Shunryu Suzuki
Overview
 
Shunryu Suzuki (May 18, 1904 – December 4, 1971) was a Sōtō Zen  roshi
Roshi
is a Japanese honorific title used in Zen Buddhism that literally means "old teacher" or "elder master" and sometimes denotes a person who gives spiritual guidance to a Zen sangha or congregation...

 (Zen Master) who popularized Zen Buddhism in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, particularly around San Francisco. Born in the Kanagawa Prefecture
Kanagawa Prefecture
is a prefecture located in the southern Kantō region of Japan. The capital is Yokohama. Kanagawa is part of the Greater Tokyo Area.-History:The prefecture has some archaeological sites going back to the Jōmon period...

 of Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

, Suzuki was occasionally mistaken for the Zen scholar D.T. Suzuki, to which Shunryu would reply, "No, he's the big Suzuki, I'm the little Suzuki."
Shunryu Suzuki was born May 18, 1904. His father, Butsumon Sogaku Suzuki, was almost fifty at the time and was the head abbot
Abbot
The word abbot, meaning father, is a title given to the head of a monastery in various traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not actually the head of a monastery...

 of a small Soto Zen temple.
Quotations

When you do something, you should burn yourself completely, like a good bonfire, leaving no trace of yourself.

Quoted in 'Enter the Heart of the Fire : A collection of Mystical Poems (1981) by Mary E. Giles and Kathryn Hohlwein

There are, strictly speaking, no enlightened people, there is only enlightened activity.

Quoted in Zen Millionaire : The Investor's Guide to the "Other Side" (2007) by Paul B. Farrell

In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, in the expert's there are few.

Prologue

The true purpose of Zen is to see things as they are, to observe things as they are, and to let everything go as it goes. Zen practice is to open up our small mind.

Prologue

You should rather be grateful for the weeds you have in your mind, because eventually they will enrich your practice.

Pt. 1 : Right Practice "Mind Weeds", p. 26

 
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