Podcast appearances and mentions of eido shimano

Stuart Lachs was at the first practice period at Tassajara. and has practiced  with many other groups through the years. including two years with Eido Shimano and eleven years with Walter Nowick. Check out his website Zen Perspectives: Commentaries on Zen and Society - https://lachs.inter-link.com and learn more about him in this podcast.

In recent decades, various forms of Buddhist practices have become more and more popular. The stories of profound life transformations through Buddhism are plentiful and the benefits of Buddhist forms of meditation are continuously reported by both practitioners and researchers.However, compared to other religious communities, Buddhism and in particular Zen Buddhism has been considered rather immune from allegations of sectarian scandals such as teacher abuse of authority and trust for economic, sexual, or other self-interested purpose.In this podcast I talk with Christopher Hamacher, zen Buddhist practitioner and daily leader of the Zen Dojo am Ostbahnhof in Munich, about both the merits and beauties of Zen Buddhism and about some of the deplorable cases of abuse in zen communities that Christopher has written about. Christopher has a degree in law from Universite de Montreal from 1994, currently works as a translator in Munich, and has been practicing Zen Buddhism since 1999 in both Japan, America, and Europe.We begin our conversation talking about Zen Buddhism, how it is practiced, and how Christopher became acquainted with the tradition. We then move on to discuss some of the unfortunate cases of student abuse with which Christopher also became familiar through his Zen Buddhist practice. Based on his thorough research into two cases of misconduct by teachers in a German and an American zen Buddhist community, Christopher abstracts some characteristics that are often common in abusive spiritual/religious leaders, and we further discuss how certain aspects of Zen Buddhism can be used as means of justification for abusive behaviour in zen communities. Finally, we talk about some constructive ways to create a safe, healthy, and inclusive community of spiritual practice.I found the conversation with Cristopher very valuable and important – not only in terms of Zen Buddhism but in the light of the heightened interest in spiritual practice more generally – and I hope you will benefit from it too.ResourcesYou can find Christopher's article ‘Zen has No Morals' here.For German speaking readers, here is a recent interview with Christopher on the case of Klaus Zernickow and the legal case that Zernickow raised against Christopher. In 2017, Christopher participated at the conference of the International Association of Cultic Studies. See the talk here.An online archive with testimonies by former students of Eido Shimano.The webpage of the Zen Dojo am OstbahnhofIf you know anyone or have yourself been victim of abuse, harassment, or any other form of unethical conduct in a spiritual or religious community, please seek support and do not hesitate to report the case so that the responsible people will be held accountable for their wrongdoings. You can find general support and guidance on International Cultic Studies Association In Germany, find help through:The German Buddhist Unionwww.buddhistische-sekten.de In Denmark, find support at:InsideOut

 Kokan (古観) Genjo (玄成 )Marinello is a Rinzai priest and abbot of Chobo-ji in Seattle. He began his Zen training in 1975 after befriending Rev. Daizen Brian Victoria at UCLA and began practicing zazen under the instruction of Thích Thiên-Ân. Genjo did his first sesshin in the summer of 1977 under the instruction of Soto Zen Priest Hirano Osho-san. Genjo was ordained an unsui (priest in training) in 1980 in Seattle. For parts of 1981 and 1982 he trained for one winter period at Ryutaku-Ji (龍澤寺) in Japan, under Sochu Suzuki Roshi and retired Soen Nakagawa Roshi. For a time both Genjo and Genki trained with Joshu Sasaki. After Genki Takabayashi retired, Genjo trained with the late Eido Shimano, former abbot of DaiBosatsu Monastery in New York, who affirmed Genjo as Dharma Heir on May 21st, 2008. In addition to being our Abbot, Genjo is a psychotherapist in private practice. More about Genjo: - https://choboji.org/ More about Simplicity Zen: - https://simplicityzen.com/ 

Genjo Marinello Osho gave this Teisho during Soen Nakagawa Roshi's Memorial Day Zazenkai, March 11, at Chobo-Ji. This talk examines what makes a good enough teacher or parent, by contrasting the work of Eido Shimano and his Dharma "Father" Soen Nakagawa. This Teisho also explores what does it mean to "listen to the Dharma," be "immersed in the Dharma," or to "expound the Dharma?"

