Sally Baker
52-841: 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 Studienzentrum (Johanneshof) in Germany 's Black Forest . 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. He remained abbot there until 1984,
104-568: A leave of absence for six months. After his return, he served as co-abbot with Mel Weitsman until 1995. Regarding this ordeal, Anderson has written of his remorse and insight garnered from the experience. In October 1999 Anderson suffered a heart attack while conducting dokusan . He later underwent a successful emergency angioplasty . Anderson is married to Rusa Chiu, a Jungian analyst in private practice. He has two daughters, Deborah Savran and Thea Anderson, as well as four grandchildren. According to James Ishmael Ford , "...Anderson Roshi
156-497: A Zen teacher, founding and developing two practice centers. Thich Nhat Hanh wrote of Baker, "To me, he embodies very much the future of Buddhism in the West with his creative intelligence and his aliveness." 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 . They have
208-819: A daughter in Alamosa , Colorado. He has two daughters from a prior marriage to Virginia Baker. Soto Zen The way The "goal" Background Chinese texts Classical Post-classical Contemporary Zen in Japan Seon in Korea Thiền in Vietnam Western Zen Sōtō Zen or the Sōtō school ( 曹洞宗 , Sōtō-shū ) is the largest of the three traditional sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism (the others being Rinzai and Ōbaku ). It
260-518: A hundred works, including many commentaries on Dōgen's major texts and analysis of his doctrines. Menzan promoted reforms of monastic regulations and practice, based on his reading of Dōgen. Another reformation was implemented by Gentō Sokuchū (1729–1807), the 11th abbot of Eihei-ji , who tried to purify the Sōtō school, de-emphasizing the use of kōans . In the Middle Ages kōan study was widely practiced in
312-633: A position he maintained until 1311. Keizan enlarged the Shingon-temple Yōkō-ji in Ishikawa prefecture, turning it into a Zen monastery in 1312. Thereafter he inherited the Shingon temple Shogaku-ji in 1322, renaming it Sōji-ji , which was recognized as an official monastery. In 1324 he put Gasan Jōseki in charge of Sojo-ji, and returned to Yōkō-ji. Yōko-ji was Keizan's main temple, but Sōji-ji thrived better, thanks to Gasan Jōseki Though today Dōgen
364-527: A sangha hall, where the monks also took meals and slept at night, was the same as that prescribed in Indian Vinaya texts. The etiquette followed in Sōtō monasteries can also be traced back to the Indian Vinaya. Dōgen was succeeded around 1236 by his disciple Koun Ejō (1198–1280), who originally was a member of the Daruma school of Nōnin, but joined Dōgen in 1229. Ejō started his Buddhist studies at Mount Hiei,
416-566: Is a senior dharma teacher at the San Francisco Zen Center and at Green Gulch Farm Zen Center in Marin County, California , where he lives. According to author James Ishmael Ford , "Reb Anderson is one of the most prominent of contemporary Western Zen teachers." Reb Anderson was born as Harold Anderson in Mississippi in 1943 and grew up in Minnesota . His father left the family when Anderson
468-592: Is as follows: The Caodong-teachings were brought to Japan in 1227, when Dōgen returned to Japan after studying Ch'an in China and settled at Kennin-ji in Kyoto . Dōgen had received Dharma transmission from Tiantong Rujing at Qìngdé Temple, where Hongzhi Zhengjue once was abbot. Hongzhi's writings on "silent illumination" had greatly influenced Dōgen's own conception of shikantaza . Dōgen did return from China with various kōan anthologies and other texts, contributing to
520-400: Is one of the first people to have worked hard to bring Dogen studies West. He has also stretched much of Zen's traditional approach to psychology by drawing upon other ancient Buddhist sources, including Abhidharma and Yogachara teaching, while at the same time being solidly informed regarding Western approaches to the discipline." To some students, "...Reb's practice invites comparison to
572-414: Is quoted as having said in a 1994 interview with Sugata Schneider: I don't think that the gossipy or official versions of what happened are right, but I feel definitely that if I were back in the situation again as the person I am now, it wouldn't have happened. Which means it's basically my fault. I had a kind of insecurity and self-importance, which I didn't see for a long time, that was a bad dynamic in
