In recent decades, various forms of Buddhist practices have become more and more popular. The stories of profound life transformations through Buddhism are plentiful and the benefits of Buddhist forms of meditation are continuously reported by both practitioners and researchers.
However, compared to other religious communities, Buddhism and in particular Zen Buddhism has been considered rather immune from allegations of sectarian scandals such as teacher abuse of authority and trust for economic, sexual, or other self-interested purpose.
In this podcast I talk with Christopher Hamacher, zen Buddhist practitioner and daily leader of the Zen Dojo am Ostbahnhof in Munich, about both the merits and beauties of Zen Buddhism and about some of the deplorable cases of abuse in zen communities that Christopher has written about. Christopher has a degree in law from Universite de Montreal from 1994, currently works as a translator in Munich, and has been practicing Zen Buddhism since 1999 in both Japan, America, and Europe.
We begin our conversation talking about Zen Buddhism, how it is practiced, and how Christopher became acquainted with the tradition. We then move on to discuss some of the unfortunate cases of student abuse with which Christopher also became familiar through his Zen Buddhist practice. Based on his thorough research into two cases of misconduct by teachers in a German and an American zen Buddhist community, Christopher abstracts some characteristics that are often common in abusive spiritual/religious leaders, and we further discuss how certain aspects of Zen Buddhism can be used as means of justification for abusive behaviour in zen communities. Finally, we talk about some constructive ways to create a safe, healthy, and inclusive community of spiritual practice.
I found the conversation with Cristopher very valuable and important – not only in terms of Zen Buddhism but in the light of the heightened interest in spiritual practice more generally – and I hope you will benefit from it too.
Resources
- You can find Christopher’s article ‘Zen has No Morals’ here.
- For German speaking readers, here is a recent interview with Christopher on the case of Klaus Zernickow and the legal case that Zernickow raised against Christopher.
- In 2017, Christopher participated at the conference of the International Association of Cultic Studies. See the talk here.
- An online archive with testimonies by former students of Eido Shimano.
- The webpage of the Zen Dojo am Ostbahnhof
If you know anyone or have yourself been victim of abuse, harassment, or any other form of unethical conduct in a spiritual or religious community, please seek support and do not hesitate to report the case so that the responsible people will be held accountable for their wrongdoings.
You can find general support and guidance on International Cultic Studies Association
In Germany, find help through:
In Denmark, find support at:
