At Hard Core Zen, Brad Warner has a great spoof of Dennis Merzel's Big Mind program, titled "New Levels of Minionship Available Now!" Warner Sensei follows up with two more posts explaining why Merzel and Big Mind are so offensive -- "What's So Wrong With Genpo Roshi?" and "Zen Prostitution."
It's hard to explain to someone outside the Zen (or other Buddhist) tradition what's so wrong with Big Mind. After all, there are plenty of other people marketing seminars, books, and DVDs full of innocuous spiritual advice. As long as there is no fraud or physical danger involved, this is none of my business.
But Merzel is still marketing his product as Zen, which it isn't, while steering awfully close to promising Big E Enlightenment (Anuttara samyak sambodhi -- "supreme perfect enlightenment") in exchange for a financial commitment. (How much you have to pay for the Big E is not specified on the website, but you don't get the Big E with the beginner-level commitment of a mere $300 a year.)
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