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#1733084862293624-412: Is referred as the founder of Sōtō, for a long period Sōtō history recognized several important ancestors, next to Dōgen. In 1877 the heads of the Sōtō community acknowledged Keizan for a brief period as the overall founder of the Sōtō sect. Dogen is known as the "koso", where Keizan is known as the "taiso"; Both terms mean the original ancestor, that is, the founder of Japanese Sōtō Zen tradition. At
676-689: Is remembered today as the ancestor of Sōtō Zen in Japan along with Keizan Jōkin . With about 14,000 temples, Sōtō is one of the largest Japanese Buddhist organizations. Sōtō Zen is now also popular in the West, and in 1996 priests of the Sōtō Zen tradition formed the Soto Zen Buddhist Association based in North America. The original Chinese version of Sōtō-shū, i.e. the Caodong-school (曹洞宗)
728-666: Is the Japanese line of the Chinese Cáodòng school , which was founded during the Tang dynasty by Dòngshān Liánjiè . It emphasizes Shikantaza , meditation with no objects, anchors, or content. The meditator strives to be aware of the stream of thoughts, allowing them to arise and pass away without interference. The Japanese brand of the sect was imported in the 13th century by Dōgen Zenji , who studied Cáodòng Buddhism ( Chinese : 曹洞宗 ; pinyin : Cáodòng Zōng ) abroad in China. Dōgen
780-593: The Five Ranks of Tung-shan as a fit vehicle to explain the Mahayana teachings. Sotetsu became head of Yoko-ji in 1325. Initially his influence soon grew. In 1337 Sotetsu was appointed as abbot of Daijo-ji. After a period of war Japan was re-united in the Azuchi–Momoyama period . Neo-Confucianism gained influence at the expense of Buddhism, which came under strict state control. The power of Buddhism decreased during
832-665: The San Francisco Zen Center from 2000 until 2007. She has served as Central Abbess of San Francisco Center from 2014 to 2019. Jakujo Gary McNabb received shiho in 1998. Furyu Nancy Schroeder received shiho 1999. She was installed as the abiding abbess of Green Gulch Farm Zen Center and has served from 2014 to the present. Myo Denis Lahey received shiho in 1999 and became head teacher of the Hartford Street Zen Center , Issan-ji, in San Francisco. In 2000 Taigen Dan Leighton received shiho. Leighton has since gone on to establish
884-438: The San Francisco Zen Center in 1984, Baker relocated to Santa Fe, New Mexico where he founded a new community known as Dharma Sangha. One student who followed him to his new community was the priest Philip Whalen (ordained by Baker as a priest in 1973), who became tanto (head monk) of the new center. In July 1987 Baker gave Dharma transmission to Whalen; Whalen later became abbot of the Hartford Street Zen Center (following
936-559: The Chinese model and risk incurring the open hostility and opposition of the established schools. Daily routine was copied from Chinese practices, which went back to the Indian tradition: The elements of Sōtō practice that contributed most to the success of the school in medieval Japan were precisely the generic Buddhist monastic practices inherited from Sung China, and ultimately from India. The Sōtō Zen style of group meditation on long platforms in
988-511: The Daruma school, but joined Dōgen's school in 1241, together with a group from the Nōnin school led by Ekan. Gikai introduced esoteric elements into the practice: [W]ith the premature death of Dōgen the group lost its focus and internal conflicts led to a split. Dōgen's followers soon introduced such esoteric elements as prayers and incantations into the teaching. Opposition arose, and in 1272 Ejō resumed
1040-508: The Dialogues of Dongshan"), the sect's name denotes 'colleagues (曹) of the teachings above the caves (洞)' who together follow the "black wind (teachings of Taoism?)" and admire the masters of various sects. Perhaps more significantly for the Japanese brand of this sect, Dōgen among others advocated the reinterpretation that the "Cao" represents not Caoshan, but rather " Huineng of Caoxi temple" 曹渓慧能 ( Sōkei Enō ) ; zh:曹溪慧能). The branch that
1092-509: The Dogen-school in 1241, after severe conflicts with the Tendai and Rinzai schools. Among this group were Gikai , Gien and Giin , who were to become influential members of Dōgen's school. After the death of Ejō, a controversy called the sandai sōron occurred. In 1267 Ejō retired as Abbot of Eihei-ji, giving way to Gikai, who was already favored by Dogen. Gikai too originally was a member of
