Suzuki portrays the teacher–student relationship as central to Zen practice, yet fundamentally different from conventional, hierarchical models of instruction. The teacher is not a distant authority figure demanding blind obedience, but a guide whose primary function is to help the student see their own original mind. This guidance is offered less through doctrinal explanation and more through presence, example, and shared practice. The relationship is grounded in mutual trust and respect, with the teacher’s experience acknowledged but not idolized. In this way, the teacher’s life—simplicity, sincerity, and stability in ordinary activities—becomes a living expression of the teaching.

At the same time, Suzuki emphasizes that true understanding cannot be handed over from teacher to student as a fixed body of knowledge. The essence of Zen is transmitted “mind to mind,” beyond words and concepts, and must be realized directly by each practitioner. The teacher points the way and offers compassionate support, but the student must walk the path through personal practice. Overdependence on the teacher’s personality or words is discouraged, as clinging of this sort easily becomes another form of attachment. The student is encouraged to trust their own Buddha nature and to discover insight through direct experience rather than through borrowed understanding.

Suzuki also highlights the mutual dimension of this relationship: teacher and student are engaged in the same fundamental practice and, in a real sense, learn together. The teacher does not stand outside the process as a finished product, but continues to cultivate beginner’s mind alongside the student. A genuine teacher exists only in relation to sincere students, and in guiding others, the teacher’s own practice is continually refined. This mutuality softens rigid hierarchy without denying the teacher’s responsibility to guide and the student’s responsibility to listen and practice. The relationship thus becomes a shared field of practice rather than a one-sided transmission of authority.

Finally, Suzuki warns against romanticizing or idealizing the teacher as a perfect, superhuman figure. Seeing the teacher’s ordinariness, while still recognizing the depth of their practice, is itself part of Zen understanding. Enlightenment is not set apart from everyday life but expressed in the most ordinary actions, and the teacher–student relationship is one of the primary places where this fact is revealed. By maintaining respect without dependency, openness without naivety, the student learns to let go of fixed ideas—including fixed ideas about the teacher—and to embody beginner’s mind in relation to all of life.