[Roshi] became a part of my life and a deep friend in the real sense of friendship: someone who really cared about – or didn't care, I'm not quite sure which it is – who deeply didn't care about who I was.  Therefore who I was began to wither, and the less I was of who I was, the better I felt.

 - Leonard Cohen, from the documentary, Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man

Leonard Cohen is the best known student of Kyozan Joshu Sasaki (most often called Roshi by Cohen), a Japanese Rinzai Zen teacher. Cohen served as Roshi's  personal assistant during his stay at the Mount Baldy Zen Center Roshi founded and leads, in the 1990s.

As Cohen, Roshi's junior by 25 years, explains,

I thought I'd take that opportunity to hang with him while he's still around,

As of 2012, Roshi is still actively teaching at the age of 105.

...  we were fortunate enough to attend an exhibit at the LA County Museum of Art, which featured 17th century Zen master Hakuin Ekaku’s caligraphy and drawings. Roshi seemed particularly fond of a piece by one of Hakuin’s monks. It featured a Zen master pinching the nose of a student, and Roshi indicated that it was superior to any other in the collection.

From  Mt Baldy Zen Center web site, published on August 2, 2011.

The Exhibit: The Sound of One Hand: Paintings and Calligraphy by Zen Master Hakuin
Los Angeles County Museum of Art: May 22 through August 17, 2011

Hakuin reformed and reinvigorated Rinzai Zen school which had been gradually deteriorating since the 14th century. He stressed zazen as the most important practice. He taught that three things are essential to zazen: great faith, great doubt, and great resolve. He systematized koan study, arranging the traditional koans into a particular order by degree of difficulty. He also authored new kōan, the best known of which is "What is the sound of one hand clapping?"  Source: The Life, Teachings and Art of Zen Master Hakuin

The subject of the painting so admired by Roshi, "a Zen master pinching the nose of a student," may have been an illustration of this incident from Hakuin's autobiographical writings:

I related my understanding to the Master one day during dokusan [another name for sanzen]. He said to me, "Commitnent to the study of Zen has to be a true commitment. What about the dog and the Buddha-nature [a famous Zen koan]?"

"There's no way at all for hand or foot to touch it," I replied.

He suddenly reached out, grabbed my nose in his hand, and gave it a sharp push. "How's that for a firm touch!" he declared. I was incapable of moving forward. I couldn't retreat. I couldn't spit out a single syllable.

Source: Spiritual Stars of the Golden Age

In addition to being an interesting recent photo Leonard Cohen with his friend and mentor, Roshi, this shot is also entry #81 in the Shades Of Leonard Cohen series.

A gallery comprising all items published in the photo series, Shades of Leonard Cohen, can be viewed at Collected Shades Of Leonard Cohen.

Credit Due Department: DrHGuy was alerted to this photo by a LeonardCohenForum post authored by Jarkko, who in turn attributes the link to Marcus Grönwall.