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gomyo- gomyo
- Hoodie Monks
I'm a Buddhist priest living in Japan. Also a muralist and calligrapher, as well as essayist.
I was the first non-Japanese to be given Dharma Transmission in the Omuro School of Shingon Buddhism.
Became a Shikoku Pilgrimage Temple Association Sendatsu (Pilgrim Guide) in December of 2006.
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I accepted the position of serving as Barry Graham's "teacher" some time ago. I did this without ever having met the man face to face. I gave him the name "Dogo." I provided him with many hundreds of dollars worth of materials and cash over the past two years. The monk's robe and rakusus he wears came from me, as did the sound instruments used in his "zendo."
I made a serious error in judgement in taking his word as to his credentials and allowed innumerable unfulfilled promises on his part to go unchecked.
It has become increasingly apparent that Barry is in serious difficulty and that his words and actions have become increasingly erratic and delusional. I withdrew my support from him on December 7 of 2008. I did this as an act of desperation due to his unwillingness to communicate with me, refusal to return my repeated telephone calls and the innumerable promises he made to me that went ignored and unfulfilled.
He has alienated and hurt a number of people recently including my son Rev. Ryushin, myself, his former senior student Mui and now Ven. Gomyo. Last night he removed all reference to Ven. Gomyo from his blog because Ven. Gomyo requested confirmation of his ordination and recent claims to hold inka in the Soto Zen tradition.
I have taken this highly unusual step in bringing these facts out in public because I am partially responsible for validating him by allowing my name to be used in the role of "teacher." It was a grievous error on my part and has resulted in harm to others. For this I express my profound contrition.
I have genuine love for Barry, he has some remarkable characteristics and skills. However, it has become painfully obvious of late that he has slipped into a state of delusional thinking and blatant denial.
This public action on my part is being done out of concern for Barry's mental well being and with great concern over the potential damage he may cause others.
With deep apology and profound regret,
Kobutsu Malone
Best wishes,
Jessi
In other words, "Roshi" is not simply an honorific, it has a deep, significant meaning, and records are kept by the new Roshi, and by the monastery where the Inka ceremony took place.
That said, there seems to be one or two cases of informal "Administrative Inka" [my term] given quietly and out of necessity--generally to a monk of Japanese descent, who knows the ceremonies well, and who has *some* degree of attainment from having trained with a qualified teacher, but who for some reason is living outside of Asia, i.e., the US--to enable the monk to take over the rank of abbot of a center or monastery. Obviously, these people have no formal recognition, ceremony, or certificate stating their, uh... "Inka-ship."
Then there are other people referred to as "Roshi" either in error by their students, or as an honorific to portray the greatness of their teachings.... Quite often these teachers actually *do* have significant attainment, and because of this, they *never* refer to themselves as "Roshi WhatsHisName"... And of course, they obviously have no certificate...
And finally, there are quite a few people who have never received Inka, or who have received Inka from teachers who have not *themselves* received Inka... This is quite often the actual reason some students will leave one teacher and seek a different teacher. Because of the humiliation it would cause the non-Inka'd teacher, it is virtually never given publicly as the "real reason"... unless, of course, egregious deception is involved... unless the teacher is doing it for personal gain or bragging rights (wrong speech), or unless the teacher is just flat-out lying, claiming capabilities he or she simply does NOT possess (a BIG no-no in ALL schools of Buddhism... right up there with claiming enlightenment by saying "I no longer suffer").
It's also the first word of a song made famous by Jimmie Durante. *I gotta million of 'em.*
-k
that being said, this almost certainly had to be a painful and/or confusing development for you... but hang in there; your true teacher will appear.
Just to be clear though, Dogo was never my teacher. I am an Ajari in the Shingon school of esoteric Buddhism. . Dogo actually asked ME to train HIM in Shingon meditation when we talked on the phone a couple of weeks ago...
Perhaps Mr. Graham is mistaking the dissociative state of mind that accompanies PTSD with awakening. A person experiencing the mental state of depersonalization might actually think he is not suffering... and therefore, is enlightened.
However, enlightenment is not depersonalization.
The enlightened mind would not feel the need to attack.
In point of fact, Mr. Graham has never met the person who until recently he claimed as his teacher. Has "Sensei" Graham met *any* of his teachers? (I mean, other than martial arts teachers?)
In addition, at a time that his students are abandoning him, Mr. Graham's treatment of Gomyo is rather revealing... as is his rather strange recent post about Kobutsu..
Rev. Kobutsu is apparently one of those rare people who knows how to say "I was wrong." He stated above that he made an error, a mistake; he takes responsibility and apologizes.. for sending Mr. Graham robes, money, ritual objects, etc., because the result of these actions might have been misconstrued by Mr. Graham and others as validation not only that Mr. Graham *has* a teacher, but also that he is *himself* a teacher.
