Nyanaponika

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Nyanaponika Mahathera, 1993

Nyanaponika Mahathera (born July 21, 1901 in Hanau as Siegmund Feniger , † October 19, 1994 in Forest Hermitage, Kandy , Sri Lanka ) was a Buddhist monk in the Theravada tradition for 57 years . His work as a Buddhist teacher and scholar, as a translator and author of Buddhist scriptures and as an editor and lecturer have made him an inspiring figure for the renewal of Buddhism in Asia, particularly Sri Lanka. His participation in the 6th Council in Rangoon is proof of the great esteem he was shown in Asia. In addition, his work is of great importance, especially for Buddhism in Germany and Switzerland .

Life

Siegmund Feniger was born on July 21, 1901, the only child of a shopkeeper in Hanau near Frankfurt. Siegmund enjoyed a traditional Jewish upbringing and was very interested in religious matters. He began to work in the book trade and came across Buddhism. After the family moved to Berlin in 1922, he also came into contact with Buddhists. He learned about Nyanatiloka , the German monk who founded the “Island Hermitage” in Ceylon, a hermitage that was also open to western monks. In view of the increasing racial madness in his homeland, he emigrated to Austria in 1935, in order to finally realize his plan to join Nyanatiloka in Sri Lanka in 1936. In the same year he received the novice ordination, and the following year he became a fully ordained bhikkhu with the name Nyanaponika ("inclined to knowledge").

Together with his teacher Nyanatiloka, he was interned by the British as an "enemy German" in the Diyatalawa camp when the war broke out and later transferred to the Dehra Dun camp in northern India, made famous by Heinrich Harrer's book Seven Years in Tibet . Nyanaponika used this time for translations from the Pali canon into German. After the war he was able to return to the Iceland Hermitage in 1946. After Ceylon became independent from Great Britain in 1948 , Nyanaponika took citizenship of his adopted country in 1951. Together with his teacher, he moved to the new “Forest Hermitage” meditation center in Kandy in the highlands of Sri Lanka.

The preparations for the 6th Council in Burma gave him the opportunity to meet the meditation master Mahasi Sayadaw. His best-known book "Mind Training through Mindfulness" partly reflects these experiences.

In 1958 Nyanaponika was able to use the experience of his original profession when he was asked to become the director and editor of the newly founded BPS (Buddhist Publication Society). The BPS, which he directed until 1984, became a worldwide recognized publisher for the dissemination of the Theravada teachings and with this venture trading in Dhamma became a socially acceptable way of disseminating the teachings as well as earning a living from the teachings of the Buddha. Today his works are owned by various publishers.

On trips from the late 60s to the early 80s, mainly to Switzerland, Nyanaponika met many personalities of European Buddhism and was also visited by them in his forest hermitage.

In the last years of his life he received numerous honors.

plant

Translations of nyanaponika

  • Grouped collection (Samyutta Nikaya) Book II (17-21) and the whole Book III (22-34) [first published: 1925/30]. ISBN 3-931095-16-9
  • Listed collection (Anguttara Nikaya) Editing and revision of the translation by Nyanatiloka. ISBN 3-59108218-X
  • The only way. Buddhist texts for training the mind in right mindfulness. Translated from the Pâli and Sanskrit and explained by Nyânaponika. ISBN 3-931095-04-5

Writings of Nyanaponika

literature

  • Kurt Onken (Hrsg.): Des Geistes regularity. Festschrift for the 75th birthday of Venerable Nyãnaponika Mahãthera. Christiani publishing house , Konstanz 1976, ISBN 3-931095-48-7 .
  • Kurt Onken (ed.): Inclined to knowledge. Commemorative publication for the 85th birthday Christiani 1986, ISBN 3-931095-07-X .
  • Scharlipp, Matthias Nyanacitta (ed.): A noble friend of the world. Nyanaponika Mahathera (1901-1994) commemorative publication for her 100th birthday. Jhana 2002, ISBN 3-931274-21-7 .

Web links

credentials

  1. ↑ For the good of many , by Bhikkhu Bodhi - A personal appreciation of the life and work of the late Ven. Nyanaponika Mahathera (1901-1994), who served as founder, editor, president and last but not least as patron of BPS. (3rd broadcast, 1994)
  2. ^ Dana Project BPS German translation and criticism
personal data
SURNAME Nyanaponika
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Feniger, Siegmund (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German monk and Buddhist
DATE OF BIRTH July 21, 1901
PLACE OF BIRTH Hanau
DATE OF DEATH October 19, 1994
Place of death Forest Hermitage, Kandy