"I want to be a Zen master," declared the 24-year-old, altruistic Irish scholar Maura O'Halloran; and these letters and journal entries chronicle her experience in pursuit of that goal from 1979 through 1982 in Japan. Her pages provide a clear window for those curious about the reality of Zen training. Profound episodes (begging in the snow) co-exist with lighter moments ("At times I feel like a cow in labour . . . my koan is mu"). Her account is all the more poignant for the fact that she met an untimely death at 27 in a bus accident in Thailand while on her way home to start a Zen center in Ireland. Her substantial gift of insight is a fine legacy. Illustrated.