San Francisco Zen Center (SFZC), is a network of affiliated
Sōtō
Sōtō Zen or is the largest of the three traditional sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism (the others being Rinzai and Ōbaku). It is the Japanese line of the Chinese Cáodòng school, which was founded during the Tang dynasty by Dòngshān L ...
Zen
Zen ( zh, t=禪, p=Chán; ja, text= 禅, translit=zen; ko, text=선, translit=Seon; vi, text=Thiền) is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty, known as the Chan School (''Chánzong'' 禪宗), and ...
practice and retreat centers in the
San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay is a large tidal estuary in the U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the big cities of San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland.
San Francisco Bay drains water from a ...
area, comprising City Center or Beginner's Mind Temple,
Tassajara Zen Mountain Center
The Tassajara Zen Mountain Center is the oldest Buddhism in Japan, Japanese Buddhist Sōtō Zen monastery in the United States. It is on the border of the Ventana Wilderness and within the Los Padres National Forest, southeast of Carmel-by-the-S ...
, and
Green Gulch Farm Zen Center
Green Gulch Farm Zen Center, or Sōryu-ji (蒼龍寺 '' Green Dragon Temple'') is a Soto Zen practice center located near Muir Beach, California, that practices in the lineage of Shunryu Suzuki. In addition to its Zen training program, the center ...
. The
sangha
Sangha is a Sanskrit word used in many Indian languages, including Pali meaning "association", "assembly", "company" or "community"; Sangha is often used as a surname across these languages. It was historically used in a political context t ...
was incorporated by
Shunryu Suzuki Roshi and a group of his
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
students in 1962. Today SFZC is the largest Sōtō organization in the West.
History
On May 23, 1959, Shunryu Suzuki (then age 55) came from
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
to
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
to serve as head priest of Sokoji—a
Soto Zen Soto may refer to:
Geography
*Soto (Aller), parish in Asturias, Spain
* Soto (Las Regueras), parish in Asturias, Spain
* Soto, Curaçao, Netherlands Antilles
*Soto, Russia, a rural locality (a ''selo'') in Megino-Kangalassky District of the Sakha ...
temple then located at
1881 Bush Street in
Japantown
is a common name for Japanese communities in cities and towns outside Japan. Alternatively, a Japantown may be called J-town, Little Tokyo or , the first two being common names for Japantown, San Francisco, Japantown, San Jose and Little To ...
. He was joined by his wife Mitsu (also from Japan) in 1961. Sokoji—founded by Hosen Isobe in 1934—had been housed in a former
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
synagogue
A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...
that is now Kokoro Assisted Living. Upon Suzuki's arrival at Sokoji, the congregation was composed entirely of members of the
Japanese-American
are Americans of Japanese ancestry. Japanese Americans were among the three largest Asian American ethnic communities during the 20th century; but, according to the 2000 census, they have declined in number to constitute the sixth largest Asia ...
population. Unlike his predecessors, Suzuki was a fluent speaker of
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
who actually wanted to come to the United States. 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. Before long, Sokoji had non-Japanese Americans — mostly
beatniks
Beatniks were members of a social movement in the 1950s that subscribed to an anti-materialistic lifestyle.
History
In 1948, Jack Kerouac introduced the phrase "Beat Generation", generalizing from his social circle to characterize the undergr ...
— coming to the temple to sit
zazen
''Zazen'' (literally " seated meditation"; ja, 座禅; , pronounced ) is a meditative discipline that is typically the primary practice of the Zen Buddhist tradition.
However, the term is a general one not unique to Zen, and thus technicall ...
with him in the morning. Soon these Westerners participated in regular services, and new non-Asian students came to outnumber the Japanese-American congregation. This change in demography caused a rift in the Sokoji community. The tension was alleviated when Suzuki's Western students began gathering for separate services, albeit still at Sokoji, in 1961. Some of these students began calling their group City Center, and they incorporated in 1962 as the San Francisco Zen Center.
[Ford, 121-137, 725-726][Japantown Task Force, 100][Clarke, 44-46][Leighton, 208][Prebish, 14-15]
The number of practitioners at SFZC grew rapidly in the mid-sixties. Within a couple of years, Suzuki considered founding a monastery to host more intensive practice for those students who were interested. In 1966, Suzuki and Baker scouted
Tassajara Hot Springs
Tassajara Hot Springs is a collection of natural hot springs within the Ventana Wilderness area of the Santa Lucia Range and Los Padres National Forest in Monterey County, California. The hot springs were used by the indigenous Native Americans f ...
