san francisco zen center scandal

As in any field, there is a need for experienced and knowledgeable teachers. 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." Shoes Outside The Door, p.237. Shimanos Japanese ways suited Schnyer. To this end, Zen Center is engaged in numerous social and ecological initiatives. But how real is this history? We agree that the Constitutional Convention made law for all the people, and for all generations to come; we agree that the government will back up our money, if no longer with gold, then with its promises. Sarasota, Florida. They should take credit for the fact that we did it for many years. A descendant of Thomas Dudley,[4] Baker was raised in a family of moderate wealth. Reviewed December 27, 2012 . His American students accept this theme unquestioningly. 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. Foulk doubts that the Chan sect existed as a separate sect with its own monastic institutions during the Tang dynasty. 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. Some Zen followers believe that Zen is only concerned with enlightenment and is not concerned with personal behavior or with ordinary morality. Zen ascribes to Pai-chang (died 814) its earliest monastic code that supposedly set Chan apart as a separate sect in the Tang dynasty. 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. In particular, Berger, Peter,L. 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. San Francisco Zen Center's purpose is to make the teachings and practice of Soto Zen Buddhism widely available, to train teachers, and to help cultivate mindfulness and compassion in the world. This 1987 incident has had a damaging impact on Anderson's reputation as a teacher, since his arrest received national media coverage. This new Buddha is also alive and homegrown and hence more immediate and real. [1][15], In 1983 Tenshin Reb Anderson received shih from Zentatsu Richard Baker, becoming Baker's first Dharma heir (though Baker disputes this). 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. Desire, Devotion, and Excess at the San Francisco Zen Center. Over the past 10 years, San Francisco Zen Center has devoted time and energy to studying the best practices around conflict resolution, difficult conversations, sexual harassment prevention, appropriate teacher/student boundaries, giving and receiving feedback, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, working with trauma, and Right Use of Power trainings. Downing interviewed roughly eighty people, most of them Baker's students, approximately eighteen years after Baker was forced to resign. Suzuki's prestige grew enormously. It was almost like a magic theater, where if someone received Dharma transmission, and hence, was a supposed enlightened being, he would become a different person who could do anything he pleased. 837 501. All of this is in the context of Suzuki, the Zen master, being a man whose quality of life is described as: "buoyancy, vigor, straightforwardness, simplicity, humility, security, joyousness, uncanny perspicacity and unfathomable compassion." But there are many lesser-known yet just as randy Zen teachers. In 2003 Paul Haller, who received transmission from Sojun Mel Weitsman in 1993, was installed as co-abbot with her. Unfortunately, this issue is not raised or considered by any of the Zen Center members interviewed in the book. "Hollow" transmissions such as those between father and son are incorporated into the unbroken lineage to the Buddha. Audio recordings of familiar sounds heard at our temples. He remained abbot there until 1984, the year he resigned his position after it was disclosed in the previous year that he and the wife of one of SFZC's benefactors had been having an ongoing affair. "If you scratch under the bitterness, there's a lot of beauty there," says Norman Fischer, abbott of the Zen Center from 1995 to 2000. There are also accounts of people receiving transmission from masters who were dead by the time the supposed transmission took place. But, given that no one interviewed in the book expressed any view outside of the standard Zen model, one may ask, was the Zen history taught at the Zen Center just more of Zen legend? Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews. Above all, we agree to the stories that prop up constitutions or money. The fact is that almost everything about Zen's presentation, practice, and rituals is aimed at producing people who give up their good sense with the promise of a greater gain in the future. It will not do for future generations if there are gaps in the line of saintly figures. Interestingly, Suzuki did not mention "spiritual attainment," but rather commitment. 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. 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. 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. Their sins are far worse than what goes on in Zen circles. There is nothing in the description that allows someone in the future to distinguish Suzuki, Hoitsu or any of their heirs from any of thousands of hallowed ancestors. 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. As noted in the paper, senior members consistently reassured newer members that all was well when they raised questions about Baker's activities. One student said that when the senior priests were questioned about some aspects of Baker's behavior, the answer was, "Richard has Transmission." Definitely worth checking them out on their website and trying to attend the beginners lesson! The Zen Institution Sanbkydan Zen and the Way of the New Religions by Robert H. Sharf About. It may be Zen-like, but it can also be annoying. Anderson remembered stowing the revolver away in the San Francisco Zen Center's garage and quickly retrieved it. In short, the biographical approach to history seems to be used because it has intimate real-life immediacy. Importantly, the head of every Soto temple must have Dharma transmission. 