Certainly, in some circles of Buddhism the teacher is accepted as the final authority. His word, if a student wishes to continue to be a member of a particular Dharma center, is final. The teacher doesn't have to provide a reason for his pronouncements. A Dharma teacher's job, supposedly, is to shatter our ego, that is, shatter our resistance to authority. This means, further, that a Buddhist teacher is not here to help us make sense of the Buddhist canon including the path to nirvana. About the role of a Buddhist teacher, Chögyam Trungpa sums it up nicely who once said: "Thank you for accepting me as your friend, teacher, dictator"!
To understand why authority appears in this way in Dharma centers and Zen centers is first to understand that any community is defined by shared aspirations, that is, a commonality of goals. Thus, a community such as a Zen center is the construction of people who share certain opinions and goals about Zen; who may even share a particular vision of what enlightenment should be; who firmly believe they are working to that end. Such a community is never a homogeneous community. It has clear hierarchical structures, each with a degree of authority—the ultimate authority being the teacher or in Trungpa's words, the dictator.
Above all, with such communities, resistance to the imposition of authority is more or less frowned upon because it is believed to undermine the community. One's resistance to the goals and aspirations of the community is condensed into one word, it is egoism. The allowance of egoism can directly challenge the teacher's authority if, in some way, it is not contained or made to support the vision and goals of the community.
Wishing to conclude, where I am pointing with this is for the benefit of the beginner or the Buddhist veteran who is looking for a Dharma center to join. Both need to be cautious about which Buddhist community they may wish to join. Both must do a thorough investigation to see if they have anything in common (it better be about 80 percent or more). All Buddhist centers are different—not one is the same. This means, also, their interpretation of Buddhism is going to be different. Most importantly, at their head is also the "friend, teacher, dictator" whose mission it is, is to make sure the goals of the community are being met. In the final analysis, a beginner or a veteran may just wish to become a “cloud wandering” monk or a nun, like in China, and study many forms of Buddhism meeting, along the way, many teachers. It is a much better path—dictators are few.
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