Disciples of Shunryu Suzuki

Suzuki once said that a disciple was someone he'd ordained as a priest but at another time he said that it was his students who practiced with the Bodhisattva's vow. He said to Phillip Wilson after the legitimacy of Phillip's ordination had been questioned by monks at Eiheiji, "If you think you're a monk, you're a monk."

Bill McNeil - ?
Bob Hense - ?
Jean Ross
Grahame Petchey
Phillip Wilson
Ananda Claude Dalenberg
Hoitsu Suzuki
Shoko Okamoto
Richard Baker
Mel Weitsman
Ron Browning
Joyce Browning
Trudy Dixon - ?
Bill Kwong
Silas Hoadley
Peter Schneider
Dan Welch
Paul Discoe
Reb Anderson
Les Kaye
Edward Brown
David Chadwick
Lew Richmond
Angie Runyon

He ordained Ron and Joyce Browning before they went to Japan though neither returned to be his students. Two earlier students who might be included in this list because they, like Jean Ross, were ordained for Suzuki by priests in Japan, are Bill McNeil and Bob Hense, both did not continue and died long ago. In Japan Suzuki ordained his son Hoitsu to take over Rinsoin and Shoko Okamoto for Shoko's father so he could be abbot of Suzuki's temple Zounin.

At Trudy Dixon's funeral Suzuki wailed, "Oh my disciple," and said he'd never hoped to have a disciple so great. After visiting her one day he said to Bob Halpern, "Now there's a real Zen master."

A note about this and other disciples' meetings