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Shozan Jack Haubner, the pen name of a Zen monk, went to the monastery in search of wisdom—and left in the wake of a sex scandal. He was one of Joshu Sasaki Roshi’s main caretakers in the years before he died in 2014, when the Rinzai Zen teacher was facing a spate of sexual abuse allegations from students. In Haubner’s new book, Single White Monk: Tales of Death, Failure, and Bad Sex (Although Not Necessarily in that Order), he works through that scandal’s fallout—and, as the subtitle suggests, various other themes that come up in the life a Zen monk—with his characteristic blend of candor and humor.
Haubner joins Tricycle’s executive editor Emma Varvaloucas in this podcast to discuss how writing helps him unravel the “big things” in life; the patterns of behavior commonly seen in communities where sexual abuse occurs between teacher and student; and his advice for any group that has a problem that’s been driven underground. “It’s alive,” he says, “and it’s calling for you to deal with it.”
Tricycle Talks is a podcast series featuring leading voices in the contemporary Buddhist world. You can listen to more Tricycle Talks on Spotify, iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitcher, and iHeartRadio.
Related: The Surrender Bender
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