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90-455: On May 23, 1959, Shunryu Suzuki (then age 55) came from Japan to San Francisco to serve as head priest of Sokoji—a Soto Zen temple then located at 1881 Bush Street in Japantown . He was joined by his wife Mitsu (also from Japan) in 1961. Sokoji—founded by Hosen Isobe in 1934—had been housed in a former Jewish synagogue that is now Kokoro Assisted Living. Upon Suzuki's arrival at Sokoji,

180-569: A farm in the area for entire families to live a Buddhist life while working together. Green Gulch Farm ("Green Dragon Temple", or Soryuji ), located in Sausalito, California in a valley on the Pacific Ocean , was acquired by SFZC in 1972. The land was purchased from one of the founders of Polaroid , George Wheelwright. Despite hesitance of some members of SFZC due to the size of 80 acres (320,000 m), Baker felt that acquiring Green Gulch Farm

270-403: A leave of absence from his position as abbot. After six months, he returned to his position. Shocked by the series of scandals involving its senior teachers, the organization decided to appoint two abbots, who would share the position at any one time. Zen priest Mel Weitsman served with Anderson as a co-abbot during the remainder of his term, and the tradition of two sitting Abbots continued for

360-526: A zafu and staring forward at the white wall. In closing, Suzuki invited everyone to stop in at Sokoji for morning zazen. Little by little, more people showed up each week to sit zazen for 40 minutes with Suzuki on mornings. The students were improvising, using cushions borrowed from wherever they could find them. The group that sat with Suzuki eventually formed the San Francisco Zen Center with Suzuki. The Zen Center flourished so that in 1966, at

450-990: A helpful reminder—both to me and to others—of my vulnerability to arrogance and inflation. I see how my empowerment to protect and care for the Triple Treasure inflated my sense of personal authority, and thus detracted from and disparaged the Triple Treasure. This ancient twisted karma I now fully avow." SFZC is connected, in an unofficial capacity, to the following Zen Centers: Shunry%C5%AB Suzuki The way The "goal" Background Chinese texts Classical Post-classical Contemporary Zen in Japan Seon in Korea Thiền in Vietnam Western Zen Shunryu Suzuki (鈴木 俊隆 Suzuki Shunryū , dharma name Shōgaku Shunryū 祥岳俊隆, often called Suzuki Roshi ; May 18, 1904 – December 4, 1971)

540-501: A lineage of the six ancestral founders of Chan in China had developed. Due to the influence of Huineng's student Shenhui , the traditional form of this lineage had been established: However, certain questions remain. Regarding the connection between the second and third patriarchs, on the one hand, and the fourth patriarch, on the other; Whalen Lai points out, "Huike was a dhuta (extreme ascetic) who schooled others, and one of his disciples

630-533: A major fundraising effort led by Baker, Zen Center purchased the land—which contained a rundown resort and mineral springs in 1967. Tassajara Zen Mountain Center ("Zen Mind Temple" or Zenshinji ) was the first Zen Buddhist monastery built in the United States, and the first in the world to allow co-ed practice. 1967 also saw the arrival of Kobun Chino Otogawa of Eiheiji , who served as assistant to Suzuki. Kobun

720-667: A more relaxed atmosphere than Eihei-ji. At Sōji-ji Suzuki travelled back to Zoun-in frequently to attend to his temple. In 1932 So-on came to Sōji-ji to visit with Shunryu and, after hearing of Suzuki's contentment at the temple, advised him to leave it. In April of that year Suzuki left Sōji-ji with some regret and moved back into Zoun-in, living with his family there. In May he visited with Ian Kishizawa from Eiheiji and, with So-on's blessing, asked to continue studies under him. He went to Gyokuden-in for his instruction, where Kishizawa trained him hard in zazen and conducted personal interviews with him. Sometime during this period Suzuki married

810-521: A newspaper article covering the apparent suicide. Five years later (in 1988), roughly fifteen months after Anderson had become abbot of the San Francisco , Anderson was arrested for brandishing this same firearm in public. He reported being mugged at knifepoint by a man just a block away from the San Francisco Zen Center at 300 Page Street. Anderson remembered stowing the revolver away in

900-629: A novice. He had completed his training as a head monk. In 1925 Shunryu graduated from preparatory school and entered Komazawa University , the Soto Zen university in Tokyo. During this period he continued his connections with So-on in Zoun-in, going back and forth whenever possible. Some of his teachers here were discussing how Soto Zen might reach a bigger audience with students and, while Shunryu couldn't comprehend how Western cultures could ever understand Zen, he

