The Promise and Peril of Buddhist Meditation

ABSTRACT

Buddhist meditation promises liberation and relief of suffering. In considering the benefits of Buddhist meditation, one must also examine what potential damage could be sustained when practicing meditation in an unethical or unconscious Buddhist community. Particularly, the guru-student relationship has resulted in challenges and abuses of power. This article reviews the wholesome aspects of meditation, reveals the systemic failures we are encountering in Western Buddhist communities that fail to protect their vulnerable members from exploitation, and offers some theoretical maps of the territory.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

¹ Richard (2019).

² Littlefair (2019).

³ Greenblatt (2018).

⁴ Bielefeldt (2018).

⁵ These guidelines were condensed from cult scholars Lalich and Madeleine (2006).

⁶ Newman (2018).

⁷ Zimbardo (2011).

⁸ Berns et al. (2005).

⁹ Berkeley Zen Center chant.

¹⁰ Adultsabusedbyclergy.org.

¹¹ Oppenheimer (2014).

¹² American Psychiatric Association (2013).

¹³ Masterson (2004).

¹⁴ https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/dissociative-disorders/what-are-dissociative-disorders.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Grace Schireson

Rev. Grace Schireson, Ph.D., has trained extensively in American and Japanese Zen. She is currently president of the Shogaku Zen Institute which is offering a Masters of Divinity in Zen and Mindfulness. She is the author, most recently, of Naked in the Zendo: Stories of Uptight Zen, Wild-Ass Zen and Enlightenment Wherever You Are (Shambhala, 2019).