Shunryu Suzuki (鈴木 俊隆 Suzuki Shunryū, dharma name Shogaku Shunryu) (18 May 1904 – 4 December 1971) 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, is one of the most popular books on Zen and Buddhism in the West.
Biography information from
Wikiquote·
Portrait adapted from
Wikimedia Commons, Tim Buckley, Lynn Good, or Robert Boni (Public domain / CC0)
Try not to force your idea on someone, but rather think about it with him. If you feel you have won the discussion, that is the wrong attitude. Try not to win the argument; just listen to it.
The purpose of studying Buddhism is not to study Buddhism, but to study ourselves.
When we realize the everlasting truth of “everything changes” and find our composure in it, we find ourselves in Nirvana.