990-529: A renewal of friendship and dharma relations." In the 1980s Baker ordained Issan Dorsey as a priest. This was likely prompted by a conversation between Robert Baker Aitken and Baker at San Francisco Zen Center concerning the question of Zen's availability to interested gays , for Dorsey went on to become abbot of the Hartford Street Zen Center . Following Baker's resignation, Dainin Katagiri led

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1080-399: A smile. The Buddha then said, I have the right Dharma Eye Treasury, the wondrous mind of nirvana, the reality beyond appearance. The Dharma-door of mind to mind transmission has been entrusted to Kāśyapa. Epstein comments, "Thus Mahākāśyapa received the transmission of Dharma and became the first Buddhist patriarch." Though dharma transmission implies the acknowledgement of insight into

1170-424: A specific place and time, identifiable individuals, and specific words and actions. At the same time, though, Zen texts also assert that true transmission consists of no transmission. In other words, it occurs only mind-to-mind. This feature gives dharma transmission a great flexibility: [W]hen the historical evidence is in one's favor, one can demonstrate the validity of dharma transmission by citing any number of

1260-495: A standard doctrine of Chan. In later writings this lineage was extended to include twenty-eight Indian patriarchs. In the Song of Enlightenment (證道歌 Zhèngdào gē ) of Yongjia Xuanjue (永嘉玄覺, 665–713), one of the chief disciples of Huìnéng , it is written that Bodhidharma was the 28th patriarch in a line of descent from Mahākāśyapa, a disciple of Śākyamuni Buddha , and the first patriarch of Chán Buddhism. Keizan 's Transmission of

1350-500: A wage and occasional advice. In 1924 Shunryu enrolled in a Soto preparatory school in Tokyo not far from Shogan-ji, where he lived on the school grounds in the dorm. From 1925 to 1926 Suzuki did Zen training with Dojun Kato in Shizuoka at Kenko-in. He continued his schooling during this period. Here Shunryu became head monk for a 100-day retreat, after which he was no longer merely considered

1440-536: A while. Here Shunryu studied a very different kind of Zen, one that promoted the attainment of satori through the concentration on koans through zazen. Suzuki had problems sitting with his koan. Meanwhile, all the other boys passed theirs, and he felt isolated. Just before the ceremony marking their departure Suzuki went to the Rinzai teacher and blurted out his answer. The master passed Suzuki; later Shunryu believed he had done it simply to be kind. In 1919, at age 15, Suzuki

1530-547: A windowless room with an adjoining office. At the time of Suzuki's arrival, Zen had become a hot topic amongst some groups in the United States, especially beatniks . Particularly influential were several books on Zen and Buddhism by Alan Watts . Word began to spread about Suzuki among the beatniks through places like the San Francisco Art Institute and the American Academy of Asian Studies , where Alan Watts

1620-403: A woman who contracted tuberculosis . The date and name of the woman is unknown, but the marriage was soon annulled . She went back to live with her family while he focused on his duties at Zoun-in. Suzuki reportedly was involved with some anti-war activities during World War II, but according to David Chadwick, the record is confusing and, at most, his actions were low-key. However, considering

1710-466: Is a custom in which a person is established as a "successor in an unbroken lineage of teachers and disciples, a spiritual 'bloodline' ( kechimyaku ) theoretically traced back to the Buddha himself." The dharma lineage reflects the importance of family-structures in ancient China, and forms a symbolic and ritual recreation of this system for the monastical "family". In Rinzai-Zen , inka shōmei (印可証明)

1800-505: Is ideally "the formal recognition of Zen's deepest realisation", but practically it is being used for the transmission of the "true lineage" of the masters ( shike ) of the training halls. There are only about fifty to eighty of such inka shōmei -bearers in Japan. In Sōtō-Zen , dharma transmission is referred to as shiho , and further training is required to become an oshō . The notion and practice of Dharma Transmission developed early in

1890-511: Is one of the largest Zen training facilities in Japan, and the abbot at this time was Gempo Kitano-roshi. Prior to coming to Japan, Kitano was head of Soto Zen in Korea . He also was one of the founders of Zenshuji , a Soto Zen temple located in Los Angeles, California . Suzuki's father and Kitano had a tense history between them. Sogaku had trained with Kitano in his early Zen training and felt that he

