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. And all of us worshipped him to a certain extent., Nobody was as worshipful as a student named David Schnyer. Others have told me that my view, informed by historical scholarship (as opposed to Zen's own fictional history), sociology, political and social analysis as well as long personal involvement, has been helpful in clarifying some of the illusion and in reducing some of the pain. Baker manifested his authority by giving his followers two choices: obey his words without question or be marginalized, which was tantamount to being forced to leave. We should be affirming that. Before Victoria's book was published these people, many who were influential in bringing Zen to the west, were routinely presented as flawless examples of Zen attainment. In Downing's book we see that much illusion, suffering and pain has been part of Zen in San Francisco, a situation that, unfortunately, has been repeated in most every other part of America over a thirty-five year period. ---Friedrich Nietzsche, Human, All Too Human (1878) 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. Not Always So: practicing the true spirit of Zen by Shunryu Suzuki book review buy this book A senior member relates in Downing's book that Suzuki himself refused to hear criticism of Baker by other members of the Center because, as he said, " To his [Suzuki's] way of thinking, Dick's commitment was at another level, so the rest of us were not in a position to criticize him." Neither business is operative today. 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. I said, I have to come back here. So I did one more semester of school and then dropped out. This is the sort of detail, which might be useful to both present and future students, but it is absolutely missing from all of the completely standard biographies of Zen masters through the ages. 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 "scandal" was not unique in American Zen history. 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, one may ask, is that what Suzuki hoped to reform? 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. 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. The situation is now reversing, as the Japanese, in particular, abandon Buddhism as an old relic, while it continues to find adherents in the West. Members along with Baker literally built their world based on the language and view of Zen accompanied by ritualized behavior that added to the sense of being embedded in and being an active participant of that sacred world. 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. The Zen institution requires the master because he is supposedly a living example of the ideal of Zen and, as such, represents all of its legitimacy and authority. So it is natural to ask, why did Suzuki's and Baker's students mention this so often? Shunryu Suzuki Roshi, shortly before his death in December 1971, gave him Dharma transmission in the Soto sect of Zen, thereby making Baker, for his students and for all future people in his lineage, an authentic link to the Buddha. 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? Baker presided over it all like a feudal lord, hosting dinner parties with then-Gov. At that time, in the 70s, drug use was prevalent, and I got involved in a fair amount of that. 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." He became the leader of the Sanbokyodan school of Zen started by Yasutani. Under Baker's leadership, it appears that the Center functioned as a dysfunctional family, denying that anything was wrong or problematic. Ruling year info. Members had not the slightest inkling that their view of Zen was controlled. Trouble At The San Francisco Zen Center There he found the corpse of a man with a bullet wound to the head and a revolver nearby. But for Schnyer this constantly refreshing membership was proof that the sangha did disapprove of Shimanos treatment of women. For students of the San Francisco Zen Center, one of America's oldest and most prestigious Buddhist institutions, the world has already ended. After six months, he returned to his position. According to a 1982 letter from George Zournas to Jack Clareman, the Zen Studies Societys lawyer, a litany of charges was read against Shimano at a board meeting on September 14 of that year. At that time, Baker also became the official leader of the San Francisco Zen Center (SFZC). As noted in the paper, senior members consistently reassured newer members that all was well when they raised questions about Baker's activities. In particular, Suzuki's San Francisco Zen Center lineage continues through his bureaucratic "transmission" to his son Hoitsu. The idea of the enlightened Zen master authenticated through the ritual of dharma transmission and maintained by an unbroken lineage going back to the historical Buddha is at the heart of the Zen tradition. Others were more forgiving, but their trust in me and my integrity was permanently shaken. 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. 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. Not only the work of Zen writers, but political analysts, social critics, sociologists, and my involvement with the practice have informed my thinking about the state of contemporary Zen in the West. Katagiri would go on to establish his own practice centerthe Minnesota Zen Centerin 1972 in Minneapolis. 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. Downing interviewed roughly eighty people, most of them Baker's students, approximately eighteen years after Baker was forced to resign. Suzuki's arrival came at the tail end of the Beat movement and just prior to the social movements of the 1960s, both of which had major roots in San Francisco. [5], In 1983 Tenshin Reb Anderson received shiho (Dharma Transmission) from Richard Baker. [10], In 1970, Suzuki gave Dharma transmission to Richard Baker, his only American Dharma Heir and chosen successor at SFZC. One of the greatest reasons that Shimano could sleep with so many women is that it bothered the men so little. Therefore, in the need to remain at the Center, members had a powerful incentive to fully buy into Zen's mythology. Zen Nationalism Revisited by Robert H. Sharf [6], San Francisco Zen Center expanded quickly with Baker at the helm. Rather than report this to the police, Anderson returned to the body over several days to meditate over the corpse. He found willing assenters, willing children eager to listen to his fairy tales. 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. 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. 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]. 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. is the head teacher at the Dharma Field Meditation and Learning Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. This would have led any impartial observer to question the spiritual implications of Dharma transmission. 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. [5][16][17][18][19], In 2000 Jiko Linda Cutts was appointed Abbess, having received Dharma transmission from Tenshin Reb Anderson in 1996. Anderson became entangled in an incident in 1987 that reached back to 1983 just after Zentatsu Richard Baker had resigned as abbot. Introduction Brian Victoria was so interested in the possibility of a public pacifist/anti-war Soto monk that he contacted Suzuki's son Hoitsu who told him: "I don't know where all of this antiwar talk comes from, but my father and the rest of the family supported Japan's war effort just like everyone else." I believe that the reason for this surrender, in the case of Zen, is clear, structural, and self-perpetuating. 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. In 1966, Suzuki and Baker scouted Tassajara Hot Springs, located in Los Padres National Forest behind Big Sur, as a possible location for the envisioned monastic center. This is not a new idea nor is it unique to Chan/Zen. 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. This change in demography caused a rift in the Sokoji community. The tension was alleviated when Suzuki's Western students began gathering for separate services, albeit still at Sokoji, in 1961. Please visit the Calendar page for more details or sign up for our weekly Sangha News email to receive notices of upcoming events. Despite having only had 12 years in the United States, Suzuki had gone a long way toward establishing Soto Zen in America. In this way the teacher was like a deity, a minor god. A full overview of what is open can be found here. This is a very interesting piece of "history" which is no doubt destined to be repeated. One of the earliest texts extant is "Regulations of the Chan Approach" (Ch'an men Kuei-shih, which cannot be dated earlier than 988) that some scholars think was the preface to Pai-chang's Rules. Zen's highly ritualized activities added a visceral instantiation to the cognitive edifice. 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