Founder of local Zen Center, Philip Kapleau, dies at 91

[Earth_First]

Renowned teacher Philip Kapleau wrote "Three Pillars"

Philip Kapleau, founder of the Rochester Zen Center, who in the 1950s traded an American commuter train for a monastary in Japan, passed away Thursday at noon, surrounded by friends and family at the center on Arnold Park.

He was 91, and had suffered Parkinson's disease for many years.

Born in 1912, and a native of a working-class section of New Haven Conneticut, he has long been regarded as one of the foremost teachers of Zen in the Western world.

After World War II, Kapleau worked as a court reporter at the military tribunals in Germany and Japan, a racking experience that later found him onto a spiritual path.

His 1965 book, The Three Pillars of Zen, introduced many Americans to Zen Buddhism, a traditional practice of disciplined religious meditation and self-examination. It is still considered a seminal text.

Mr. Kapleau, you will be dearly missed, :grouphug:

[charlie]

1. Gee

I didn't know he was still alive.

I've read 3 Pillars of Zen many times, it's a remarkable book. Bye Phil, you lived well and did good.

[Earth_First]

2. kick (nt)