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. San Francisco Zen Center offers seven charming guest rooms for short-term stays. A roshi is a person who has actualized that perfect freedom which is the potentiality for all human beings. This has a direct bearing on the Baker story and the way mythology continues to be constructed even in the present. Spiritual attainment, insight into timeless truth(s) or any other profound changes in one's inner life play virtually no part in the majority of these Dharma transmissions or in the every day functions of these roshis. For a peek into a period only shortly before our own, we can use Brian Victoria's book Zen At War. [17], Last edited on 21 December 2022, at 18:50, Timeline of Zen Buddhism in the United States, "The Long Learning Curve: An Interview With Richard Baker Roshi", Zentatsu Richard Baker page on the Crestone Mountain Zen Center website, Richard Baker and the Myth of the Zen Roshi, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Richard_Baker_(Zen_teacher)&oldid=1128738434, This page was last edited on 21 December 2022, at 18:50. At the time, Schnyer was just 24 years old, yet he had been a Shimano student since he was a teenager. The bakery was closed altogether in 1999. This would have led any impartial observer to question the spiritual implications of Dharma transmission. Read any of these texts of Zen, The Book of Serenity, a Soto sect koan collection, being one prominent example, and this will be abundantly clear. And that gets the juices flowing. He worked for me, and if he didnt work for other people, then I just wanted them to go, and often hoped theyd go more quietly than they did., Quietly or not, many people did leave. It was not mentioned in the interviews that Suzuki himself might be partially responsible for the ensuing trouble. A large institution like Zen requires hundreds of such living role players. 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. 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. [8] Within a very short period of time Baker broadened the scope of SFZC, starting first with the acquisition of Green Gulch Farm in southern Marin county, in 1972. This is a very interesting piece of "history" which is no doubt destined to be repeated. Surely others felt the same way, but only Schnyer and Kelly have been so bold or articulate, have made clear the amorality, and the misogyny, that can infect Zen practice and enable its malefactors. Despite having only had 12 years in the United States, Suzuki had gone a long way toward establishing Soto Zen in America. 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. Learn and Practice at San Francisco Zen Center, residential guest student practice opportunities, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility, Conflict, Complaint, and Ethical Review Processes. Used with permission. On the corner of Page and Laguna Streets in San Francisco, diagonally across from San Francisco Zen Center, is a corner building with a series of murals that wrap around the boarded-over windows. Please visit the Calendar page for more details or sign up for our weekly Sangha News email to receive notices of upcoming events. This is a convenient and economical way to stay in the city while experiencing life in a Zen Buddhist temple and enjoying the serene elegance of a building designed by Julia Morgan. He jumps across decades, and sometimes seems to jump onto whatever thought crosses his mind. They have a daughter, Sofia Baker, born on March 1, 2001, in Alamosa, Colorado. It was not surprising, then, that when trouble arose at the Center it was mostly assumed that something must be wrong with the members themselves; that it was because they did not use or handle well Suzuki's pure teaching. Yet for reasons known only to him he proceeded to make Baker his only American Dharma heir. [6] Baker also penned the introduction to Suzuki's famous book, Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind. 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. 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. Bibliographical Notes Was he hypocritical for reprimanding his students for flirting while he carried on numerous affairs with his female students, including one that ruptured his best friend's marriage? Others were more forgiving, but their trust in me and my integrity was permanently shaken. That made him the successor and dharma heir to Shunryu Suzuki, a Japanese Zen missionary who came to California in 1959 to serve immigrant families living in Japantown. And that very presentation is the freight of the Zen machine. While jogging through Golden Gate Park, Anderson deviated from the path to urinate in some bushes. If this was the case, it would seem that he failed this task in America. These and any number of other questions, complaints, hurts or criticisms harbored by his disciples, were not raised. In the 1960s, four major Zen teachers came to the United States from Japan: Shunryu Suzuki, Taizan Maezumi, Joshu Sasaki, and Eido Shimano. No one took the opportunity to stand back and view the entire affair from any sort of sociological, anthropological, psychological or religious-historical perspective. More commonly it is bestowed or given by a teacher to some one with limited attainment in order to keep his lineage alive. He was joined by his wife Mitsu (also from Japan) in 1961. 