"American Zen teacher and founder of the Zen Center of Rochester， New York， one of the major Buddhist centers in the United States. He was born in 1912， studied law， and became a court reporter. In this role， he worked at both the military tribunal in Nuremberg， and the War Crimes Trials in Tokyo in 1946. At the beginning of the 1950s， Kapleau attended D.T. Suzuki's lectures in Buddhist philosophy at Columbia University， finally deciding in 1953 to travel to Japan in pursuit of genuine Buddhist training. Prior to Kapleau's return to America in 1966， Yasutani Roshi authorized him as a teacher. In August， 1966， the Zen Center was founded in Rochester. In addition to publishing a number of important and influential books such as The Three Pillars of Zen; Zen: Dawn in the West and To Cherish All Life （a book promoting a vegetarian diet）， Kapleau has been a leader in promoting Zen as a American religious practice."