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Rinzai Zen The Rinzai school (, zh, t=臨濟宗, s=临济宗, p=Línjì zōng), named after Linji Yixuan (Romaji: Rinzai Gigen, died 866 CE) is one of three sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism, along with Sōtō and Ōbaku. The Chinese Linji school of Cha ...
Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
priest. He was the founding
abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the head of an independent monastery for men in various Western Christian traditions. The name is derived from ''abba'', the Aramaic form of the Hebrew ''ab'', and means "father". The female equivale ...
of the New York Zendo Shobo-Ji in Manhattan and Dai Bosatsu Zendo Kongo-Ji monastery in the Catskill mountains of New York; he was forced to resign from that position of 40 years after revelations of a series of sexual relationships with and alleged sexual harassment of female students.


Biography


Early years

Shimano was born in
Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...
,
Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
, in 1932, and was given the name Eitaro. His first encounter with a Buddhist scripture came at the age of nine, when his school teacher instructed his class to memorize the
Heart Sutra The ''Heart Sūtra'', ) is a popular sutra in Mahayana, Mahāyāna Buddhism. In Sanskrit, the title ' translates as "The Heart of the Prajnaparamita, Perfection of Wisdom". The Sutra famously states, "Form is emptiness (''śūnyatā''), em ...
. During the war the Shimano family moved to
Chichibu is a city located in Saitama Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 61,159 in 26,380 households and a population density of . The total area of the city is . Geography Chichibu is in the westernmost part of Saitama. Unlik ...
, the mountain city where his mother was born. In his youth Shimano was ordained as a novice monk by Kengan Goto, the priest of Empuku-ji, the
Rinzai The Rinzai school (, zh, t=臨濟宗, s=临济宗, p=Línjì zōng), named after Linji Yixuan (Romaji: Rinzai Gigen, died 866 CE) is one of three sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism, along with Sōtō and Ōbaku. The Chinese Linji school of ...
temple in Chichibu. Kengan Goto gave him the
Dharma name A Dharma name is a new name acquired during both lay and monastic Buddhist initiation rituals in Mahayana Buddhism and Pabbajjā, monastic ordination in Theravada Buddhism (where it is more proper to call it Dhamma or Sangha name). The name is ...
Eido, composed from first characters of two Japanese Zen founders,
Eisai was a Japanese Buddhist priest, credited with founding the Rinzai school, the Japanese line of the Linji school of Zen Buddhism. In 1191, he introduced this Zen approach to Japan, following his trip to China from 1187 to 1191, during which he w ...
and Dogen. Later he was trained by Shirozou Keizan Roshi, abbot of Heirin-ji, near Tokyo. This was a Rinzai training monastery with strict discipline. In 1954, Shimano left to study at Ryutaku-ji and practice with Soen Nakagawa Roshi, a relatively young Zen teacher. The following year
Nyogen Senzaki Nyogen Senzaki (千崎 如幻, 1876–1958) was a Rinzai Zen monk who was one of the 20th century's leading proponents of Zen Buddhism in the United States. Early life Details of Senzaki's early life are unclear. Town records in Fukaura, Aomo ...
visited the temple from America and left a lasting impression on Shimano.


United States

In 1957, Soen Roshi asked Shimano to go to America for one year to attend the elderly Nyogen Senzaki. He agreed, but Nyogen died in 1958 before Shimano had a chance to go. Soen asked Shimano to go to
Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...
instead to help to guide the Diamond Sangha, founded by
Robert Baker Aitken Robert Baker Dairyu Chotan Aitken Rōshi (June 19, 1917 – August 5, 2010) was a Zen teacher in the Harada-Yasutani lineage. He co-founded the Honolulu Diamond Sangha in 1959 with his wife, Anne Hopkins Aitken. Aitken received Dharma transmissi ...
and his wife,
Anne Hopkins Aitken Anne Arundel Hopkins Aitken (February 8, 1911 – June 13, 1994) was an American Zen Buddhist, in the Harada-Yasutani lineage. She co-founded the Honolulu Diamond Sangha in 1959 together with her husband, Robert Baker Aitken. She purchased b ...
. At first reluctant, Soen persuaded Shimano that going to Hawaii would be good for both his recuperation from an illness and his academic studies (suggesting he study at the
University of Hawaii A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...
). In August 1960 Shimano left for Hawaii by ship. His friend Bernard Phillips, an American Zen scholar, was returning home on the same ship, after doing research in Japan sponsored by the
Zen Studies Society The Zen Studies Society was established in 1956 by Cornelius Crane to help assist the scholar Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki in his work and to help promulgate Zen Buddhism in Western countries. It operates both New York Zendo Shobo-Ji in New York City a ...
. Without any prior arrangements, they ended up in the same cabin. Shimano later returned to
Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
and met
Haku'un Yasutani was a Sōtō Zen priest and the founder of the Sanbo Kyodan, a lay Japanese Zen group. Through his students Philip Kapleau and Taizan Maezumi, Yasutani has been one of the principal forces in founding western (lay) Zen-practice. Biography Ry ...
, accompanying him and Soen back to the United States. In 1964, a rift developed with Aitken: according author and journalist Mark Oppenheimer he left Hawaii because his possible involvement with the mental breakdowns of two female students. He moved to
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
. According to Shimano, after arriving on New Year's Eve, he walked Manhattan in his Buddhist robe. "Every single day I picked up two or three people who were curious," he reported. "And that was the beginning of the
sangha Sangha or saṃgha () is a term meaning "association", "assembly", "company" or "community". In a political context, it was historically used to denote a governing assembly in a republic or a kingdom, and for a long time, it has been used b ...
". In 1965, he became a member of the Zen Studies Society which gathered at the New York Zendo Shobo-Ji in Manhattan. It had been founded in the 1950s, but had not recently been very active. A few years later he became abbot of the Zen Studies Society. His followers included well-heeled individuals such as Dorris Carlson, who gave funds to create a monastery in the Catskills, Dai Bosatsu Zendo, which opened in 1976. Shimano received
Dharma transmission In Chan and Zen Buddhism, dharma transmission is a custom in which a person is established as a "successor in an unbroken lineage of teachers and disciples, a spiritual 'bloodline' ('' kechimyaku'') theoretically traced back to the Buddha him ...
from Soen Nakagawa in 1972 in a public ceremony at the New York Zendo Shobo-ji witnessed by his Sangha. In 2004, Eido Shimano Roshi received the Buddhism Transmission Award from the Japan-based Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai Foundation for his impact on the dissemination of Buddhism in the West. This same organization produced a documentary on Eido Shimano Roshi and Dai Bosatsu Zendo Kongo-Ji.


