Preventing Sexual Misconduct -Recognizing, Responding, Recovering - An ongoing class for Buddhist Community Leaders
Spring 2023 Course Materials
2nd Letter with Zoom Link (link is also below)
NOTE: This page is being regularly updated
[Scroll down to the bottom for Teacher Bios]
Pre-work
Before you come to class, find a copy of your ethics policy and re-read the entire section on sexual misconduct. Ask yourself: is sexual misconduct defined? Does the policy cover everyone including teachers and leaders? Is there a neutral process in place to report misconduct? Is there a simple roadmap to follow when complaints are made?
These are just a few of the questions we will be addressing. If you do not have a policy, begin to think about these questions so you will be better prepared to create one after the class sessions.
ZOOM LINK FOR ALL CLASSES
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/3574445377
Enrollees: Please do not share zoom link with other interested (but unenrolled)students ; please DO ask them to enroll with Shogaku registrar: registrar@shogakuzen.org
Links to be explored prior to class
From Resilient Sangha:
About the resilient sangha project
Power structures and power struggles
Why I stayed from the survivor
Resources (from other sanghas)
Also: From Julie A Nelson’s blog November 2018 Dangers of Zen
Guest Speakers for the First Class
Rebecca Behizadeh was president of the Greater Boston Zen Center (GBZC) Board from 2019-2022, and the the lead of the Resilient Sangha Project Trustees (an initiative of the GBZC board). She has been attending GBZC since 2013. She also has a Masters in Divinity from Harvard Divinity School
Jill Gaulding is a former legal academic and attorney who focused on civil rights law. In 2010, she co-founded a nonprofit called Gender Justice and ran it for 7 years. She has a Masters of Divinity from Harvard Divinity School. She is currently the Executive Director and an interfaith chaplain for a nonprofit, called Chaplains on the Way. She began practicing with GBZC in 2017, was VP of the GBZC Board from 2019-2022, and is a member of the Resilient Sangha Project Trustees.
Julie Nelson is a lay Dharma Holder and the Teaching Coordinator at GBZC. She is a retired university professor who now writes on Zen topics on her blog and in Tricycle magazine. At the time of the abuse at GBZC, she was a Senior Assistant Teacher and the Ethics Ombudsperson.
Other Resources:
Safe Harbor, a guide from 1989; more info and link to PDF:
TEACHER BIOS FOR THIS CLASS
Teachers on Sangha Dynamics
Reverend Steve Kanji Ruhl, a faculty member of the Shogaku Zen Institute, ordained as a Zen Buddhist minister in the Zen Peacemaker Order and now teaches independently through his Touch the Earth cyber-sangha. Reverend Kanji received his Master of Divinity degree from Harvard University and is a Buddhist spiritual adviser at Deerfield Academy and a Buddhist Adviser at Yale University. Kanji has been a guest speaker or workshop facilitator at Harvard’s Center for World Religions, Yale Divinity School, the International Conference on Socially Engaged Buddhism, the Omega Institute, and elsewhere. He is the author of four books, including the recent Appalachian Zen: Journeys in Search of True Home, from the American Heartland to the Buddha Dharma.
Eric Daishin McCabe apprenticed with Dai-En Bennage Roshi of Mount Equity Zendo for 15 years. During this time, he trained at several Soto Zen Monasteries in and the United States, including Tassajara Zen Mountain Center and the Nebraska Zen Center. In 2013, he did a yearlong training in Chaplaincy, and is certified to teach yoga both to the general public and to trauma survivors. Daishin offers Zen classes and retreats at Zen Fields in Ames, is the interim head priest at Nebraska Zen Center, offers Trauma Sensitive Yoga at two hospitals, and lectures on the World Religions at Des Moines Area Community College. In his spare time he enjoys swimming, biking, practicing calligraphy and watercolor, and hanging out with his wife and son.
Steven Tierney, Kai Po Koshin, began Buddhist practice in 1994. He first received the precepts from Thich Nhat Hahn at Plum Village in 1997. He was ordained in 2013 and received Dharma Transmission in November 2021 in the lineage of Suzuki Roshi, founder of the SF Zen Center. Dr. Tierney is a psychotherapist in private practice and a Professor Emeritus of Counseling Psychology at the CA Institute of Integral Studies. He is a Certified Addiction Specialist and has been named a Diplomate in Clinical Mental Health by the American Mental Health Counselors Association. He is also a certified suicide prevention and intervention trainer: providing workshops and classes and consultations. Steven can be reached at 415-235-1061. steventierneysf@gmail.com
Myoan Grace Schireson was ordained and transmitted by the late Sojun Mel Weitsman. She also did koan practice with the late Keido Fukushima roshi at Tofukuji temple in Kyoto, Japn. She is the head teacher of the Central Valley Zen Foundation and president of the Shogaku Zen Institute. She is the author of Zen Women and Naked in the Zendo and co-editor of Zen Bridge. She is also a clinical psychologist, married with two grown sons and 4 grandchildren.
ATTORNEYS
Carol Merchasin has been a partner at a number of large US law firms, advising corporate clients on eliminating sexual misconduct in the workplace. She is currently of counsel with McAllister Olivarius in London where she leads a team of lawyers who are litigating on behalf of those who have been harmed by sexual misconduct in Buddhist and other spiritual communities.
Steve Treagus is an attorney with more than a decade's worth of experience in training on sexual harassment prevention, with a strong emphasis on creating a culture that's resistant to harassment and discrimination. He has a background in employment law. He’s also practiced Zen Buddhism for more than a decade, mostly with Zenki Mary Mocine in Vallejo, but also at Green Gulch Farm and at Berkeley Zen Center.