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1980-595: Is one of the most popular books on Zen and Buddhism in the West. Shunryu Suzuki was born May 18, 1904, in Kanagawa Prefecture southwest of Tokyo , Japan. His father, Butsumon Sogaku Suzuki, was the abbot of the village Soto Zen temple. His mother, Yone, was the daughter of a priest and had been divorced from her first husband for being too independent. Shunryu grew up with an older half-brother from his mother's first marriage and two younger sisters. As an adult he

2070-415: The Buddha himself. The dharma lineage reflects the importance of family-structures in ancient China, and forms a symbolic and ritual recreation of this system for the monastical "family". According to Borup the emphasis on 'mind to mind transmission' is a form of esoteric transmission, in which "the tradition and the enlightened mind is transmitted face to face". Metaphorically this can be described as

2160-908: The Sandokai are collected in Branching Streams Flow in the Darkness , edited by Mel Weitsman and Michael Wenger and published in 1999. Edward Espe Brown edited Not Always So: Practicing the True Spirit of Zen which was published in 2002. A biography of Suzuki, titled Crooked Cucumber, was written by David Chadwick in 1999. Dharma transmission The way The "goal" Background Chinese texts Classical Post-classical Contemporary Zen in Japan Seon in Korea Thiền in Vietnam Western Zen In Chan and Zen Buddhism, dharma transmission

2250-684: The Transmission of the Lamp -genre, in which lineages from Shakyamuni Buddha up to their own times were described. Another literary device for establishing those traditions was given by the Kao-seng-chuan (Biographies of Eminent Monks), compiled around 530. The Chan-tradition developed its own corpus in this genre, with works such as Anthology of the Patriarchal Hall (952) and the Jingde Records of

2340-528: The Zen Hospice Project house, featuring the work of palliative care physician BJ Miller and other palliative care clinicians. The film was directed by veteran filmmakers Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman and executive produced by physician, Shoshana R. Ungerleider . The Tassajara monastery is closed to outsiders from the months of September through April, then opens to the public by reservation from May through August. Students that come to practice at

2430-406: The 1984 resignation of then abbot Zentatsu Richard Baker , who was ousted after it was alleged that he had been having an affair with the wife of a prominent Zen Center member. In the wake of Baker's resignation, SFZC transitioned to a democratically elected leadership model, until in 2010 there was a new introduction of a predesignated slated of board members. Additional businesses run by SFZC were

2520-563: The Alaya Stitchery storefront, which made zafus , zabutons and clothing, and Green Gulch Grocery, which sold produce from Green Gulch Farm. Neither business is operative today. In 2000 Jiko Linda Cutts was appointed Abbess, having received Dharma transmission from Tenshin Reb Anderson in 1996. In 2003 Paul Haller , who received transmission from Sojun Mel Weitsman in 1993, was installed as co-abbot with her. In 1987 SFZC started

2610-558: The Imperial Court. He claimed Huineng to be the successor of Hongren instead of the then publicly recognized successor Shenxiu. In 745 Shenhui was invited to take up residence in the Ho-tse temple in Luoyang . In 753 he fell out of grace and had to leave the capital to go into exile. The most prominent of the successors of his lineage was Guifeng Zongmi According to Zongmi , Shenhui's approach

2700-651: The Japanese-American congregation. Months later Suzuki—with the help of his American students—purchased the current (and larger) City Center building, located on 300 Page Street . The building, designed by Julia Morgan , was built as the Emanu-el Residence Club in 1922 for the Emanu-el Sisterhood. The Residence combined residential rooms that could house 70 women on the upper floors, with public spaces for spiritual, recreational, and educational uses on

2790-516: The Light gives twenty-eight patriarchs up to and including Bodhidharma in this transmission: According to the traditional Chan accounts, the first Dharma transmission occurred as described in the Flower Sermon . The Buddha held up a golden lotus flower before an assembly of "gods and men". None who were in attendance showed any sign of understanding except his disciple Mahākāśyapa , who offered only

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2880-553: The Lindisfarne Guest House, a traditional Japanese building with a wood-burning stove as the heating source. Zen practice is not required to stay at Green Gulch, though guests are welcome to participate in zazen or any other activities. Tenshin Reb Anderson -roshi, former abbot of City Zen Center, is senior Dharma teacher at Green Gulch——training priests and laypeople , leading sesshins , giving talks and conducting workshops while also living onsite. In March 1983 Baker

2970-468: The San Francisco Zen Center's garage and quickly retrieved it. He then drove after the alleged mugger and followed him into a housing project with the revolver (unloaded) in hand, being arrested minutes later by a police officer with his own gun pointed at him. This 1987 incident has had a damaging impact on Anderson's reputation as a teacher, since his arrest received national media coverage. The leadership of San Francisco Zen Center required Anderson to take

