San Francisco Zen Center 300 Page Street San Francisco, California 94102 www.sfzc.org. Maezumi, affiliated with another West Coast zendo, the Zen Center of Los Angeles, was a philanderer and an alcoholic, as the scholar Dale S. Wright has detailed at length. 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. The number of practitioners at SFZC grew rapidly in the mid-sixties. [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. As is common among members of new religions, they viewed themselves as special. It will not do for future generations if there are gaps in the line of saintly figures. He jumps across decades, and sometimes seems to jump onto whatever thought crosses his mind. It is mentioned often enough that Downing, interestingly calculates the hours that individual senior members had meditated. Great Experience with Western Zen Practice. For students of the San Francisco Zen Center, one of America's oldest and most prestigious Buddhist institutions, the world has already ended. He was a very traditional Rinzai master: stern when he needed to be, very rarely encouraging. Seeing Through Zen by by John R. McRae book reviews buy this book, Coming Down from the Zen Clouds: A Critique of the Current State of American Zen, Means of Authorization: Establishing Hierarchy in Ch'an/Zen Buddhism in America, 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, Sanbkydan Zen and the Way of the New Religions, Finding Safe Harbor: Buddhist Sexual Ethics in America, Shoes Outside the Door: Desire, Devotion, and Excess at San Francisco Zen Center, Crooked Cucumber: The Life and Teachings of Shunryu Suzuki, Not Always So: practicing the true spirit of Zen by Shunryu Suzuki. 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. 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. Reviewed July 20, 2014 . Anderson succeeded him as abbot, and later co-abbot. While this is obviously a general statement that demands further qualification, it serves to introduce some of the basic problems to be dealt with here. 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. I believe that the reason for this surrender, in the case of Zen, is clear, structural, and self-perpetuating. Nor did anyone even think to view the situation through the lens of the Buddhist teachings themselves or even the particular teachings of their beloved founder Suzuki. The historical fact is that monasteries actively courted the state and elite elements of society, depended on donations from wealthy patrons and or the state, had tenant farmers work their often vast donated and inherited land holdings, etc. (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.) Anderson remembered stowing the revolver away in the San Francisco Zen Center's garage and quickly retrieved it. [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. Jerry Brown, poet Gary Snyder, Esalen founder Michael Murphy, author Ken Kesey and other leading lights of the Zen intelligentsia on the West Coast. Tassajara baked bread for student and guest consumption since 1967, and Edward Espe Brown's Tassajara Bread Book, demonstrated consumer interest. 1967 also saw the arrival of Kobun Chino Otogawa of Eiheiji, who served as assistant to Suzuki. Some Zen followers believe that Zen is only concerned with enlightenment and is not concerned with personal behavior or with ordinary morality. Zen Mind? On one visit he decided to take the revolver home with him. That Kapleau never received Dharma transmission was exposed in a public letter from Yamada roshi dated,1/16/86. [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. He was what I needed. The duo published a book of recipes in 1987 titled The Greens Cookbook. 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. 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. One student said that when the senior priests were questioned about some aspects of Baker's behavior, the answer was, "Richard has Transmission." I said, I have to come back here. So I did one more semester of school and then dropped out. So it is natural to ask, why did Suzuki's and Baker's students mention this so often? This 1987 incident has had a damaging impact on Anderson's reputation as a teacher, since his arrest received national media coverage. Despite hesitance of some members of SFZC due to the size of 80 acres (320,000m2), Baker felt that acquiring Green Gulch Farm was very important for Buddhism in America. We did something great. 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. Obedience, subservience, and discipline were well rewarded at a large institution like the San Francisco Zen Center, as Downing's book amply shows. Importantly, the head of every Soto temple must have Dharma transmission. I feel sorry for anybody who's bitter. 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. It depends not on miracles or mystical figures or discoveries of secret books, but merely on our willingness to believe, against evidence if need be, that those things were real. People interviewed had the luxury of hindsight. But in the 1960s and 70s, American Buddhists needed the foreigners. Desire, Devotion, and Excess at the San Francisco Zen Center. 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. " 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. After a major fundraising effort led by Baker, Zen Center purchased the landwhich contained a rundown resort and mineral springs in 1967. San Francisco is not mentioned in Newsom's plans, but Supervisor Dean Preston has proposed a similar action. Under the Zen form of legitimization, each Zen roshi is viewed as a saint. is the head teacher at the Dharma Field Meditation and Learning Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. This is not surprising if we remember that in Soto Zen "spiritual attainment" is rarely a criterion for Dharma transmission. Please send to slachs@worldnet.att.net. 