NEWS: Brad Warner's Hardcore Zen: Big Mind™ is a Big Load™ of Horse Shit

CULTURE: Brad Warner's Hardcore Zen: Big Mind™ is a Big Load™ of Horse Shit

Although there are scam artists out there calling themselves Buddhist teachers, they are the exception, not the rule. Most people who put out their shingle as a Buddhist teacher are at the very least sincere and well-meaning, and at best the kind of people who go entirely unrecognized during their lifetimes but will be regarded as saints and foreseers of the future of mankind by generations as yet unborn. Go find one and make friends.

IÂ’m usually not specific when I write about the rare scams disguised as Buddhism because when you point fingers at someone you always get into trouble. Today, though, IÂ’m going to point fingers, knowing full well there will be a backlash for having taken a stand against wealthy, well-connected and powerful people who will not like what I have to say. You can take what IÂ’m about to say however you like, but at the very least I want to make it clear that, although the people I'm going to talk about here call themselves Buddhists in the Soto school of the Zen tradition just like I do, I do not support their methods nor do I want to be perceived as having anything at all to do with them. If you find what I say about Zen interesting and want to learn more, please do not go to these guys to teach you. What they teach is not Buddhism in any way shape or form, and I'll explain why.

Dennis Merzel, who calls himself Genpo Roshi, has developed a system he calls Big Mind™. And yes, the little ™ is part of the name. According to the Roshi, by using this technique, "you will have in one day — before lunch actually — the clarity and experience that a Zen master has. But Zen is seen as the school of sudden enlightenment. And we're just making sure it remains sudden." Ken Wilber, in his foreword to Genpo Roshi’s forthcoming book on Big Mind™ says, “In Zen, this realization of one’s True Nature, or Ultimate Reality, is called kensho or satori (“seeing into one’s True Nature,” or discovering Big Mind™ and Big Heart). It often takes five years or more of extremely difficult practice (I know, I’ve done it) in order for a profound satori to occur. With the Big Mind™ Process, a genuine kensho can occur in about an hour—seriously. Once you get it, you can do it virtually any time you wish, and almost instantaneously.”

This is, of course, pure horseshit. Clowns like these can con folks into parting with large sums of money — there’s a $150 “suggested donation” to attend a Big Mind™ seminar — to hear them spout drivel like this because there is so little understanding of what kensho or satori — Enlightenment, in other words — actually is. In fact, there is so much confusion on the subject that I tend to reject the words entirely. If what Genpo Roshi is selling is Enlightenment, I want no part of Enlightenment.

What do you imagine happens to a dude who gets a wild tripped-out dissociative experience in an afternoon and has some other guy who’s supposed to be a “Spiritual Master” interpret that experience for him as Enlightenment just like Buddha’s? How does the dude feel about the Master who he thinks gave him this great gift? Does he owe the Master something now? And will the dude do pretty much anything the Master asks him to just so the Master will keep on confirming the dude’s Enlightenment? What if the dude does something the Master doesn’t like and the Master starts telling everyone the dude isn’t Enlightened anymore? Does the dude’s Enlightenment even exist without the Master’s confirmation? That’s the key question. And, for bonus points, having just parted with a hundred-and-fifty smackers is the dude a.) more or b.) less likely to admit he’s been ripped off? Answers on a postcard, please.

People love to be told they can get a big pay off with no real investment and Genpo really packs ‘em in wherever he goes. But when was the last time you got something for nothing?

In the furious paced, get it done yesterday world we live in the idea of In-And-Out Enlightenment sounds pretty appealing. But do you really think someone who weasels you in with an appeal to your hunger for big experiences right away so you can get it done with and move on to the next thing really has anything at all of value to offer? It is this very hunger for big experiences that Buddhist practice — real practice as opposed to Big Mind™ — is intended to root out.

