D. T. Suzuki

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D T. Suzuki
Born (1870-10-18)18 October 1870
Honda-machi, Kanazawa, Japan
Died 12 July 1966(1966-07-12) (aged 95)
Kamakura, Japan
Occupation Author
Notable award(s) National Medal of Culture

D.T. Suzuki (鈴木 大拙 貞太郎 Suzuki Daisetsu Teitarō, 18 October 1870 – 12 July 1966) was a Japanese philosopher and writer.

His books and essays were on Buddhism, Zen and Shin.[1][2] They spread interest in Eastern philosophy to the West. Suzuki was also a prolific translator of Chinese, Japanese, and Sanskrit literature. He taught at Western universities, and spent many years as a professor at Otani University.

Bibliography[change | change source]

These essays were enormously influential when they came out, making Zen known in the West for the very first time:

  • Essays in Zen Buddhism: first series (1927), New York: Grove Press.
  • Essays in Zen Buddhism: second series (1933), New York: Samuel Weiser 1953–1971. Edited by Christmas Humphreys.
  • Essays in Zen Buddhism: third series (1934), York Beach, Maine: Samuel Weiser 1953. Edited by Christmas Humphreys.
  • Dr. Suzuki also completed the translation of the Lankavatara Sutra from the original Sanskrit. Boulder, CO: Prajña Press, 1978, ISBN 0-87773-702-9, first published Routledge Kegan Paul, 1932.

Shortly after, a second series followed:

  • An Introduction to Zen Buddhism, Kyoto: Eastern Buddhist Soc. 1934. Republished with Foreword by C.G. Jung, London: Rider & Company, 1948.
  • The Training of the Zen Buddhist monk, Kyoto: Eastern Buddhist Soc. 1934. New York: University Books, 1959.
  • Manual of Zen Buddhism, Kyoto: Eastern Buddhist Soc. 1934. London: Rider & Company, 1950, 1956. A collection of Buddhist sutras, classic texts from the masters, icons & images,including the "Ten Ox-herding pictures".

After WWII, a new interpretation:

  • The Zen doctrine of no-mind,London: Rider & Company, 1949. York Beach, Maine: Red Wheel/Weiser 1972, ISBN 0-87728-182-3.
  • Living by Zen. London: Rider & Company, 1949.
  • Mysticism: Christian and Buddhist: the Eastern and Western way, Macmillan, 1957.
  • Zen and Japanese culture, New York: Pantheon Books, 1959. A classic.
  • Zen Buddhism and psychoanalysis, Erich Fromm, D.T. Suzuki, and De Martino.


  • Zen Buddhism: selected writings of D.T. Suzuki, Doubleday, New York: 1956. Edited by William Barrett.
  • Shin Buddhism; New York, Harper & Row, 1970.
  • Collected writings on Shin Buddhism (ed. by The Eastern Buddhist Society); Kyōto, Shinshū Ōtaniha, 1973.
  • Transcription of talks on Shin Buddhism.Buddha of infinite light. Boston: Shambhala, 1998. Edited by Taitetsu Unno.
  • Tribute; anthology of essays by great thinkers. D.T. Suzuki: a Zen life remembered. Wheatherhill, 1986. Reprinted by Shambhala.

References[change | change source]

  1. D. T. SUZUKI MUSEUM, accessed 2012.2.17; Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki, D.Litt, Manual of Zen Buddhism, Buddha Dharma Education Association set in PDF, 2005, accessed 2012.2.17; A ZEN LIFE: The D.T.Suzuki documentary project, accessed 2012.2.17
  2. Stirling 2006, pg. 125