deep origin of truth or perfection in the form of a past
sage, saint, deity, or Being (2) a means for moving
that truth-perfection forward in time… and (3) a
contemporary spokesperson for that primordial truth-
perfection who is sanctioned to represent it in the
present, interpret it, and distribute it to the believing
public, which delegates to him just this power and
legitimacy. …Bourdieu sees religious authority always
involved in a to-ing and fro-ing, shuttling back and
forth between its deep origins and its application in
the present. Put otherwise, in any moment of religious
authority, there is always an audience focused on the
singular priest-figure, who is expected to funnel the
totality of truth and Being from the past into the group.
(Cole, 2006, p. 13)
In Zen, (a) the belief that the historical Buddha is the deep origin
of truth, (b) the views on Dharma transmission, and (c) the idea of
unbroken lineage are the means for bringing that truth-perfection
forward in time, while the living Dharma-transmitted Zen master
is the contemporary spokesperson for that primordial truth-
perfection. In light of Bourdieu’s ideas, it is not surprising that,
around Zen centers, the focus is on who does and does not have
Dharma transmission rather than on what it actually means or
who these people actually are or what they do.
This emphasis creates a hierarchical power relationship. So-
called Zen insight or wisdom can function as the basis of this
relationship between student and Zen master. Essentially, every
aspect of the student’s life is open to the teacher’s judgment. The
struggle occurs over at least two issues: the student wanting to be
recognized for having realized the truth of Zen, and the student
being authorized to be a teacher in the student’s own right, along
with having the perks and privileges of the position. Both these
issues depend solely on the teacher’s unquestionable decision.
Because of Zen’s emphasis on no-self, we can argue that Zen
places more importance than other religions on its cleric’s—in
this case, the Zen master’s—lack of self-interest and supposed
unconcern with his public image. This doesn’t mean there is, in
fact, a lack of self-interest, only that the master’s self-interest can
more easily be disguised beneath the Zen ideals of enlightened
mind, selflessness, and teaching. In contrast, common people
cannot be trusted because by nature their actions are driven by
self-interest. The imputed lack of self-interest of the master implies
that everything the master does is to help the student, whether or
not the student understands this.
These imputed qualities of the master—(a) lack of self-interest
and (b) everything the master does is to help the student—
easily combine to become tools of dominance and abuse in
interpersonal relations between the master and his disciples. And
in fact there is widespread abuse.
Joshu Sasaki Roshi and Rinzai-ji
Perhaps the best example of cultlike behavior in a modern
Western Zen group is the Rinzai-ji, the organization formed
around Joshu Sasaki, a Japanese roshi and founder and Abbot
of Rinzai-ji. Sasaki arrived in America in 1962, and by 1974 had a
well-established reputation in Western Zen and had accumulated
three major properties. Into 2012, he stood out as an authentic,
demanding, “real deal” Zen master with many fully ordained
disciples (oshos) and close to thirty affiliated groups spread across
the United States of America and Europe.
But all this was to take a dramatic turn on November 16, 2012,
when Eshu Martin, a former monk of Sasaki, posted an open letter
on the Internet that immediately went viral. Titled “Everybody
Knows—Kyozan Joshu Sasaki Roshi and Rinzai-Ji,” the letter spoke
openly what until then were tightly kept secrets regarding Sasaki
roshi, but also disclosing the organization’s complicit role in these
processes:
Joshu Sasaki Roshi, the founder and Abbot of Rinzai-
ji[,] is now 105 years old, and he has engaged in many
forms of inappropriate sexual relationship with those
who have come to him as students since his arrival
here more than 50 years ago. His career of misconduct
has run the gamut from frequent and repeated non-
consensual groping of female students during interview
[sanzen], to sexually coercive after hours “tea” meetings,
to affairs and sexual interference in the marriages and
relationships of his students. Many individuals that have
confronted Sasaki and Rinzai-ji about this behaviour
have been alienated and eventually excommunicated,
or have resigned in frustration when nothing changed
or worst of all, have simply fallen silent and capitulated.
For decades, Joshu Roshi’s behaviour has been ignored,
hushed up, downplayed, justified, and defended by the
[board of directors], monks, [nuns,] and students that
remain loyal to him. ...Certainly, as an organization,
Rinzai-ji has never accepted the responsibility of putting
a stop to this abuse, and has never taken any kind of
remedial action. (Martin, 2012, para. 1–2)
The publication of this letter initiated a torrent of further
disclosures. Stories accumulated, often with great detail, while
ex-insiders with close knowledge of the organization now felt free
to talk openly. It also turned out that Sasaki was at the center of
sexual and financial scandals involving embezzling temple funds
for pleasure spending sprees in Japan in the early 1950s, and he
spent 8 months in prison because of these matters.5
With these disclosures, a number of women in America on the
receiving end of Sasaki’s transgressions reported how they
felt vindicated for leaving, how they felt abused and used, and
how they never realized that they each represented only one
of perhaps hundreds of others. It was later estimated by an
independent council looking into the matter that between 100
and 300 women were abused by Sasaki.