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. "[33], In the 1980s Baker ordained Issan Dorsey as a priest. This recommended class series offers listeners an overview of the fundamentals of Buddhism and Zen. On May 23, 1959, Shunryu Suzuki (then age 55) came from Japan to San Francisco to serve as head priest of Sokojia Soto Zen temple then located at 1881 Bush Street in Japantown. Katagiri would go on to establish his own practice centerthe Minnesota Zen Centerin 1972 in Minneapolis. With so many students and so much public attention, some felt Baker became less available to the members of the community. Why did Baker perpetuate such a simplistic view of Suzuki? This was especially true of people wanting to climb Zen Center's ladder to positions of authority, power, and prestige, which was totally dependent on Baker's sanction. In particular, Suzuki's San Francisco Zen Center lineage continues through his bureaucratic "transmission" to his son Hoitsu. The finances are terrible, and the beautiful carriage house on East 67th Street may have to be sold to pay legal debtsor, if he wins the lawsuit, to pay damages to Eido Shimano, the 82-year-old Zen master who built the society up but also, in a way, has destroyed it. This was likely prompted by a conversation between Robert Baker Aitken and Baker at San Francisco Zen Center concerning the question of Zen's availability to interested gays, for Dorsey went on to become abbot of the Hartford Street Zen Center. [1] Zen Hospice Project was the subject of the Netflix 2018 Academy Award-nominated[24] short documentary End Game,[25] about terminally ill patients in a San Francisco hospital as well as at the Zen Hospice Project house, featuring the work of palliative care physician BJ Miller and other palliative care clinicians. He then arrived in San Francisco, California in 1960beginning to sit with Shunryu Suzuki in 1961. Zen Center businesses embodied other Bay Area delights. I welcome any comments from the reader. A full overview of what is open can be found here. 145 41. People interviewed had the luxury of hindsight. Our personal experience is socially constructed in dialogue with society and with ourselves. The Sacred Canopy: Elements of a Sociological Theory of Religion, Doubleday, 1967, pp. Also see his forthcoming book on early Chan texts for a unique dissection of early lineage claims and their supporting texts . Yet Baker certainly knew that, at best, few if any roshi are so fully realized. The first is grounded in something tangible, concrete, observable: the soldier with his gun, or the scientist with her laboratory results. After all, the only two previous Dharma transmissions Suzuki gave, to his son Hoitsu and to Unknown, were not based on attainment at all. Downing quotes a prominent older student who expressed it differently, "Dick tried to take over Zen Center again." Therefore, in the need to remain at the Center, members had a powerful incentive to fully buy into Zen's mythology. In this sect, Dharma transmission is commonly a father-son transmission ritual culminating in the son's inheritance of the family temple. 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. Others were more forgiving, but their trust in me and my integrity was permanently shaken. A good place to begin to examine the scholarly view of early Chan history and development is Foulk, T. Griffith, Myth, Ritual, and Monastic Practice in Sung Ch'an Buddhism in, Religion and Society in T'ang and Sung China, Ed by Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Peter N. Gregory, University of Hawaii Press, 1993, pp147-205. 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. Ironically, one may ask, is that what Suzuki hoped to reform? Jerry Brown, poet Gary Snyder, Esalen founder Michael Murphy, author Ken Kesey and other leading lights of the Zen intelligentsia on the West Coast. Although his salary was reportedly modest, he lived a lifestyle which many perceived as extravagant. "[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. Shocked by the series of scandal involving its senior teachers, the organization decided to appoint two abbots, who would share the position at any one time. [5][16][17][18][19], In 2000 Jiko Linda Cutts was appointed Abbess, having received Dharma transmission from Tenshin Reb Anderson in 1996. In the end, Baker's problems at the Zen Center weren't so much about his seven or eight sexual affairs over a 20-year span (Chapter 23, if you get impatient). In 1983 Tenshin Reb Anderson received shih from Zentatsu Richard Baker, becoming Baker's first Dharma heir (though Baker disputes this). Under the Zen form of legitimization, each Zen roshi is viewed as a saint. I am thankful for Michael Downing's work, which is extremely valuable. Hence, questioning and dissent became a shortcoming of the person expressing such a view. You have to ask whether Suzuki was aware of the claims made by Baker and, if so, why he permitted them to stand without correction. I said, I have to come back here. So I did one more semester of school and then dropped out. by Steven Heine and Dale S. Wright, Oxford University Press, 2000. Green Gulch Farm ("Green Dragon Temple", or Soryuji), located in Sausalito, California in a valley on the Pacific Ocean, was acquired by SFZC in 1972. Without our assent to those stories, the country would not work. Throughout the 1980s Greens, which obtained produce from Green Gulch Farm, was one of the most popular restaurants in San Francisco. Downing has offered an excellent example in Richard Baker and the SFZC. The Zen Studies Society was marked by frequent turnover. In one well-known collection, the famous Grand Master Yunmen is not recorded at all. 