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There’s a story from the ninth century about three Buddhist monks crossing a bridge in rural China and coming upon a disciple of the Zen master Rinzai.

A longtime student of Rinzai Zen Buddhism, he was ordained a monk in 1997.

Mr Cohen’s search for redemption led him to Mount Baldy monastery, where he trained as a Rinzai Buddhist monk.

As a tool toward faster enlightenment, Zen's Rinzai school had its students wrestle conundrums, or koans, such as the famous query "What is the sound of one hand clapping?"

Ruth Fuller Sasaki, 74, Zen Buddhist scholar and first Westerner admitted to the Rinzai Zen priesthood; of a heart attack; in Kyoto, Japan.