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1. Suzuki Roshi

Shunryu Suzuki roshi (1904-1971) was the founder of the San Francisco Zen Center and one of the most beloved teachers in modern Buddhism. Known for his gentle and open approach based on Dōgen’s (Japanese, 1200-1253, see Study Topic 10) radical non-dual reading of Zen, Suzuki roshi emphasized simple daily zazen practice and ordinary everyday living.

One of his watchwords was “beginner’s mind,” an open, humble, curious mind, always ready to be surprised and to learn something new. This, he taught, was the true zen spirit, the goal and the process of our practice. 

Son of a Soto Zen priest, and himself ordained a Zen priest in his youth, Suzuki roshi trained in small Zen temples, and, briefly, at Eiheiji, the large Soto monastery. He was abbot of Rinso-In, a 500 year old Zen temple in Yaizu, a fishing town on the Japan Sea. Unusual among Japanese Zen priests, Suzuki roshi was always interested in the West. He studied English and nurtured from boyhood a dream of practicing in America.

Though vocal and public opposition was impossible, Suzuki roshi was among the very few Zen people who did not support the Japanese militarism of the 1930’s or the war that followed. In 1959, he took a leave of absence from Rinso-In to accept a position as priest of Sokoji, the Soto Zen Mission in San Francisco’s Japantown. His small zazen group there eventually grew into the San Francisco Zen Center, the oldest and largest Western Zen center, which now has three locations, City Center in San Francisco, Green Gulch Farm in Marin County, and Tassajara Zen Mountain Monastery in the Los Padres National Forest, near Carmel Valley, California.

Translated into many languages, edited selections from Suzuki-roshi’s lectures, especially the two books “Zen Mind Beginner’s Mind” and “Not Always So,” are among the most widely read Zen books in the world.

The practice of the Everyday Zen Foundation is entirely based on Suzuki roshi’s way. Our founder, Zoketsu Fischer, trained at the San Francisco Zen Center temples for over twenty-five years, retiring as co-Abbot there in 2000.

See also: San Francisco Zen Center

Study Guide

Please note: we are currently the process of editing and properly categorizing our teachings library. The teachings will become available here in the study guide as soon as they’re ready, please check back soon.

1. Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind  |  Informal Talks on Zen Meditation and Practice

By Shunryu Suzuki | 1973 | Weatherhill | ISBN 0834800799

This classic first collection of Suzuki Roshi’s lectures, published in the 1970’s, is a wonderful introduction to Zen teachings, from basic posture in meditation to emptiness and enlightenment.
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2. Not Always So  |  Practicing the True Spirit of Zen

By Shunryu Suzuki | 2003 | ISBN 0060957549

This is the second collection of Suzuki Roshi’s lectures, and a companion volume to “Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind.” Suzuki talks about Zen in everyday language, with clarity and insight.
 

3. Branching Streams Flow in the Darkness  |  Zen Talks on the Sandokai

By Shunryu Suzuki | 2001 | University of California Press | ISBN 10: 0520232127

Suzuki Roshi talks about this important Soto Zen text whose theme is the interpenetration of oneness and diversity, a cornerstone of Suzuki Roshi’s understanding.
 

Note: For talks and transcriptions on this text, see also Other Zen and General Buddhist Studies.

 

4. Crooked Cucumber: The Life and Teaching of Shunryu Suzuki

By David Chadwick | 2000 | ISBN 0767901053

A biography of Shunryu Suzuki, founder of the San Francisco Zen Center.
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Sandokai - 2021 - Talk 12
Norman gives his twelfth talk of a series on the Sandokai, "The Harmony of Difference and Sameness"  (or "Merging of Difference and Equality") to the Dharma Seminar. The Sandokai is a
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Sandokai - 2021 - Talk 11
Norman gives his eleventh talk of a series on the Sandokai, "The Harmony of Difference and Sameness"  (or "Merging of Difference and Equality") to the Dharma Seminar. The Sandokai is a
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Sandokai - 2021 - Talk 10
Norman gives his tenth talk of a series on the Sandokai,  "The Harmony of Difference and Sameness"  (or "Merging of Difference and Equality") to the Dharma Seminar. The Sandokai is a
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Sandokai 2021 - Talk 9 - Chris Fortin
Chris Fortin gives the ninth talk of a series on the Sandokai,  "The Harmony of Difference and Sameness"  (or "Merging of Difference and Equality") to the Dharma Seminar. The Sandokai is
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Sandokai 2021 - Talk 8 - Peter Van der Sterre followed by Chris Fortin Simoneaux remembrance
Senior teacher Peter Van Der Sterre gives the eighth talk of a series on the Sandokai,  "The Harmony of Difference and Sameness"  (or "Merging of Difference and Equality") to the Dharma
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Sandokai 2021 - Talk 7 - ARobin Orden
Senior teacher ARobin Orden gives the seventh talk of a series on the Sandokai,  "The Harmony of Difference and Sameness"  (or "Merging of Difference and Equality") to the Dharma Seminar. The
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Sandokai 2021 - Talk 6 - April All Day Sitting
Norman gives his sixth talk of a series on the Sandokai,  "The Harmony of Difference and Sameness"  (or "Merging of Difference and Equality") to the Dharma Seminar at the April 2021
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Sandokai 2021 - Talk 5
Norman gives his fifth talk of a series on the Sandokai,  "The Harmony of Difference and Sameness"  (or "Merging of Difference and Equality") to the Dharma Seminar. The Sandokai is a
> View
Sandokai 2021 - Talk 4
Norman gives his fourth second talk of a series on the Sandokai,  "The Harmony of Difference and Sameness"  (or "Merging of Difference and Equality") to the Dharma Seminar. The Sandokai
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Sandokai 2021 - Talk 3
Norman gives his third talk of a series on the Sandokai,  "The Harmony of Difference and Sameness"  (or "Merging of Difference and Equality") to the Dharma Seminar. The Sandokai is a
> View
Sandokai 2021 - Talk 2
Norman gives his second talk of a series on the Sandokai,  "The Harmony of Difference and Sameness"  (or "Merging of Difference and Equality") to the Dharma Seminar. The Sandokai is
> View
Sandokai 2021 - Talk 1
Norman gives his first talk of a series on the Sandokai,  "The Harmony of Difference and Sameness"  (or "Merging of Difference and Equality") to the Dharma Seminar. The Sandokai is
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All Suzuki roshi teachings