Last Friday, Dutch author Janwillem van de Wetering has passed away in Maine USA where he had been living for many years. He is probably best known for his Amsterdam Cops series with Grijpstra and De Gier as police detectives following the trail of murderers, but I liked him best for the three books he wrote about his experiences with Buddhism: The Empty Mirror, A Glimpse of Nothingness and Afterzen.
The first two books describe his pilgrimage to Kyoto, Japan, where he spent some months in a Buddhist monastery and his stint at the Moon Springs Hermitage in Maine under the American Zen master he met back in Japan. In the last book all his experiences and disappointments have resulted in a very unique and honest view of Buddhism where he still carries a lot of respect for at least some of the masters he met but has done away with the rituals and still abides by the truths of the teachings.