3060-487: The San Francisco Zen Center. The number of practitioners at SFZC grew rapidly in the mid-sixties. Within a couple of years, Suzuki considered founding a monastery to host more intensive practice for those students who were interested. In 1966, Suzuki and Baker scouted Tassajara Hot Springs , located in Los Padres National Forest behind Big Sur , as a possible location for the envisioned monastic center. After

3150-530: The Transmission of the Lamp (published 1004). McRae considers Dumoulin's A History of Zen to be a modern example of this genre, disguised as scientific history. The Chan lineages picture the semi-legendary monk Bodhidharma as the patriarch who brought Chan to China. Only scarce historical information is available about him, but his hagiography developed when the Chan tradition grew stronger and gained prominence in

3240-543: The Zen Hospice Project, a volunteer hospice program run out of a guest house on Page Street with five residential beds. Zen Hospice Project also continues to train and coordinate volunteers who provide non sectarian, non-medical care to residents of the hospice and palliative care ward at Laguna Honda Hospital, a skilled nursing facility operated by the City and County of San Francisco. The volunteer project's founding director

3330-468: The Zen-teachings. According to Bodiford, "Zen is the predominant form of Buddhism because of dharma transmission": [I]t has ancestors whom it honors. It honors those ancestors by transmitting their legacy to proper descendants, from generation to generation, who will maintain and carry on their family traditions [...] [I]n Zen this process of transmitting a family legacy is given structural form through

3420-407: The behest and guidance of Suzuki, Zentatsu Richard Baker helped seal the purchase of Tassajara Hot Springs in Los Padres National Forest , which they called Tassajara Zen Mountain Center . In the fall of 1969, they bought a building at 300 Page Street near San Francisco's Lower Haight neighborhood and turned it into a Zen temple. Suzuki left his post at Sokoji to become the first abbot of one of

3510-606: The community until 1985. When Katagiri left, Tenshin Reb Anderson assumed Abbotship of the Zen Center—serving until 1995. In the early 1990s the Board of Directors at the Zen Center created the "Ethical Principles and Procedures for Grievance and Reconciliation" for its members, for conflict resolution mediation guided by Buddhist precepts . The Board of Directors at SFZC also began election of leaders. In 1995 Zoketsu Norman Fischer

3600-558: The company Just Desserts in 1992. The bakery was closed altogether in 1999. Tassajara Bakery was a Zen Center venture promoted by Richard Baker as an extension of the baking practices at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center . Tassajara baked bread for student and guest consumption since 1967, and Edward Espe Brown 's Tassajara Bread Book , demonstrated consumer interest. The bakery supplied Greens Restaurant and some local grocers. Greens Restaurant, opened in 1979 in Fort Mason of San Francisco ,

3690-567: The congregation was composed entirely of members of the Japanese-American population. Unlike many of his predecessors, Suzuki was a fluent speaker of English . Suzuki's arrival came at the tail end of the Beat movement and just prior to the social movements of the 1960s, both of which had major roots in San Francisco. Before long, Sokoji had non-Japanese Americans — mostly beatniks — coming to

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3780-520: The correct Dharma transmission, while simultaneously stressing seeing into one's nature: The matter of learning from a teacher is most essential. People of old who arrived at the source of seeing nature , passed through many barriers clearly and completely without a dot of doubt, and traveled freely through the world opening big mouths in discussion, only came to know the transcendental message of Zen after they finally ran into Zen masters of great vision. Then they sincerely sought certainty and wound up with

3870-553: The duty of the teacher's succession, bearing the debt of Dharma, never to forget it for a moment. This is called dharma succession. Since ancient times the designated succession of the ancestral teachers has always been like this. Nevertheless, while the Zen tradition has always stressed the importance of formal Dharma transmission, there are well known examples of Mushi dokugo , such as Nōnin , Jinul and Suzuki Shōsan who attained awakening on their own, though all of them were familiar with

3960-414: The early 8th century. According to McRae, it is not clear that the practitioners surrounding Bodhidharma and his disciple Huike considered themselves as belonging to a unified movement or group, such as a "Chan school," nor did they have any sense of sharing any continuity with the later tradition. He says even the name "proto-Chan" is not really reflective of their activities. By the late eighth century,

