Zentatsu Richard Baker
| Zentatsu Richard Baker | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| School | Sōtō |
| Lineage | Shunryu Suzuki |
| Education | Harvard University |
| Other names | Dick |
| Dharma names | Zentatsu |
| Personal | |
| Nationality | American |
| Born |
March 30, 1936 Biddeford, Maine, United States |
| Spouse | Princess Marie Louise of Baden (1999–present) |
| Senior posting | |
| Based in | Crestone Mountain Zen Center Buddhistisches Studienzentrum (Johanneshof) |
| Title | Roshi |
| Predecessor | Shunryu Suzuki |
| Successor |
Reb Anderson Philip Whalen Koyo Welch Ryuten Paul Rosenblum |
| Religious career | |
| Website |
www.dharma-sangha.de www.dharmasangha.org |
Zentatsu Richard Baker (born March 30, 1936), born Richard Dudley Baker, is an American Soto Zen master (or roshi), the founder and guiding teacher of Dharma Sangha—which consists of Crestone Mountain Zen Center located in Crestone, Colorado and the Buddhistisches Studienzentrum (Johanneshof) in Germany's Black Forest. As the American Dharma heir to Shunryu Suzuki, Baker assumed abbottship of the San Francisco Zen Center (SFZC) shortly before Suzuki's death in 1971. He remained abbot there until 1984, the year he resigned his position after it was disclosed in the previous year that he and the wife of one of SFZC's benefactors had been having an ongoing affair. Despite the controversy connected with his resignation, Baker was instrumental in helping the San Francisco Zen Center to become one of the most successful Zen institutions in the United States.
Richard Baker was born in Biddeford, Maine on March 30, 1936. Because his family moved around frequently, he lived in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Indiana, and Pittsburgh growing up. A descendant of Thomas Dudley, Baker was raised in a family of moderate wealth. He attended Harvard University, where he studied architecture and history. He then arrived in San Francisco, California in 1960—beginning to sit with Shunryu Suzuki in 1961. Baker was ordained a Sōtō priest by Suzuki in 1966 just before the opening of Tassajara Zen Mountain Center. Baker was instrumental in orchestrating the acquisition of Tassajara, raising $150,000 for the purchase in a short period of time. From 1968 to 1971, he traveled to Japan to practice at the primary Sōtō monasteries there, including Antaiji, Eiheiji, and Daitokuji.
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