Buddhism in Austria

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Peace Pagoda Vienna

The Buddhism in Austria is since 1983 officially recognized religious community . Austria was the first country in Europe to officially recognize Buddhism as a religion . Buddhism is represented in Austria by the Austrian Buddhist Religious Society  (ÖBR). In 2001 around 10,000 people living in Austria professed Buddhism.

Number of Buddhists

The Austrian Buddhist Religious Society has around 3000 members. In 2001 more than 10,000 people living in Austria professed Buddhism; that was the last time that a census asked for religious beliefs. In 2008 , Gerhard Weißgrab , the President of the Buddhist Religious Society, estimated the number of people “seriously close to Buddhism” to be around 20,000. The number of Buddhists of Austrian descent would have to include numerous Asian Buddhists living in Austria, whereby the Thai community with 4,400 inhabitants (as of the end of 2015) is one of the largest Buddhist communities.

History and Development

Austro-Hungarian monarchy

Karl Eugen Neumann (1865–1915), who , like many of his intellectual contemporaries, became aware of Buddhism through the German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer and the composer Richard Wagner, should be mentioned above all figures of early Buddhism in the Austro-Hungarian monarchy . Neumann had become a Buddhist in May 1884 and decided to devote his life to translating the original Buddhist texts from the Pali Canon . The Pali canon itself was only partially translated into English at the time. Therefore Neumann had to do pioneering work in the translation into German. From the point of view of the following European generation of Buddhists, Neumann's work can definitely be described as an epoch-making masterpiece and was not only appreciated and appreciated by contemporary intellectuals like Thomas Mann . Karl Eugen Neumann died in 1915 on his 50th birthday. The last years of his life were marked by blows of fate and impoverishment. He is buried in the Vienna Central Cemetery. His completely neglected grave was discovered by members of the Buddhist community of Vienna in the 1950s and later declared an honorary grave of the city of Vienna .

Among the few Buddhists of this time was an ordained monk . Arthur Fitz, originally from Graz, entered the Sangha in Ceylon in 1913 as Bhikkhu Sono . In the course of the First World War he returned to the lay status and later died in Java.

The years 1918–1945

Public lectures of lectures and lectures on basic topics of Buddhism are the first steps towards making Buddhism known in Austria in the First Republic . In 1923 a Buddhist society was founded in Vienna by Ing.Axel Grasel . At the 2nd  International Buddhist Congress in Paris in June 1937, however, the Bregenz Buddhist Hermann Lange described the possibilities for Buddhist work in Austria as not very hopeful.

After the annexation to Nazi Germany in 1938 , Buddhism was almost completely pushed back by 1945 due to the intolerant climate of the Third Reich and the resulting forced emigration of some Buddhists (some of whom came from Jewish families or were pacifists). Only the Theravada Circle around Anton Kropac held occasional meetings in private and after the end of World War II became a point of contact for the few people interested in Buddhism, which the German Buddhist Helmut Klar also joined.

The years 1945–1960s

The Buddhist Society Vienna was founded in 1949, and Fritz Hungerleider took over its management in 1955 , who headed the organization for the next two decades. Hungerleider fled Austria as a " half-Jew " in 1938 as a result of the Anschluss and learned about Buddhism in exile in Shanghai. Many people came into contact with Buddhism through his lectures in the 1950s. From 1961 onwards, Hungerleider led Zen seminars after a stay in Japan . In the 1970s and 1980s, he broadcast radio programs on the development, spread and characteristics of Buddhism on Austrian radio .

The mountaineer Heinrich Harrer was another mediator of Buddhism. In 1952 his book Seven Years in Tibet was published . An intense debate arose later on Harrer's relationship to National Socialism. Austria was active in the admission program for Tibetan refugee children through Harrer's mediation, so that - alongside Switzerland - one of the larger European diaspora communities emerged. As a result, Buddhism in Austria was taken up in the context of international understanding and not in the context of the flower power movement of the 1960s.

Freda Bedi, born in Austria in 1911, whose nun name was Karma Kechog Palmo, was one of the first western women in Tibetan Buddhism in the 1950s and was ordained Samaneri by the Karmapa in 1966. She helped set up the Karma Drubgyud Darje Ling nunnery for Tibetan women in northern India and died in Sikkim in 1977.

The founding of a Buddhist bookstore by Erich Skrleta in Vienna met the growing need to read works about Buddhism. An address index was set up for people interested in Buddhism in Austria and southern Germany.

1970s – 1983

After the founding of the Buddhist Center Vienna in 1976 and one year later the “Buddhist Community Salzburg”, the “Austrian Buddhist Union” was brought into being as an umbrella organization.