You cannot suck a piano into your nose through a straw and you cannot get Enlightened in an hour. Never. No way. No how. Fergeddaboudit! Enlightenment — the very word makes me cringe at this point — is a process that necessarily involves maturation over time. Just like a little kid can’t become a grown-up in an hour no matter how hard she wishes for it, neither can you “have the experience of a Zen Master” before lunchtime. The very idea is patently absurd. It would be like someone telling you that you could develop biceps like Arnold in an afternoon or be able to shoot hoops against Michael Jordan after a day’s b-ball lessons. It is not going to happen. Ever. To anyone. Under any circumstances. Period.

Buddhist practice is difficult and takes a lot of time, effort and energy. I know no one likes hearing that. But tough titty if you donÂ’t. There are no shortcuts. There are no easy ways to circumvent the pain and difficulty of practice any more than there are ways to develop Arny-style guns without working out for years.

I do not doubt that Genpo has developed a technique that will give you some kind of tripped out experience in an afternoon. But tripped out experiences you get in an afternoon have no place in Buddhism. Everything I said previously about supposedly drug induced Enlightenment experiences goes double for Big Mind™.

If you think Enlightenment is something someone can give you in a big hurry for $150, you deserve your Genpo Roshis and their slimy ilk. But if you're ready to face up to reality, the real practice is there and the real teachers are more plentiful than you imagine.

Brad Warner may never work in the Zen business again after this. But he is the author of Hardcore Zen and the forthcoming Sit Down and Shut Up!. He maintains a blog about Buddhist stuff. If you're in Southern California and you want to try some Zazen for yourself, he has a group that meets every Saturday in Santa Monica.

I am always curious about what type of people entertain the idea that these scams might be for real (not just Buddhist scams)

KEN WILBER NOOOOOOOO

First Law of the Guru business:

"There's a Seeker born every minute."

Enlightenment makes a person aware of those things that are true and worth pursuing to becoming a better person. Society as a whole would benefit if every person became true human beings. There's no reward for the teacher who provides such guidance, other than the satisfaction that he/she has helped another person become a true human being. If someone comes along and tells you that he/she can help you achieve enlightenment at a cost of X dollars, then you know you are dealing with a charlatan.

Thanks for another great column. For years I wanted some sort of "walking on fire to change your life" experience, and they meant nothing, except that I was lazy and undisciplined. Daily sitting has changed everything. I don't really know how, but it has.

My zen is free.

I found it in the bush at the end of the garden.

I could not agree with you more. As Eisai said, "If you sit for one hour, you are a one-hour Buddha. If you sit for one day, you are a one-day Buddha."

Man, that is a serious downer that Wilbur signed on for this shit.

You're right-
You can't manufacture sudden enlightenment.
Otherwise everybody would have it.

For some reason throughout reading this article I couldn't stop thinking about the bald, moustached guy from Robocop saying 'I'd buy that for a dollar'.

Its OK in Utah for your "Teacher" have 100 wives right?

My mind is fricken HUGE. Well. . .my brain is. Ok, I just have a giant head.

Also in parts of Idaho, Arizona, Colorado, Nevada and Montana.

Geez ... now you tell me!

Useful point I read somewhere

The hazard of word is that a man may think he possesses a thing because he knows its name.

Two disclaimers. 1.) Reading Ken Wilber's Sex, Ecology and Spirituality inspired me to stop being an arm chair eastern philosopher and take up zen practice. 2.) I study in Maezumi Roshi's lineage which includes Dennis Genpo Merzel.

Taizan Maezumi Roshi was one of the prominent Japanese Zen masters, of the same generation as Suzuki Roshi, who helped bring an authentic version of Soto Zen to the states in the 60's and 70's. Taizan Maezumi Roshi was a Dharma successor of Hakuun Yasutani Roshi, Koryu Osaka Roshi, and Baian Hakujun Kuroda Roshi. He established and taught at the Zen Center of Los Angeles. Among his successors were his senior students Bernie Tetsugen Glassman and Dennis Genpo Merzel.

I do not know what Genpo Roshi is up to now with the Big Mind thing, I haven't been exposed to it; however, he is not some wacko who just hung up a sign and called himself a "Zen Master", he does have an authentic background and has been a well respected teacher in the past. Could he be completely off his rocker now? Maybe. Could it be a guided meditation that provides a glimmer of authentic experience that is meant to plant a seed that someone may tend to later with true practice? Maybe. I don't really know, but I just wanted to provide some broader context.

