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Sex and the Gurus: The Case of Joshu Sasaki Roshi (Leonard Cohen's teacher)

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Joshu Sasaki Roshi (Leonard Cohen's teacher) Obituary:  Mark Oppenheimer,  "Joshu Sasaki Roshi, Rinzai Zen Master, Dies at 107, The Influential Teacher Leaves a Mixed Legacy,"  Tricycle  (July 30, 2014).   Obituary:  Paul Vitello,  "Joshu Sasaki, 107, Tainteed Zen Master"  New York Times  (Aug 4, 2014). In Malka Marom's book of interviews with Joni Mitchell, we find this remarkable discussion of Leonard Cohen's Zen teacher Joshu Sasaki Roshi. Joshu Sasaki's bad behavior did finally catch with him in 2012. But this is in the 1970s. It's interesting to see Joni Mitchell and Malka Maron processing having a problem with his behavior as basically deriving from their own Judeo-Christian hang ups: I did some drawings of Leonard’s teacher, Roshi, for a cookie drive; they were printed in a Zen magazine called Zero . So I had a little bit of contact with Roshi. He was a jolly little guy. He liked to drink and he liked to sm...

Sex and the Gurus: The Case of Eido Shimano

Eido Shimano The long career of Eido Shimano Roshi stands as a cautionary tale against sexually predatory teachers given a pass for their behavior over many years, in this case many decades.  A very important document in his connection is Mark Oppenheimer,  "The Zen Preditor of the Upper East Side,"   Atlantic  (Dec 18, 2014). This is also available in book form. This represents a classic discussion of what happens when a teacher's bad behavior is known but made excuses for, in this case for about a half a century. Jay Michaelson,  "The Shocking Scandal at the Heart of American Zen,"  Daily Beast  (Nov 14, 2013) A somewhat critical review of Oppenheimer's book. See also: Mark Oppenheimer,  "Sex Scandal has U.S. Buddhists Looking Within,"   New York Times  (Aug 20, 2010). The Eido Shimano Archive  (put together by a former student of Shimano) that provides extensive documentation of Shimano's inappropria...

Sex and the Gurus: The Case of Zentatsu Baker-roshi (Richard Baker)

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Zentatsu Baker-roshi (Richard Baker) Michael Downing,  Shoes Outside the Door:  Desire, Devotion, and Excess at t he San Francisco Zen Center  (Berkeley, CA: Counterpoint, 2001). At Amazon    Don Lattin reviews Michael Downing's book in , “Meditating on a 20-year-old Scandal”.   And also provides and overview of the story.

Sex and the Gurus: Stock Excuses by Enabling Disciples

“We have to understand that the teacher is not bound by normal human morality.” “He is so honest about what he is doing and so it's OK.  If he tried to hide it, that would be hypocrisy.” “He’s from a culture completely different from our puritanical Western Judeo-Christian culture, where the expectations were completely different. We need to get over our hangups.” “It never was about his dubious sexual activities anyway but about his wonderful spiritual teaching.” “It was ‘Crazy Wisdom.  He wasn’t being self-indulgent. He was doing it for me. He was just trying to set me free from my ego attachment.” “The only reason Mara has problems with the Teacher’s sexual behavior is that she is not as advanced as the rest of us women disciples.” “When teachers and disciples enter into sexual relationships it is almost always fully consensual.” “Yoga heightens testosterone levels, so what do you expect.” "Hey, he's only human."  This is especially i...

Sex and the Gurus:The Case of Noah Levine

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Noah Levine  (Photo by Jaime Lyn Boulter) Anna Merlon, " A Murky Scandal Involving a Powerful Punk Rock Dharma Teacher is Dividing a Major Buddhist Community ," Jezebel: A Supposedly Feminist Website (Aug 14, 2018) Sean Elder, " Noah Levine Blames the #MeToo Movement for the Demise of His Punk Rock Buddhism Empire ," Los Angeles Magazine (July 10, 2019).

Sex and the Gurus: The Case of Sogyal Rinpoche

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Sogyal Rinpoche has died: "Tibetan Buddhist Teacher Accused of Sexual Abuse Dies," BBC News "Born Dennis Lingwood, the son of a French polisher from Tooting, Sangharakshita, meaning “one who is protected by the spiritual community,”  Jamie Doward, " Buddhist, Teacher, Predator: Dark Secrets of the Triratna Guru ," The Guardian (July 21, 2019) Tahila Newland,  Fallout: Recovering from Abuse in Tibetan Buddhism  (2019)  At Amazon.com (On Sogyal Rinpoche) Damcho Dyson and Tahila Newland, “ This Is Abuse: Two Former Rigpa Students Recall the Abusive Behavior of Their Teacher and the Moment They Realized It Was Not ‘CrazyWisdom,’ ”  Tricycle (July 15, 2019). Mary Finnigan and Rob Hogendoorn, Sex and Violence in Tibetan Buddhism: The Rise and Fall of Sogyal Rinpoche (Portland, OR: Jorvik Press, 2019) At Amazon.com An informative article about this book:  Nico Hines, “ Bad Karma: Inside Tibetan Buddhism’s ‘Rape’ and Abuse ...