Frederick Lenz

Frederick Philip Lenz, III, Ph.D., also known as Rama and Atmananda (February 9, 1950 in San Diego, California – April 12, 1998), was a spiritual teacher who taught what he termed American Buddhism, including the teachings of Tibetan Buddhism, Zen, Vedanta, and Mysticism. Lenz was also an author, software designer, businessman, and record producer.

Biography

Childhood and adolescence

Lenz was born February 9, 1950, at Mercy Hospital in San Diego, California. At the age of three, he and his family moved to Stamford, Connecticut. He spent the rest of his childhood and teenage years there, attending schools in the Stamford area.

Lenz's father, Frederick Lenz Jr., worked as a marketing executive and later went on to become the mayor of Stamford from 1973 to 1975. His mother, Dorothy Lenz, was a housewife and a student of astrology. His mother and father divorced when he was seven years old, his father remarried six years later. His mother died later on when he was sixteen years old. Lenz spent his childhood living alternately with his father, aunt and uncle, and grandparents.

After high school he spent a short period of incarceration in a work camp near San Diego on a marijuana-related conviction.

Education

Lenz graduated from Rippowam High School in 1967. He later attended the University of Connecticut, where he majored in English and minored in Philosophy. He was inducted as a member of the Phi Beta Kappa honor society and graduated Magna Cum Laude.

After college, he won a competitive State of New York Graduate Council Fellowship enabling him to continue his studies. He earned a Master of Arts and a Doctor of Philosophy from State University of New York at Stony Brook. His doctoral dissertation was on "The Evolution of Matter and Spirit in the Poetry of Theodore Roethke".

Spiritual teachings

Lenz's work, including his teaching and projects, focused on modern spiritual enlightenment through the application of Eastern religious principles. The main themes of his teaching included the practice of meditation, living and working in the world, and the enlightenment of women.

Lenz instructed students on methods for living more productive, fulfilled lives. He was an advocate of computer science and other mentally challenging professions as a means of achieving mental clarity.

Lenz wrote he first went into samadhi, or a state of spiritual absorption, at the age of 19. In his books Surfing the Himalayas and Snowboarding to Nirvana he stated that traveling to sacred locations heightened his experiences in meditation.

Beginning in 1972, he became a follower of Hindu guru Sri Chinmoy, who gave him the name "Atmananda" meaning "one who Bliss is in the Self". In 1981, after moving back to San Diego, he broke with Chinmoy and founded his own teaching center called Lakshmi.

"Self-discovery is the essential core of all of Rama's teaching", according to Zoe Nicholson. "The principle is simple; that inside of each woman and man is the Self, Nirvana, Eternity. It has been covered with layers of conditioning, lifetimes of tendencies and fear of the unknown. Through the practice of Self Discovery all these layers are peeled back eventually revealing one's true nature: perfect pure light."

Lenz is quoted as saying, "It's necessary for you to have a strong base ... the economic independence to live a life of beauty and meditative seclusion. The strength and freedom to live a life of oneness." and that, "Money is energy in today's world. A great deal of the teaching that I do is about your ability to achieve financial independence." He taught that having money was one way to help others. Throughout his 27 years as a teacher, he offered thousands of free public meditations where he introduced numerous people to meditation, some of whom became students.

At the end of 1982, he adopted the teaching name of "Rama", stating that he was not the historical Rama but rather represented a warrior quality implied in that name. He claimed to remember all of his previous reincarnations, including his life as a high priest in Atlantis, and as a teacher in ancient Egypt, India, Japan, and Tibet.

His students wrote that they witnessed him perform miracles, or siddha powers, including levitation, teleportation, disappearing, turning rooms to molten gold light, projecting light from his hands, and transforming into an old, bearded Asian man before their eyes. He often took his students on field trips to the deserts of Southern California and to Disneyland where a number of these events were witnessed.

Core teachings

Lenz's core teachings focused on the practice of meditation, mindfulness, the enlightenment of women, and living and working in the world as a Buddhist practice.

The following quotes are taken from public talks he gave in the 80s and 90s:

• "Enlightenment is a timeless void. It's an emptiness that's filled with the most excellent light. That light is suffused through every part of your being. It is your being. There's no sense of separation between yourself and the light. There's no self but the light. That's enlightenment – timeless, stillness, perfection."
• "Only a pure heart, a completely pure heart can house eternity. Your heart has to be absolutely pure. You can only want that which is absolutely good. You have to live in goodness all the time, and nothing else can matter. There can be no thought of self, no apartheid in the inner world. No discrimination. It's only with that absolute humility and purity that you can make friends with God because otherwise you're just too busy with all your desires".
• "What is self? What lies beyond self? Self is the perception of perception. Beyond self there's no perception of perception. That's the riddle. The only way to answer the riddle is to go beyond perception and, of course, then there's no answer because there's no perception, there's only silence."
• "In meditation, in selfless giving, in anything that lends nobility to the soul, we rise beyond the limitations of our self-created illusions and we become perfectly what we are".
• Career success is using daily work—schoolwork, work in the world, work at home, doing the laundry, all physical tasks, cleaning the car, any kind of work, and specifically career itself—as a way of advancing one's mental state.
• Women exemplify, from a spiritual point of view, power. The power of the kundalini energy, the energy of life, flows through them in a very different way than it does through a man, innately. In a fallen world, in a world of fear and darkness, men have reacted very negatively to the power that is inherent in women. Rather than realizing that that power is also indigenous to themselves, that they have the same power, only it manifests in other ways, men have rejected that power and sought to convince women of the exact opposite, that they are powerless. They have done this through sexual repression, economic repression, political repression, social repression, ideological repression and spiritual repression.