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#17330848622931144-746: The Mountain Source Sangha and after moving to Chicago, Ancient Dragon Zen Gate. In 2002 Meiya Wender received shiho. She now conducts japanese tea ceremony classes at Green Gulch. Also in 2002, Anderson gave shiho to Leslie James, his first dharma entrustment to a lay teacher. She is a long-time resident of Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, the monastic center of San Francisco Zen Center. In 2003 Setsuan Gaelyn Godwin became Tenshin Roshi's Dharma successor and became Houston Zen Center's Abiding Teacher (2003) and abbot of Houston Zen Center in 2012. In 2005, she received
1196-562: The Sōtō school. Gentō Sokuchū started the elevation of Dōgen to the status he has nowadays, when he implemented new regulations, based on Dōgen's regulations. This growing status of Dōgen as textual authority also posed a problem for the Sōtō school: 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
1248-550: The Tokugawa period. Buddhism had become a strong political and military force in Japan and was seen as a threat by the ruling clan. Measures were taken to control the Buddhist organisations, and to limit their power and influence. The temple hierarchy system was centralized and unified. Japan closed the gates to the rest of the world. New doctrines and methods were not to be introduced, nor were new temples and schools. The only exception
1300-615: The center of Tendai studies. Following his stay there he studied Pure Land Buddhism under Shōkū , whereafter he joined the Daruma school of Nōnin by then led by Kakuan., and later Dōgen's community in 1234. Ejō composed a journal in colloquial Japanese called the Shōbōgenzō Zuimonki ( 正法眼蔵随聞記 , "The Treasury of the True Dharma Eye: Record of Things Heard") , or simply Zuimonki for short, recollecting conversations he had with Dōgen. The recorded conversations emphasize
1352-495: The community. In 1983 Tenshin Reb Anderson received shiho (Dharma Transmission) from Richard Baker. Anderson succeeded him as abbot, and later co-abbot. In the late-1980s Baker also gave shiho to Issan Dorsey , whom he had ordained as a priest in 1975. Dorsey went on to serve as abbot of the Hartford Street Zen Center in San Francisco, where he worked to develop hospice care for AIDS patients. Following his departure from
1404-566: The corpse of a man with a bullet wound to the head and a revolver nearby. Anderson returned to the body over a period of several days to meditate over the corpse. He eventually reported the body, but not the revolver, taking it into his possession. In 1987, Anderson was mugged one block away from the San Francisco Zen Center. He retrieved the unloaded revolver and chased the perpetrator to a nearby tenement, where both were quickly arrested. The Zen Center Board of Directors sent him on
1456-776: The end of the Kamakura period, Dōgen's school centered around four centers, namely Eihei-ji, Daijo-ji monastery, and the temples Yoko-ji and Soji-ji. Soji-ji became the most influential center of the Dōgen school. During the Muromachi period the Rinzai school was the most successful of the schools, since it was favoured by the shōgun . But Soto too spread out over Japan. Gasan Jōseki (1275–1365) and Meiho Sotetsu were Keizan's most prominent students. Gasan too started his Buddhist studies at mount Hiei. He became head of Soji-ji in 1324. Gasan adopted
1508-455: The helm. In fifteen years, the center's annual budget increased from $ 6,000, to $ 4 million. 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. In the midst of the growth, Baker became a popular public figure. Although his salary
1560-411: The last weekends of January and April. A once controversial figure, Richard Baker was publicly criticized for his behavior at San Francisco Zen Center. Former students have said that he was addicted to power, abusive of his position, extravagant in his personal spending, and inappropriate in his love life. In the twenty-five years since leaving San Francisco Zen Center, Baker has continued his career as
1612-651: The legendary Japanese samurai, the warriors who trained in medieval Zen monasteries." Sobun Katherine Thanas received shiho from Tenshin Roshi in 1988 and later was installed as abbess of the Santa Cruz Zen Center. Zengyu Paul Discoe, Chikudo Jerome Peterson and Ananda Claude Dalenburg also received shiho in 1988 (Ananda was the inspiration for the character Bud Diefendorf in Jack Kerouac's novel The Dharma Bums ). Anderson gave shiho to his student Jiko Linda Cutts in 1996, who went on to serve as co-abbess of
