Huston Smith
interviews D.T. Suzuki on NBC
photo by Mihoko Okamura
A ZEN LIFE is the first documentary film to present the extraordinary life of D.T. Suzuki. This vivid portrait of the man and his times includes rare footage of Suzuki himself and reminiscences by many whose lives and thinking he influenced.
Comments
Anyone interested in the impact of Zen Buddhism in the West, or the life of one of its most distinguished representatives, will be intrigued and affected by the film’s alluring intersection of biography, history and transformative ideas.
San Francisco Film Society and Indie Wire, 2006
D.T. Suzuki with Erich Fromm
photo by Mihoko Okamura
His teachings were traditional but radical, and influenced many, including Jung, Fromm, Ginsberg, Merton and Heidegger. And Suzuki’s long life, explored through archival footage and interviews, exemplifies a path of both inner stillness and answering life’s call.
Tikkun Magazine, 2006
A Zen Life portrays the late Suzuki through archival footage and photographs. But what is most touching and possibly most profound about the doc is the way he lives on in the memories of his students and friends. The interviewees show themselves to be extensions of Suzuki’s teachings by describing the grains of knowledge he provided them – and explaining how the seeds took root.
San Francisco Bay Guardian
Interviewees
appearing in the English version:
Robert AITKEN one of the first American Zen masters
BANDO, Shojun Chief Priest of Ho-onji Temple
William Theodore de BARY Professor Emeritus, Columbia University
Alwin and Blouke, CARUS son and grandson of Paul Carus
Phil COUSINEAU author
Marjorie EDEL active at East-West Philosophers' Conference 1959 & 1964
Frederick FRANCK Christian/Buddhist author
Dr. HINOHARA, Shigeaki Chair, Board of Trustees, St-Lukes Hospital
INOUE, Zenjo former Chief Priest of Tokeiji Temple
Newton ISHIURA DT Suzuki's secretary in Hawaii, 1949
Bill JOHNSTON Jesuit father
Elsie MITCHELL co-founder, Cambridge Buddhist Association, USA
NAKAGAWA, Luliko & NAKADA, Nagako DT Suzuki's grand-daughters
ODA, Hiroko research assistant to DT Suzuki at Matsugaoka Bunko
Mihoko OKAMURA Dr. Suzuki's personal secretary the last 15 years of his life.
Donald RICHIE film and literary critic
Huston SMITH scholar of religious traditions, USA
Gary SNYDER poet
Dr. Albert STUNKARD psychoanalyst, USA
SATO, Taira Director, Threewheels Shin Buddhist Temple, London, England
HINO, Kenshi whose divinity student father was conscripted in WW-II
Also appearing:
John CAGE
Erich FROMM
Thomas MERTON
**
Also see: www.azenlife-film.org
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