, located in
Los Padres National Forest
Los Padres National Forest is a United States national forest in Southern California, southern and central California. Administered by the United States Forest Service, Los Padres includes most of the mountainous land along the California coast ...
behind
Big Sur
Big Sur () is a rugged and mountainous section of the Central Coast of California between Carmel and San Simeon, where the Santa Lucia Mountains rise abruptly from the Pacific Ocean. It is frequently praised for its dramatic scenery. Big Sur ha ...
, as a possible location for the envisioned monastic center. After a major fundraising effort led by Baker, Zen Center purchased the land—which contained a rundown
resort
A resort (North American English) is a self-contained commercial establishment that tries to provide most of a vacationer's wants, such as food, drink, swimming, lodging, sports, entertainment, and shopping, on the premises. The term ''resort ...
and
mineral springs
Mineral springs are naturally occurring springs that produces hard water, water that contains dissolved minerals. Salts, sulfur compounds, and gases are among the substances that can be dissolved in the spring water during its passage underg ...
in 1967.
Tassajara Zen Mountain Center
The Tassajara Zen Mountain Center is the oldest Buddhism in Japan, Japanese Buddhist Sōtō Zen monastery in the United States. It is on the border of the Ventana Wilderness and within the Los Padres National Forest, southeast of Carmel-by-the-S ...
("Zen Mind Temple" or ''Zenshinji'') was the first Zen Buddhist monastery built in the United States, and the first in the world to allow co-ed practice.
1967 also saw the arrival of
Kobun Chino Otogawa Kobun could refer to:
*The original Japanese name of Servbot, an advertising character for video game developer Capcom
*Emperor Kōbun, the 39th emperor of Japan from the 7th century
*Kōbun (period), a chronological timeframe concurrent with the r ...
of
Eiheiji
250px
is one of two main temples of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism, the largest single religious denomination in Japan (by number of temples in a single legal entity). Eihei-ji is located about east of Fukui in Fukui Prefecture, Japan. In E ...
, who served as assistant to Suzuki. Kobun was resident teacher at the Tassajara Zen Mountain Center until 1970. Around 1970, he began sitting regularly with a group in Santa Cruz that went on to form the
Santa Cruz Zen Center
Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa, is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring children gifts during the late evening and overnight ...
. In 1971, he became resident priest at Haiku Zen Center, a practice center in Los Altos where Suzuki-roshi had been giving lectures, and soon after the
sangha
Sangha is a Sanskrit word used in many Indian languages, including Pali meaning "association", "assembly", "company" or "community"; Sangha is often used as a surname across these languages. It was historically used in a political context t ...
there grew and changed its name to Bodhi. He served as Abbot there until 1978, moving the group to Jikoji in
Los Gatos, California
Los Gatos (, ; ) is an incorporated town in Santa Clara County, California, United States. The population is 33,529 according to the 2020 census. It is located in the San Francisco Bay Area just southwest of San Jose in the foothills of the ...
in 1979.
Another assistant priest at SFZC was
Dainin Katagiri
Jikai , was a Sōtō Zen priest and teacher, and the founding abbot of Minnesota Zen Meditation Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he served from 1972 until his death from cancer in 1990. He is also the founder of Hokyoji Zen Practice Comm ...
-roshi, who served there from 1969 to 1971. Katagiri would go on to establish his own practice center—the
Minnesota Zen Center
The Minnesota Zen Meditation Center (Kounzan Ganshoji, "Cultivating Clouds Mountain, Living in Vow Temple") is an urban, non-residential, Sōtō Zen practice community in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Since 2019, MZMC has been led by two co-guiding Dha ...
—in 1972 in
Minneapolis
Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...
.
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. Months later Suzuki—with the help of his
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
students—purchased the current (and larger) City Center building, located on
300 Page Street
3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...
.
[Johnson, 53-55] The building, designed by
Julia Morgan
Julia Morgan (January 20, 1872 – February 2, 1957) was an American architect and engineer. She designed more than 700 buildings in California during a long and prolific career.Erica Reder"Julia Morgan was a local in ''The New Fillmore'', 1 Febr ...
