Urs App was born in 1949 in Rorschach, Switzerland, and studied in Freiburg, Kyoto and Philadelphia psychology, philosophy and religious studies. In 1989 he obtained a Ph.D. in Religious Studies (Chinese Buddhism) from Temple University in Philadelphia.From 1989 to 1999 he was professor of Buddhism at Hanazono University in Kyoto, Japan, and Associate Director of its International Research Institute for Zen Buddhism. He has since devoted himself to full-time research at various academic institutions in Asia and Europe, most recently at the Research Institute for Zen Culture (Zenbunka kenkyujo, Kyoto; 2005-2007), the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF; 2007-2010), the Scuola Italiana di Studi sull'Asia Orientale (Italian School of East Asian Studies, ISEAS; 2010-11), and the Institute of Humanistic Studies (Jinbun kagaku kenkyujo) of Kyoto University (2011-12).Focuses of research are Buddhist studies (especially Zen Buddhism), the history of orientalism, the history of the European discovery of Asian religions, the history of philosophy in East and West (in particular also Schopenhauer's reception of Asian religions and philosophies), and the exchange of ideas between Asia and the West.
Contains dialogues between one of the most famous Chinese founders of Zen and his students and also useful collection of classic Zen meditation manuals from Japan and Korea as well as China. The book reveals an unusual and dramatic spiritual teacher.
