Crises and scandals are nothing new to American Buddhism<\/a>, or to religion in general \u2013 the world around. But this week prominent members in the Zen community at large and one of America\u2019s largest Tibetan Buddhist<\/a> organizations, Shambhala Mandala, are voicing specific concerns.<\/p>\n Adam Tebbe, founder of Sweeping Zen<\/a>, perhaps the worlds leading repository and discussion forum for Zen Buddhism<\/a> in the world today, discusses the latest sex scandal in the Zen Buddhist community, this one surrounding 105-year-old Zen Master Kyozan Joshu Sasaki<\/a>. His article is titled either \u201cWhen Right Speech Becomes a Cop-out<\/a>\u201d or \u201cI\u2019m Sorry, Was This An Inopportune Time? Maybe Next Week Would Have Worked Better?\u201d<\/strong> Both titles speak to the heart of a matter that is at the heart of many Zen, Buddhist, and indeed\u00a0religious<\/em>\u00a0communities.<\/p>\n Adam writes that, \u201cI really am awestruck anymore by the reactions to scandals when they are published. The poor readers are tired of it all (let\u2019s just gloss over those victims). One man contacted me on Facebook to inform me I am the \u201cPee Pee Police.\u201d\u201d \u2013 I discussed some of Sweeping Zen\u2019s coverage of a recent issue involving Ken McLeod here<\/a>. Frankly, Sweeping Zen\u2019s coverage and discussion of these issues has been thoughtful, multiperspectival, and open, quite unlike the responses demanding removal of posts and silence of discussion, often from anonymous commenters.<\/p>\n It takes great courage to step out and speak up against this kind of wrong in a religious community.<\/strong> A big part of that is because most people in a religious community have a vested interest in that community looking good. There is a sort of transitive property to that desire, especially amongst new converts. People new to any form of Buddhism seem most likely to vigorously defend any and all allegations against contemporary Buddhist masters, whether they are personally close to the issue or have any relevant facts or not. Likely this is true across religions: mature (personally, spiritually, whatever) Catholics will be those who are most capable of disagreeing with The Church on certain aspects while still holding close to that which they find most important in their faith.<\/p>\n Tebbe continues and concludes:<\/p>\n You know, maybe what happened with Sasaki is a failure of\u00a0curiosity. I started hearing about it all right away, from the moment I began running the website. It would come out in off the record interviews or in casual chat. It didn\u2019t take me very long to start becoming curious. But, this went on for decade, after decade, after decade\u2026<\/p>\n And nobody in the broader Zen teaching mahasangha thought to ask: \u201cHmmm, maybe this should be looked in to. Maybe we should try and address this.\u201d Nobody? Somehow, everybody knows, and yet everybody claims to have not known?<\/p>\n I\u2019ll tell you what. It didn\u2019t take me long to figure it out. One female Zen teacher said he was nothing like Shimano \u2014 it reminded me of Bush\u2019s \u201cI saw Putin\u2019s soul\u201d moment. I wanted to gag in my mouth. This was after I\u2019d been told that Sasaki had allegedly asked one female teacher in that person\u2019s organization to sit on his lap one time during an interview (I\u2019d heard that from multiple sources). This same person, the one who saw in to Putin\u2019s soul, was sent a link to Eshu Martin\u2019s piece by a concerned individual and they replied, \u201cWhy did you send me this?\u201d<\/p>\n Move along, everyone. Nothing to see here. Buy my book, by the way\u2026<\/p><\/blockquote>\n To get a real sense of the frustration that Adam seems to be feeling you probably have to spend some time in the online Zen (or Buddhist) community. I recall dropping out of one online Zen Discussion Group years ago after a very frustrating back-and-forth between myself and a particularly annoying Zen fellow (I felt like Plato taking on a sophist<\/a>).