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Motorcycle Book Store > Motorcycle books beginning with S
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Shoes Outside the Door: Desire, Devotion, and Excess at San Francisco Zen Center |
Author: Michael Downing
Published: 2002-09-03 |
List price: $18.95
Our price: $12.89
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As of: November 21st, 2008 08:56:15 PM
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Customer comments on this selection.
 Not from a religious perspective ...
I found this book by complete accident in the remainders section of Stanford University bookstore, and it was the perfect summer reading for an East Coast academic spending the summer in Palo Alto. I think this is one of the most elegant and lovely books on contemporary religious community I've read - I don't really understand the editorial reviews that say it is an indictment as such or that it is an attack as such on Baker. The facts really seem to speak for themselves. I have read the customer reviews here at Amazon, and think they, too, are some of the most thoughtful I have read on any book on Amazon.
I have little experience of American Buddhism. But I do have a lot of experience as a nonprofit expert, as a legal expert on nonprofit organization governance, and as a long time board member of several organizations. I was particularly struck in this tale by the inability of the members of this community to come to grips with the fact that they were a community with communal obligations, issues of membership, control, governance, etc. One of those is the obligation to pay for the community; another is to figure out how much to pay those who labor for the community. The most telling detail in the entire book, for me, was the comment that Baker needed money to pay his child's tuition at Brown University. People refer constantly to Baker's lavish lifestyle; it was, but at the same time, what is the right lifestyle for someone in such a community?
On the one hand, the community had adherents who over time would be unable to care for themselves, having devoted themselves to sitting exclusively or, worse, laboring for the community's enterprises but with no long term benefit for themselves. On the other hand, religious pastors, rabbis, etc., particularly those in which marriage and family are permissible, have to be able to maintain a certain life - including one that is responsible toward those who depend on them, their children, for example. Does that include a Brown University tuition? A middle class or upper middle class lifestyle? Certainly it was not going to be that for many of the ordinary faithful. Was it right that this be so for Baker?
But the inability to answer this question - or only to answer it by saying, a vow of poverty - as a matter of nonprofit governance, is essentially to preclude the religious community from reproducing itself, at least in the biological sense. Sure, continuous waves of converts can extend the community. But unless a religion finds a way to accommodate marriage and children within the faith, and in some way that takes account of who, in terms of class and society, the faithful are - well, it will be a religion whose longterm trajectory more closely resembles the Shakers than Catholics or Mormons, and is not very likely to reproduce the "project" of a community of American Buddhism.
A poignant look at Zen in America and a good idea for any student of Zen to read
I'm a student of Zen Buddhism myself. I'm also an anthropologist. I'm also a Chinese living in the U.S. I think these parts of my background influences my commentary below.
Any Zen student who is considering deepening his/her practice or considering forming a formalised student-spiritual teacher relationship should definitely read this book. Often in Zen Buddhist circles (or any religious circles, for that matter) matters of spirituality are talked about, but there is not much space and/or opportunity for reflection on the human institution that the religious practise comes out of.
Let me repeat that: any religious or spiritual practise in this world comes out of some form of socio-cultural institution simply because we are human beings (and so is the teacher). The institution is of this world because human beings are part of this world.
This books does not deal much with the spiritual practice side of American Zen which isn't its purpose. Rather, it deals with the human institution of American Zen as it was formed and practised in the 70s and early 80s at San Francisco Zen Centre (SFZC). While not an anthropological or sociological look at the institution, it is very much persons-centred narratives about the experiences of SFZC providing interesting glimpses of the human side of the experiences of Zen students and ordained priests and also words from the highly controversial Zen teacher Richard Baker.
For me, (and I do own this projection) it was amazing to see quotes from Richard Baker who time and time again says he could not see the kind of impact he held as a teacher and who, according to this book, still is surprised by the fallout that happened. He says he didn't realise how much authority he had or how much authority students had imagined him to have. To me, it seems that Richard Baker, while might be spiritually wise, lacked profundity and awareness of human social interactions. For someone practising awareness, I find that amazing, but certainly very human. At least this is how my reaction is towards the portrayal of Richard Baker in this book.
The book guides us in the direction of understanding the SFZC fiasco with ideas about charismatic personality, American Puritanism (work ethic), undemocratic administration, idealism and some leanings about American culture with the fascination (and sometimes reverence) of personalities (imagine Hollywood). One aspect that this book does not discuss or suggest but I think is still part of Buddhism as practised and experienced in America today and I very much would imagine it to be part of the SFZC fiasco is the idea of "orientalism".
