Background
Jakusho Kwong was born as William Kwong in Santa Rosa, California on November 14, 1935.
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Jakusho Kwong
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Career
In the 1950s, while studying to be an art teacher at San Jose State University, Kwong was in a car accident that nearly killed him. He took a temporary job as a postman to improve the strength in his legs, which had been badly damaged in the accident. In 1971 Suzuki began preparations to give Dharma transmission to Kwong, having given transmission to Richard Baker that previous year, but Suzuki died soon after without carrying it out.
After preparatory study with Kobun Chino, Kwong later completed Dharma transmission with Hoitsu Suzuki, Shunryu Suzuki"s son and first dharma heir, in keeping with Suzuki-roshi"s intention.
In the years since, he has traveled to both Poland and Iceland to lead retreats and workshops, giving Dharma talks to affiliate groups.