4050-585: The established tradition of "Canonical Buddhism", which "remained normative for all later Chinese Buddhism". It was established by the end of the sixth century, as a result of the Chinese developing understanding of Buddhism in the previous centuries. One of the inventions of this Canonical Buddhism were transmission lists, a literary device to establish a lineage. Both Tiantai and Chan took over this literary device, to lend authority to those developing traditions, and guarantee its authenticity: Chan texts present

4140-622: The first Buddhist training monasteries outside Asia. Suzuki's departure from Sokoji was thought to be inspired by his dissatisfaction with the superficial Buddhist practice of the Japanese immigrant community and his preference for the American students who were more seriously interested in Zen meditation, but it was more at the insistence of the Sokoji board, which asked him to choose one or the other (he had tried to keep both roles). Although Suzuki thought there

4230-505: The ground floor and basement. This relationship between the public and private was easily translated to the needs of the San Francisco Zen Center, with meditation halls and public spaces on the lower levels, and residential areas for practicing students on the upper floors. In 1970, Suzuki gave Dharma transmission to Richard Baker , his only American Dharma Heir and chosen successor at SFZC. Suzuki planned to give transmission to Bill Kwong but died before his completion. Kwong's transmission

4320-603: The group to Jikoji in Los Gatos, California in 1979. Another assistant priest at SFZC was Dainin Katagiri -roshi, who served there from 1969 to 1971. Katagiri would go on to establish his own practice center—the Minnesota Zen Center —in 1972 in Minneapolis . In 1969, Sokoji's board of directors asked Suzuki to resign his position as the temple's priest, asserting that he was spending more time with his Western students than

4410-521: The history of Chan, as a means to gain credibility and to foster institutional ties among the members of the Chan community. Charts of dharma-lineages were developed, which represented the continuity of the Buddhist dharma. Originally these lineages only included the Chinese Patriarchs, but they were later extended to twenty-eight Indian Patriarchs and seven Buddhas. The Chan tradition developed from

4500-417: The imaginary line had been drawn in the sands of the past, it began to sprout real branches. It continues to put forth new shoots even today." According to tradition, the sixth and last ancestral founder, Huineng (惠能; 638–713), was one of the giants of Chan history, and all surviving schools regard him as their ancestor. The dramatic story of Huineng's life tells that there was a controversy over his claim to

4590-409: The monastery from September through April must undergo the tradition known as tangaryo . They will sit for five days or longer in the zendo before they are formally admitted into the monastery—a physically daunting challenge. The organic farm at Green Gulch supplies local restaurants and food suppliers and sells flowers, produce and herbs at Ferry Plaza Farmers Market in San Francisco . Guests stay at

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4680-547: The next few decades. Regarding this ordeal, Anderson wrote: "On both a personal and a professional level, I am still dealing with the consequences of this episode. Some people felt that I had committed an irrevocable betrayal of trust, and have discounted me and my teaching ever since. Others were more forgiving, but their trust in me and my integrity was permanently shaken. Even newer students, who come to Zen Center and find out about these incidents, are sometimes confused and question whether I can be their teacher. These events are

4770-412: The path to urinate in some bushes. There he found the corpse of a man with a bullet wound to the head and a revolver nearby. Rather than report this to the police, Anderson returned to the body over several days to meditate over the corpse. On one visit he decided to take the revolver home with him. Upon his final visit he found the body no longer there, and a fellow priest in whom he had confided showed him

4860-482: The ritual of dharma transmission. Bodiford distinguishes seven dimensions which are discernible in both family relationships and in dharma lineages: The family-model is easier recognized when East Asian languages are being used, because the same terminology is used to describe both earthly and spiritual family relations. Dharma transmission is both concrete and abstract: Every link in the genealogy of dharma transmission occurs in documented historical circumstances:

4950-509: The school as Buddhism itself, or as the central teaching of Buddhism, which has been transmitted from the seven Buddhas of the past to the twenty-eight patriarchs, and all the generations of Chinese and Japanese Chan and Zen masters that follow. The concept of dharma transmission took shape during the Tang period, when establishing the right teachings became important, to safeguard the authority of specific schools. The emerging Zen-tradition developed

5040-411: The teaching that enlightenment is gradual. This was a polemical exaggeration, since both schools were derived from the same tradition, and the so-called Southern School incorporated many teachings of the more influential Northern School. Eventually both schools died out, but the influence of Shenhui was so immense that all later Chan schools traced their origin to Huineng, and "sudden enlightenment" became

5130-410: The teachings of Buddhism as understood by the Zen tradition, especially seeing into one's true nature , dharma transmission is also a means to establish a person into the Zen tradition: The procedure establishes the disciple as a transmitting teacher in their own right and successor in an unbroken lineage of teachers and disciples, a spiritual 'bloodline' ( kechimyaku ) theoretically traced back to

