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Albert Low (1928-2016)
Albert William Low
https://www.zenmontreal.ca/albert_en.html
Albert Low was born in London, England, in 1928. In 1954, newly married, he emigrated to South Africa where he will remain for nine years. During his stay there, he obtained a university diploma in psychology and philosophy and undertook a business career as a professional in personnel resources. With his wife, Jean Austin, they had three children.
In 1963, unable to tolerate the political situation at that time (apartheid), he chose to emigrate to Canada where he arrived, unemployed, with his wife and three children. Two weeks after his arrival, he was named personnel executive in a large corporation in Ontario where he will remain until 1976. During this time and in addition to his professional occupations, he developed an original approach to creativity, work and business organization and management. He lectured extensively on these subjects and started writing. He published many of his findings and reflections in 1976 in a book entitled Zen and Creative Management.
In 1961, he discovered Hubert Benoit, the author of The Supreme Doctrine. Reading this work, he was immediately taken by the direction proposed by Benoit: “ I knew there and then that this was the way I was looking for ”. From that moment on, he began to meditate, but he will have to wait another five years before meeting a Zen master.
In 1966, at the age of 38, he met the Japanese master Haku’un Yasutani who happened to be traveling in Canada at that time: this meeting was decisive. Under the guidance of this teacher, he undertook a serious practice. His wife Jean who had accompanied him all his life in his spiritual pursuits, also undertook this practice.
From then on, the practice of Zen occupied the centre of his existence. He devoted most of his free time to meditation, to the study of Zen Buddhism and to writing. Following Yasutami’s return to Japan, it is with Philip Kapleau, the founder of the Rochester Zen Centre, that he will practice for twenty years.
In 1976, after having experienced a deep breakthrough, he retired from corporate life. He and his wife, Jean, sold their house and belongings in order to be able to go to Rochester to devote full time to the practice and dissemination of Zen. In 1979 Albert Low was asked by Philip Kapleau to assume the direction of the recently established Montreal Zen Centre.
He accepted the challenge with passion. He completed his formal training in 1986, and at that time received full transmission as a Zen teacher. The Montreal Centre became autonomous at that time and experienced significant growth. A new life began for him, entirely dedicated to the teaching of Zen and to writing, a direct extension of his teaching.
The Montreal Zen Center being a fully lay community, the presence of a man such as Albert Low as teacher and director, was invaluable. Having worked in the business world and had a family life while at the same time carrying on his Zen practice, Albert Low was able to understand and relate to the trials and tribulations that a lay person has when practicing Zen while supporting a family.
On May 30, 2003, Albert Low received an honorary Doctor of Laws (LLD) from Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario based on his unique contribution to scholarship, teaching and community service. He was an authentic thinker and a prolific writer having authored eighteen publications, many of which have been translated into French, German, Spanish, Portuguese and Turkish.
About Albert Low
http://www.albertlow.ca/about-albert-low
Albert Low was the teacher and director at the Montreal Zen Center from 1979 until his passing in January 2016.
Albert Low was an authorized Zen master, an internationally published author, and a former human resources executive. He had lived in England, South Africa, Canada, and the United States and had resided in Montreal since 1979. He held a BA degree in Philosophy and Psychology, and was a trained counselor. In 2003, he was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Laws for scholastic attainment and community service by Queen’s University, in Kingston, Ontario.
Dr. Low made a study of human nature throughout his life. He drew on his prolonged meditations on creativity and the human condition, his many years of providing psychological and spiritual counseling, and a wide-ranging knowledge of Western psychology, philosophy, and science — including a deep interest in evolutionary theory. He gave many talks on CBC radio and CBC television.
He wrote eleven books, and contributed to three. Many of his books were translated into three or more languages. He also translated Dr. Hubert Benoit’s "Let Go!" and Thich Nhat Hanh’s "Zen Keys" from French to English. His latest books, "The Origin of Human Nature: a Zen Buddhist Looks at Evolution" and "Conflict and Creativity at Work: Human Roots of Corporate Life", were published by Sussex Academic Press.
He was born in London, England, on December 16, 1928. During the period of 1947 - 1949, he served two years in the Royal Navy. He left England with his wife Jean in 1954, and emigrated to South Africa. There he was employed by the Central News Agency, a company that held the monopoly for the sale and distribution of all reading matter including books, magazines, and newspapers throughout Southern Africa, which then included South Africa, Rhodesia, Mozambique, and South West Africa. Eventually, he became the senior personnel executive and reported to the CEO. During this time, he gave many seminars on creativity and organization for managers at all levels for the National Development Foundation of South Africa. While in South Africa, his children Anita, John and Stephen were born.
In 1963, he left South Africa as he could not agree with the political policy of apartheid, and moved to Canada. He settled in Chatham-Kent, Ontario, and was again employed as a personnel executive, this time with a large utility that was at that time called the Union Gas Company. He was in charge of salary administration for all levels of company, as well as for organization and staffing. He developed an original theory on creativity, organization and management. Eventually, he wrote a book based upon his researches: Zen and Creative Management, which has since sold more than 75,000 copies. During his time at the gas company, he continued to give talks and seminars on the subject of management, organization and creativity — the latter a subject he has spent considerable time studying, and which is very closely connected with Zen practice.
In 1955, he became interested in Zen Buddhism, and had a strong intellectual interest for about ten years.
In 1966, he met the Japanese Zen Master Haku'un Yasutani and practiced Zen, first with him, and then for twenty years with Philip Kapleau, who had himself been a disciple of Yasutani's until the latter dissolved their relationship. In 1976, he resigned from the Gas Company and went to the Rochester Zen Center for three years, where he served as editor of the Center’s journal. In 1979, he relocated to Montreal as a probationary teacher. In 1986, he finished his training and was authorized by Kapleau to teach as a Zen master.
PDF: Albert Low: A Quest for a Truthful Life
by Mauro Peresssini
In: Wild geese : Buddhism in Canada / edited by John S. Harding,Victor Sogen Hori and Alexander Soucy
McGill-Queen’s University Press 2010, pp. 348-376.
PDF: Invitation To Practice Zen (1989)
PDF: Zen and Creative Management (1992)
PDF: Creating Consciousness (2001)
PDF: The Butterfly's Dream: In Search of the Roots of Zen
PDF: Hakuin on Kensho: The Four Ways of Knowing
Hakuin's text translated by Albert LowPDF: To Know Yourself: talks, stories, and articles on Zen
PDF: Zen Meditation: Plain and Simple
PDF: Zen and the creative management of dilemmas
by Albert Low & Ronald Purser
Spirituality & Religion, (2012) 9:4, 335-355.PDF: What More Do You Want
by Albert LowPDF: The Iron Cow of Zen
by Albert LowPDF: The World: a Gateway: Commentaries on the Mumonkan
by Albert LowPDF: Zen and the Sutras
by Albert Low