Brad, I did enjoy your column, and all your previous ones, and think it is most appropriate to hold this up to the light and discuss. I look forward to becoming more informed on this subject myself.

In Gassho,
-Kyle

Taizan Maezumi Roshi and Bernie Tetsugen Glassman were highly respected by my primary teachers: Seung Sahn Dae Soen Sa Nim and the other teachers of the Kwan Um School. I have not met Dennis Genpo Merzel myself, and so cannot speak from first-hand experience, but I've heard and read tales about him that indicate he can be quite ... controversial.

Brad, what you write about Zen practice agrees with my own experience. It does take time, effort, and energy. I have watched my mind mature over the years I have been practicing, but I realize I still have some distance to go. Please keep blogging on the subject, but be careful not to take yourself too seriously.

Cheers,

- Dr. Chaos

I actually checked out the DVD that Genpo Roshi is selling recently. I wouldn't have, save for the fact that I've always really appreciated his books in the past.
I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised. It's basically a three hour "pointing out" instruction, which is, like kyle said above, a guided meditation that provides a glimpse of authentic experience. That doesn't mean it's all hunky dory, by any means, and not because it doesn't work, but because if you participate fully in the technique, it does.
That big mind that Genpo Roshi is pointing to is always there. It's actually what we all are, but since our mind posesses the natural capacity to think, remember, feel, etc, we tend to forget the canvas that all these various experiences are painted on. (I think the traditional analogy is that the mind is like space). That's the basic premise anyway, and something my meditation practice has confirmed for me.
Since people tend to get caught up in all the movement in the mind, which has a definite effect on the entire organism. When that natural vastness of mind is made evident, it's like the most amazing breath of fresh air.It really is like coming home again, on the one hand. On the other hand it seems like a new experience, since we can't ever remember a time when we weren't driven round and round in circles by our thoughts. Naturally, the initial reaction is to think "oh shit, I've discovered something wonderful." It really feels amazing, so it's an understandable reaction.
Thing is, that big space has been there all along, and as long as we're conscious, it always will be. So getting a taste of that isn't attaining enlightenment, it's getting a reminder of the really obvious thing that we've been failing to see.
Just having that glimpse one time isn't enough. It's like saying you live in Paris because you visited there once with your eighth grade class.
I think the experience that the big mind technique provides is genuine, and I think that could be a problem for a lot of people. If you already have a practice, great, it'll give you a fresh perspective, and maybe bring the whole thing down to earth again. If you don't however that glimpse of "buddha mind" could destroy you. Imagine the pride that could result if you thought you'd "made it" and could rest on your laurels.

Brad,

I'm with you 100% on this one. Its too bad, that so many well intentioned people have been supporting this baloney.

I think the criticism you have been facing for speaking out about BM is a little hypocritical.

Its perplexing to to see people attack you and twist your words out of context, then claim they are doing so in defense of "Right Speech"; give me a break.

All in all, its not such a huge deal. I suppose they don't understand your writing style and sense of humor. But, it is sorta educational to see how people react when confronted by a truth that makes them feel uncomfortable.

Keep up the good work.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

P.S. - has anybody checked out the piece on Buddhist Geeks about BM? I was not impressed, but each to his own

Thank you for being completely forthright and honest about the absurd nature of some "Buddhist" teachers - the things that sometimes can pass for spirituality these days can be mighty disturbing, if you ask me.

Brad, you should try it. I just started reading your book, Sit Down and Shut Up, today. So far, so good. You make a point of talking about the Buddha teaching that we should value experience above all else. Contact me, and I will gladly send you a thirty minute audio clip which will allow you to experience satori through the Big Mind process yourself. I won't charge you... it's something I downloaded from Integral Naked several years ago. I didn't believe it, either, but it's true. I'm not saying that there's no point in meditating anymore. There is. And I don't think Genpo or Ken Wilber would eschew sitting, either. But the fact is, this process can give you a taste, and I do believe it has some illustrative value. I think you're off base on this one.

haters gonna hate