Newsroom

19 May 2009 – San Francisco, CA: This weekend the San Francisco Zen Center (“Zen Center”) is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the arrival in San Francisco of Suzuki Roshi, universally recognized as the most important figure in the development of Zen Buddhism in this country. The Zen Center will hold three days of special events at its City Center location at 300 Page Street (at Laguna); Green Gulch Farms, 1601 Shoreline Highway, Muir Beach; Greens Restaurant, Fort Mason, Building A. The weekend’s festivities, all of which are open to the general public, kick-off at 7:20 on Friday, May 22, with breakfast at the Green Gulch dining room and continue through Sunday, May 24 at 2:00pm with a performance of Monkey, The Quest to the West, based on a novel written from an ancient Chinese folktale of a monk sent by the emperor to retrieve Buddhist scriptures from India. Information about all the events is available at (415) 863-3136 and This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

 

“We are delighted to offer the public this opportunity to join with us at the Zen Center to honor the historic arrival in this country of our founder, Suzuki Roshi, one of the great Buddhist teachers and leaders of the last century,” said Susan O’Connell, Vice President of the San Francisco Zen Center. “There can be little doubt that Buddhism in general – and Zen Buddhism more specifically – would not have developed as strongly and influentially in the United States had it not been for tireless and visionary leadership of Suzuki Roshi. We as a community, and certainly San Francisco as a city, have been blessed by his compassion, wisdom and personal sacrifice.”

 

The centerpiece of the tributes to Suzuki Roshi will take place at the City Center on Saturday – exactly 50 years to the day of his arrival in San Francisco. The day begins with Zen Center Abbot Paul Haller leading a special service commemorating Suzuki Roshi at 7:10am. This is followed by breakfast, meditation and Zazen. At 10:15 Ed Brown, Les Kaye, and Peter Schneider will lead Dharma talk, “Why did Suzuki Roshi Come to America?” after lunch, the public is invited at 2pm to share stories and experiences with Suzuki Roshi. Friday’s activities at Green Gulch Farm include an instructional panel about fundraising at 1:30, “Turning the Wheel of Fundraising;” and a discussion on launching a new Zen center at 3:30, “Starting and Leading a New Center.” Sunday at Green Gulch Farm begins with meditation instruction at 8:15am and Zazen at 9:15, followed by “Appropriate Response: The Teaching of a Lifetime,” with Yvonne Rand, Mel Weitsman, and Lew Richmond. After lunch, the weekend celebration concludes with the performance of Monkey, the Quest of the West.

 

Shogaku Shunryu Suzuki Roshi is perhaps best known for his deeply influential book, Zen Mind, Beginners Mind. Suzuki Roshi was born in Japan in 1904, the son of a Zen priest, and he was trained by the best teachers of his generation. He was a Japanese Zen priest belonging to the Soto lineage, a direct spiritual descendant of the great 13cth century Zen master Dogen. Already a highly respected Zen master in Japan, Suzuki Roshi came to San Francisco in 1959 at the age of 57. He was impressed by the seriousness and quality of "beginner's mind" among Americans he met, who were interested in Zen and decided to settle here. He founded San Francisco Zen Center and Tassajara -- the first Zen training center outside of Asia – and he is credited widely for cultivating Zen Buddhist practice in the United States.

 

San Francisco Zen Center was established in 1962 by the Soto Zen master Shunryu Suzuki Roshi (1904-1971), author of the modern spiritual classic Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind. The purpose of Zen Center is to make accessible and embody the wisdom and compassion of the Buddha for all people — visitors, householders, fami­lies, students in residence and priests — guided by rigorously trained teachers who follow in Suzuki Roshi’s “beginner’s mind” way. San Francisco Zen Center has three extraordinary practice centers in California: Tassajara, City Center, and Green Gulch Farm. Each center offers daily meditation, retreats, classes, lectures, and workshops.