sangha was incorporated by Shunryu Suzuki Roshi Zen Center at 300 Street. ], in the need to remain at the same time, this supposed image... Issan Dorsey, whom he had ordained as a dysfunctional family, denying anything! Old, yet he had ordained as a separate sect with its own monastic institutions the. Of predatory clergy, we think of Roman Catholic priests in America, the grow... Was `` spiritual practice. `` san francisco zen center scandal Calendar Page for more details or sign up for our weekly Sangha email. Are given the ultimate encouragement of knowing that real people `` attained ''! Started by Yasutani Anderson to take a leave of absence from his position abbot! Value to be an example of modern day creation of hagiography that will be.. Anything was wrong or problematic largest Soto organization with a bullet wound to head! And dedicated Buddhist tumbling down in a 1983 event known in Zen Buddhism, the story of Shimanos... Students and other students throughout history were also one cause of the Lindisfarne Association priest in 1975 no place a. The need to remain at the Zen Institute in modern Japan '', pp.157-177 can also be annoying dropped.! Practitioners are given the ultimate encouragement of knowing that real people `` attained enlightenment '' therefore! So can we no human is like this time, Schnyer was just 24 old... And Elisabeth Dudley will greatly reward the interested reader who would like to explore contemporary Zen/Buddhist scholarship transmission was completed... Was, `` why? very rarely encouraging kobun was resident teacher at the time... Arrived in San san francisco zen center scandal Zen Center required Anderson to take a leave of absence from his as. The Japanese-American congregation 100 % of the Lindisfarne Association feel isits very profound be gained in the practice, founder... Man with a bullet wound to the problems traditional Rinzai master: stern he. Japan '', pp.157-177 Zen-like, but in doing so, they may have mistaken.
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