Brad Warner on Big Mind

Brad Warner has a few posts on his blog regarding Genpo Roshi's Big Mind process:
Rootin' and Tootin'

The 6th and 7th Precepts

And see his older post on his website What The Bleep Part Two

In addition, here is the article referenced in those posts - 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.

I’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, I’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 I’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 don’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.

Comments

[~C4Chaos]

whoah! now that is juicy! i wonder what the BuddhistGeeks would say about this :)

~C

[Tom]

I am often a little uncomfortable with Brad's bradifications on the world -- but not here.

I was once greatly impressed and influenced by Merzel's first book, but, alas, here goes another one -- it seems there is some connection between getting under Wilber's wing and the beginnings of pouncing on the public in one way or another.

BTW, as I write this, I notice Deikman in your blogroll. You know about Deikman and the blue vases, right? And how Neo knocks over a blue vase in the Oracle's kitchen in their first encounter? In is my theory that The Matrix is closely entwined with Deikman's writings. I emailed the good doctor about four years ago; he hadn't seen the movie, but was interested.

[RB]

It is interesting to watch the DVD of this technique and consider where it came from. It is presented as though it is a great discovery and yet it never mentions "Voice Dialogue". Voice Dialogue began in the Eighties with Hal and Sidra Stone (delos-inc.com) and seems to be his source. It seems he has ripped off the whole technique from Voice Dialogue and then changed its name and called it Big Mind.

[Jack Pemberton]

I've watched the videos of this guy at YouTube. He's just another snake oil salesman, trying to make a living. There will always be enough transcendent seeking shortcutters around to make him wealthy beyond his dreams. And there's the Einstein of consciousness himself, Kenny boy, giving the thumbs-up! Will people never learn?

[Anon]

They're offering something called Integral Practice through our local Kaiser Permanente--an HMO.

The deal includes Big Mind (BM)the 321 shadow work and other wilberian gems.

Has any of this stuff been peer reviewed, and tested through double blind research protocol to

1) insure that it is more effective than placebo

2) The benefits demonstrably outweight the risks?

This is a health care organization, for petes sake?

And Wilber himself is not trained or licensed either as an MD or as a mental health professional. He does not make himself accountable to peer review nor is he legally required to stay up on continuing education as true professionals do.

Strange.

[folhaseca]

I would like to talk to the dogmatic
rigid mind. Shifts in seat.
What is your job?

[anonda]

Anon is right. Why, when it comes to spirituality, are we willing to suspend disbelief? Nothing is ouside the circle - even critical thinking. Can you imagine Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed, Socrates, Lao Tzu, Mother Teresa, Gandhi etc. doing weekend seminars and hawking their DVDs? True spirituality is not about the money.
P.S. If you want to become a student of Genpo, there is a big emphasis on submission. Smells like a cult to me.

[Jason]

With all due respect, Mr. Warner, you can find several good Big Mind sessions on integralnaked.com... not $150, but $10 for a month of I-N... and I think they have a deal where the first month is free. You might want to give this a try before you go off on it like this. I know what it sounds like, but it's legit. It will produce a genuine satori experience in a very short period of time. Genpo has also fully credited Hal & Sidra Stone for the inspiration for Big Mind, RB. He actually worked with them in the late 70s. Again, I know what it all sounds like, but you should check things out for yourself if you're going to put out something so scathing as this. Cheers.

[eslow]

Brad's comments reflect many of my own concerns regarding the Big Mind process. Moreover, having sat in on several of these sessions, it seems that a better name for the process would be "Pretty Big Ego." What Genpo is selling (for up to $150K for private 5 day sessions) is a trans-personal psychological methodology, that rather then letting go of the ego, is design to come to a place of peace with the factors that threaten the ego, and thereby coming to a point of conditional acceptance of those factors (and therefore the ego). From the point of view of psychological panacea, the methodology is fine at being what it is. However, to relate it somehow to Zen enlightenment is to greatly misunderstand the school of Zen, which is based on a specific practice form which leads to a an understanding that can not be reached by methods based in the discursive thought process. Moreover, based on my personal experience of having practiced Zen with Japanese teachers for over 20 years, Dennis Merzel is by no means an "enlightened" person. But I suppose that the Zen school should be thankful that Merzel didn't find sitting meditation valuable enough to trademark--otherwise, instead of shikan taza, the practice would now be called "Big Butt."