Philip Kapleau

Philip Kapleau ( born August 20, 1912 in New Haven, Connecticut; † 6 May 2004) was an American Zen monk and author.

Philip Kapleau grew up in a working class family. As a young man he studied law and then worked for several years as a court reporter in various courts of Connecticut. He did this so well that he was first appointed in 1945 to a main rapporteur of the Nuremberg trials and reported subsequently on the Tokyo processes.

The preoccupation with the atrocities of the Second World War touched him very deeply and let awaken a deep spirituality in him, to mark his life.

Zen Buddhism

During his time in Japan Kapleau began to take an interest in Zen Buddhism and became a student of DT Suzuki and other Zen teachers. When he returned to America in 1950, he studied until 1953 at DT Suzuki, who was a professor at Columbia University, Buddhist philosophy. However, mere intellectual study of Buddhism was not enough for him and so he joined in 1953, a Zen monastery in Japan. The next 13 years underwent Philip Kapleau a very hard training under three teachers, before he was ordained in 1965 and received the teaching license.

During this time he also discovered his literary qualities and enables transcribed inter alia, teacher-student discussions, interviewed monks and thus offered insight into the monastic life. As a result of this work published in 1965 Kapleau his book "The Three Pillars of Zen " (engl. " The three pillars of Zen " (1969), translated into German by Brigitte D' Ortschy ). It became an international bestseller and standard work of Zen, because Kapleau succeeded in it, the Zen culture almost bring " western world ". To this topic Kapleau yet published several books.

In 1996 came true for Kapleau a long-awaited desire as a good friend of the family donated his property and he on the Chapin Mill Retreat Center, a Buddhist center opened.

Works (selection)

  • The three pillars of Zen. Teaching, practice, enlightenment, Barth, Frankfurt / M. 2004, ISBN 3-502-61132-7
  • The fourth pillar of Zen. The way to discover the miraculous in the everyday, Barth, Frankfurt / M. 2000, ISBN 3-502-64356-3
  • The Zen Book of Living and Dying. A spiritual counselor, Barth, Frankfurt / M. 2001, ISBN 3-502-61057-6
  • Enlightenment not excluded. Zen Stories, Zen talks, Herder, Freiburg/B.2003, ISBN 3-451-05325- X
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