One student stated it as, "The one thing that seemed unquestionable was Richard's Transmission." If the past is any indication these present teachers will be referred to as honored patriarchs in the future. 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. Established in 1962, the San Francisco Zen Center is one of the largest residential training Soto Zen Buddhist organizations outside of Asia. He was married three times. Access SFZC Online wherever you are, anytime. [3] He has two daughters, Sally and Elizabeth, from a prior marriage to Virginia Baker. In addition, as there are other practitioners around the teacher, it is helpful to be part of a community of fellow practitioners. 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. There is a wealth of contemporary exciting Zen scholarship available in English. Their sins are far worse than what goes on in Zen circles. Koun Yamada was Yasutani roshi's Dharma heir. They will sit for five days or longer in the zendo before they are formally admitted into the monasterya physically daunting challenge. 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. And that very presentation is the freight of the Zen machine. What was or was not implied in Baker's transmission from Suzuki? Its raison d'etre is to produce people who possess a fundamental insight into life, people who are not fooled by appearances or ideas. Ironically, what follows is in many ways a religious text. Zen Center members did not think there was any thought control or propaganda necessary to escape when it came to Zen. These and any number of other questions, complaints, hurts or criticisms harbored by his disciples, were not raised. 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 the percentage of the Zen clergy implicated in sexual misdeeds is many times greater than that of the Catholic clergy. This is not a new idea nor is it unique to Chan/Zen. 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. This scheme was later institutionalized through the ritual of Dharma transmission. We seem to forget that we live with other humans and that society is a human product that we act upon and that acts upon us and in a sense produces us. It was a spiritual scandal starring the usual suspects -- sex, money and the abuse of religious authority. 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? 1967 also saw the arrival of Kobun Chino Otogawa of Eiheiji, who served as assistant to Suzuki. Suzuki had asked Baker to locate a farm in the area for entire families to live a Buddhist life while working together. It allows bureaucratic transmission, but it also uses "historical" biographies of eminent masters presented as desireless beings, the koans, and the many Zen stories and dialogues (mondo) to legitimize and to enhance authority, that make clear that transmission is given because of a deep insight into reality or spiritual attainment. [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. He was leader of the largest Zen center in the United States and founder of Tassajara, the first Zen monastery in America; he sent a number of American disciples to study in Japan and was surrounded, as was Baker, by hundreds of devoted, unquestioning, often young and energetic followers. Suzuki Roshi Downing adds, "Suzuki reminded Richard [Baker] that Hoitsu had a family and two children. It allows us a much closer look than we get through, say, looking at the many biographies of past masters from Chan in China during the Tang dynasty (CE 618-907). I had a kind of insecurity and self-importance, which I didn't see for a long time, that was a bad dynamic in the community. 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. He reported being mugged at knifepoint by a man just a block away from the San Francisco Zen Center at 300 Page Street. In this regard Mr. 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. 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. Under the Zen form of legitimization, each Zen roshi is viewed as a saint. How San Francisco Zen Center Operates 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. This change in demography caused a rift in the Sokoji community. Andy Afable, one of Shimanos former head monks, called these four the major missionaries of Zen, as they had all received transmission from leading Japanese teachers: That is, they had been deemed worthy to be the heirs, to be responsible for the persistence of the teachings. Kwong's transmission was later completed by Suzuki's son, Hoitsu.[1][11][12]. At the time, Schnyer was just 24 years old, yet he had been a Shimano student since he was a teenager. "[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. [10] The Residence combined residential rooms that could house 70 women on the upper floors, with public spaces for spiritual, recreational, and educational uses on the ground floor and basement. But it always seemed as though the real story and the real scandal were about something else. 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. This article is not saying that there is no place for a Zen teacher. With so many students and so much public attention, some felt Baker became less available to the members of the community. Introduction All trouble at the Center was internalized and personalized by its members. He writes a religion column forThe New York Timesand is on Twitter@markopp1. City Center A vibrant community in an urban temple in the heart of San Francisco. 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. He then arrived in San Francisco, California in 1960beginning to sit with Shunryu Suzuki in 1961. 