Tricycle | Awake in the World

In Memoriam: Trevor Leggett

Trevor Leggett (1914-2000), the prolific Zen author, died on August 1 in London. Leggett was, by all accounts, a man of considerable talents and extensive interests. He was a law graduate, an accomplished pianist, a fluent Japanese speaker, a Sanskrit scholar, and the author of more than thirty books, including many widely acclaimed books on Zen Buddhism, such as A First Zen Reader (Tuttle) and Zen and the Ways (Tuttle).

Leggett dedicated much of his life to furthering the teachings of Adhyatma Yoga, which he studied for almost twenty years, and to Buddhism, particularly the Zen tradition. Leggett’s interest in Zen developed during several visits to Japan in the 1930s and while interned in a Japanese prison camp during World War II. In 1964, he underwent six months of training at Eihei-ji and Daitoku-ji, the main temples of the Soto and Rinzai sects of Japanese Zen.