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 Pioneer in American Zen Buddhist movement.
Born in 1861 in Worcester, Massachusetts, United
States.
After graduating from college as an industrial engineer, he made
his fortune in service to the United States Government during
World War I. Greatly disillusioned by the brutality of war;
Goddard became a missionary for the American Board. He was sent
first to China, and later to Japan, where he lived in and
studied at a Zen Buddhist monastery outside Kyoto for nearly one
year. In 1924, having moved back to the States, he began writing
books on Buddhism. By the time of his death in 1939, he had
authored and edited nine titles, among them, The Buddhist Bible,
the book credited with influencing the views of Jack Kerouac,
iconic Beat Generation author. |