Thursday, January 20, 2011

Maybe It's Just Me

I'm still trying to understand this story about the 70-something Zen master in New York who has been accused of sexually exploiting students for fifty years.

I was talking about this with a friend whose Buddhist beliefs are a mix of Tibetan and Theravada. I gave her a synopsis of what I'd read, and she said, "Oh, yeah. That happens all the time."

I know it happens frequently, I told her, but I didn't understand why women would agree to this.

"Well, if he's a teacher, that's a powerful attraction." She didn't say she'd done it herself, but I sort of had the sense that was hanging over her comment.

I still don't get it.

If your Zen teacher suggests to you that the two of you hook up, and maybe opens his robe to give you a look at the goods (as this guy apparently did), why would you not just say, "Well, thanks for the offer, but there are about fifty Zen masters in New York City, and I'm sure that at least some of them are not old perverts, so I'll just see you around."

Maybe I just have a weird attitude about sex. I'm not a Victorian. I don't think I'm a prude. But I wouldn't think, "Gee, maybe I oughta fuck this gal, so she won't be mad at me or not let me come to meetings." I would just go somewhere else.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Men are pigs, even Zen Buddhists. A lot of women are groupies--star f**kers. The Rinpoche in Boulder leading that group in the 70s was a well-known sex fiend--he poked every female that held still and a lot did. Religious zealots using God to get laid is such a cliche. The shadow lives in all of us. Soartstar