1001Philosophers

Abe Masao Quotes

Abe Masao was a Japanese Buddhist philosopher of the Kyoto School and the principal exponent of Zen thought in interreligious dialogue with Christianity and Judaism in the late twentieth century. A pupil of Hisamatsu Shinichi and Nishitani Keiji, he succeeded D. The quotes below are attributed to Abe Masao, organized by topic.

Abe Masao on God

  • Attributed to Abe Masao:

    “Religion in our time must engage history without losing the depth of the absolute.”

Abe Masao on Love

  • Attributed to Abe Masao:

    “Self and other are mutually constitutive.”

Abe Masao on Mind

  • Attributed to Abe Masao:

    “Zen is the realization, not the doctrine, of one's true self.”

Abe Masao on Truth

  • Attributed to Abe Masao:

    “Sunyata is not nothingness; it is the dynamic emptiness from which all things arise.”

  • Attributed to Abe Masao:

    “True dialogue requires the suspension of one's own standpoint.”

Read all Abe Masao quotes on Truth