This article begins reminding the reader of the importance in Sociology of Religion of some of the leading figures, characterized by their being intellectually and biographically on the border between worlds and cultures, and by their acting as embodiments and mediators. One such figure, in Buddhism, is that of Shunryu Suzuki. Suzuki, soon renamed «Suzuki-roshi», is portrayed as loyal to the teaching of Master Dogen Zenji, the founder of Soto Zen school and, at the same time modern, eager to test the spirit of Zen in the middle of a «counterculture », made of pacifism, anti-war protest, over-indulgence, rebelliousness towards discipline and social rules. Suzuki’s proposal appears to be nonsectarian, open to discussion and dialogue, characterized by trust in an idea of religion as one extended to all aspects of every-day life, without hierarchies and preferences.