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 the past we had a lot of crisesin San Francisco and Los Angeleswith sex scandals and so forth. In not clearly explaining the meaning, to his disciples at the SFZC, of his transmission to Baker, while stressing that it was "real;" Suzuki chose to perpetuate a fiction and to dishonor the trust they had given him. Its waves of people who say, Im done with this, I got what I can out of it and then a new group comes in.. There's too much court intrigue and "monastic" gossip, and not enough effort to put the Zen Center and its scandal in the larger story of American Buddhism and the spiritual supermarket's never-ending list of gurus-gone-bad. It is fashionable among practitioners in the West to consider critical thought as "un-Zen." 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. That Kapleau never received Dharma transmission was exposed in a public letter from Yamada roshi dated,1/16/86. Cole, who teaches at Lewis and Clark College, also has two very provocative books soon to be published, one on the Mahayana sutras and the other on early Chan texts and the "birth" of Chinese Buddhas. by Steven Heine and Dale S. Wright, Oxford University Press, 2000. This is not to imply that there is no value to be gained in the practice of Zen. Ironically, what follows is in many ways a religious text. He was 67 years old. The first is grounded in something tangible, concrete, observable: the soldier with his gun, or the scientist with her laboratory results. 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. Suzuki's prestige grew enormously. [13], Following his departure from the San Francisco Zen Center in 1984, Baker relocated to Santa Fe, New Mexico where he founded a new community known as Dharma Sangha. In Northern California, Zen chic peaked in the early 1980s, and its rise and fall has much to do with the stories of two lives -- another Japanese man named Suzuki and another Westerner with a brilliant mind and roving eye. Until one begins to view religious institutions as institutions that function in a particular context, subject to the same problematic power relationships as secular institutions, problems such as those that arose at the San Francisco Zen Center and Buddhist organizations across the West will be almost inevitable. And the teachings in it. Shocked by the series of scandals involving its senior teachers, the organization decided to appoint two abbots, who would share the position at any one time. More than anyone else, Baker built the Zen Center empire in Northern California, including its San Francisco headquarters at Page and Laguna streets and the rustic Tassajara monastery and hot springs in the mountains east of Big Sur. It is mentioned often enough that Downing, interestingly calculates the hours that individual senior members had meditated. 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. Its raison d'etre is to produce people who possess a fundamental insight into life, people who are not fooled by appearances or ideas. 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. Eighteen years later, there is still lingering bitterness about his overthrow. No one took the opportunity to stand back and view the entire affair from any sort of sociological, anthropological, psychological or religious-historical perspective. Nevertheless, following extensive investigation, even Chadwick was forced to admit: "Anything Shunryu had done that could be considered remotely antiwar he had done before the Pacific war started" (p. 97). In this regard Mr. This story appears to be an example of modern day creation of hagiography that will be repeated in the future. [34], Following Baker's resignation, Dainin Katagiri led the community until 1985. Sanbkydan Zen and the Way of the New Religions by Robert H. Sharf 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." However, I do not mean to imply there is no inner spiritual content to the Zen tradition. His focus on having the Center grow quickly and on reforming Soto Zen in Japan may also have contributed to the problems. 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. 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. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews. Like whoa, and when you start the practice, the practice I feel isits very profound. Visitors can enjoy the springs, go swimming or on hiking trips, and have the opportunity to arrange for practice with the community living at the monastery for a few days. Members had not the slightest inkling that their view of Zen was controlled. Within a couple of years, Suzuki considered founding a monastery to host more intensive practice for those students who were interested. Unfortunately, the Western Zen community has not explored the many important questions implied by Zen At War. [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. 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." 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). They also have a lot of other awesome Saturday morning programs for zen noobs (znoobs!!). His youngest daughter, Omi, committed suicide after spending nine years in a mental hospital; he gave Dharma transmission to his son Hoitsu, who did not study with him or even get on with him, but who inherited his temple (this is standard Soto Zen procedure); he gave, as a favor to a friend, Dharma transmission to someone he did not know or have any contact with. San Francisco Zen Center offers seven charming guest rooms for short-term stays. Elizabeth is married to Jason Kibbey. 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. At the time of the purchase, Baker claimed he needed so expensive a car because of the amount of driving he did. 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. These events are a helpful reminderboth to me and to othersof my vulnerability to arrogance and inflation. And that gets the juices flowing. The bakery supplied Greens Restaurant and some local grocers.[16]. Baker then moved to Crestone, Colorado and Germany to found other practice sites for Dharma Sangha. 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. Please keep it in mind. Others were more forgiving, but their trust in me and my integrity was permanently shaken. One member quoted Baker as saying, "I always act from pure motives; I never worry about the world." For an analysis of the idealized, one-dimensional style of describing a roshi, the one of Suzuki in Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind being just one contemporary example, see "Simpleness" in Alan Cole's previously mentioned paper, "It's All in the Framing", p.6. With this investment it is understandable that one might not want to question too closely the teacher's behavior. 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.[36]. 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. 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. Explore hundreds of dharma talksby San Francisco Zen Center teachers, practice leaders, and speakers from the wider community. I believe that the reason for this surrender, in the case of Zen, is clear, structural, and self-perpetuating. #28 of 84 Specialty lodging in San Francisco. This formulaic collection of qualities of a Zen master, is not neutral. After all, the only two previous Dharma transmissions Suzuki gave, to his son Hoitsu and to Unknown, were not based on attainment at all. 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. Kobun was resident teacher at the Tassajara Zen Mountain Center until 1970. How San Francisco Zen Center Operates [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. 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