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1664-519: The legitimacy of Gikai. The second most important figure in Sōtō, Keizan , belonged to this dissident branch. Keizan received ordination from Ejō when he was, twelve years old, shortly before Ejō's death When he was seventeen he went on a pilgrimage for three years throughout Japan. During this period, he studied Rinzai , Shingon and Tendai . After returning to Daijō-ji, Keizan received dharma transmission from Gikai in 1294, and established Joman-ji. In 1303 Gikai appointed Keizan as abbot of Daijō-ji,
1716-458: The organization legally responsible for its abbot's apparent misconduct. These revelations led to community-wide pandemonium, and in 1984 Baker was forced to resign as abbot. However, San Francisco Zen Center's website 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." And Baker, for his part,
1768-531: The position of abbot. After his death in 1280, Gikai became abbot again, strengthened by the support of the military for magical practices. Opposition arose again, and Gikai was forced to leave Eihei-ji, and exiled to Kaga Province , Daijō-ji (in Ishikawa Prefecture ). He was succeeded by Gien, who was first trained in the Daruma-school of Nōnin . His supporters designated him as the third abbot, rejecting
1820-471: The primacy of an austere Zen Buddhism , and resisted efforts from outside to incorporate other practices such as building Buddhist statues, or erecting new temples, and contrast with a different journal, the Goyuigon Kiroku ( 御遺言記録 , "Record of Final Words [of the founder of Eiheiji]") , an apocraphyl journal attributed to Gikai . A large group from the Daruma-school under the leadership of Ekan joined
1872-403: The right lineage and dharma transmission. In time, dharma transmission became synonymous with the transmission of temple ownership. When an abbot changed position, becoming abbot of another temple, he also had to discard his lineage and adopt the lineage of his new temple. This was changed by Manzan Dokahu (1636–1714), a Sōtō reformer, who ... [P]ropagated the view that Dharma transmission
1924-458: The rule for all Sōtō monks". In time this came to mean all the writings of Dōgen, which thereby became the normative source for the doctrines and organisation of the Sōtō school. A key factor in this growing emphasis on Dogen was Manzan's appeal to change the rules for dharma transmission , based on arguments derived from the Shōbōgenzō. From its beginnings, Sōtō-shū has laid a strong emphasis on
1976-547: The son of Harold Baker and Elisabeth Dudley. Because his family moved around frequently, he lived in Cambridge, Massachusetts , Indiana , and Pittsburgh growing up. A descendant of Thomas Dudley , Baker was raised in a family of moderate wealth. He attended Harvard University , where he studied architecture and history . He then arrived in San Francisco, California in 1960—beginning to sit with Shunryu Suzuki in 1961. Baker
2028-1184: The tenure of Issan Dorsey ) in the Castro district of San Francisco . After the founding of Dharma Sangha in New Mexico, Baker met with William Irwin Thompson, the founder of the Lindisfarne Association. At a meeting of the Board of Directors of Lindisfarne at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York, Thompson convinced the board to donate the campus that he had established—with its passive solar Lindisfarne Fellows House, Founder's House, and Lindisfarne Chapel—to Baker-roshi's Dharma Sangha. Baker then moved to Crestone, Colorado and Germany to found other practice sites for Dharma Sangha. Baker also gives seminars at Boulder Zen Center in Boulder, Colorado twice each year, typically on
2080-565: The title of 'Kaikyoshi' from the Soto School of Japan . In 2005 Kiku Christina Lehnherr received shiho from Tenshin Roshi and served as San Francisco Zen Center's City Center abbess from 2012 to 2014. Taiyo Lipscomb received shiho in 2009, and in 2010, Kōkyō Henkel received shiho. He is currently Head Teacher at Santa Cruz Zen Center. Gentaku Susan O'Connell received shiho June 2017, Korin Nyuyu Charlie Pokorny received shiho in 2018. He
2132-598: The transmission of the koan tradition to Japan. In the first works he wrote he emphasised the practice of zazen, which brought him into trouble at Kennin-ji: This assertion of the primacy of Zen aroused the anger of the Enryaku-ji monks, who succeeded in driving Dōgen from the Kennin-ji where he had settled after his return to the capital. In 1243 Dōgen founded Eihei-ji , one of the two head temples of Sōtō-shū today, choosing... ... to create new monastic institutions based on