, was built as the Emanu-el Residence Club in 1922 for the Emanu-el Sisterhood.
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. This relationship between the public and private was easily translated to the needs of the San Francisco Zen Center, with meditation halls and public spaces on the lower levels, and residential areas for practicing students on the upper floors.
In 1970, Suzuki gave
Dharma transmission
In Chan Buddhism, Chan and Zen Buddhism, dharma transmission is a custom in which a person is established as a "successor in an unbroken Lineage (Buddhism), lineage of teachers and disciples, a spiritual 'bloodline' (''kechimyaku'') theoretica ...
to
Richard Baker, his only American Dharma Heir and chosen successor at SFZC. Suzuki planned to give transmission to
Bill Kwong but died before his completion. Kwong's transmission was later completed by Suzuki's son, Hoitsu.
[Suzuki, 9]
Suzuki died of
cancer
Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...
on December 4, 1971. He was 67 years old. Despite having only had 12 years in the United States, Suzuki had gone a long way toward establishing Soto Zen in America. His death came shortly after the publication of ''
Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind
''Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind'' is a book of teachings by Shunryu Suzuki, a compilation of talks given to his satellite Zen center in Los Altos, California. Published in 1970 by Weatherhill, the book is not academic, but contains frank and direct ...
'', a collection of lectures translated into numerous languages considered a classic of contemporary Zen literature.
Suzuki had asked Baker to locate a
farm
A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used fo ...
in the area for entire families to live a
Buddhist
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
life while working together. Green Gulch Farm ("Green Dragon Temple", or ''Soryuji''), located in
Sausalito, California
Sausalito (Spanish language, Spanish for "small willow grove") is a city in Marin County, California, Marin County, California, United States, located southeast of Marin City, California, Marin City, south-southeast of San Rafael, California ...
in a
valley
A valley is an elongated low area often running between Hill, hills or Mountain, mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers ...
on the
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...
, was acquired by SFZC in 1972. The land was purchased from one of the founders of
Polaroid
Polaroid may refer to:
* Polaroid Corporation, an American company known for its instant film and cameras
* Polaroid camera, a brand of instant camera formerly produced by Polaroid Corporation
* Polaroid film, instant film, and photographs
* Polar ...
, George Wheelwright. Despite hesitance of some members of SFZC due to the size of , Baker felt that acquiring Green Gulch Farm was very important for Buddhism in America. Members soon raised funds for a
zendo to be built there, and over time the farm transformed into a
monastery
A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...
and retreat center for residents and guests with an
organic farm
Organic farming, also known as ecological farming or biological farming,Labelling, article 30 o''Regulation (EU) 2018/848 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2018 on organic production and labelling of organic products and re ...
,
flower garden
A flower garden or floral garden is any garden or part of a garden where plants that flower are grown and displayed. This normally refers mostly to herbaceous plants, rather than flowering woody plants, which dominate in the shrubbery and w ...
s, a
teahouse
A teahouse (mainly Asia) or tearoom (also tea room) is an establishment which primarily serves tea and other light refreshments. A tea room may be a room set aside in a hotel especially for serving afternoon tea, or may be an establishment whic ...
and a
plant nursery
A nursery is a place where plants are propagated and grown to a desired size. Mostly the plants concerned are for gardening, forestry or conservation biology, rather than agriculture. They include retail nurseries, which sell to the general p ...
.
[Richmond, xiii, xiv][Oda, 13-14][Graham, 5][Seager, 101-101]
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. The bakery was closed altogether in 1999. Tassajara Bakery was a Zen Center venture promoted by Richard Baker as an extension of the baking practices at
Tassajara Zen Mountain Center
The Tassajara Zen Mountain Center is the oldest Buddhism in Japan, Japanese Buddhist Sōtō Zen monastery in the United States. It is on the border of the Ventana Wilderness and within the Los Padres National Forest, southeast of Carmel-by-the-S ...
. Tassajara baked bread for student and guest consumption since 1967, and
Edward Espe Brown
"Kainei" Edward Espé Brown (born March 24, 1945) is an American Zen teacher and writer. He is the author of ''The Tassajara Bread Book'', written at the Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, as well as other cookbooks that are still influential.
