Buddhist philosophy<\/a> in Japan. But it was his encounter with Shin\u00b9ichi Hisamatsu, another philosopher of Zen at the University of Kyoto, that would be decisive for Abe\u00b9s turn to Zen. In a series of Zen retreats with Hisamatsu at Myoshinji Temple in western Kyoto, Abe was forced to confront the reality of nihilism within himself and eventually resolve this problem by entering the Zen standpoint of emptiness, wherein the enlightened self arises. <\/p>\nAt age 40, Abe left Kyoto for New York in order to study at Union Theological Seminary with two of the most prominent Christian theologians of his day, Paul Tillich and Reinhold Niebuhr. This began a distinguished career of teaching, writing and, above all, dialogue with leading Christian thinkers, including David Tracy, Langdon Gilkey, Rosemary Radford Reuther, Jurgen Multmann and Hans Kung. Abe served as visiting professor at the University of Chicago, Purdue, Claremont, Columbia, Princeton, the University of Hawaii and other schools. In Germany, Abe taught at
Heidelburg, Tubingen, and Munich.<\/p>\n
In addition to his many Japanese publications, Abe wrote extensively in English. These works include Zen and Western Thought, an award-winning collection of essays and a ground-breaking reflection on Christian belief in Christ interpreted from a Buddhist perspective, \u00b3Kenotic God and Dynamic Sunyata.\u00b2 This essay appeared in conjunction with responses from several Christian and Jewish theologians, making the book itself a dialogue. Abe also engaged Jewish intellectuals with his Buddhist reflection on the Holocaust.<\/p>\n
In 1984, Abe and John Cobb convened a group of Buddhist and Christian intellectuals from Japan, North America and Europe for dialogue in depth over a sustained period of time on a number of fundamental issues. He was also a guiding influence on the Society for Buddhist-Christian Studies, which continues his work of dialogue today.<\/p>\n
Masao Abe is survived by his wife, Ikuko Abe, his constant companion in a life of sojourn and dialogue in the West.<\/p>\n
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