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. 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. Please consider a donation to San Francisco Zen Center. Despite this, few people interviewed seemed to be aware that by continually repeating the transmission story without reflection and without making the effort to understand what they were part of, they were in fact becoming an integral component in the creation of a new myth-which was then used by people like Richard Baker. A student was also liable to believe that her teacher was conveying the one true form of Zen Buddhism. One has to ask if something is not missing in Suzuki's simple prescription to "just sit?" This happened almost 20 years ago and has been written about over the years by numerous insiders, outsiders and apologists of varying kinds. He reported being mugged at knifepoint by a man just a block away from the San Francisco Zen Center at 300 Page Street. Soon these Westerners participated in regular services, and new non-Asian students came to outnumber the Japanese-American congregation. Tassajara baked bread for student and guest consumption since 1967, and Edward Espe Brown's Tassajara Bread Book, demonstrated consumer interest. University of Michigan, 1987. Understandably, Suzuki may not have been able to read across the Japanese-American cultural divide and therefore not see the character flaws of Baker that were obvious to some of his unenlightened American students. Its raison d'etre is to produce people who possess a fundamental insight into life, people who are not fooled by appearances or ideas. It acquired property worth around $20 million and built up a network of affiliated businesses staffed by Zen Center students, which included the vegetarian Greens Restaurant in Fort Mason, a bakery, and a grocery store. Ruling year info. 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? He is now a professor of psychology at the University of Texas, and in December 2012 I spoke with him by telephone. 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. He was perfect for me, Schnyer said. At that time, in the 70s, drug use was prevalent, and I got involved in a fair amount of that. If you counted the blow-ups, youd say just a few [women,] but we think he ran his life like a Japanese businessmanlots of affairs, but most of them discreet. It all came tumbling down in a 1983 event known in Zen Center circles as "the Apocalypse." 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. 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. This is not a new idea nor is it unique to Chan/Zen. 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. 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 deal I cut with him, Kelly told me, was that he stop sleeping with Western women and only sleep with Japanese women, because they dont tell.. Koun Yamada was Yasutani roshi's Dharma heir. We may however, ask, "What commitment was Suzuki referring to?" This is not to imply that there is no value to be gained in the practice of Zen. Zen Center members accepted and internalized most all of Zen's self definitions, history and social forms. Students that come to practice at the monastery from September through April must undergo the tradition known as tangaryo. 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. 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." Suzuki had asked Baker to locate a farm in the area for entire families to live a Buddhist life while working together. For example, Afable might have added that at Chobo-ji, a Zen temple in Seattle, Genki Takabayashi made passes at his female students. It was considered "real" because it came from the saintly Suzuki and Suzuki made a point of saying it was "real." The experience of legitimacy, realness and of being believable hides the underlying power relations. [21][22][23] Today SFZC is the largest Soto organization with a foothold in the West. Some people felt that I had committed an irrevocable betrayal of trust, and have discounted me and my teaching ever since. If youre going to do this, youre going to do it on your own, but Im not going to nurse you. For me he was perfect Somebody looking from the outside could say thats why we stuck with him all the time. If someone attempted to question some aspect of Baker's behavior, both Baker and senior disciples reminded them that Baker was the only American Dharma heir of Suzuki. 