Early ...
's ''Tassajara Bread Book'', demonstrated consumer interest. The bakery supplied
Greens Restaurant
Greens Restaurant is a landmark vegetarian restaurant in the Fort Mason Center in the Marina District, San Francisco, California, overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge.
Founded by the San Francisco Zen Center in 1979, Greens has been credited in ...
and some local grocers.
[Sinton]
Greens Restaurant, opened in 1979 in
Fort Mason
Fort Mason, in San Francisco, California originated as a coastal defense site during the American Civil War. The nucleus of the property was owned by John C. Frémont and disputes over compensation by the United States continued into 1968. In 188 ...
of
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
, was another business venture by SFZC under the influence of Baker. A pioneer of gourmet
vegetarian cuisine
Vegetarian cuisine is based on food that meets vegetarian standards by not including meat and animal tissue products (such as gelatin or animal-derived rennet). Lacto-ovo vegetarianism (the most common type of vegetarianism in the Western wo ...
in America, the restaurant's first chefs were
Edward Espe Brown
"Kainei" Edward Espé Brown (born March 24, 1945) is an American Zen teacher and writer. He is the author of ''The Tassajara Bread Book'', written at the Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, as well as other cookbooks that are still influential.
Early ...
and
Deborah Madison. The duo published a book of recipes in 1987 titled ''The Greens Cookbook''. Throughout the 1980s Greens, which obtained produce from
Green Gulch Farm
Green Gulch Farm Zen Center, or Sōryu-ji (蒼龍寺 '' Green Dragon Temple'') is a Soto Zen practice center located near Muir Beach, California, that practices in the lineage of Shunryu Suzuki. In addition to its Zen training program, the center ...
, was one of the most popular restaurants in San Francisco.
The center received significant media coverage concerning the 1984 resignation of then abbot
Zentatsu Richard Baker
Richard Dudley Baker (born March 30, 1936) is an American Soto Zen master (or roshi), the founder and guiding teacher of Dharma Sangha—which consists of Crestone Mountain Zen Center located in Crestone, Colorado and the ''Buddhistisches Studien ...
, who was ousted after it was alleged that he had been having an affair with the wife of a prominent Zen Center member. 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.
Additional businesses run by SFZC were the Alaya Stitchery storefront, which made
zafu
A ''zafu'' ( ja, 座蒲, ) or ''putuan'' (, pronounced ) is a round cushion. Although also a utilitarian accessory, it is best known for its use in zazen Zen meditation.
Name
Although ''zafu'' is often translated as "sewn seat" in American En ...
s,
zabuton
A zabuton ( ja, 座布団, lit=sitting futon, links=no, ) is a cushion for sitting that is commonly used in traditional Japanese settings. Zabuton is a Japanese loanword that is also sometimes used in Western culture to describe the ''zaniku'', a ...
s and clothing, and Green Gulch Grocery, which sold produce from Green Gulch Farm. Neither business is operative today.
[Madden, 173][Sim Van der Ryn, 163][Fields, 268]
SFZC today
In 2000
Jiko Linda Cutts was appointed Abbess, having received
Dharma transmission
In Chan Buddhism, Chan and Zen Buddhism, dharma transmission is a custom in which a person is established as a "successor in an unbroken Lineage (Buddhism), lineage of teachers and disciples, a spiritual 'bloodline' (''kechimyaku'') theoretica ...
from
Tenshin Reb Anderson
Tenshin Zenki Reb Anderson (born 1943) is an American Buddhist who is a Zen teacher in the Sōtō Zen tradition of Shunryu Suzuki. He is a Senior Dharma teacher at the San Francisco Zen Center and at Green Gulch Farm Zen Center in Marin County, ...
in 1996. In 2003
Paul Haller
Ryushin Paul Haller, a Soto Zen roshi, is a former abbot of the San Francisco Zen Center—a position he held from 2003 until February 2012.SFZC Lineage Leaving his homeland of Belfast in Northern Ireland in the early 1970s, Haller spent time in ...