5220-616: The temple for Shunryu. In January 1930 a ten'e ceremony was held at Zoun-in for Shunryu. This ceremony acknowledged So-on's Dharma transmission to Shunryu, and served as a formal way for the Soto heads to grant Shunryu permission to teach as a priest. On April 10, 1930, at age 25, Suzuki graduated from Komazawa Daigakurin with a major in Zen and Buddhist philosophy, and a minor in English. Suzuki mentioned to So-on during this period that he might be interested in going to America to teach Zen Buddhism. So-on

5310-479: The temple to sit zazen with him in the morning. Soon these Westerners participated in regular services, and new non-Asian students came to outnumber the Japanese-American congregation. This change in demography caused a rift in the Sokoji community. The tension was alleviated when Suzuki's Western students began gathering for separate services, albeit still at Sokoji, in 1961. Some of these students began calling their group City Center, and they incorporated in 1962 as

5400-649: The temple with the others. They would work throughout the day and then, in the evenings, they all would resume zazen. Suzuki idolized his teacher, who was a strong disciplinarian. So-on often was rough on Suzuki but gave him some latitude for being so young. When Suzuki turned 13, on May 18, 1917, So-on ordained him as a novice monk ( unsui ). He was given the Buddhist name Shogaku Shunryu, yet So-on nicknamed him Crooked Cucumber for his forgetful and unpredictable nature. Shunryu began again attending upper-elementary school in Mori, but So-on did not supply proper clothes for him. He

5490-435: The title of patriarch. After being chosen by Hongren , the fifth ancestral founder, Huineng had to flee by night to Nanhua Temple in the south to avoid the wrath of Hongren's jealous senior disciples. Modern scholarship, however, has questioned this narrative . Historic research reveals that this story was created around the middle of the 8th century, beginning in 731 by Shenhui , a successor to Huineng, to win influence at

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5580-490: The transmission of a flame from one candle to another candle, or the transmission from one vein to another. In exoteric transmission the requirement is "direct access to the teaching through a personal discovery of one's self. This type of transmission and identification is symbolized by the discovery of a shining lantern, or a mirror." This polarity is recognizable in the emphasis that the Zen-tradition puts on maintaining

5670-413: The wholesale enthusiastic support for the war expressed by the entire religious establishment in Japan at the time, this fact is significant in showing something of the character of the man. On May 23, 1959, Shunryu Suzuki arrived in San Francisco to attend to Soko-ji, at that time the sole Soto Zen temple in San Francisco. He was 55. Suzuki took over for the interim priest, Wako Kazumitsu Kato. Suzuki

5760-407: The woman's husband, one of SFZC's primary benefactors, threatened to hold the organization legally responsible for its abbot's apparent misconduct. These revelations led Baker to resign as abbot in 1984. San Francisco Zen Center's web site now comments: "Although the circumstances leading to his resignation as abbot in 1984 were difficult and complex, in recent years, there has been increased contact;

5850-486: Was Frank Ostaseski, who served until 2004. Zen Hospice Project provides hospice care for individuals of any or no religion who are looking for a compassionate end to their life. Today SFZC is the largest Soto organization with a foothold in the West. Zen Hospice Project was the subject of the Netflix 2018 Academy Award-nominated short documentary End Game , about terminally ill patients in a San Francisco hospital as well as at

5940-402: Was Sengzan (d. 606). However, the link between this pair and Daoxin (580–651, now deemed the fourth Chan patriarch) is far from clear and remains tenuous." According to Wendi Adamek: "There was no 'Chan school' in existence during the time of the six Chinese patriarchs—it cannot even be said to have begun with Shenhui, the one who yoked six names to a powerfully generative idea. However, once

6030-466: Was Sogaku's adopted son and abbot of Sogaku's former temple Zoun-in . His parents initially thought he was too young to live far from home but eventually allowed it. Zoun-in is in a small village called Mori, Shizuoka in Japan. Suzuki arrived during a 100-day practice period at the temple and was the youngest student there. Zoun-in was a larger temple than Shōgan-ji. At 4:00 each morning he arose for zazen . Next he would chant sutras and begin cleaning

6120-424: Was a Sōtō Zen monk and teacher who helped popularize Zen Buddhism in the United States, and is renowned for founding the first Zen Buddhist monastery outside Asia ( Tassajara Zen Mountain Center ). Suzuki founded San Francisco Zen Center which, along with its affiliate temples, comprises one of the most influential Zen organizations in the United States. A book of his teachings, Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind ,