He also stated that he still has genuine love for Mr. Graham, but that his concern for OTHERS rather overwhelms this at this point in Mr. Graham's illness.
Rev. Gomyo did the right thing. Rev. Kobutsu did the right thing. It is now obvious what Mr. Graham thinks of the Teacher-Student relationship, if he ever actually considered Rev. Kobutsu a teacher. And if he didn't think of him as a teacher, he used The Great Kobutsu's name to deceive others. And he twists his relationship with Rev. Gomyo beyond recognition, using Rev. Gomyo's teachings as his own...
Either way, students and teachers of Mr. Graham should remember how he senselessly lashed out and attacked highly respected teachers who (sight unseen) showed him a great deal of generosity and compassion.... For such an attack may soon happen to them.
Incidentally, Rev. Kobutsu is no longer ill, despite the wishes of Mr. Graham. Yet, it *is* appalling that Mr. Graham can attack a man he sees as frail, ill, or dying, isn't it?
-k (aka dc)
looks like someone knows the jig is up.
http://monkeymindonline.blogspot.com/200
http://www.rickross.com/warningsigns.htm
Thanks for your input. I have not been impressed with the situation either. It has been extremely disappointing to find myself in the middle of a huge drama simply by making a short, factuaI blog post.
I have one minor clarification and three questions for you.
The clarification is that I am not a Zen master. I am an Ajari. See here for a brief definition of the term: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O108-a
First question: Are you suggesting that I should remove this post?
Second question: Are you suggesting that I have bashed him anonymously?
Third question: What is the difference between an anonymous post and a post that shows a user name that was created, as far as I can tell after looking at the profile, specifically to post the above comment and contains only a birth date,without the year and no other information or blog posts? May I ask who you are? If you don't to reveal your identity publicly, feel free to send me a private message via livejournal.
Be well,
Mui
Its not slander to say this.
Its also true that he doesn't allow critical comments on his blog or questions about dharma transmission.
6 - Not to speak of others’ faults, but to be understanding and sympathetic.
Thanks for your comment. I can understand your concern. The precepts are definitely very serious, and not to be taken lightly. Unlike the Biblical 10 Commandments, however, they are not set in stone; they are guidelines, training tools, we are to work with to help us awaken. In some situations, it can do more harm than good to adhere to legalistic interpretations of the precepts For instance, lying to the Nazi interrogator about the Jews hiding in your basement is not, truly, a violation of the precept "a follower of the Way does not lie but rather cultivates and encourages truthful communication" The precept you quote is a reminder (as are all precepts) that we are not separate from those we would seek to cast beneath us. In the case of a potentially self-appointed teacher who regularly declares his own enlightenment (i.e. "I do not suffer."), it is of greater benefit to all beings that such a person should be exposed.
Why can't Barry just show his teaching credentials?
The problem isn't anonymous or not or who said what. Its the fact that a Zen teacher has to have specific credentials. If Barry has them he should show them.
If he doesn't he needs to be held accountable.
Nothing personal.
I received this from my friend Rengetsu:
2 Timothy 2:14-26. Have nothing to do with stupid and senseless
controversies; you know that they breed quarrels.
In the Dhammapada, the Buddha also says, "You too shall pass away. Knowing this, how can you quarrel." Also, "The winner sows hatred because the loser suffers. Let go of winning and losing."
But I think we should be clear what these things point to, which is how we work with our own minds, how we pick and choose, how we want to be important.
Having said all that, it's disheartening to find over and over the only time anyone in the Buddhist comminuty seems to trot out these kinds of quotes is when they don't want to be called on their own shit. Then these teachings become something else to hide behind, like invented Dharma Transmissions and manufactured pasts.
Like Robert Aitken Roshi used to say, "The devil quotes scripture." Any "teaching" can be used to justify any behavior or lack of accountability.
The same guy who said "how can you quarrel?" the original teacher of anyone practicing Dharma, was also known to go apeshit on bhikkhus who flaunted their own attainments, for instance. Shakyamuni Buddha isn't around anymore, and while I believe Barry's "attainments" -- his enlightenment, his lack of suffering -- surpass even mere fabrication into delusion, setting that aside, at the very least we should expect our teachers to be able to produce transmission papers since it's those very transmission papers, plus the teacher's stated training, that justifies them calling themselves a teacher in the first place.
Be delusional all you want. But once you don a rakusu and set up shop in an established tradition -- precisely because that tradition is what's giving you cred -- it's weak all the way around to start crying foul when someone asks you point blank who gave you the right to wield that stick in the zendo.