Claimed previous incarnations

• Zen Master, Kyoto, Japan 1531–1575
• Head of Zen Order, Kyoto, Japan 1602–1671
• Master of Monastery, Tibet 1725–1804
• Jnana Yoga Master, India 1834–1905
• Tibetan Lama, Head of Monastic Order, Tibet 1912–1945

Record producer

Lenz was the producer for the rock band, Zazen. Zazen produced 21 albums in 13 years. The group also released several music videos. Although some of Zazen's albums were simply intended to be fun, new-age music, a number of their albums, such as Enlightenment, Canyons of Light, Cayman Blue, Samurai, and Samadhi, were specifically for meditation.

The band's name is taken from the Zen Buddhism term Zazen, literally, "seated meditation".

Criticisms and controversy

Rama received criticism from the anti-cult movement. Various accounts of Lenz portray him as a charismatic leader who tried to teach balance and compassion but found it difficult to maintain his own balance, ending his own life in 1998.

Donald Cole, a 23-year-old who attended a series of popular public talks in Los Angeles, felt that he was disappointed at his progress in the program. He left a suicide note that read, "Bye, Rama, see you next time."

A small number of Lenz's students became involved with several cult watchdog groups, including the CAN (Cult Awareness Network) and deprogrammers (in particular, Joe Szimhart, who is accused of kidnapping and imprisoning several of Lenz' students, including Karen Lever).

Death and his estate

Lenz died in his home on April 12, 1998. He left an $18 million estate, including two homes and two Range Rovers. His will was a matter of dispute between the National Audubon Society and his former attorney Norman Oberstein who helped Dr. Lenz plan his estate with a separately retained estate planning attorney. Norm Marcus, Dr. Lenz' accountant, was named as executor and carried out the will's instructions. As executor, and authorized to act, Norm Marcus and Norman Oberstein created the Frederick P. Lenz Foundation for American Buddhism in 1998. This act fulfilled provisions of the will necessary for Marcus to apply the funds from Lenz's estate to the creation of the Lenz Foundation. According to The New York Times, the will was contested by Diana Jean Reynolds, who claimed to be Lenz's widow, and Deborah Lenz, whose claim to be Lenz' widow is based on her view that they had a common law marriage. Both claims were withdrawn and dismissed. His estate was settled in 2002. The Frederick P. Lenz Foundation for American Buddhism shows substantial grant making activity (close to $6 million to date) to approximately 60 American Buddhist organizations from 2003 onwards, as well as a substantial donation to the National Audubon Society. As part of the settlement with Audubon, a gorge was named for Lenz at the Sharon Audubon Center in northwest Connecticut.

Publications

Books

Frederick Lenz published eight books between 1979 and 1997.

• Lifetimes: True Accounts of Reincarnation, 1979, Fawcett Crest, New York (ISBN 0-449-24337-0)
• Total Relaxation: The Complete Program for Overcoming Stress, Tension, Worry, and Fatigue, 1980, The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Indianapolis (ISBN 0-672-52594-1)
• Meditation: The Bridge is Flowing but The River is Not, 1981, Lakshmi Publications, Malibu, CA, Revised 1983 (ISBN 0-941868-00-1)
• The Wheel of Dharma, 1982, Lakshmi Publications, Malibu, CA (ISBN 0-941868-01-X)
• The Last Incarnation, 1983, Lakshmi Publications, Malibu, CA (ISBN 0-941868-02-8)
• Insights: Tantric Buddhist Reflections on Life, 1994, Interglobal Seminars, New York (ISBN 0-9642196-7-0)
• Surfing the Himalayas, 1995, St. Martin's Press, New York (ISBN 0-312-14147-5)
• Snowboarding to Nirvana, 1997, St. Martin's Press, New York (ISBN 0-312-15293-0)

Audio talks

From 1982 to 1992, Lenz created over 120 audio recordings. The topics of the talks covered a wide range of titles, including "Meditation", "Tantric Buddhism", "Career Success", "Women and Enlightenment", and "Psychic Development".

These talks were recorded as nine audio sets, six of which were also published in book form:

• Lakshmi Series 1982, 30 Talks (ISBN 1932206116)
• Insights: Talks on the Nature of Existence 1983, 13 Talks (ISBN 1932206078)
• On the Road with Rama 1985, 7 Talks (ISBN 1932206051)
• Zen Tapes 1986, 18 Talks (ISBN 1932206035)
• Tantric Buddhism 1989, 27 Talks (ISBN 1932206094)
• The Enlightenment Cycle 1992, 12 Talks (ISBN 1932206019)

Further reading

• Blue Skies Buddha. Liz Lewinson. 2015. Mystic Buddha Publishing House, San Antonio, TX. ISBN 978-0982050576.
• Rama Gaze in My Direction: The Story of an American Buddhist Rebel, Dr. Frederick Lenz. Liz Lewinson. 2013. Sausalito, CA. Epiphany Press. ISBN 978-0-9898899-1-9.
• The Last Incarnation: Experiences with Rama in Southern California. Compilation. 1983. Los Angeles. The Frederick P. Lenz Foundation for American Buddhism. ISBN 0-941868-02-8.
• The Art of Rama: Interviews with Direct Students of Rama. Marsha Pritchard. 2011. CreateSpace. ISBN 978-1461052999.
• Unplugging the Patriarchy. Lucia Rene. 2009. Williamsburg, VA. Crown Chakra Publishing. ISBN 978-0982377628.
• American Zen: The Wisdom of an American Zenji. Y. Ohta. 2009. CreateSpace. ISBN 978-1449560799.
• Take Me for a Ride. Mark E. Laxer. 1993. College Park, MD 20740. Outer Rim Press. ISBN 978-0963810830.

External links

• Official website
• The Frederick P. Lenz Foundation for American Buddhism
• Rama Meditation Society - Resource Library