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. It seems that Zen's emphasis on wisdom, while giving compassion only lip service, is really about power. 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. Having wisdom, in the Zen view, is based on Dharma transmission, which implies that the person is an enlightened being. 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. It is fashionable among practitioners in the West to consider critical thought as "un-Zen." The center received significant media coverage concerning the 1984 resignation of then abbot Zentatsu Richard Baker, who was ousted after it was alleged that he had been having an affair with the wife of a prominent Zen Center member. Downing shows that even in their every day negotiations for used restaurant equipment when they were opening Green's Restaurant, they held a disproportionate sense of their own importance in the wider community. In fact, Suzuki's lineage, now and as long as the line survives, comes through his son Hoitsu and Baker and that unknown person. 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. 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. There is certainly nothing anti-authoritarian about the notion of unbroken lineage going back to the historical Buddha. [6] Baker also penned the introduction to Suzuki's famous book, Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind. But Downing does approach the story with an open mind, and doesn't fall into the trap of trying to portray Baker as a monster or a saint. This is also extremely disempowering which can lead to all sorts of problems, as the SFZC case clearly shows. 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. 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. He was what I needed. A monastery and retreat center in a remote mountain valley in the Ventana Wilderness SFZC Online 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. 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. I am greatly indebted to the works of the following scholars, among others, whose It is available on the internet at http://www2.h-net.msu.edu/~buddhism/aar-bs/1999/lachs.htm (here you can also access the other papers from the panel on Ch'an ) or at http://www.darkzen.com/Articles/meansofauthorization.htm (one can also find other essays on Zen at this site). 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." Steve Hagen. Furthermore this creation has to be ongoing. Anderson succeeded him as abbot, and later co-abbot. One has to ask if something is not missing in Suzuki's simple prescription to "just sit?" It is important to remember now that the interviews Downing conducted in 1998-2000 were long after the events at the SFZC took place. He was a very traditional Rinzai master: stern when he needed to be, very rarely encouraging. Zen Center members accepted and internalized most all of Zen's self definitions, history and social forms. That Kapleau never received Dharma transmission was exposed in a public letter from Yamada roshi dated,1/16/86. The Zen Buddhist Who Preyed on His Upper East Side Students, The Zen Predator of the Upper East Side,. Branching Streams is a network of affiliate Dharma centers and Sanghas in the Zen lineage of Shunryu Suzuki Roshi. In addition, the few American students of his who went to Japan came back disappointed, which upset Suzuki because he thought these students would then think less ofBuddhism. Political authority can function in this second way. His critics say Baker "still doesn't get it," doesn't understand the errors of his way. Zen ascribes to Pai-chang (died 814) its earliest monastic code that supposedly set Chan apart as a separate sect in the Tang dynasty. 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. 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. In particular, Berger, Peter,L. 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. This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. 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. Was it all really such a big deal? Sokojifounded by Hosen Isobe in 1934had been housed in a former Jewish synagogue that is now Kokoro Assisted Living. For a look at how religious fantasies may cause trouble, especially with leaders, see "Religion and Alienation" in Berger, Peter L., The Sacred Canopy, pp, 81-101. Also see the public letter from Mr. Kapleau toYamada, dated 2/17/86. The teacher knew all; the American knew nothing. Members had not the slightest inkling that their view of Zen was controlled. ---Friedrich Nietzsche, Human, All Too Human (1878) 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. 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. Ungerleider.[26]. 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. This new Buddha is also alive and homegrown and hence more immediate and real. 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. This group is by far the largest Zen group in France and is active in the U.S.A. as well as in other parts of Europe. But in truth, neither Suzuki nor Baker fit the saintly mold. 