Dharma Brothers: Kodo and Tokujoo is based on the lives of two Japanese Zen Masters, how they grew from two ordinary boys, walking very different paths to become extraordinary men, and the deep spiritual bond between them. It is also the story of Japan from 1880 to 1965, of two personal accounts of Zen journeys to enlightenment, and of love and friendship. The story follows the lives of these two Dharma brothers, set against a backdrop of the Japanese-Russian War of 1905, and the rise of fascism in Japan in the 1930s. Kodo was an orphan, brought up in a harsh environment, while Tokujoo was the son of a well-to-do businessman. They both spent years studying in the most stringent Zen monasteries and became life-long friends. Each struggled to find his way clear of the circumstances in which he had been reared. Each sought a way of life offering more meaning and truth, ultimately becoming a different exemplar of Zen practice and living Buddhism.

Under its unique abbot Kosho Uchiyama, the small Zen temple of Antaji in Kyoto becamne a magnet for serious non-Japanese practitioners, and played a crucial role in the transmission of Zen to America in particular. This book combines the life stories and teaching of five teachers - Sawaki Kodo, Yokoyama Sodo, Kato Kosho, Ikebe Motoko and Uchiyama - associated with Antaiji and the story of the author and other western students coming to grips with Zen, Japanese culture and themselves. The deification of Zen teachers by their followers has been a serious problem in American Zen; this book provides a healthy antidote, presenting four men and one woman who have lived and died in Zazen within the rich context of their personal lives and their culture, so that we can fully understand what makes a Zen master in Japan.