Sexual misconduct

Over the years, there were rumors that the married Shimano was having sex with some of his female students. Robert Aitken, Shimano's former patron, interviewed some of these women over a period of 40 years and kept records of the liaisons. He attempted to raise concerns including by writing the sexual misconduct and abuse to Zen Studies Society board in 1995. In 2008, the University of Hawaii at Manoa unsealed his papers, and in 2010 the ZSS board started to work on an ethics guideline which included an acknowledgement of past wrongdoing by Shimano. Board members believed that there were no recent incidents and that the misconduct had ceased 15 years ago. However, in June 2010, at a community dinner at the monastery in the Catskills, a female student stood up and stated that for two years she had been having a consensual affair with Shimano. In July 2010, Eido and his wife resigned from the ZSS Board of Directors. Shimano sent a letter of apology to the ZSS community in September, 2010, stating "“Over time, I took your kindness for granted and arrogance grew in my heart. As a result, my sensitivity to feel the pain of others decreased. Now, as I reflect on the past, I realize how many people’s feelings and trust in me were hurt by my words and deeds.”. In addition, he stated that he would retire as abbot of the Zen Studies Society in December. He did so on December 8, 2010. Shinge Roko Sherry Chayat Roshi, who received dharma transmission in 1998, was installed as the new Abbot on January 1, 2011. In February, 2011, the Zen Studies Society announced that Eido Shimano no longer would teach Zen under the auspices of their organization. On July 2, 2011, an open meeting for all sangha members of the ZSS was held, where Shimano encouraged everyone to accept his successor, Shinge Sherry Chayat, as their teacher, and stated unequivocally that in order to avoid further controversy and division, he would no longer formally teach Zen in any capacity. Some of the richer students left the Zen Studies Society, causing financial difficulties for the society. Shimano remained in the apartment owned and maintained by the ZSS. He sued the organization for a pension, a pension denied by the Society's leaders who stated that he was not entitled to one given his years of inappropriate behavior. In December, 2012, Myoshinji, the headquarters of Shimano's claimed lineage sect, issued a public statement responding to the controversies surrounding Shimano and ZSS; they state they have Eido Shimano died on February 18, 2018, in
Gifu is a Cities of Japan, city located in the south-central portion of Gifu Prefecture, Japan, and serves as the prefectural capital. The city has played an important role in Japan's history because of its location in the middle of the country. Durin ...
, Japan, at the age of 85.


Dharma heirs

* Junpo Denis Kelly * Andy Afable * Sherry Chayat * John Mortensen (now Egmund T. Sommer) * Genjo Marinello Eido Shimano and his successors, are not acknowledged by Myoshinji.


Bibliography

* * * * * * * *Shimano, Eido ed. (1978)
''Like a Dream, Like a Fantasy: The Zen Teachings and Translations of Nyogen Senzaki.''
Japan Publications.


See also

* Zen in the USA *
Buddhism in the United States The term American Buddhism can be used to describe all Buddhism, Buddhist groups within the United States, including Asian Americans, Asian-American Buddhists born into the faith, who comprise the largest percentage of Buddhists in the country. ...
*
List of Rinzai Buddhists {{short description, None Founder *Linji Yixuan A *Ankokuji Ekei * Sōgen Asahina *Ashikaga Yoshimitsu B *Bassui Tokushō * George Bowman C * Sherry Chayat * Chō Tsuratatsu *Chūgan Engetsu *Leonard Cohen D *Watazumi Doso *Ji Gong * Ogino Do ...
*
Timeline of Zen Buddhism in the United States Below is a timeline of important events regarding Zen Buddhism in the United States. Dates with "?" are approximate. Events Early history * 1893: Soyen Shaku comes to the United States to lecture at the World Parliament of Religions held in ...


References


Sources

* * * * * *


External links


Sweeping Zen, ''Eido Shimano Collection''





Christopher Hamacher, ''"Zen Has No Morals!"'' - The Latent Potential for Corruption and Abuse in Zen Buddhism, as Exemplified by Two Recent Cases
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shimano, Eido Tai 1932 births 2018 deaths Zen Buddhist abbots 20th-century abbots Buddhism in the United States Religious leaders from New York (state) Buddhism in New York (state) Japanese Buddhist clergy Rinzai Buddhists Japanese Zen Buddhists American Zen Buddhists American Buddhist monks Rōshi Religious leaders from Tokyo Japanese Rinzai Zen Buddhists