Training Abe's father was a medical doctor, his mother a practitioner of
Jōdo Shinshū Pure Land Buddhism, from whom came his early faith in
Amida Buddha. Born in
Osaka, Abe was the third of six children. His higher education began at Osaka Municipal University, where he studied Economics and Law. For four years during the late 1930s he worked in a business office at a private trading company in neighboring
Kobe. Yet Abe was seriously troubled by an ongoing personal crisis, which stemmed from the perceived conflict: rationality versus faith in the Amida of Pure Land Buddhism. This conflict he thought he could conclusively resolve in favor of faith through the study of philosophy, by which he could overcome objections posed by reason. Abe entered
Kyoto Imperial University in April 1942. It was a courageous step, as he changed career direction in mid-stream, exceptional in Japanese life, yet even more so considering the current political situation. He studied Western philosophy under
Hajime Tanabe. Also, Abe studied
Zen under the direction of
Shin'ichi Hisamatsu, a philosophy professor at Kyoto University and a lay practitioner of the
Rinzai school. Guided by Hisamatsu, Abe worked with others to revitalize Buddhist youth organization at Kyoto University throughout the 1940s. Professor Hisamatsu challenged Abe's quasi-
theistic faith in Amida Buddha; instead Hisamatsu became for Abe a vital religious model, of a rigorous adherent of
Śūnyatā (which may be called
Emptiness) as an ultimate reality. In consequence, Abe came to understand Amida Buddha as a sacred fiction. Abe's spiritual progression under Hisamatsu was complex and dialectical. Hisamatsu taught that the revered image of Amida Buddha was but a stage on the way to realizing a "formless" Buddha, whereby one could
awaken to one's True Self. Nonetheless Abe first reacted to Hisamatsu by coming to discover and experience an infinite grace from the Amida Buddha. Abe's profound quest continued. In December 1951, during a
group Zen sitting at the Reiun Temple of the
Myōshin-ji in Kyoto, Abe personally challenged Hisamatsu, screaming to him, "Is that the True Self?" Hisamatsu replied, "That's the True Self." Thereafter Abe entered an intense phase and struggled with the view that "It's all a lie!" (which he cried out while dousing himself with a bucket of ice water at a subsequent group sitting). He agonized over the seeming proximity of the deity and the devil, and with his own complicity. Finally, Abe told Hisamatsu, "I just cannot find any place where I can stand." Hisamatsu told him, "Stand right at that place where there is nowhere to stand." Along this way Abe confronted, and managed to distinguish and overcome, a "positive nihilism" associated with the irreligious philosopher
Friedrich Nietzsche. Reflecting on his life development, Abe acknowledged the crucial role of Shin'ichi Hisamatsu in his spiritual formation. "Without him I am not what I am." From 1952 to 1980, Abe served as professor of philosophy at
Nara University. Before he had been professor at Kyoto Women's College (1946–1948) and
Ōtani University (1948–1950). Thereafter, while at Nara, Abe was concurrently professor at Kyoto University from 1955 to 1958, and from 1964-1980 professor at Hana Zono University. Also in the mid-1950s he studied
Christian theology in New York City at the
Union Theological Seminary and at
Columbia University. Then in 1980 he left Nara University and moved to California, to the Department of Religion at the
Claremont Graduate School, and later in 1983 to the
University of Hawaiʻi where he served as Professor of
Japanese philosophy. From 1965 Abe participated and made presentations at many universities and colleges throughout the United States while serving as a visiting professor in residence (with his wife Ikuko). During these years Abe shared in the Buddhist-Christian dialogue while at universities in Europe. Abe contributed to and led many conferences on comparative religion, Buddhism, and related subjects. He was perennially involved with: the
East-West Philosophers' Conference at the University of Hawaiʻi; and the
International Buddhist-Christian Theological Encounter (the "Abe-Cobb group") which, along with Professor
John B. Cobb, Jr., Abe directed. In addition to his contributions of creative insight and scholarship, Masao Abe also brought to interfaith meetings a serenity and a quiet charm. Here, for example, his fellow academic
Arvind Sharma recalls a moment with Abe at a conference in 1986: Abe broke into a smile. I still remember it vividly because it had a compelling ineffable quality about it. It was so totally unencumbered. It seemed curiously and totally detached from the environment, a happening complete in itself, with a childlike simplicity beguiling in its guilelessness. When his face assumed its normal expression, one was left with the feeling of something very precious—found fleetingly and then lost irretrievably—until he smiled again. Apparently, the source of this "giving gift" had passed through spiritual trials. Abe earlier was required to walk down a path of terrifying dread, and to make a leap into the abyss, in order to find "that place where there is nowhere to stand."
Dialogue Abe sought to advance the
interreligious dialogue while serving in his widespread teaching assignments; he led many seminars on Buddhism and western religions, particularly Christianity. A frequent procedure followed by the convened representatives of different religions was: first to attempt to understand the other's faith perspective from the inside (without compromising each one's own faith), to the extent of being able to "see" how things may look from the other's point of view; second, there would follow a period during which each would "return" to their own faith; thereafter, a more fruitful discussion might commence. Abe further sought to encourage dialogue through his various philosophical and spiritual writings. Generally Abe has received praise for his efforts. Professor
Jürgen Moltmann found that the Buddhist scholar's presentation was profound and precise concerning a central topic of Christian theology. "Here reciprocal understanding is not only furthered, but Christianity and Buddhism in their immiscible difference are led into a common reality. In light of this common reality, perhaps a mutual transformation does not yet begin, but certainly a reciprocal liking and opening for each other." In 1983 Professor Abe disclosed aspects of his inner motivation. He wrote that, in addition to his abiding interest in Buddhism, he was profoundly concerned with the spiritual foundation for all of "humanity in a global age. To provide this foundation, a comparative and dialogical study of Buddhism and Western thought, Christianity included, is absolutely necessary." ==An essays with responses==