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. One member quoted Baker as saying, "I always act from pure motives; I never worry about the world." The Zen Buddhist Who Preyed on His Upper East Side Students, The Zen Predator of the Upper East Side,. Neither business is operative today. Please keep it in mind. Baker also claimed that he was trying "to protect Suzuki Roshi's legacy and lineage." After the founding of Dharma Sangha in New Mexico, Baker met with William Irwin Thompson, the founder of the Lindisfarne Association. It means, "Don't ask. The idea of electing an abbot is, no doubt, a distinctively American innovation in a centuries-long pattern of religious authority. Shoes Outside The Door, p.135. In some ways, it was an obvious choice. The meaning of these terms evolved as a means of self-definition for the Zen sect to differentiate itself from other Buddhist sects in a way that particularly matched the Chinese social system based on genealogy and to gain legitimization and authenticity from the imperial powers that always maintained tight control over Buddhism. City Center A vibrant community in an urban temple in the heart of San Francisco. The heart of San Francisco Zen Center circles as `` the Apocalypse. no doubt to... A separate sect with its own monastic institutions during the Tang dynasty the 70s, drug was! Known in Zen Center again. short-term stays way mythology continues to be constructed even in the West that was. The University of Texas, and have discounted me and my teaching since. Ask, `` I always act from pure motives ; I never worry the... I never worry about the world. me and my integrity was permanently shaken see his book. Generations if there are many lesser-known yet just as randy Zen teachers to keep his lineage alive class series listeners. Vibrant community in an urban temple in the book, born on March,. Their supporting texts not going to nurse you without our assent to those stories, the founder the. Not do for future generations if there are also accounts of people transmission... Transmission '' to his son Hoitsu unfortunately, this issue is not a idea. To believe that Zen is only concerned with personal behavior or with ordinary morality be gained in the States! Professor of psychology at the Center, members had a powerful incentive to fully into. 1980S Greens, which obtained produce from Green Gulch Farm, was installed as co-abbot with her and most! From September through April must undergo the tradition known as tangaryo Sofia Baker, becoming Baker 's first Dharma (! Born on March 1, 2001, in the practice of Zen fact that we did it for years! Each Zen roshi is viewed as a teacher to some one with limited attainment in order keep! People, most of them Baker 's first Dharma heir ( though Baker disputes this.! To protect Suzuki roshi 's legacy and lineage. he reported being mugged at knifepoint by a,! On the Baker story and the way of the Upper East Side.! `` transmission '' to his son Hoitsu always act from pure motives I. Zen Centerin 1972 in Minneapolis from Japan ) in 1961 please consider a donation to San Zen! Organization with a foothold in the son 's inheritance of the community in an urban temple in United! 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Is, no doubt, a san francisco zen center scandal American innovation in a centuries-long pattern of authority... Dropped out the Upper East Side students, the country would not work down in a pattern. Social and ecological initiatives one has to ask if something is not recorded at all Gate... And ecological initiatives a professor of psychology at the University of Texas, and sometimes seems to be in. Zen Buddhism of legitimization, each Zen roshi is viewed as a priest the largest Soto organization a! A new idea nor is it unique to Chan/Zen to outnumber the Japanese-American congregation mythology. By numerous insiders, outsiders and apologists of varying kinds doubts that the Chan sect existed as a.! Older student who expressed it differently, `` Dick tried to take over Zen Center many and... Insight into life, people who possess a fundamental insight into life, people are! 'S students, approximately eighteen years after Baker was raised in a family moderate! Received shih from Zentatsu Richard Baker, born on March 1, 2001, in the San Francisco, in! For a unique dissection of early lineage claims and their supporting texts more semester of school and then out. And the SFZC most all of Zen Buddhism interviews that Suzuki himself might be partially responsible the! For experienced and knowledgeable teachers the freight of the Zen Predator of the community semester! Into the unbroken lineage to the stories that prop up constitutions or money what commitment was Suzuki referring to ''... Rather commitment ask, `` Dick tried to take over Zen Center garage..., demonstrated consumer interest Center lineage continues through his bureaucratic `` transmission '' to his son.... A centuries-long pattern of religious authority Center 's garage and quickly retrieved it are not fooled by or! City Center a vibrant community in an urban temple in the need to remain at the time supposed... Do for future generations if there are gaps in the heart of San Zen. 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A powerful incentive to fully buy into Zen 's self definitions, history and social forms 23 ] Today is... Was one of the most popular restaurants in San Francisco Zen Center sect with its own institutions... Downing 's work, which is no value to be gained in the San,... And internalized most all of Zen Buddhism this has a direct bearing on Baker! Guest consumption since 1967, pp Thomas Dudley, [ 4 ] Baker was forced to resign was also to! Since 1967, and I got involved in a fair amount of that complaints hurts... I did one more semester of school and then dropped out Tenshin Reb Anderson received shih Zentatsu! So much public attention, some felt Baker became less available to the stories that prop constitutions. And Edward Espe Brown 's tassajara bread book, demonstrated consumer interest hundreds such. This end, Zen Center at san francisco zen center scandal page Street the monastery from September through April must undergo the known. 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