, who received transmission from
Sojun Mel Weitsman
Hakuryu Sojun Mel Weitsman (July 20, 1929 – January 7, 2021), born Mel Weitsman, was an American Buddhist who was the founder, abbot and guiding teacher of Berkeley Zen Center located in Berkeley, California. Weitsman was a Soto Zen Rōshi, r ...
in 1993, was installed as co-abbot with her. In 1987 SFZC started the Zen Hospice Project, a volunteer
hospice
Hospice care is a type of health care that focuses on the palliation of a terminally ill patient's pain and symptoms and attending to their emotional and spiritual needs at the end of life. Hospice care prioritizes comfort and quality of life by ...
program run out of a guest house on Page Street with five residential beds. 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. The volunteer project's founding director was Frank Ostaseski, who served until 2004. Zen Hospice Project provides hospice care for individuals of any or no religion who are looking for a compassionate end to their life.
[Dimidjian, 27][Lembke, 126] Today SFZC is the largest Soto organization with a foothold in the West.
Zen Hospice Project was the subject of the
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
2018 Academy Award-nominated short documentary ''
End Game'', 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. The film was directed by veteran filmmakers
Rob Epstein
Robert P. Epstein (born April 6, 1955), is an American director, producer, writer, and editor. He has won two Academy Awards for Best Documentary Feature, for the films '' The Times of Harvey Milk'' and '' Common Threads: Stories from the Quil ...
and Jeffrey Friedman and executive produced by physician,
Shoshana R. Ungerleider.
Tassajara Zen Mind Temple
Located atop a bumpy 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. Visitors can enjoy the springs, go swimming or on
hiking
Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century.AMATO, JOSEPH A. "Mind over Foot: Romantic Walking and Rambling." In ''On Foot: A Histor ...
trips, and have the opportunity to arrange for practice with the community living at the monastery for a few days. The
monastery
A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...
is closed to outsiders from the months of September through April, then opens to the public by reservation from May through August - offering retreats, seminars, and workshops. Students that come to practice at the monastery from September through April must undergo the tradition known as
tangaryo
Some Buddhist terms and concepts lack direct translations into English that cover the breadth of the original term. Below are given a number of important Buddhist terms, short definitions, and the languages in which they appear. In this list, an a ...
. They will sit for five days or longer in the zendo before they are formally admitted into the monastery—a physically daunting challenge.
Green Gulch Green Dragon Temple
The organic farm at Green Gulch supplies local restaurants and food suppliers and sells flowers, produce and herbs at Ferry Plaza Farmers Market in
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
. Guests stay at the Lindisfarne Guest House, a traditional
Japanese
Japanese may refer to:
* Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia
* Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan
* Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture
** Japanese diaspor ...
building with a wood-burning stove as the heating source. Zen practice is not required to stay at Green Gulch, though guests are welcome to participate in
zazen
''Zazen'' (literally " seated meditation"; ja, 座禅; , pronounced ) is a meditative discipline that is typically the primary practice of the Zen Buddhist tradition.
However, the term is a general one not unique to Zen, and thus technicall ...
or any other activities.
Tenshin Reb Anderson
Tenshin Zenki Reb Anderson (born 1943) is an American Buddhist who is a Zen teacher in the Sōtō Zen tradition of Shunryu Suzuki. He is a Senior Dharma teacher at the San Francisco Zen Center and at Green Gulch Farm Zen Center in Marin County, ...
-roshi, former abbot of City Zen Center, is senior
Dharma
Dharma (; sa, धर्म, dharma, ; pi, dhamma, italic=yes) is a key concept with multiple meanings in Indian religions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and others. Although there is no direct single-word translation for '' ...
teacher at Green Gulch——training priests and
laypeople, leading
sesshin
A ''sesshin'' (接心, or also 摂心/攝心 literally "touching the heart-mind") is a period of intensive meditation (zazen) in a Zen monastery.
While the daily routine in the monastery requires the monks to meditate several hours a day, d ...
s, giving talks and conducting workshops while also living onsite.
[Pierce, 375][Joyce][Rose]
Controversies
Baker resigns
In March 1983 Baker was accused of engaging in a sexual relationship with the wife of an influential sangha member. 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.
[Schneider, David. ''Street Zen'' pp.138-140] The community's sense of crisis sharpened when the woman's husband, one of SFZC's primary benefactors, threatened to hold the organization legally responsible for its abbot's apparent misconduct.
[Crews, Frederick C. ''Follies of the Wise'' pp. 283-284]
These revelations led Baker to resign as abbot in 1984.
