Suzuki Shunryū 鈴木俊隆, a Buddhist monk of Japan’s Sōtō school, was one of the first teachers to establish a Zen center in the United States. His Zen center provided a new monastic lifestyle geared not towards Japanese immigrants, but towards Americans in general.
This paper elucidates the characteristics of Shunryū’s Zen, as well as the reasons behind its successful propagation in North America, by examining his biography, Crooked Cucumber, and the first compilation of his dharma talks, Zen Mind Beginners Mind （ZMBM）.
These works indicate that the foundations of Suzuki’s Zen are rooted in traditional Sōtō sectarian studies （dentōshūgaku 伝統宗学） established by Nishiari Bokusan 西有穆山 in the Meiji period. Suzuki received these teachings from Kishizawa Ian 岸澤惟安, one of Nishiari’s disciples. Accordingly, Suzuki did not emphasize enlightened states （satori 悟り） that occur during Zen practice. Prof. Huston Smith, another of Suzuki’s disciples, wrote that “in Shunryū Suzuki’s book the words satori and kensho, its near-equivalent, never appear.” （ZMBM, p. ix） This tendency is itself precisely what we might call “traditional Sōtō Zen,” in contrast to the Rinzai style of Zen that D.T. Suzuki brought to America. What is more, Shunryū expressed his distinctive Zen style by interpreting Hakuin’s “one hand clapping” kōan （sekishu no onjō 隻手音声） through a distinctively Sōtō lens.
At the same time, Shunryū insisted on the need for a new model of monastic practice in the United States―though that is not to say that he called for a fundamental reform of traditional practice. His aim, like the reformers of 9th century Chan, was to make modifications according to the realities he faced. Chan acquired its distinctive characteristics by modifying the precepts received from India; likewise, Shunryū sought to make similar kinds of “traditional reforms” （dentōteki kaihen 伝統的改変）.
It seems to be the combination of the above-mentioned tendencies―a traditional Sōtō Zen outlook on practice and appropriate modifications to monastic norms―that has allowed Shunryū Suzuki’s Zen to prosper not only in the United States, but in various countries around the world.
