A compilation of essays that cover the life and work of Masao Abe, one of the greatest Zen Buddhist communicators of the 20th century. Masao Abe has opened up a rich dialogue between Japan and the West. He is considered the leading living Zen figure in the Kyoto School of Buddhist thought and the successor of D.T. Suzuki, his early mentor, as the foremost exponent of Zen Buddhism in the West. In this volume, through stories and recollections, 35 leading intellectual (...) figures explore Abe's encounter with the West, incl'g. his work on interfaith dialogue as a basis for world peace, as well as his comparative philosophical scholarship over the past 30 years. "An extraordinary step ahead in the encounter between Zen and the West.". (shrink)