- Zentatsu Richard Baker
-
Zentatsu Richard Baker 
School Sōtō Lineage Shunryu Suzuki Other name(s) Dick Dharma name(s) Zentatsu Personal Nationality American Born March 30, 1936
Biddeford, York County, Maine, United StatesSenior posting Based in Crestone Mountain Zen Center
Buddhistisches Studienzentrum (Johanneshof)Title Roshi Predecessor Shunryu Suzuki Successor Reb Anderson
Philip Whalen
Koyo Welch
Paul RosenblumReligious career Website www.dharma-sangha.de
www.dharmasangha.orgZentatsu Richard Baker (born March 30, 1936), born Richard Dudley Baker, is an American Soto Zen master (or roshi), the founder and guiding teacher of Dharma Sangha—which consists of Crestone Mountain Zen Center located in Crestone, Colorado and the Buddhistisches Studienzentrum[1] (Johanneshof) in Germany's Black Forest.[2] As the American Dharma heir to Shunryu Suzuki, Baker assumed abbottship of the San Francisco Zen Center (SFZC) shortly before Suzuki's death in 1971. He remained abbot there until 1984, the year he resigned his position after it was disclosed in the previous year that he and the wife of one of SFZC's benefactors had been having an ongoing affair. Despite the controversy connected with his resignation, Baker was instrumental in helping the San Francisco Zen Center to become one of the most successful Zen institutions in the United States.
Contents
Early Life and Practice
Richard Baker was born in Biddeford, York County, Maine on March 30, 1936. Because his family moved around frequently, he lived in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Indiana, and Pittsburgh growing up. A descendant of Thomas Dudley,[3] Baker was raised in a family of moderate wealth. He attended Harvard University, where he studied architecture and history. He then arrived in San Francisco, California in 1960—beginning to sit with Shunryu Suzuki in 1961.[4] Baker was ordained a Sōtō priest by Suzuki in 1966 just before the opening of Tassajara Zen Mountain Center.[5] Baker was instrumental in orchestrating the acquisition of Tassajara, raising $150,000 for the purchase in a short period of time.[2] From 1968 to 1971, he traveled to Japan to practice at the primary Sōtō monasteries there, including Antaiji, Eiheiji, and Daitokuji.[6]
San Francisco Zen Center
Baker received Dharma transmission from Suzuki in 1970,[2] and then was installed as abbot of San Francisco Zen Center during the "Mountain Seat Ceremony" on November 21, 1971.[5] Baker also penned the introduction to Suzuki's famous book, "Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind."[7] Within a very short period of time Baker broadened the scope of SFZC, starting first with the acquisition of Green Gulch Farm in 1972.[5]
San Francisco Zen Center's Page St. location
San Francisco Zen Center expanded quickly with Baker at the helm. In fifteen years, [Zen Center] went from an annual budget of $6,000 to $4 million. It acquired property worth around $20 million and built up a network of affiliated businesses staffed by Zen Center students, which included a vegetarian restaurant, a bakery, and a grocery store.[8] In the midst of the growth, Baker became a popular public figure. Although his salary was reportedly modest, he lived a lifestyle which many perceived as extravagant. With so many students and so much public attention, some felt Baker became less available to the members of the community. All of this discontent emerged when it was made public that Baker had allegedly been having an affair with the wife of an influential sangha member.[8]
Resignation
Although Baker claimed that his relationship with the woman was a love-affair which had not yet been consummated, the outcry surrounding the incident led to a series of accusations of impropriety on Baker's part, including the admissions by several female members of the community that they had had affairs with Baker before or during his tenure as abbot.[9] The community's sense of crisis sharpened when the woman's husband, one of SFZC's primary benefactors, threatened to hold the organization legally responsible for its abbot's apparent misconduct.[10]
These revelations led to community-wide pandemonium, and in 1984 Baker was forced to resign as abbot.[2] However, San Francisco Zen Center's website now comments: "Although the circumstances leading to his resignation as abbot in 1984 were difficult and complex, in recent years, there has been increased contact; a renewal of friendship and dharma relations."[11] And Baker, for his part, is quoted as having said in a 1994 interview with Sugata Schneider:
I don't think that the gossipy or official versions of what happened are right, but I feel definitely that if I were back in the situation again as the person I am now, it wouldn't have happened. Which means it's basically my fault. I had a kind of insecurity and self-importance, which I didn't see for a long time, that was a bad dynamic in the community.[4]
In 1983 Tenshin Reb Anderson went through the shiho ceremony with Richard Baker. Baker, however, has claimed Anderson never completed the entire transmission ceremony. The San Francisco Zen Center as an organization disagreed, and Anderson went on to act as abbot of the center. He is also considered by the governing Sotoshu in Japan to be the Dharma heir of Richard Baker, and a lineage holder in Shunryu Suzuki's line.[2]
In the late-1980s Baker also gave Dharma Transmission to Issan Dorsey, whom he had ordained as a priest in 1975. Dorsey went on to serve as abbot of the Hartford Street Zen Center in San Francisco, where he worked to develop hospice care for AIDS patients.[9]
Dharma Sangha
Following his departure from the San Francisco Zen Center in 1984, Baker relocated to Santa Fe, New Mexico where he founded a new community known as Dharma Sangha.[5] One student who followed him to his new community was the priest Philip Whalen (ordained by Baker as a priest in 1973), who became tanto (head monk) of the new center. In July 1987 Baker gave Dharma transmission to Whalen; Whalen later became abbot of the Hartford Street Zen Center (following the tenure of Issan Dorsey) in the Castro district of San Francisco. After the founding of Dharma Sangha in New Mexico, Baker then moved on to Crestone, Colorado and Germany to found other practice sites for Dharma Sangha. Baker also gives seminars at Boulder Zen Center in Boulder, Colorado twice each year, typically on the last weekends of January and April.[2][5][12]
Criticism and praise
A controversial figure, Richard Baker has been publicly criticized for his behavior at San Francisco Zen Center. Former students have said that he was addicted to power, abusive of his position, extravagant in his personal spending, and inappropriate in his love life.[13]
On the other hand, in the twenty-five years since leaving San Francisco Zen Center, Baker has quietly continued his career as a Zen teacher, founding and developing two major practice centers.[6] Thich Nhat Hanh wrote of Baker, "To me, he embodies very much the future of Buddhism in the West with his creative intelligence and his aliveness."[9]
Family
On September 25, 1999, Baker married Her Grand Ducal Highness Princess Marie Louise Elisabeth Mathilde Theodora Cecilie Sarah Charlotte of Baden, daughter of Maximilian, Margrave of Baden and wife Archduchess Valerie of Austria. They have a daughter, Sophia Baker, born on March 1, 2001, in Alamosa, Colorado. He has two daughters, Sally and Elizabeth, from a prior marriage to Virginia Baker. [14]
Collected works
Books
- Baker, Richard (1999). Original Mind: The Practice of Zen in the West. London: Thorsons. ISBN 1855382210. http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/60190068&referer=brief_results.
