This whole thing just sounds like a lot of middle-aged white guys (and some women) wanting to keep things Just Exactly the Way They Think They Should Be. Don't get me wrong; I'm a middle-aged white guy, as is Jundo, but (AFAIK) he doesn't have the BMW (nor do I).

As others have said, what does it matter? Is it important that there be equivalency between some upper-middle class Zen association and the rest of those who practice?

Part of their motivation could be the fact that they see people in Treeleaf, or others who follow former punk rockers (no disrespect to Brad; I think what he does is great), or Zen teachers with tattoos, and think that the safe little world they have created for themselves is under attack from the great unwashed.

Is it just a #MZGA thing? (Make Zen Great Again)

Ten years I've been hanging around Treeleaf, and there seems to be more honesty here than in a lot of other groups of people.

Gassho,

Kirk