Orientalism is a term coined by the late post-colonial scholar Edward Said. The idea is that in the western world, oriental and occidental worked in opposite directions so that the idea of the orient was constructed in as a negative inversion of the west. It should be noted that Said's Oriental refers of the Middle East but it also can be extended to Far East Asia. Western portrayal of the oriental world was that it was an inversion of the occidental world--mystical, exotic, fantastical. Coupling with Foucault's idea of the relationship between power and knowledge, Said analyses how the power of the coloniser (occidental) forms the knowledge of the colonised (oriental) and this knowledge of the oriental in turn empowers the coloniser's further actions of colonisation. And on it goes.
While there are certain critiques of Said, I think Said's idea of orientalism (the mysticising and exoticising) can be brought to a reading of the SFZC fiasco and American Buddhism. Downing (author of Shoes) does not refer to the term orientalism but throughout his book, one has to wonder whether a mysticisation and exoticsation of the east did not play a role into how SFZC practitioners practised. For instance, on page 236 Downing describes how Zen teacher Richard Baker "speculates that some of the confusion Zen teachers in America began to experience was cultural confusion, a difference between Japanese and American sensibilities and ethics." Baker, as explained by Downing, is saying that some of his behaviours were acceptable coming from a Japanese perspective but perhaps not as easily understood from an American perspective. I want to further push the idea for us to think about: that is it possible that acts of exoticising and mysticising the east sometimes led students (and teachers) to not question certain practises? Those practises were possibly led to the realm of "holiness" or "untouchable" or "inscrutable" because of that exoticising. I would strongly imagine so. For me, I have experienced certain practises in Buddhism in America which leads me to question whether those practises are orientalist. That is, what kind of meaning can it hold for Americans beyond the realm of exotic?
This book reminds us that any spiritual practise is embedded in and part of culture. One of the first tenets of anthropology is that there is nothing outside of culture simply because as human beings we all operate within it and cannot get outside of it. (I actually think Zen says this too). But even if you're not an anthropologist, you could certainly (I hope) see that! Certainly then, the history of Zen in America (coming through from Japan) carried with it Japanese cultural elements which need not be replicated in America if those elements and practises carry no meaning (aside from exotic and mystical) for American society.
 A tale of everyone and no one
The author attempts to tell the story of the San Francisco Zen Center using the events leading up to the dismissal/resignation of Abbott-for-life, Zentatsu Richard Baker, in 1983. In the process, he interviews many people who experience euphoric or dysphoric recall about events that happened over twenty years ago. His achievement is a book which it seems tries to tell the story of almost anyone tangentially connected with SFZC during that time. As a result, he relates a perjorative tale of recrimination, grudges, and generally bad feelings that exist to this day. It is unfortunate that Professor Downing could not have used better literary technique and more restraint to shape the raw material he mined in these extensive interviews. This appears to be a genuinely lost opportunity. Instead, he gives us a gossipy, slanted piece of he said/she said, portraying the general membership of SFZC as mindless androids, who sit zazen and do their master's bidding without privilege of free will. Baker is painted as a Svengali-like character, who only becomes your friend or teacher so that he can use you for his own devices and priorities later on. Downing lays out this character study as the familiar absolute-power-corrupts-absolutely tale with the victims of that power having no control over their lives. Recently, non-Abbotts like Tom DeLay and Jack Abramboff served as examples of these types of personages. Regardless of who you believe in this National Enquirer rendering of Buddhism in America, the value of what is related is that the SFZC survives to this day and in resonably good health. It weathered a crisis as an organization and individuals, no matter how well or how poorly. As a symbol of Zen Buddhism in the United States, it remains on the journey to enlightenment, as do its members. You don't need 380-odd pages of war stories to illustrate the point. Unless you want to look for this title in the two dollar bargin bin at your local book store, go to the SFZC's website. They seem capable of telling their own story, warts and all.
An Unusual Look at Zen in the USA--no Fillers, no Preservatives
An interesting, unusual accout of Zen in America. Unusual in its stark honesty and detail, interesting for those same reasons! Michael Downing's book is built around a scandal (sex, greed, power, all of the usual suspects involved) which errupted at the San Francisco Zen Center (SFZC) in 1983. Much of the book details the actions of Richard Baker, the only American to receive Dharma Transmission (often called Enlightenment) from noted Zen teacher Shunryu Suzuki. Quite a bit of other material is covered as well, presenting a full picture of life and relations at perhaps the most successful Zen organization in the West.
In presenting events in their historical context, Downing explains the structure of the Zen Buddhist Sangha (church), history of Shunryu Suzuki and many of the early pioneers who first explored Zen Buddhism in San Fransisco after Suzuki began to teach. Reading this book over the course of a week, I didn't get the feeling that Downing took on this project to do damage to adherents to Zen or the SFZC. Rather his mission seems to have been to figure out exactly what had happened to cause the 1983 melt down (it was actually a long time festering before it broke and Downing sets the stage completely), how such a thing could happen in an organization where one of the main principles was to Cause No Harm, and then exploring why it happened with a critical eye towards absolute power and some of the more traditional processes.