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. Kai C. Half Moon Bay, California. This article is not saying that there is no place for a Zen teacher. Downing, who lives in Cambridge, Mass., provides an outsider's view into the incestuous circles at the first Buddhist monastery in the West. We can begin to approach an answer by thinking about the nature of authority. In fact, Kapleau never received Dharma transmission in the first place, so there was nothing to rescind. 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. Michel Foucault in "The Means of Correct Training" in Discipline and Punish, Trans. Zen Center members accepted and internalized most all of Zen's self definitions, history and social forms. 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. In 1983 Tenshin Reb Anderson received shih from Zentatsu Richard Baker, becoming Baker's first Dharma heir (though Baker disputes this). Kwong's transmission was later completed by Suzuki's son, Hoitsu.[1][11][12]. 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. However, for an in depth review of early Chan monastic codes and how early Chan viewed and supposedly treated errant behavior by monks see Foulk, T. Griffith, "The "Ch'an School" and Its Place In the Buddhist Monastic Tradition," Diss. 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. Zen Hospice Project also continues to train and coordinate volunteers who provide non sectarian, non-medical care to residents of the hospice and palliative care ward at Laguna Honda Hospital, a skilled nursing facility operated by the City and County of San Francisco. Zen Center members did not think there was any thought control or propaganda necessary to escape when it came to Zen. Please see the Covid-Related Openings and Closings Updates page as well as the Calendar. I think this happened because Zen's teaching to avoid words and explanation was taken too literally and has fostered an unfortunate narrowing of perspective. Despite its iconoclastic image, Zen has in actuality been a remarkably conservative institution throughout its history, almost always tied to and controlled by the state and elite elements of society. Religion occupies a distinctive place in this enterprise." Suzuki died of cancer on December 4, 1971. 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. They have shown us clearly that much of what has been presented by the tradition as "history," is really a myth created with two purposes. Institutional and personal motives played an important part in the composing of Buddhist biographical collections; this was especially so in earl Chan lineage texts. This is very similar to the Japanese Soto Zen, with minor variances for social and cultural differences. More tellingly, Baker, inserted the very idealized description of qualities and characteristics supposedly of Suzuki Roshi, generalized to all roshi, knowing it would inevitably, indeed shortly, be applied to himself. Ironically, one may ask, is that what Suzuki hoped to reform? Definitely worth checking them out on their website and trying to attend the beginners lesson! No one took the opportunity to stand back and view the entire affair from any sort of sociological, anthropological, psychological or religious-historical perspective. 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. 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. The Zen Studies Society was marked by frequent turnover. These events are a helpful reminderboth to me and to othersof my vulnerability to arrogance and inflation. This dissertation also asks whether the Chan sect existed at all as a separate and distinct sect in the Tang dynasty, the supposed "golden age of Chan"). After six months, he returned to his position. This change in demography caused a rift in the Sokoji community. Covid-Related Openings and Closings Updates page, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility, Conflict, Complaint, and Ethical Review Processes. 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. "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. Remember the senior student who quoted Suzuki as saying, " Dick's commitment is at another level, so the rest of us simply were not in a position to criticize him." 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. Some people felt that I had committed an irrevocable betrayal of trust, and have discounted me and my teaching ever since. 1969 - The current SFZC building was purchased with the help of American students. 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. Greens Restaurant, opened in 1979 in Fort Mason of San Francisco, was another business venture by SFZC under the influence of Baker. The Sacred Canopy: Elements of a Sociological Theory of Religion, Doubleday, 1967, pp. In particular, Berger, Peter,L. 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. In Zen Buddhism, the story of Eido Shimanos abuse of power is so commonplace as to be banal, a clich. "To sum up the situation, we have no sources at all from the T'ang which mentions or describe explicitly "Chan" institutions," p. 267. [5][6][7][8], Another assistant priest at SFZC was Dainin Katagiri-roshi, who served there from 1969 to 1971. Cases like this are important simply because the study of Zen history has shown us the whole lineage tradition is built so heavily on questionable written and word-of-mouth accounts; what is said in the present will surely be repeated long into the future. Spiritual authority is that second kind of authority. With one or two exceptions, the only views expressed of Baker's errant behavior among the Center's members was in the context of their personal experience. It all came tumbling down in a 1983 event known in Zen Center circles as "the Apocalypse." On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Introduction In addition, if there were something to reform in Japanese Soto Zen, the automatic Dharma transmission for virtually all priests, often between father and son, would be high on the list. 