6210-416: Was a renowned scholar on Dōgen's Shōbōgenzō , and was also an acquaintance of his father from childhood. Kishizawa was strict but not abusive, treating Suzuki well. Suzuki learned much from him, and Kishizawa saw a lot of potential in him. Through him Suzuki came to appreciate the importance of bowing in Zen practice through example. In December Suzuki sat his first true sesshin for 7 days, an ordeal that

6300-401: Was about 4 feet 11 inches (1.5 m) tall. His father's temple, Shōgan-ji, was located near Hiratsuka , a city on Sagami Bay about fifty miles southwest of Tokyo . The temple income was small and the family had to be very thrifty. Suzuki became aware of his family's financial plight when he began school. Suzuki was kind and sensitive, but prone to quick outbursts of anger. He

6390-455: Was accused of engaging in a sexual relationship with the wife of an influential sangha member. Although Baker claimed that his relationship was a love-affair which had not yet been consummated, the outcry surrounding the incident led to accusations of impropriety, including the admissions by several female members of the community that they had had affairs with Baker before or during his tenure as abbot. The community's sense of crisis sharpened when

6480-585: Was adamantly opposed to the idea. Suzuki realized that his teacher felt very close to him and that he would take such a departure as an insult. He did not mention it to him again. Upon graduation from Komazawa, So-on wanted Shunryu to continue his training at the well known Soto Zen temple Eihei-ji in Fukui Prefecture . In September 1930 Suzuki entered the training temple and underwent the Zen initiation known as tangaryo . His mother and father stayed on at Zoun-in to care for his temple in his absence. Eihei-ji

6570-516: Was another business venture by SFZC under the influence of Baker. A pioneer of gourmet vegetarian cuisine in America, the restaurant's first chefs were Edward Espe Brown and Deborah Madison . The duo published a book of recipes in 1987 titled The Greens Cookbook . Throughout the 1980s Greens, which obtained produce from Green Gulch Farm , was one of the most popular restaurants in San Francisco. The center received significant media coverage concerning

6660-452: Was brought back home by his parents, who suspected mistreatment by So-on. Shunryu helped out with the temple while there and entered middle school. Yet, when summer vacation came, he was back at Rinso-in and Zoun-in with So-on to train and help out. He didn't want to stop training. In school Suzuki took English and did quite well. A local doctor, Dr. Yoshikawa, hired him to tutor his two sons in English. Yoshikawa treated Suzuki well, giving him

6750-522: Was challenging initially but proved rewarding toward the end. This concluded his first practice period at Eihei-ji. In September 1931, after one more practice period and sesshin at Eihei-ji, So-on arranged for Suzuki to train in Yokohama at Sōji-ji . Sōji-ji was the other main Soto temple of Japan, and again Suzuki underwent the harsh tangaryo initiation. Sojiji was founded by the great Zen master Keizan and had

6840-692: Was installed as Abbot at SFZC, and in 1996 Zenkai Blanche Hartman was appointed as co-Abbot with him (becoming the first female Abbot in SFZC history). In 1983 Tenshin Reb Anderson received shihō from Zentatsu Richard Baker, becoming Baker's first Dharma heir (though Baker disputes this). From 1986 to 1988 he served as abbot of the San Francisco Zen Center, and from 1988 to 1995 he served there as co-abbot with Sojun Mel Weitsman . Anderson became entangled in an incident in 1987 that reached back to 1983— just after Zentatsu Richard Baker had resigned as abbot. While jogging through Golden Gate Park , Anderson deviated from

6930-399: Was intrigued. On August 26, 1926, So-on gave Dharma transmission to Suzuki. He was 22. Shunryu's father also retired as abbot at Shogan-ji this same year, and moved the family onto the grounds of Zoun-in where he served as inkyo (retired abbot). Later that year Suzuki spent a short time in the hospital with tuberculosis , but soon recovered. In 1927 an important chapter in Suzuki's life

7020-464: Was later completed by Suzuki's son, Hoitsu. Suzuki died of cancer on December 4, 1971 at 67 years of age. Despite having only had 12 years in the United States, Suzuki had gone a long way toward establishing Soto Zen in America. His death came shortly after the publication of Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind , a collection of lectures translated into numerous languages and considered a classic of contemporary Zen literature. Suzuki had asked Baker to locate