8 ICSA TODAY
It is difficult to point to a single
culprit rather, it is a network of
complicity that includes power,
meaning-making, identity, ritual,
and the abused people themselves.
sage, saint, deity, or Being (2) a means for moving
that truth-perfection forward in time… and (3) a
contemporary spokesperson for that primordial truth-
perfection who is sanctioned to represent it in the
present, interpret it, and distribute it to the believing
public, which delegates to him just this power and
legitimacy. …Bourdieu sees religious authority always
involved in a to-ing and fro-ing, shuttling back and
forth between its deep origins and its application in
the present. Put otherwise, in any moment of religious
authority, there is always an audience focused on the
singular priest-figure, who is expected to funnel the
totality of truth and Being from the past into the group.
(Cole, 2006, p. 13)
In Zen, (a) the belief that the historical Buddha is the deep origin
of truth, (b) the views on Dharma transmission, and (c) the idea of
unbroken lineage are the means for bringing that truth-perfection
forward in time, while the living Dharma-transmitted Zen master
is the contemporary spokesperson for that primordial truth-
perfection. In light of Bourdieu’s ideas, it is not surprising that,
around Zen centers, the focus is on who does and does not have
Dharma transmission rather than on what it actually means or
who these people actually are or what they do.
This emphasis creates a hierarchical power relationship. So-
called Zen insight or wisdom can function as the basis of this
relationship between student and Zen master. Essentially, every
aspect of the student’s life is open to the teacher’s judgment. The
struggle occurs over at least two issues: the student wanting to be
recognized for having realized the truth of Zen, and the student
being authorized to be a teacher in the student’s own right, along
with having the perks and privileges of the position. Both these
issues depend solely on the teacher’s unquestionable decision.
Because of Zen’s emphasis on no-self, we can argue that Zen
places more importance than other religions on its cleric’s—in
this case, the Zen master’s—lack of self-interest and supposed
unconcern with his public image. This doesn’t mean there is, in
fact, a lack of self-interest, only that the master’s self-interest can
more easily be disguised beneath the Zen ideals of enlightened
mind, selflessness, and teaching. In contrast, common people
cannot be trusted because by nature their actions are driven by
self-interest. The imputed lack of self-interest of the master implies
that everything the master does is to help the student, whether or
not the student understands this.
These imputed qualities of the master—(a) lack of self-interest
and (b) everything the master does is to help the student—
easily combine to become tools of dominance and abuse in
interpersonal relations between the master and his disciples. And
in fact there is widespread abuse.
Joshu Sasaki Roshi and Rinzai-ji
Perhaps the best example of cultlike behavior in a modern
Western Zen group is the Rinzai-ji, the organization formed
around Joshu Sasaki, a Japanese roshi and founder and Abbot
of Rinzai-ji. Sasaki arrived in America in 1962, and by 1974 had a
well-established reputation in Western Zen and had accumulated
three major properties. Into 2012, he stood out as an authentic,
demanding, “real deal” Zen master with many fully ordained
disciples (oshos) and close to thirty affiliated groups spread across
the United States of America and Europe.
But all this was to take a dramatic turn on November 16, 2012,
when Eshu Martin, a former monk of Sasaki, posted an open letter
on the Internet that immediately went viral. Titled “Everybody
Knows—Kyozan Joshu Sasaki Roshi and Rinzai-Ji,” the letter spoke
openly what until then were tightly kept secrets regarding Sasaki
roshi, but also disclosing the organization’s complicit role in these
processes:
Joshu Sasaki Roshi, the founder and Abbot of Rinzai-
ji[,] is now 105 years old, and he has engaged in many
forms of inappropriate sexual relationship with those
who have come to him as students since his arrival
here more than 50 years ago. His career of misconduct
has run the gamut from frequent and repeated non-
consensual groping of female students during interview
[sanzen], to sexually coercive after hours “tea” meetings,
to affairs and sexual interference in the marriages and
relationships of his students. Many individuals that have
confronted Sasaki and Rinzai-ji about this behaviour
have been alienated and eventually excommunicated,
or have resigned in frustration when nothing changed
or worst of all, have simply fallen silent and capitulated.
For decades, Joshu Roshi’s behaviour has been ignored,
hushed up, downplayed, justified, and defended by the
[board of directors], monks, [nuns,] and students that
remain loyal to him. ...Certainly, as an organization,
Rinzai-ji has never accepted the responsibility of putting
a stop to this abuse, and has never taken any kind of
remedial action. (Martin, 2012, para. 1–2)
The publication of this letter initiated a torrent of further
disclosures. Stories accumulated, often with great detail, while
ex-insiders with close knowledge of the organization now felt free
to talk openly. It also turned out that Sasaki was at the center of
sexual and financial scandals involving embezzling temple funds
for pleasure spending sprees in Japan in the early 1950s, and he
spent 8 months in prison because of these matters.5
With these disclosures, a number of women in America on the
receiving end of Sasaki’s transgressions reported how they
felt vindicated for leaving, how they felt abused and used, and
how they never realized that they each represented only one
of perhaps hundreds of others. It was later estimated by an
independent council looking into the matter that between 100
and 300 women were abused by Sasaki.
8 ICSA TODAY
It is difficult to point to a single
culprit rather, it is a network of
complicity that includes power,
meaning-making, identity, ritual,
and the abused people themselves.