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2184-427: 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. The community's sense of crisis sharpened when the woman's husband, one of SFZC's primary benefactors, threatened to hold
2236-526: 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 affair. Despite the controversy connected with his resignation, Baker was instrumental in helping the San Francisco Zen Center to become one of the most successful Zen institutions in the United States . Richard Baker was born in Biddeford , Maine , on March 30, 1936,
2288-442: Was dependent on personal initiation between a Master and disciple rather than on the disciple's enlightenment. He maintained this view in the face of strong opposition, citing as authority the towering figure of Japanese Zen, Dōgen ... This became and continues to this day to be the official Sōtō Zen view. Dōgen scholarship came to a central position in the Sōtō sect with the writings of Menzan Zuihō (1683–1769), who wrote over
2340-714: Was eleven. In his youth, he was a Golden Gloves boxer . Anderson developed an interest in Buddhism while still in his teens. In 1967, he abandoned his graduate studies in psychology and mathematics to study Soto Zen under Shunryu Suzuki at the San Francisco Zen Center . Anderson was then ordained as a priest in 1970 by Suzuki, who gave Anderson the Buddhist name Tenshin Zenki 天眞全機 ( Naturally Real, The Whole Works ). In 1983 Anderson received shiho from Zentatsu Richard Baker , becoming Baker's first Dharma heir . However, when Baker
2392-534: Was established by the Tang dynasty monk Dongshan Liangjie (洞山良价 Ja: Tōzan Ryōkai) in the ninth century. One prevalent view is that the sect's name was originally formed by taking one character each from the names of Dongshan and his disciple Caoshan Benji (曹山本寂, Tōzan Ryōkai ), and was originally called Dongcao sect (with the characters in transposed order). However, to paraphrase the Dongshan Yulu (《洞山語録》, "Record of
2444-540: Was forced to resign amid complaints about his affairs with female Zen Center members and his purchase of expensive luxury goods, Baker claimed Anderson never completed the entire transmission ceremony. The board of the San Francisco Zen Center disagreed, understanding Anderson to be Baker's Dharma heir (Baker has since agreed). After Baker's resignation, Anderson replaced him as abbot. In a controversial incident, while jogging in Golden Gate Park in 1983, Anderson found
2496-484: Was founded by Caoshan died off, and Dōgen was a student of the other branch that survived in China. A precursor to the sect is Shítóu Xīqiān (Ch. 石頭希遷, ca.700 – ca.790), the attributed author of the poem Sandokai , which formed the basis of Song of the Precious Mirror Samadhi of Dongshan Liangjie (Jp. Tōzan Ryōkai) and the teaching of the Five Ranks . Starting with Dōgen , a partial lineage chart
2548-478: Was installed as abbot of San Francisco Zen Center during the "Mountain Seat Ceremony" on November 21, 1971. Baker also penned the introduction to Suzuki's famous book, Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind . 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. San Francisco Zen Center expanded quickly with Baker at
2600-450: Was ordained a Sōtō priest by Suzuki in 1966 just before the opening of Tassajara Zen Mountain Center . Baker was instrumental in orchestrating the acquisition of Tassajara, raising $ 150,000 for the purchase in a short period of time. From 1968 to 1971, he traveled to Japan to practice at the primary Sōtō monasteries there, including Antaiji , Eiheiji , and Daitokuji . Baker received Dharma transmission from Suzuki in 1970, and then
2652-406: Was reportedly modest, he lived a lifestyle which many perceived as extravagant. With so many students and so much public attention, some felt Baker became less available to the members of the community. 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. Although Baker claimed that his relationship with
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#17330848622932704-476: Was the Ōbaku lineage , which was introduced in the 17th century during the Edo period by Ingen , a Chinese monk. The presence of these Chinese monks also influenced the existing Zen-schools, spreading new ideas about monastic discipline and the rules for dharma transmission. The Sōtō school started to place a growing emphasis on textual authority. In 1615 the bakufu declared that "Eheiji's standards ( kakun ) must be
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