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. But for Schnyer this constantly refreshing membership was proof that the sangha did disapprove of Shimanos treatment of women. Importantly, teachers can inspire followers by setting a living example through interactions with their students and others and, with the conduct of their own life, demonstrate that Zen practice can make one a wiser and more compassionate human being. Ironically, what follows is in many ways a religious text. 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. Because the newcomers' indoctrination into Zen ideology was incomplete, their unfortunate reliance on common sense prevented them from viewing Baker's eccentricities as qualities of an enlightened Zen master. Within a couple of years, Suzuki considered founding a monastery to host more intensive practice for those students who were interested. 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Also see, The Sociology of Georg Simmel, Trans.and Ed. For example, the San Francisco Zen Center, after a scandal involving Suzuki-roshi's dharma heir Richard Baker-roshi, decided to elect its two abbots to four-year terms. If you're looking for some information that's important to you (such as research for work or learning how to manage your money), then the advice here is to first write down the relevant keywords on a piece of paper to figure out exactly what you want, which will be a lot more efficient. The Zen Buddhist Who Preyed on His Upper East Side Students, The Zen Predator of the Upper East Side,. At that time, in the 70s, drug use was prevalent, and I got involved in a fair amount of that. Introduction Mission. 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. Some people felt that I had committed an irrevocable betrayal of trust, and have discounted me and my teaching ever since. Hence, a number of questions were never openly raised: Was he acting in an arrogant fashion? By Kurt Wolff, Free Press Paperback, 1950 for a discussion of authority, prestige, subordination, and sociability. He was a very traditional Rinzai master: stern when he needed to be, very rarely encouraging. 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. Join the San Francisco Zen Center Membership Program. [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. 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. Yet Baker certainly knew that, at best, few if any roshi are so fully realized. Baker then quotes Trudy Dixon, the editor of the book, thus endorsing her words: These events are a helpful reminderboth to me and to othersof my vulnerability to arrogance and inflation. 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. Foulk gives translations of two versions of the text, side by side and analyses their internal structure and contents. San Francisco is not mentioned in Newsom's plans, but Supervisor Dean Preston has proposed a similar action. [15], In the twenty-five years since leaving San Francisco Zen Center, Baker has continued his career as a Zen teacher, founding and developing two practice centers. That "something else" is what Michael Downing tries to find in "Shoes Outside the Door: Desire, Devotion and Excess at the San Francisco Zen Center. " For an earlier view of the immediate events surrounding Baker, see Butler, Katy, "Events Are The Teachers", The CoEvolution Quarterly, winter 1983, pp.112-123. A vibrant community in an urban temple in the heart of San Francisco. Whose Zen? Money, too, is worth something because we believe it iswe give the $20 bill the magical properties of being worth more than the $1 bill, even though the paper and ink are identical. The social contract and national constitutions count because we believe them to count, because we will them into reality. These events are a helpful reminderboth to me and to othersof my vulnerability to arrogance and inflation. A theme repeated in Downing's interviews is Suzuki's seemingly quirky idea of reforming Soto Zen in Japan by having his American students go there as living examples of reform. Zen Groups Distressed by Accusations Against Teacher Joshu Sasaki in New Mexico in 2007. It should be kept in mind that the senior members, by 1982, were often over forty years old and had been practicing at Zen Center for fifteen or more years. The last of these was Bodhidharma, who began the patriarchal line in China that led to Hui-neng, traditionally considered to be the sixth and last Chan patriarch. 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. He served as Abbot there until 1978, moving the group to Jikoji in Los Gatos, California in 1979. Ask Kai C about San Francisco Zen Center. Why did Baker perpetuate such a simplistic view of Suzuki? Zen practice is not required to stay at Green Gulch, though guests are welcome to participate in zazen or any other activities. A full overview of what is open can be found here. It is mentioned often enough that Downing, interestingly calculates the hours that individual senior members had meditated. The meeting, which Zournas had hoped would mark the end of Shimanos tenure, turned out to be another show of support. 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. 