The Buddhism which emerges from To Meet the Real Dragon is not a Buddhism for gods or supermen. It is Buddhism for real people: ordinary human beings with ordinary human problems. It is humanistic Zen–Zen for human beings.

Gudo Nishijima Roshi was born in Yokohama, Japan, in 1919, and began practicing zazen as a teenager. He studied Buddhism under Master Kodo Sawaki for twenty years, and was later ordained as a priest by the late Master Rempo Niwa, formerly head of the Soto School of Japanese Buddhism. For four decades he gave regular lectures and instructions on zazen practice at various places in Japan and overseas. He retired from lecturing in 2005, and now devotes his time to his writing. He also publishes a blog about Buddhism and current events.