7110-419: Was made head of a second temple, on the rim of Yaizu , called Rinso-in . Shunryu followed him there and helped whip the place back in order. Soon, families began sending their sons there and the temple began to come to life. Suzuki had failed an admissions test at the nearby school, so So-on began teaching the boys how to read and write Chinese . So-on soon sent his students to train with a Rinzai master for

7200-441: Was much to learn from the study of Zen in Japan, he said that it had grown moss on its branches, and he saw his American students as a means to reform Zen and return it to its pure zazen- (meditation) and practice-centered roots. Suzuki died on December 4, 1971, presumably from cancer. A collection of his teishos (Zen talks) was published in 1970 in the book Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind during Suzuki's lifetime. His lectures on

7290-621: Was officially sanctioned in 796, when "an imperial commission determined that the Southern line of Chan represented the orthodox transmission and established Shen-hui as the seventh patriarch, placing an inscription to that effect in the Shen-lung temple". Doctrinally the Southern School is associated with the teaching that enlightenment is sudden , while the Northern School is associated with

7380-411: Was once director. Kato had done some presentations at the academy and asked Suzuki to come join a class he was giving there on Buddhism. This sparked Suzuki's long-held desire to teach Zen to Westerners. The class was filled with people wanting to learn more about Buddhism, and the presence of a Zen master was inspiring for them. Suzuki had the class do zazen for 20 minutes, sitting on the floor without

7470-674: Was resident teacher at the Tassajara Zen Mountain Center until 1970. Around 1970, he began sitting regularly with a group in Santa Cruz that went on to form the Santa Cruz Zen Center . In 1971, he became resident priest at Haiku Zen Center, a practice center in Los Altos where Suzuki-roshi had been giving lectures, and soon after the sangha there grew and changed its name to Bodhi. He served as Abbot there until 1978, moving

7560-422: Was ridiculed by the other boys because of his shaved head and because he was the son of a priest. He preferred to spend his time in the classroom rather than on the schoolyard and was always at the top of his class. The teacher told him he would become a great man if he left Kanagawa Prefecture and studied hard. In 1916, 12-year-old Suzuki decided to train with a disciple of his father, Gyokujun So-on Suzuki. So-on

7650-530: Was such a high priest due to familial status and connections. Shunryu did not see this in Kitano, however. He saw a humble man who gave clear instruction, and Shunryu realized that his father was very wrong in his assessment. Often monks were assigned duties at the monastery to serve certain masters. Shunryu was assigned to Ian Kishizawa-roshi, a well known teacher at the time who had previously studied under two great Japanese teachers: Sōtan Oka and Bokusan Nishiari . He

7740-512: Was taken aback by the Americanized and watered-down Buddhism practiced at the temple, mostly by older immigrant Japanese. He found American culture interesting and not too difficult to adjust to, even commenting once that "if I knew it would be like this, I would have come here sooner!" He was surprised to see that Sokoji was previously a Jewish synagogue (at 1881 Bush Street , now a historic landmark). His sleeping quarters were located upstairs,

7830-431: Was the subject of ridicule. In spite of his misfortune he didn't complain. Instead he doubled his efforts back at the temple. When Shunryu had first come to Zoun-in, eight other boys were studying there. By 1918, he was the only one who stayed. This made his life a bit tougher with So-on, who had more time to scrutinize him. During this period Suzuki wanted to leave Zoun-in but equally didn't want to give up. In 1918 So-on

7920-513: Was turned. He went to visit a teacher of English he had at Komazawa named Miss Nona Ransom, a woman who had taught English to such people as the last emperor of China, Pu-yi, and more so his wife, the last empress of China, Jigoro Kano (the Founder of Judo ), the children of Chinese president Li Yuanhong , and some members of the Japanese royal family. She hired him that day to be a translator and to help with errands. Through this period he realized she

8010-512: Was very ignorant of Japanese culture and the religion of Buddhism. She respected it very little and saw it as idol worship. But one day, when there were no chores to be done, the two had a conversation on Buddhism that changed her mind. She even let Suzuki teach her zazen meditation. This experience is significant in that Suzuki realized that Western ignorance of Buddhism could be transformed. On January 22, 1929, So-on retired as abbot of Zoun-in and installed Shunryu as its 28th abbot. Sogaku would run

8100-524: Was very important for Buddhism in America. Members soon raised funds for a zendo to be built there, and over time the farm transformed into a monastery and retreat center for residents and guests with an organic farm , flower gardens , a teahouse and a plant nursery . In 1976, SFZC purchased the Gallo Pastry Company to found the Tassajara Bakery, which became popular before being sold to

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