Eido Shimano and Genpo Roshi and the blogosphere and questioning teachers

By now, everyone's heard about the Eido Shimano scandal being written up in the Times.  As an ex-New Yorker, I can tell you this is a bigger deal than you think, because Eido Shimano was quoted when they needed "the NY  Zen Buddhist" viewpoint (there was at least one more article in which his name appears but doesn't in the search, if memory serves me.).  Though the Zen Mountain Monastery folks got in too, sometimes.

And as I've said, that's all well and good, and I wish them all the best.  If you want a more candid opinion, from those in the know, there are podcasts of Genjo Marinello of late that  are worth hearing.  I have never met Genjo, but I have great respect for his teaching.

Back to the Times article.  These part struck me a little:

The Aitken papers were soon circulating on the Internet. On June 15, Mr. Shimano’s board of directors, which exercises ultimate authority in the society, met to discuss the allegations. Mr. Shimano, who was then on the board, was not present, but most board members concurred that the charges most likely had some validity...

First, this more recent affair occurred in a different news media culture. Clerical impropriety is a hot topic, of course. And on the Internet, where several bloggers were scrutinizing the Aitken papers, the new affair was sure to be mentioned. “The Internet was turning the heat up,” one member said. Board members had to act; they could not afford to be seen as indifferent. 

Second, there has been a shift within the American Buddhist community, which has become more concerned about relations between teachers and students. 

Historically, because that relationship is considered sacrosanct, affairs were not always condemned, or even disapproved of. 

“Unlike the therapeutic environment with analysis, with Buddhist teachers and students there are debates about what is appropriate and what isn’t,” says James Shaheen, editor of Tricycle. As to sexual relationships between teacher and student, “most people would come down on the side of ‘Let’s just not do it.’

What is interesting to me is that on the internets, my impression was there was a general wave of questioning of the ethics and motives of teachers.    Stuart Lachs' groundbreaking work in this area is completely ignored in the Times article.  Brian Victoria's work, while not relevant to the article (and Victoria has been mentioned in the Times before) is also relevant here too.

But the idea that there should be ethical and fiduciary responsibilities for Buddhist teachers is kind of a no-brainer, especially to those of us who saw the Catholic Church disintegrate over pedophilia scandals.  

And the other thing that's ignored in this article is the "Genpo Roshi "controversy.  Now  Dennis Genpo Merzel I'm sure doesn't put himself in the same category as Eido Shimano.   But if he doesn't then he should at least put himself in the category of LGAT guys.  In terms of the number of people who are misguided, in terms of mischaracterization of the Dharma, Dennis Genpo Roshi's "Big Mind" is leaving I think a substantial footprint.

In fact, I'd say the "Big Mind" scandal is actually a bigger scandal in terms of number of people involved than the Eido Shimano scandal. That's an opinion, of course, but I would maintain that the Times has, at least until now, let a big fish get away when it comes to Zen Buddhist internet scandals in the blogosphere.   That's their perogative of course.  And for all I know Dennis Merzel featured in an earlier version of the story.

Regardless, I hope these scandals get resolved to everyone's benefit.

Right now I'm glad I practice in a tradition that has taken,  steps to resolve its own issues here, even if they're too late.