- Buddhism in Germany
- Martin H. Petrich
Rudolf Doering is a Zenpriest. He lives with his
Japanese wife and his three children in his Buddhist temple in Dinkelscherben, a village
in the Southern part of Germany. Everyday he practices meditation and recites the sutras.
Several times a month he conducts some meditation-courses, called Sesshin. Born as a
Catholic he found the way to Buddhism about ten years ago, when he traveled to Asia. Zazen
(sitting meditation) became for him more meaningful than to attend religious services on
Sunday. After he met his Japanese Zen-master Hozumi Gensho Roshi in Japan, it became clear
for him: he wanted to become Buddhist. For many years he devoted his time for meditation
and in 1991 he was ordained as priest in Japan and received the Buddhist name Dorin Genpo.
Currently he teaches interested people Zen-meditation and gives regularly Dhaka-talks.
His story is not a unique one. In recent years Buddhism
became very popular in Germany. More and more people find their way to Buddhism. Some even
become monk or nun, others practice as laymen. But the history of Buddhism in Germany is
still very young. The 19th century can be seen as the time, in which Buddhism
entered Europe. Through reports of traveler and colonial officer people in Europe learned
about this foreign religion. In Germany intellectuals and artists were the first one, who
took interest in Buddhism. This is not surprising: Germany is known as the country of
great poets and philosopher. Philosophers like Kant, Hegel, Nietzsche or poets like
Goethe, Schiller and Hesse are admired all over the world. The philosopher Arthur
Schopenhauer (1788-1860) was so much attracted by the Buddhist philosophy, that he began
to study the then available Buddhist scriptures. Already in 1879 Friedrich Max Mueller
(1823-1900) published the "Sacred Books of the Buddhists" in English. He was one
of the founder of the London based Pali Text Society (PTS) in 1881. The German translation
of the main parts of the Pali Canon was done by the Austrian Karl-Friedrich Neumann
(1865-1915). Another German, Hermann Oldenberg (1854-1920) wrote a biography of Gautama
Buddha in the year 1881. His book is still one of the outstanding studies about the life
of Buddha. Through those publications and German translations of Buddhist scriptures more
and more people got knowledge about Buddhism. Many young people found their way to
Buddhism through the works of the famous poet Hermann Hesse (1877-1962). After giving up
his studies in Protestant theology he came in contact with Indian philosophy and Buddhism
and was very influenced by its thinking. Hesse got in touch with Asian cultures through a
three-month-journey to Sri Lanka and Indonesia in the year 1911. His book ‘Siddhartha’,
published in 1922, and many other writings became so much popular all over the world that
they were translated even in many Asian languages (including Vietnamese).
But only to study Buddhist philosophy was for some
Germans not enough. They wanted to organize themselves in Buddhist communities in order to
practice Buddhism and to promote Buddhist teaching. In 1903 Karl Seidenstucker (1876-1936)
founded the first German Buddhist organisation in Leipzig, called "The Buddhist
Mission in Germany" and published in magazine, ‘The Buddhist’. In the same
year another German, Anton W.F. Gueth (1878-1957), entered the Buddhist Sangha as the
first German Novize in Rangoon (Burma). He became well known under his Buddhist name
Nyanatiloka. Numerous Buddhist scriptures were translated into German (among others the
famous Visuddhimagga) by him. In 1991 he found a monastery, the socalled ‘Island
Hermitage’ in Sri Lanka, and attracted many Western disciples. Even today the Island
Hermitage remains as a popular place for western Buddhists, willing to live as Buddhist
monks and nuns in monastery. In Germany, further Buddhist groups were found in the years
after the first World War. The medical doctor Paul Dahlke (1865-1928) established in 1924
the Buddhist house in Berlin-Frohnau, which became the center of German Buddhism. In his
lectures, which attracted numerous people, he tried to explain the anatta-doctrin in a
modern scientific way and called his Buddhism ‘Neobuddhism’. Today the Buddhist
house is owned by a Buddhist organisation from Sri Lanka and some Singhalese monks are
living constantly there. Another Buddhist community was found in 1921 by Georg Grimm
(1868-1945) in Munich. He rejected Dahlkes way of Gautama Buddha within the Pali-canon in
order to find out what Gautama Buddha really taught. He called his way "Ancient
Buddhism" and rejected all traditional schools, since all of them misinterpreted
according to him Buddha’s original teachings.
German Buddhism was in the beginning mainly dominated by
Theravada-Buddhism. Japanese Zen-Buddhism became known only after the World War II.
Several Japanese Zen-influenced philosopher were attracted by the philosophy of Martin
Heidegger, some of them even studied under him at the University of Freiburg, e.g. Tanabe
Hajime. Heideggers interpretation of nothingness was compared with the Mahayana-Buddhist
teaching of emptiness. Hisamatsu Shin’ichi and especially D.T Suzuki through his
numerous publications introduced Zen-Buddhism to a broader auditorium. From the sixties
onwards Zen-Buddhist groups spread all over the country. After the time of intellectual
reception of Buddhism, meditation-practice became more and more the center of interest.
Several Japanese Zen-master visited Germany and other European countries regularly in
order to conduct meditation-courses, a few even settled down, e.g. Taisen Deshimaru Roshi
in France.
In 1962 only 2000 Buddhists were registered in the 1955
founded German Buddhist Union (DBU), the umbrella organisation of today more than 30
German Buddhist groups. Now, there are altogether some 70000 Buddhists living in Germany
(with a population of about 80 million), both Asian migrants (about 40000 Buddhists) and
native Germans. All the big Buddhist branches are represented: Theravada-Buddhism,
Mahayana-Buddhism and an impressive number of followers of the Tibetan tradition
(Vajrayana). Although the number of Buddhist followers is still small, Buddhism is very
popular. Bookstores are full with Buddhist literature and the interest in meditation
practice is very high. But compared with the centerfold tradition in Vietnam and other
Asian countries, Buddhism is still at the beginning in Germany. There is not a German
Buddhism, yet (like Vietnamese Buddhism) and there is a lack of qualified Buddhist
teacher. Rather there are several Asian Buddhist traditions practiced in Germany. But
there is also a chance. While in Asian Theravada – and Mahayana-Buddhism are strictly
separated (except in Vietnam), in the West the different traditions can come in contact
with each other and exchange their knowledge and different approaches. At present Buddhist
studies are unfortunately not accepted at the German Universities, unlike Christian
studies are. While in Asia mainly ordained monks and nuns are teaching the Dhamma, in the
West there are also many lay-followers (women and men) among the teacher. But due to the
fact that more and more migrants settle down in Germany, the country becomes also more
multi-religious. More than two million Muslims are already living in the country and the
number of Buddhists, too is increasing. So we can be hopeful, that in Germany the Lotus
flower will have bright blossoms in the future.
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