SOURCE: “Openness and Engagement: Memories of Dr. D. T. Suzuki,” in Original Dwelling Place: Zen Buddhist Essays, Counterpoint, 1996, pp. 27-31.

In the following essay, Aitkin—a student of Suzuki—reminisces about his personal encounters with his teacher.

I first encountered Dr. Suzuki's name in R. H. Blyth's Zen in English Literature and Oriental Classics, which I read in an internment camp in Kobe, Japan, in the winter of 1942-43. Later on when our camps were combined, I met Professor Blyth in person, and he told me about his first conversation with Suzuki Sensei:

Blyth: I have just come from Korea, where I studied Zen with Kayama Taigi Rōshi of Myōshinji Betsuin.

Suzuki: Is that so? Tell me, what is Zen?

Blyth: As I understand it, there is no such thing.

Suzuki: I can see you know something of Zen.

If there was challenge in Sensei's words...