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. We did something great. 2 Thank Kelly S . Explore and learn more about the San Francisco Zen Center community. This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. What passes for "knowledge" in society is built on the foundation of language. Suzuki's prescription to "just sit" as a kind of medicine to answer all questions and problems apparently did not apply to his Dharma transmitted son Hoitsu. Hence, questioning and dissent became a shortcoming of the person expressing such a view. 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. However, there is no surviving text of Pai-chang's Rules. Definitely worth checking them out on their website and trying to attend the beginners lesson! Sanbkydan Zen and the Way of the New Religions by Robert H. Sharf But Shimano is hardly alone; his is not an isolated case. At the time of the purchase, Baker claimed he needed so expensive a car because of the amount of driving he did. In 1989, some six years after Baker was forced to leave, he threatened to take back Zen Center by going to court. Institutional and personal motives played an important part in the composing of Buddhist biographical collections; this was especially so in earl Chan lineage texts. People put their hearts into the practice and the Center, sometimes going as far as asserting that the Center represented the cutting edge of Zen in the America. This change in demography caused a rift in the Sokoji community. 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. The volunteer project's founding director was Frank Ostaseski, who served until 2004. [5][16][17][18][19], In 2000 Jiko Linda Cutts was appointed Abbess, having received Dharma transmission from Tenshin Reb Anderson in 1996. His American students accept this theme unquestioningly. Newcomers naturally looked to senior priests as guides or friends, but in doing so, they may have been mistaken. The only one of the four whose reputation was unblemished, Shunryu Suzuki of the San Francisco Zen Center, gave his sangha over to a man named Richard Baker, who was later embroiled in a sex scandal of his own, resigned from his abbacy, and became the subject of a book with the appropriately suggestive title Shoes Outside the Door. Desire, Devotion, and Excess at the San Francisco Zen Center. Suzuki surely knew that his fellow Japanese Soto roshi and priests would hardly accept Americans as examples for the reform of Zen, especially in Japan. It all came tumbling down in a 1983 event known in Zen Center circles as "the Apocalypse." If you are new to Zazen, they have a great Saturday morning tutorial session every week. 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. Zen Mind? 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. . [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. 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). Baker wrote an introduction to Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, an edited collection of Suzuki's talks, in which Baker said (p.17), "During the Second World War he [Suzuki] was the leader of a pacifist group in Japan." Unlike his predecessors, Suzuki was a fluent speaker of English who actually wanted to come to the United States. Others were more forgiving, but their trust in me and my integrity was permanently shaken. 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. 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. Suzuki or any other Zen master only looks this way if we avoid looking at their real life. [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. [3] Because his family moved around frequently, he lived in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Indiana, and Pittsburgh growing up. Baker's case took place within a certain context, and to understand what happened it is helpful to look not only at Baker, but also at Zen institutional self-definitions and the patterns of social life they have engendered in the United States. One has to ask if something is not missing in Suzuki's simple prescription to "just sit?" [9] The building, designed by Julia Morgan, was built as the Emanu-el Residence Club in 1922 for the Emanu-el Sisterhood. Berkeley, March 17th, 2002. There he found the corpse of a man with a bullet wound to the head and a revolver nearby. 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. This is not to imply that there is no value to be gained in the practice of Zen. 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. 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. Not surprisingly, virtually 100% of the time these breaches of morality serve the pleasure and interests of the supposed enlightened one. While we remain committed to the health and safety of our residential and wider sangha, we deeply value the importance of gathering in person and sharing the Dharma in proximity with others. I took a course at Rochester, an overview of Eastern religion and Confucianism. Practitioners are given the ultimate encouragement of knowing that real people "attained enlightenment" and therefore so can we. He was perfect for me, Schnyer said. What I mean by the "Zen" institution, for the simple purpose of this conversation, is the organized set of structures that support the standard model of Zen. This reminder served an important purpose: the Center's members viewed Suzuki's authority as if it were a divine fiat, so that any dissent or criticism was ended. 