Audio
- Baker, Richard (1999). Karma, Zen und Zukunft: Geist in Bewegung 1. Münsterschwarzach Vier-Türme-Verl. ISBN 3896802216. http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/165882450&referer=brief_results.
See also
Notes
- ^ Kotler, Arnold. Engaged Buddhist Reader. p. 254
- ^ a b c d e f Ford, James Ishmael. Zen Master Who?. pp. 124-128
- ^ Tworkov, Helen. Zen in America: Profiles of Five Teachers. p. 208
- ^ a b Schneider, Sugata. The Long Learning Curve: An Interview With Richard Baker Roshi
- ^ a b c d e Prebish, Charles S. Luminous Passage. pp. 14-15
- ^ a b "Richard Baker-roshi". Crestone Mountain Zen Center. http://www.dharmasangha.org/teachers.html.
- ^ Azara, Nancy J. Spirit Taking Form. p. 33
- ^ a b Coleman, James William. The New Buddhism pp. 167-168
- ^ a b c Schneider, David. Street Zen pp.138-140
- ^ Crews, Frederick C. Follies of the Wise pp. 283-284
- ^ "Lineage". San Francisco Zen Center. http://www.sfzc.org/zc/display.asp?catid=1,5&pageid=426.
- ^ "2008 Seminar Dates". Boulder Zen Center. http://www.boulderzen.org/#instruction.
- ^ Boucher, Sandy. Turning the Wheel. p. 250
- ^ Pogash, Carol (July 31, 2005). "Jason Kibbey and Elizabeth Baker". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/31/fashion/weddings/31vows.html.
References
- Azara, Nancy J. (2002). Spirit Taking Form: Making a Spiritual Practice of Making Art. Red Wheel. ISBN 1590030168. http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/50251928&referer=brief_results.
- Boucher, Sandy (1993). Turning the Wheel: American Women Creating the New Buddhism. Beacon Press. ISBN 0807073059. http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/27684169&referer=one_hit.
- Coleman, James William (2002). The New Buddhism: The Western Transformation of an Ancient Tradition. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195152417. http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/48932003&referer=one_hit.
- Crews, Frederick C. (2006). Follies of the Wise: Dissenting Essays. Shoemaker & Hoard Publishers. ISBN 1593761015. http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/62782163&referer=one_hit.
- Downing, Michael (2001). Shoes Outside the Door: Desire, Devotion, and Excess at San Francisco Zen Center. Washington, D.C.: Counterpoint. ISBN 1582431132. http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/46793103&referer=brief_results.
- Ford, James Ishmael (2006). Zen Master Who?: A Guide to the People and Stories of Zen. Wisdom Publications. ISBN 0861715098. http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/70174891&referer=one_hit.
- Kotler, Arnold (1996). Engaged Buddhist Reader. Berkeley, CA: Parallax Press. ISBN 0938077988. http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/35587022&referer=one_hit.
- Prebish, Charles S (1999). Luminous Passage: The Practice and Study of Buddhism in America. University of California Press. ISBN 0520216970. http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/39299808&referer=brief_results.
- Schneider, David (1993). Street Zen: The Life and Work of Issan Dorsey. Shambhala Publications. ISBN 0877739145. http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/27641792&referer=brief_results.
- Schneider, Sugata (Winter 1994). "The Long Learning Curve: An Interview With Richard Baker Roshi". Tricycle: The Buddhist Review. http://www.tricycle.com/issues/tricycle/4_2/interview/1803-1.html. Retrieved 2008-03-01.[dead link]
- Tworkov, Helen (1989). Zen in America: Profiles of Five Teachers: Robert Aitken, Jakusho Kwong, Bernard Glassman, Maurine Stuart, Richard Baker. North Point Press. ISBN 0865473544. http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/19456847&referer=brief_results.
- Winson, Robert; Miriam Sagan (1997). Dirty Laundry: 100 Days in a Zen Monastery. Albuquerque, N.M.: La Alameda Press. ISBN 1888809027. http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/38125048&referer=one_hit.
External links
- Dharma Sangha, European website
- Zentatsu Richard Baker page on the Crestone Mountain Zen Center website
Buddhism Categories:- Harvard University alumni
- Living people
- Buddhist writers
- San Francisco Zen Center
- Soto Zen Buddhists
- Zen Buddhism writers
- Zen Buddhist monks and priests
- 1936 births
- American Zen Buddhists
- People from Biddeford, Maine
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