<\/p>\n And now Waylon Lewis, a (more-than) life-long member of Shambhala Mandala, is coming out with a public discussion of that organization\u2019s crisis<\/a>. As he puts it:<\/p>\n Shambhala<\/a>\u00a0is hemorrhaging money month by month (I\u2019m not at liberty to\u00a0name numbers, but\u00a0hemorrhaging<\/em>\u00a0is\u00a0apt, and without hyperbole). We\u2019re insecure (we now exclude teachers from other traditions at our many Shambhala Centers, whereas before we were a big tent, the umbrella under which all Buddhist lineages drew strength). We\u2019re staffed and led by valiant but often overwhelmed, head-down, passionate (it\u2019s impossible to generalize\u2014Shambhala is led by many responsible, kind servants\u2014but by and large appointments seemed characterized not by a desire for leadership or entrepreneuralism or outward-facing, magnetizing troublemaking\u2026but rather by enthusiastic allegiance to new curriculum. Everyone\u2019s doing the best they can, and better. Everyone\u2019s trying). We\u2019re divided in two: the\u00a0Sakyong<\/a>\u2018s innovation (which is profound and needed) has\u00a0step-by-step<\/a>\u00a0replaced<\/a>\u00a0his father,\u00a0Chogyam Trungpa<\/a>\u2018s teachings, classes, paths. And elder students, with their enthusiasm, deep training, joy and\u2026money\u2026have left in waves, wave after wave after wave over the years. Another wave of \u201cculture loss\u201d and diaspora just occurred.<\/p>\n For the first time since I was 16 or so\u2014when the Shambhala\u00a0sangha<\/em>\u00a0(community) was painfully split by\u00a0Trungpa<\/a>\u2018s death and then his successor\u2019s inglorious fall and, then, saved by the\u00a0Sakyong<\/a>, young and uneager to teach, riding forth as if on a white horse to lead and heal our community\u2014my community seems poised to fall apart, to dissolve, to become a fractured shadow of its former mainstream, well-known, joyful, outward-facing self. (read the full article here<\/a>)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n There the current crisis seems to be mostly financial, though that is due to a decline in community cohesion and membership.<\/p>\n Waylon<\/a> and Adam<\/a> deserve our utmost respect and appreciation for their courage in openly discussing these issues. Not only are new converts and immature (spiritually, emotionally, whatever) devotees often strongly against discussing such issues, so too are the big publications. When these Zen and Tibetan (and there have been scandals in Theravadin organizations too) organizations and their affiliates are major advertisers and sponsors, it is difficult to publish op-eds\u00a0condemning\u00a0sexual, fiscal, or other improprieties.<\/p>\n It seems essential that these crises (and others that will surely arise) are dealt with as clearly and openly as possible. It\u2019s nearly 2013. The age of the exotic and mystical Eastern \u201cOther\u201d is coming to a close \u2013 we hope.<\/p>\n I venture to suggest<\/em> that despite the Buddha\u2019s own teachings, an incredible amount of veneration of relics, statues, paintings, and personality have found their way into Buddhism<\/strong>. All of this may \u2018serve\u2019 as part of any practitioner\u2019s personal development journey, but it might also be an abandonment of personal responsibility (which I would\u00a0venture to suggest<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>is central to the Buddha\u2019s understanding of karma and rebirth).<\/p>\n Accusations against (and basic problems with) Buddhist teachers and organizations must be heard. If they can be resolved privately, all the better \u2013 but they must\u00a0really<\/em> be resolved, not just covered up until the\u00a0next<\/em> accusation comes out. Often enough, victims of abuse of all kinds (and\u00a0whistle-blowers\u00a0and inside critics) remain silent because they feel alone, alienated, and likely to be shamed and doubted by the community if they come forward.<\/p>\n The best thing we in the religious\/Buddhist community can do is to support those who do come forward.<\/strong> Indeed there will be those who speak out with no evidence. Those cases are difficult. Recently I had the privilege of interviewing Lama Surya Das<\/a>, one of America\u2019s preeminent Buddhist leaders. In the comments someone accused him of being\u00a0\u00a0\u201ca sociopathic serial womanizer.\u201d Given the content of the comment and the lack of substance to back it up, my response was simply that this is an unsupported claim from an anonymous commenter. However, if this is a substantial claim, it is best that it is made, that it may be supported by others (or, alternatively, shot down or ignored). So, you see, it\u2019s difficult. It\u2019s like the old English idiom of the elephant in the room<\/a>, whether we like it or not, it\u2019s there.<\/p>\n![\"Adam](\"https:\/\/sweepingzen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/adam-tebbe.jpg\" "\\"Adam")
<\/p>\n![\"Waylon](\"https:\/\/www.elephantjournal.com\/wp-content\/authors\/waylon-902.jpg\" "\\"Waylon")
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