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."
In the 1980s Baker ordained
Issan Dorsey as a priest. This was likely prompted by a conversation between
Robert Baker Aitken
Robert Baker Dairyu Chotan Aitken Rōshi (June 19, 1917 – August 5, 2010) was a Zen teacher in the Harada-Yasutani lineage. He co-founded the Honolulu Diamond Sangha in 1959
together with his wife, Anne Hopkins Aitken. Aitken received Dharma ...
and Baker at San Francisco Zen Center concerning the question of Zen's availability to interested
gay
''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'.
While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...
s, for Dorsey went on to become abbot of the
Hartford Street Zen Center.
[Prebish, 81]
Following Baker's resignation,
Dainin Katagiri
Jikai , was a Sōtō Zen priest and teacher, and the founding abbot of Minnesota Zen Meditation Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he served from 1972 until his death from cancer in 1990. He is also the founder of Hokyoji Zen Practice Comm ...
led the community until 1985. When Katagiri left,
Tenshin Reb Anderson
Tenshin Zenki Reb Anderson (born 1943) is an American Buddhist who is a Zen teacher in the Sōtō Zen tradition of Shunryu Suzuki. He is a Senior Dharma teacher at the San Francisco Zen Center and at Green Gulch Farm Zen Center in Marin County, ...
assumed Abbotship of the Zen Center—serving until 1995. In the early 1990s the Board of Directors at the Zen Center created the "Ethical Principles and Procedures for Grievance and Reconciliation" for its members, for conflict resolution mediation guided by
Buddhist precepts
Buddhist ethics are traditionally based on what Buddhists view as the enlightened perspective of the Buddha. The term for ethics or morality used in Buddhism is ''Śīla'' or ''sīla'' (Pāli). ''Śīla'' in Buddhism is one of three sections of ...
. The Board of Directors at SFZC also began
election
An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...
of leaders. In 1995
Zoketsu Norman Fischer
Zoketsu Norman Fischer is an American poet, writer, and Sōtō, Soto Zen priest, teaching and practicing in the lineage of Shunryū Suzuki, Shunryu Suzuki. He is a Dharma heir of Mel Weitsman, Sojun Mel Weitsman, from whom he received Dharma trans ...
was installed as Abbot at SFZC, and in 1996
Zenkai Blanche Hartman was appointed as co-Abbot with him (becoming the first female Abbot in SFZC history).
Tenshin Reb Anderson's arrest
In 1983
Tenshin Reb Anderson
Tenshin Zenki Reb Anderson (born 1943) is an American Buddhist who is a Zen teacher in the Sōtō Zen tradition of Shunryu Suzuki. He is a Senior Dharma teacher at the San Francisco Zen Center and at Green Gulch Farm Zen Center in Marin County, ...
received
shihō from Zentatsu Richard Baker, becoming Baker's first Dharma heir (though Baker disputes this). From 1986 to 1988 he served as abbot of the San Francisco Zen Center, and from 1988 to 1995 he served there as co-abbot with
Sojun Mel Weitsman
Hakuryu Sojun Mel Weitsman (July 20, 1929 – January 7, 2021), born Mel Weitsman, was an American Buddhist who was the founder, abbot and guiding teacher of Berkeley Zen Center located in Berkeley, California. Weitsman was a Soto Zen Rōshi, r ...
. Anderson became entangled in an incident in 1987 that reached back to 1983— just after
Zentatsu Richard Baker
Richard Dudley Baker (born March 30, 1936) is an American Soto Zen master (or roshi), the founder and guiding teacher of Dharma Sangha—which consists of Crestone Mountain Zen Center located in Crestone, Colorado and the ''Buddhistisches Studien ...
had resigned as abbot. While jogging through
Golden Gate Park
Golden Gate Park, located in San Francisco, California, United States, is a large urban park consisting of of public grounds. It is administered by the San Francisco Recreation & Parks Department, which began in 1871 to oversee the development ...
, Anderson deviated from the path to urinate in some bushes. There he found the corpse of a man with a bullet wound to the head and a revolver nearby. Rather than report this to the police, Anderson returned to the body over several days to meditate over the corpse. On one visit he decided to take the revolver home with him.