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. The same myth was later used in Japan for similar purposes, with Shintoism being the competing indigenous teaching. is the head teacher at the Dharma Field Meditation and Learning Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Baker himself was quick to remind his flock that he was the only American to receive Dharma transmission from Suzuki Roshi. ", Lachs, Stuart: This happened almost 20 years ago and has been written about over the years by numerous insiders, outsiders and apologists of varying kinds. It is mentioned often enough that Downing, interestingly calculates the hours that individual senior members had meditated. Spiritual authority is that second kind of authority. What they really found is another story of flawed human behavior. I am thankful for Michael Downing's work, which is extremely valuable. Elizabeth is married to Jason Kibbey. This is the consistent view of the master presented by Zen, the pure, simple, desireless and self-contained roshi, and was accepted unquestioningly by Zen Center members. Sitting meditation (zazen) is available live online Monday through Friday mornings, Saturday mornings, and Monday through Friday evenings. In reality it means, "don't question, don't look!" Explore hundreds of dharma talksby San Francisco Zen Center teachers, practice leaders, and speakers from the wider community. A descendant of Thomas Dudley,[4] Baker was raised in a family of moderate wealth. Zen Center businesses embodied other Bay Area delights. Shoes Outside The Door, p.237. There is a saying, "It is difficult to convince a man of something if his paycheck depends on his not understanding it." For an outstanding article on Sanbokyodan Zen, a Zen sect important in the West see, Sharf, Robert, "Sanbokyodan, Zen and the Way of New Religions", Japanese Journal of Religious Studies, Fall 1995, Vol. He was 67 years old. But Shimano is hardly alone; his is not an isolated case. 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. 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. [6], San Francisco Zen Center expanded quickly with Baker at the helm. I took a course at Rochester, an overview of Eastern religion and Confucianism. Desire, Devotion, and Excess at the San Francisco Zen Center. And what was Suzuki's intention here? 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." 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. [2][6][14], A once controversial figure, Richard Baker was publicly criticized for his behavior at San Francisco Zen Center. Zen Groups Distressed by Accusations Against Teacher Joshu Sasaki in New Mexico in 2007. This "non-person" i.e., a roshi, is a generic person, who supposedly is a real member of the Buddha's family, the holder of absolute truth, whose function besides producing an heir to keep the lineage alive, is to wield authority: to be listened to, obeyed and bowed down to. 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." 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. 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 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. You can quarrel with their authority, but if the gun works, or if the experiment was well designed and conclusive, you are likely to lose the argument. Soto temples in Japan often are a family business, handed down from father to son, as Suzuki himself had done with his son Hoitsu. 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Some people felt that I had committed an irrevocable betrayal of trust, and have discounted me and my teaching ever since. 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. 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. [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. Zen at War by Brian Daizen A. Victoria: a link to varioius book reviews buy this book now Five years later (in 1988), roughly fifteen months after Anderson had become abbot of the San Francisco, Anderson was arrested for brandishing this same firearm in public. 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. "On both a personal and a professional level, I am still dealing with the consequences of this episode. (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.) 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. As in any field, there is a need for experienced and knowledgeable teachers. And stayed for 10 years.. He was perfect for me, Schnyer said. A roshi is a person who has actualized that perfect freedom which is the potentiality for all human beings. If this was the case, it would seem that he failed this task in America. Please send to slachs@worldnet.att.net. One member quoted Baker as saying, "I always act from pure motives; I never worry about the world." On one visit he decided to take the revolver home with him. We see in Downing's book that it is precisely the idealized notion of Dharma transmission that pre-empted anything that Zen Center members saw for themselves when viewing Baker, their Dharma-transmitted leader, at least prior to the rupture in 1983. Public opinion shows that while parishioners are, of course, disturbed by priests' abuse of children and young teens, they are more upset by the institutional cover up and denial of that behavior. [32], These revelations led Baker to resign as abbot in 1984. Baker is the sole western heir of Suzuki Roshi, a Japanese Zen teacher who founded the SFZC and its mountain training center, Tassajara established in 1967. This was because Aitkin, being a foreigner, was forbidden by the new leader Kubota Roshi, from giving Dharma transmission, while Japanese of equal standing in the organization were permitted this privilege (p.451). Sorts of problems, as the SFZC took place Zen Buddhist organizations outside of.... For entire families to live a Buddhist life while working together need for experienced and knowledgeable.! Had been a Shimano student since he was the case, it would seem that he failed this in... Not implied in Baker 's transmission from Suzuki Roshi with Shintoism being the competing indigenous teaching is in many a!, while giving compassion only lip service, is based on Dharma transmission which. Now that the interviews Downing conducted in 1998-2000 were long after the events at San. 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