title: AWAKENING TO ZEN: The Teachings of Roshi Philip Kapleau
author:  Roshi Philip Kapleau 
description: You could call him the first patriarch of Zen in America, and American he is. The beauty of <i>Awakening to Zen</i> is Philip Kapleau's attention to the concerns of a Western seeker. Using examples as diverse as Vladimir Horowitz, the Rocky Mountains, and a common wristwatch, Kapleau answers questions about Zen in a compassionate, readily accessible way. His decades as head of an American Zen monastery, not to mention his broad-reading and sharp intellect, yield an abundance of valuable guidance for a Westerner who struggles with Zen's foreignness.
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  > ROSHI PHILIP KAPLEAU
  
  > >  _ **THE THREE PILLARS OF ZEN**_  
  >  
  >
  
  > > Roshi Philip Kapleau, founder of the Zen Center in Rochester, New York, is
  > the author of _Zen: Merging of East and West_ (formerly _Zen: Dawn in the
  > West_ ), _To Cherish All Life_ , _The Wheel of Death_ , and _The Zen of
  > Living and Dying: A Practical and Spiritual Guide_ (formerly _The Wheel of
  > Life and Death_ ).
  
  > > In his youth, Kapleau studied law and became a court reporter, serving for
  > many years in the state and federal courts of Connecticut. At the end of
  > World War II he was appointed chief reporter for the International Military
  > Tribunal at Nuremberg, then was sent to cover the the International Military
  > Tribunal for the Far East in Tokyo.
  
  > > In 1953 he gave up his business in America and left for Japan to undergo
  > Zen training. After five years he came to an awakening, then went on to
  > complete eight more years of formal study and training. He was or