Mark Oppenheimer is an essayist, reporter, critic, and one of the United States’ leading investigators of religion. His new book, The Zen Predator of the Upper East Side, is an investigation of the decades of sexual scandal surrounding Japanese Zen teacher Eido Shimano. Mark joins host Vincent Horn to discuss the book and the impact his writing has had on the Zen community. Mark reports a brief history of the situation, they discuss the conditions that led to the problems, and they examine why the problem of sexual misconduct is not as common in other Western Buddhist traditions. Episode Links: The Zen Predator of the Upper East Side ( http://amzn.to/1as7Uak ) www.MarkOppenheimer.com

A little craziness with the move to NOHO and a Woody Allen Sleeper reference, analogous to the Eido Shimano controversy. Welcome to Field of Weeds, a weekly series from the desk of H. Grevemberg. This is episode #17 for January 13, 2011  

... and other reflections on "When Roshis Act Ugly, Small And All Too Human" ... Before I add my small voice to the many calls of condemnation of Eido Tai Shimano "Roshi", and demands for his self-reflection, dismissal and disgrace (more here from James Ford) ... http://monkeymindonline.blogspot.com/20 ... o-zen.html ... I would like to reflect on the overall question of when Buddhist teachers act with human weakness, ugliness, seemingly against all that they stand for. I think it a fallacy to believe that Buddhists, no matter the level or depth of the practitioner, are ever completely free during this life from being just human. It is a religious, heroic image created by the many old Buddhist stories which scrubbed clean all the tales of the ancestors of the past, robbing them of every flaw and placing them on golden pedestals. A Buddha or Ancestor (Jesus or any Saint in any religion) dies and ... century by century ... those in the religion (looking from afar at what those attainments actually were on the part of their "religious heroes" and with need to depict their power) start to imagine, fantasize and exaggerate the wonderful nature of the teacher and teaching into something super-human. What was merely "Great, Profound and Wonderful" must become "Mysterious, Wondrous and (often) Ridiculous". The result is called an "hagiography" In any large group of people ... whether Zen priests, other Buddhist, Christian or Jewish priests and clergy of all kinds ... there will always be examples of greed, anger and ignorance. Furthermore, in the lifetime of any one individual ... even among the best of us ... there are sure to be moments of greed, anger and ignorance. All human beings, from 'Great Bodhisattvas' right on down to the rest of us, are human beings ... and that means rough edges, cracks and ugly spots, flesh, fallings down and flaws. (At least, of course, until we eventually become Perfect Golden Buddhas ... assuming that even those ideals reside anywhere beyond our flawed human imaginations) Human beings are human. That includes Zen and other Buddhist teachers, no less. And it is a breath of fresh air that we finally realize so about Buddhist practice. It is also a chance for the true POWER of this practice to manifest ... for it is a practice for flawed human beings who wish to be better. The true value of this Buddhist Way is proven there. What matters most is what we do with those flaws in life, how we live as human beings ... with a bit of grace, ease, non-attachment, wholeness, peace, at-oneness and sincerity, great Compassion and Loving Kindness toward our fellow flawed beings. Practice does not remove all our human rough spots, but it allows a wild and imperfect stone to be imperfect (perfectly imperfect) yet simultaneously material to be polished into a jewel ... so many rough edges made soft and round. The Precepts are a guide for constant moment-to-moment practice in "not falling down". One cannot polish a tile into a Buddha ... but the constant polishing is Buddha. What our Practice does accomplish, if diligently followed, is to free us from the worst (at least among most long time practitioners I know ... apparently, not so for Eido and his ilk). It does work to make us better people. (In fact, most clergy I have met ... not just Buddhist clergy, but of all religions ... are good, caring, ethical people, the bad apples like Eido Shimano aside). Most of the Zen teachers I have met ... especially those with a few years and some maturity under their belt ... tend to be lovely, gentle, well rounded, self-actuated, moderate, compassionate, healthy people - balanced, living life with fullness and well. It would be a shame if someone like "Eido Roshi" were taken as representative of all Buddhist teachers everywhere, or used as the basis to claim that the Buddhist Way is without value ... for the countless good and decent teachers are proof otherwise. Now, the reason (in my opinion) to condemn someone such as Eido is --not-- because he is a Buddhist clergy who had a sexual affair with a student or several students. That, unfortunately, is all too human and is a matter between consenting adults (although there are great possibilities of the teacher taking advantage of his/her position vis-a-vis the student even there). The reason instead is because he clearly engaged in decades of horribly abusive sexual conduct which hurt the victims deeply and profoundly, then added to the hurt of victims in order to protect himself, then covered it up time and again, seeking to whitewash his reputation. It now appears that he was aided in this by people around him. Few (Aitken Roshi and a few others being the exception) spoke out until now, for there is a tendency in the Buddhist world to look away, hoping that the problem will simply vanish or be dealt with by the wrongdoing teacher's own students (in this case, despite countless promises, it was not). Thus, it is time for bodies such as the American Zen Teachers Association to have some means to censure teachers who violate the ethics accompanying their positions of trust, and to force such teachers and their students and Sangha into repenting and reform. Shame on them for not doing so until now, shame on all of us for not intervening more. 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