I dont know, he said. After six months, he returned to his position. Zen Nationalism Revisited by Robert H. Sharf The Board of Directors at SFZC also began election of leaders. It matters that we keep assenting to the stories. 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. 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. Why did Baker perpetuate such a simplistic view of Suzuki? 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. Me and my friend always had suspicions he had ongoing relationships with Japanese women that were kept quiet, and were more or less continuous. Within a couple of years, Suzuki considered founding a monastery to host more intensive practice for those students who were interested. He was neither. This is one reason why we are looking at his case, to see how the system works, how it has always worked. Even when Dharma transmission does reflect some level of something we may call spiritual attainment, it is not based on the idealized version proffered by the Zen institution: a mystical meeting of minds between teacher and disciple sharing a timeless truth that unvaryingly matches the minds of all teachers going back in the lineage, through the six Chan Patriarchs in China, and the twenty eight generations of the supposed Indian lineage going back to the historical Buddha, and beyond. But that is the way that Suzuki or Baker or any roshi is presented. Ironically, one may ask, is that what Suzuki hoped to reform? 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. In 1983 Tenshin Reb Anderson received shih from Zentatsu Richard Baker, becoming Baker's first Dharma heir (though Baker disputes this). When I heard about it, I was like, Thats for me. Soon, Schnyer was practicing Buddhism. Reviewed July 20, 2014 . "[36], SFZC is connected, in an unofficial capacity, to the following Zen Centers:[1], Coordinates: .mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}374626N 1222534W / 37.774009N 122.426075W / 37.774009; -122.426075. This necessitates the production of virtual quotas of such highly exalted people, while in the realm of "spiritual attainment" it is rare to produce just one such person. Shoes Outside The Door, p.289. San Francisco Zen Center SFZC Online Welcome to SFZC Online Below you'll find information about our online offerings: 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. For an important look at Buddhist biography and hagiography though not especially Chan, the reader may look at Kieschnick, John, The Eminent Monk, University of Hawaii Press, 1997. 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. The volunteer project's founding director was Frank Ostaseski, who served until 2004. Foulk gives translations of two versions of the text, side by side and analyses their internal structure and contents. 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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. 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. [9] The building, designed by Julia Morgan, was built as the Emanu-el Residence Club in 1922 for the Emanu-el Sisterhood. In this act lies the first step towards freedom." This imputation of power and attainment has given one Zen roshi after another the power to abuse their position while remaining beyond reproach. (I don't mean to say that Kapleau is any more or less qualified to teach for receiving transmission or not, and in fact he is one of the few major teachers not involved with sexual or other scandal though one of his disciples did have a major scandal.) 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. The number of practitioners at SFZC grew rapidly in the mid-sixties. Having wisdom, in the Zen view, is based on Dharma transmission, which implies that the person is an enlightened being. How bad was Shimanos womanizing? I asked Schnyer. Steve Hagen. . 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. And then I went back and basically never left. His focus on having the Center grow quickly and on reforming Soto Zen in Japan may also have contributed to the problems. One component of Buddhism is to recognize cause and effect. (It should be noted that Suzuki could read English.) 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. Zen Center members accepted and internalized most all of Zen's self definitions, history and social forms. Berger begins, "Every human society is an enterprise of world-building. We should be affirming that. The results of this in terms of the quality of his life are extraordinary-buoyancy, vigor, straightforwardness, simplicity, humility, security, joyousness, uncanny perspicacity and unfathomable compassion. After six months, he returned to his position. Without anything said or done, just the impact of meeting a personality so developed can be enough to change another's whole way of life. In particular, Berger, Peter,L. Also see the public letter from Mr. Kapleau toYamada, dated 2/17/86. The leadership of San Francisco Zen Center required Anderson to take a leave of absence from his position as abbot. Foulk, T. Griffith, "The Zen Institute in Modern Japan", pp.157-177. Jerry Brown, poet Gary Snyder, Esalen founder Michael Murphy, author Ken Kesey and other leading lights of the Zen intelligentsia on the West Coast. 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. [32], These revelations led Baker to resign as abbot in 1984. I have copies of these letters. 1969 - The current SFZC building was purchased with the help of American students. With this view in place, the entire spectrum of permissible thought is now caught and limited within Zen's mythological presentation, which was a completed creation by the eleventh century in China. Guests are . Why should we think that Suzuki chose Baker as his only American Dharma heir based on his level of "spiritual attainment?" 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. 22, no.3-4. Bibliographical Notes At that time, in the 70s, drug use was prevalent, and I got involved in a fair amount of that. There was a widespread conceit in their thinking that they were the center or "cutting edge" of Zen in America, not cognizant that many other Zen groups were forming city/country Centers and also experimenting with the ideas of setting up monasteries, group practice, communal living and forming a sangha. Neither business is operative today. Guests stay at the Lindisfarne Guest House, a traditional Japanese building with a wood-burning stove as the heating source. This change in demography caused a rift in the Sokoji community. Sarasota, Florida. #28 of 84 Specialty lodging in San Francisco. Eighteen years later, there is still lingering bitterness about his overthrow. As in any field, there is a need for experienced and knowledgeable teachers. While traveling back to school after a vacation, he stopped with a friend at Dai Bosatsuthe Zen Studies Society's monastery in the Catskillsand was impressed immediately. Located atop a bumpy 10-mile (16km) road which is difficult for some vehicles to climb, Tassajara offers shuttles to and from the retreat for those inclined to forgo trying to make the trek on their own. The Zen master is a role that stands as a representative of the entire Zen institution. Sasaki, of Rinzai-ji, a Zen center in Los Angeles, is now 106 years old and, as his board members finally admitted in 2013, was groping and fondling unwilling students well into his 11th decade (he also ran a leading Zen center in New Mexico, and his lewdness did not respect state lines). Unlike his predecessors, Suzuki was a fluent speaker of English who actually wanted to come to the United States. This is a very interesting piece of "history" which is no doubt destined to be repeated. (It should also be noted that Victoria is fluent in Japanese while Baker and Chadwick are not.) Katagiri would go on to establish his own practice centerthe Minnesota Zen Centerin 1972 in Minneapolis. 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. In time Suzuki, Baker, Hoitsu, and Unknown will blend into that "history" of immaculate patriarchs. Matters that we keep assenting to the United States, Thats for me should... That we keep assenting to the United States this change in demography caused rift!, `` Every human society is an enterprise of world-building level of spiritual. 1922 for the Emanu-el Residence Club in 1922 for the Emanu-el Residence Club in 1922 the! 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