2015. 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. Asia is filled with monks and priests who know how to sit, chant, eat, bow, walk, dress, and live as a Buddhist. ---Friedrich Nietzsche, Human, All Too Human (1878) For example there was the claim that Zen monasteries in China were self- sufficient, which makes it seem that they were not dependent on the state and elite elements of society and were not actively promoting themselves to get this support and patronage. San Francisco from the 1960's into the 1980's was considered by many to be the freest city in America, especially when understanding "libre" as freedom from ideological constraints. ", Lachs, Stuart: 1962 - SFZC is founded by Shunryu Suzuki and his Western students. And perhaps most importantly, his authority will be understood with a taken-for-granted quality of being natural. [Note: This section offers background mostly not covered in Downing's book.] Like whoa, and when you start the practice, the practice I feel isits very profound. There is nothing in the description that allows someone in the future to distinguish Suzuki, Hoitsu or any of their heirs from any of thousands of hallowed ancestors. Suzuki died of cancer on December 4, 1971. One student stated it as, "The one thing that seemed unquestionable was Richard's Transmission." Elizabeth is married to Jason Kibbey. 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. 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. And stayed for 10 years.. Which means it's basically my fault. It also spun off its business and stopped pretending that work without compensation was "spiritual practice.". Reviewed July 20, 2014 . Guests stay at the Lindisfarne Guest House, a traditional Japanese building with a wood-burning stove as the heating source. critical insights into Zen/Buddhism have strongly influenced my views: Robert Buswell, Alan Cole, Bernard Faure, T. Griffith Foulk, Robert M. Gimello, Peter N. Gregory, John Kieschnick, John R. McRae, A. Charles Muller, Mario Poceski, Robert H. Sharf, Morten Schlutter, Gregory Schopen, Brian Victoria, Albert Welter and Dale Wright. 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. He found willing assenters, willing children eager to listen to his fairy tales. Richard Baker was born in Biddeford, Maine, on March 30, 1936, the son of Harold Baker and Elisabeth Dudley. Kwong's transmission was later completed by Suzuki's son, Hoitsu.[1][11][12]. Members soon raised funds for a zendo to be built there, and over time the farm transformed into a monastery and retreat center for residents and guests with an organic farm, flower gardens, a teahouse and a plant nursery. Political authority can function in this second way. Classes and workshops from our Online Programs, resources for beginners, zazen (meditation) and chanting, Dharma talks, and live online practice sessions with teachers. [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. When one member was about to leave (after the Baker scandal), rather than receiving well wishes or a word of advice from his teacher-who happened to be the new abbot after Baker, he was smugly told that he would be back in a year. "On both a personal and a professional level, I am still dealing with the consequences of this episode. Baker and the senior priests dismissed any questioning of Baker's behavior or activities as a lack of insight into enlightenment on the part of the questioner. Suzuki planned to give transmission to Bill Kwong but died before his completion. I welcome any comments from the reader. It was a spiritual scandal starring the usual suspects -- sex, money and the abuse of religious authority. The land was purchased from one of the founders of Polaroid, George Wheelwright. If the past is any indication these present teachers will be referred to as honored patriarchs in the future. Anderson became entangled in an incident in 1987 that reached back to 1983 just after Zentatsu Richard Baker had resigned as abbot. Although his salary was reportedly modest, he lived a lifestyle which many perceived as extravagant. Ungerleider.[26]. He then arrived in San Francisco, California in 1960beginning to sit with Shunryu Suzuki in 1961. It is noted that after 1983 the study of sutras, Zen texts and history was instituted. Richard Baker is a man who through the ritual of Dharma transmission has been installed in the Soto Zen sect's "authentic" unbroken lineage going back to the historical Buddha. But there is another kind of authority, an opposite kind, grounded in the invisible, the faith-based, the fictional. For a many sided view of the Zen koan see, The Koan, Ed. What the teacher really offers the student is literally living proof that all this talk and the seemingly impossible goals can be realized in this lifetime. 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