[Being Upright; 187-189] Upon his final visit he found the body no longer there, and a fellow priest in whom he had confided showed him a newspaper article covering the apparent suicide. Five years later (in 1988), roughly fifteen months after Anderson had become abbot of the
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
, Anderson was arrested for brandishing this same
firearm
A firearm is any type of gun designed to be readily carried and used by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see Legal definitions).
The first firearms originated in 10th-century China, when bamboo tubes ...
in public. He reported being
mugged
Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take anything of value by force, threat of force, or by use of fear. According to common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the perso ...
at
knifepoint
Coercion () is compelling a party to act in an involuntary manner by the use of threats, including threats to use force against a party. It involves a set of forceful actions which violate the free will of an individual in order to induce a des ...
by a man just a block away from the San Francisco Zen Center at 300 Page Street. Anderson remembered stowing the revolver away in the San Francisco Zen Center's garage and quickly retrieved it. 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.
[Anderson, 187-189]
This 1987 incident has had a damaging impact on Anderson's reputation as a teacher, since his arrest received national media coverage. The leadership of San Francisco Zen Center required Anderson to take a
leave of absence
The labour law concept of leave, specifically paid leave or, in some countries' long-form, a leave of absence, is an authorised prolonged absence from work, for any reason authorised by the workplace. When people "take leave" in this way, they are ...
from his position as abbot. After six months, he returned to his position. 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. Zen priest
Mel Weitsman
Hakuryu Sojun Mel Weitsman (July 20, 1929 – January 7, 2021), born Mel Weitsman, was an American Buddhist who was the founder, abbot and guiding teacher of Berkeley Zen Center located in Berkeley, California. Weitsman was a Soto Zen roshi p ...
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.
Regarding this ordeal, Anderson wrote:
"On both a personal and a professional level, I am still dealing with the consequences of this episode. Some people felt that I had committed an irrevocable betrayal of trust, and have discounted me and my teaching ever since. Others were more forgiving, but their trust in me and my integrity was permanently shaken. 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. These events are a helpful reminder—both to me and to others—of my vulnerability to arrogance and inflation. 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. This ancient twisted karma I now fully avow."
Friends of SFZC
SFZC is connected, in an unofficial capacity, to the following Zen Centers:
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Berkeley Zen Center
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Chapel Hill Zen Center
The Chapel Hill Zen Center (also called the Red Cedar Mountain Temple) is a Sōtō Zen Buddhist center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina founded in 1981. The center has been led by Josho Pat Phelan since 1991, who officially became abbess of the c ...
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Hartford Street Zen Center
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Kannon Do Zen Meditation Center
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Santa Cruz Zen Center
Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa, is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring children gifts during the late evening and overnight ...
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Sonoma Mountain Zen Center
Sonoma Mountain Zen Center (or, Genjoji) is a Soto Zen practice center located on in the mountainous region of Sonoma County in California—near Santa Rosa—carrying on the tradition and lineage of Shunryu Suzuki. Founded by Jakusho Kwong and h ...
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Austin Zen Center
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city i ...
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San Antonio Zen Center
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Houston Zen Center
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...
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Dharma Vow Zen Sangha, Santa Monica
Alumni - partial list
See also
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Zen in the United States
Zen was introduced in the United States at the end of the 19th century by Japanese teachers who went to America to serve groups of Japanese immigrants and become acquainted with the American culture. After World War II, interest from non-Asian A ...
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Buddhism in the United States
The term American Buddhism can be used to describe all Buddhist groups within the United States, including Asian Americans, Asian-American Buddhists born into the faith, who comprise the largest percentage of Buddhists in the country.
American Budd ...
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Bush Street Temple
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Hartford Street Zen Center
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Kannon Do Zen Meditation Center
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Timeline of Zen Buddhism in the United States
Below is a timeline of important events regarding Zen Buddhism in the United States. Dates with "?" are approximate.
Events
Early history
* 1893: Soyen Shaku comes to the United States to lecture at the World Parliament of Religions held in C ...
Notes
References
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Further reading
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External links
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Zen Hospice Project
{{Coord, 37.774009, -122.426075, type:landmark, display=title
Buddhist temples in San Francisco
Buddhist monasteries in the United States
Buddhist organizations based in the United States
Religious organizations established in 1962
History of San Francisco
Soto Zen
Spiritual retreats