Shunryu Suzuki

Shunryu Suzuki (1904–1971) was a Japanese Zen master and Buddhist priest. After receiving a traditional monastic education, he went to the United States in 1959 as a meditation teacher. In San Francisco, he founded one of the first Zen centers in the West; Tassajara Zen Mountain Center in the California mountains was later established with his involvement. Suzuki played an important role in introducing Zen Buddhism to Western audiences and became a significant figure in the spiritual scene of the U.S. West Coast during the 1960s.