Nyogen Senzaki

Like D. T. Suzuki, Nyogen Senzaki came to America at the instigation of Soyen Shaku. He stayed because he believed the American psyche was suited to Zen; he considered it more inclined to practical activity than to philosophical speculation.

“Because Buddhism is not a revealed religion,” he wrote, “its wisdom is not derived from any Supreme Being, nor from any agents of His. The Buddhist believes that we must attain wisdom through our own striving, just as we obtain scientific and philosophical knowledge only by independent effort. To attain prajna [wisdom], we strive in meditation and avoid conceptual speculation.”

He felt that the American mind, “with its scientific cast,” was naturally drawn to Zen. “The alert adaptability of the American mind finds in Zen a quite congenial form of spiritual practice.” 

[Nyogen Senzaki portrait by Molly Macnaughton]

The Third Step: 41-56; 9, 59, 61, 67, 69, 102, 111, 113, 114, 115, 116, 122, 127, 138, 148, 149, 150-52, 156, 161, 163, 168, 172

The Story of Zen: 5-6, 229-43, 266, 269, 280-82, 305, 320