I liked the detail Downing exacted throughout, introducing the vast array of real-life characters who were part of "The Scene" during the 1960's and 1970's in California and nationally. He does a superb job connecting the relationship web between people. So many folks are covered sometimes I had to flip back to remind myself--it does jump around a bit, but I couldn't think of any other way to present a series of connected events like this. Downing also does an admireable job of explaining how SFZC grew into such a huge organization. I learned more about the SFZC and its place in history than from many of the other books I've read about Buddhism in the West. Certainly I obtained a better understanding of how processes such as Transmission work and relate to the political process inherent in this Zen body politic.
While the entire book is certainly not a slanted diatribe, Downing does not claim to be a hands-off Bodhisatva with no opinion. He expresses distaste for a selection of teachers, transmition holders and other claimants to enlightenment who abuse their positions of authority by using and personally profiting from others in a variety of ways. Downing's book demands that the reader confront sexual and financial misconduct and the abuse of trusting disciples. He strips away the varnish of position, money, high titles and robes to expose simple humanity--good, bad and in-between.
Downing explains the problem-solving process SFZC went through, and how it regrouped and restructured in response to the problems, and in an effort to prevent future abuses and disasters. There are also a number of accounts of individuals who moved on from the devestation to heal others as well as themselves. I have often heard the phrase that life is stranger than fiction. In this case, it is most certainly true and probably not what most of us have come to expect.
 Fascinating if slightly frustrating book...
As a longtime Zen practitioner who has attended retreats led by senior teachers of the SF Zen Center, I could barely resist the urge to read this book cover to cover in one sitting. Morbidly fascinating it is, and deeply enlightening as well---for me it connected a huge number of dots, yielding insight into the social, cultural, historical and institutional baggage that is inextricable from the Zen experience that SFZC (often referred to half-jokingly as "the Vatican of American Zen") and many other American Zen organizations offer.
The book is also frustrating in that the author does jump around a bit...though it appears that he has spent a little time around Zen centers and may have done a bit of sitting meditation himself, he often seems to veer off on various tangents. Until the last 1/3 of the book that is, when he keeps coming back to interviews with Richard Baker, who keeps selling us the same maddening horse manure about being, why, simply unaware of the consequences of what he was doing during his tumultuous tenure as head of SFZC. This repetition quickly becomes monotonous.
Baker is clearly a highly developed narcissistic personality (a google search of "Narcissistic Personality Disorder" sums him up pretty well) which is both hilariously ironic and doubly unfortunate---and I'm afraid to say, hardly uncommon---for a leader of a religion that's supposed to be all about teaching us to let go of our conditioned egoistical delusions.
This book begs the question: how on earth did such a borderline-sociopathic personality become head of what would become the largest, most influential Zen group in North America...and how did he get away with so much for so long? Zen Buddhists, especially the Western variety, are hardly idiots or cult-addled automatons...yet how was Baker able to do so much damage for as long as he did before the feces finally hit the fan?
Downing barely brushes up against the answer, and makes no attempt to synthesize all the information that he manages to unearth. (It's worth noting that he gained access to SFZC senior members through the pretense of writing a book about SFZC, rather than about Richard Baker's 1983 scandal that nearly wrecked the place. But perhaps this was his editor's commercial-minded imposition.)
What comes through loud and clear is just how INSTITUTIONAL (i.e. mainly concerned with its own survival/prosperity rather than its spiritual underpinnings) Shunryu Suzuki's mushrooming-mega-sangha quickly became, despite its cultural and religious pretensions. It is obvious that Suzuki appointed Baker to succeed him mainly because he knew Baker was a phenomenally charismatic fundraiser and networker. It is also obvious that Baker got away with murder for so long in large part due to the community's dog-like devotion to upholding Papa Suzuki's legacy, i.e. his decision to grant to Baker alone the dubious "dharma transmission" ritual.
Most of all it is sadly obvious that the great majority of the well-educated and socioeconomically priviledged Americans who built SFZC, were desperately thirsty for what they perceived as institutional validation of their Zen practice through this sort of mindless adherence to Japanese Zen's traditional forms and formalism, which are of course also themselves byproducts of the mother country's own sociological and institutional pressures.
Downing's book is a much needed wake-up call for those who would practice Zen with an uncritical eye towards its inherent institutional biases and limitations, which are not much different from those of any other religion.
Had it contained a bit more analysis instead of just repetitive interviews, I would give it 5 stars.
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