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." [6] Baker also penned the introduction to Suzuki's famous book, Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind. Above all, we agree to the stories that prop up constitutions or money. 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. I took a course at Rochester, an overview of Eastern religion and Confucianism. Zen Nationalism Revisited by Robert H. Sharf Although Baker claimed that his relationship was a love-affair which had not yet been consummated, the outcry surrounding the incident led to accusations of impropriety, including the admissions by several female members of the community that they had had affairs with Baker before or during his tenure as abbot. A pioneer of gourmet vegetarian cuisine in America, the restaurant's first chefs were Edward Espe Brown and Deborah Madison. 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. One older student expressed it this way, "In our hands, and it was in our hands, it [Suzuki's pure teaching] became a bludgeon of power, a source of competition, jealousy, and paranoia. [20] Zen Hospice Project provides hospice care for individuals of any or no religion who are looking for a compassionate end to their life. Unlike his predecessors, Suzuki was a fluent speaker of English who actually wanted to come to the United States. Good bread, fine wine and simple, yet elegant, dining were offered by Tassajara Bakery and by Greens, the gourmet restaurant at Fort Mason that dished out vegetarian cuisine and inspiring views of the bay. This new Buddha is also alive and homegrown and hence more immediate and real. At the time of the purchase, Baker claimed he needed so expensive a car because of the amount of driving he did. Some of the most senior members appeared afraid to raise difficult questions with Baker perhaps for fear of losing their own privileged positions. If this was the case, it would seem that he failed this task in America. Why did Baker perpetuate such a simplistic view of Suzuki? 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. Also see his Zen War Stories to be published December 2002. 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. The bakery supplied Greens Restaurant and some local grocers.[16]. Berger begins, "Every human society is an enterprise of world-building. Why do we need to rehash this one again? They have a daughter, Sofia Baker, born on March 1, 2001, in Alamosa, Colorado. This recommended class series offers listeners an overview of the fundamentals of Buddhism and Zen. City Center A vibrant community in an urban temple in the heart of San Francisco. Ungerleider.[26]. During his interview with Downing, Baker Roshi explains that having a "nice car," girlfriends and going out to dinner were implementations of Suzuki Roshi's commitment to lay practice. Soto temples in Japan often are a family business, handed down from father to son, as Suzuki himself had done with his son Hoitsu. It was not mentioned in the interviews that Suzuki himself might be partially responsible for the ensuing trouble. A number of Downing's interviewees spoke of receiving the true or pure Zen teaching from Suzuki Roshi. It is clear that the senior members of Zen Center surrounding Baker were well-indoctrinated vessels of Zen ideology. This paper can also serve the non-scholar as an overview or introduction to modern Zen scholarship and introduce a critical view of the important Zen ideas of master, Dharma transmission, and unbroken lineage. This ancient twisted karma I now fully avow. This imputation of power and attainment has given one Zen roshi after another the power to abuse their position while remaining beyond reproach. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews. After the founding of Dharma Sangha in New Mexico, Baker met with William Irwin Thompson, the founder of the Lindisfarne Association. 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. David Hume said in his Of the First principles of Government (1758) that "Nothing appears more surprising to those who consider human affairs with a philosophical eye than the easiness with which the many are governed by the few, and the implicit submission with which men resign their own sentiments and passions to those of their rulers." Zen priest Mel Weitsman served with Anderson as a co-abbot during the remainder of his term, and the tradition of two sitting Abbots continued for the next few decades. Steve Hagen. Mel Weitsman and Michael Wenger, University of California Press,1999 and for a biography of Suzuki's life see, Chadwick, David, Crooked Cucumber: The Life and Zen Teaching of Shunyru Suzuki, Broadway Books, 1999. It may be Zen-like, but it can also be annoying. The sangha was incorporated by Shunryu Suzuki Roshi and a group of his American students in 1962. 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. It could fairly be said that what is effectively transmitted by Dharma transmission is institutional authority, rather than religious wisdom. Anderson became entangled in an incident in 1987 that reached back to 1983 just after Zentatsu Richard Baker had resigned as abbot. 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. 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