David Robert Loy is professor in the Faculty of International Studies at Bunkyo University, Chigasaki, Japan. His work is primarily in comparative philosophy and religion, particularly comparing Buddhist with modern Western thought. He is the author of Non-duality: A Study in Comparative Philosophy (1989); Lack and Transcendence: The Problem of Death and Life in Psychotherapy, Existentialism and Buddhism (1996), which was awarded the Frederick Streng Book Prize by the Society for Buddhist-Christian Studies; and A Buddhist History of the West: Studies in Lack (2001). A Zen student for many years, he is qualified as a sensei in the Sanbo Kyodan tradition.