The Scheibbs Buddhist Center was founded in 1975 and Franz Ritter took over its management until 1986. This should offer authentic Buddhist teachers a framework for seminars as well as promote new currents for the development of a European Buddhism. The center in Scheibbs was the scene of the first annual congress of the European Buddhist Union in 1976 after it was founded in Paris in 1975. The following year, Walter Karwath , Ernst Schönwiese , Franz Ritter, Ingrid Fischer-Schreiber, Erich Skrleta and others created the magazine at the Scheibbs Buddhist Center Bodhi tree was founded, which in the almost 20 years of its existence served for networking and discussion among Austria's Buddhists. From 1977 the Viennese doctor Walter Karwath was President of the Buddhist Community Vienna and the Buddhist Center Scheibbs. Visits to well-known Asian teachers such as the Karmapa and Geshe Rabten shaped the image of Buddhism in Austria. In August 1982 a European Shin conference was held, in which Kōshō Ōtani , the patriarch of Nishi Hongan-ji , took part.

The Austrian Zen monk Genro Koudela , a student of Joshu Sasaki Roshi , returned to his hometown Vienna in 1979, where he founded a Bodhidharma Zen order .

The Arya Maitreya Mandala order founded by Lama Anagarika Govinda has existed in Austria since 1980 . The order belonged to the Austrian Buddhist Union and the Austrian Buddhist Religious Society until January 1989 and has been working independently since then.

In the 1970s, efforts were made to obtain state recognition for Buddhism as a religious community in Austria . In 1978 the Austrian cultural authority demanded a - now lost - “religious denomination” and “devotional order”, in 1982 a statute for the umbrella organization and a declaration of intent from at least 1000 people to join the Buddhist community in the event of state recognition. After the long delays, a late payment complaint was made to the Administrative Court.

1983-2000

The Letzehof , the Buddhist monastery in Feldkirch

In February 1983 Buddhism was officially recognized, which enabled religious instruction in public schools and Buddhist broadcasts on ORF . In the same year, Japanese monks inaugurated the Vienna Peace Pagoda . The Heinrich Harrer Museum in Hüttenberg also opened in 1983 and offers insights into Tibetan Buddhism. In Feldkirch in the same year a Gelug monastery was built with the Letzehof , which did not join the ÖBR due to conflicts over Shugden worship .

After the death of Walter Karwath in 1986, Genro Koudela became president of the ÖBR. 1989 was House of Silence in Dienten as a project of Zen - monk Vanja Palmers and the Benedictine David Steindl-Rast It also serves the inter-religious dialogue as a meeting place.

Peace Stupa Graz , Volksgarten

At the beginning of the 1990s, a temple of Burmese Theravada opened in Carinthia and a center of Japanese Buddhism in Mödling . In 1992, an Austrian branch of Soka Gakkai was established , which joined the ÖBR in 2001. In 1993 the ÖBR recognized the Naikan Center New World Institute in Lanzenkirchen, founded by Franz Ritter, as a Buddhist institute. The annual  congress of the European Buddhist Union (EBU) with delegates from 10 European countries took place in Hallein in 1993 at the invitation of the Salzburg Buddhist Community .

On August 7, 1994, Kōshō Ōtani inaugurated the Komyoji Institute in Vienna , which is devoted to Europe's encounter with Buddhism and Confucianism on a philosophical and cultural level . The institute, whose founding was supported by a number of international Buddhist personalities such as Takamaro Shigaraki , Hisao Inagaki and Ruth Tabrah , sees itself as non-denominational, which is why it is not a member of the ÖBR. The institute, now headed by Birgit Zotz , runs courses for the ÖBR as part of the training of Buddhist religious teachers.

In 1995 the Hua Yen School of the Korean Chogye Tradition was founded and the She Drup Ling Center in Graz opened under the patronage of the Dalai Lama . He inaugurated a stupa on June 12, 1998 in the Volkgarten in Graz . In the same year the Karma Kagyu centers were set up in Graz and Salzburg . On November 11th, 1998, the Buddhist Center Salzburg was inaugurated by the abbot of the An Quang Pagoda, Thich Minh Thanh and Su Cô Chân Không from Plum Village .

Buddhist religious instruction in public schools in Austria began in 1993 with 3 teachers and around 25 students. In 1995 the Dalai Lama held a lecture for the students in Graz . In the 1999/2000 school year, 130 pupils attended classes with eight teachers in six federal states. By 2004 the number of teachers and students doubled. At several schools students put the oral matriculation examinations from specialty Buddhist religion. In 2009, the Standard reported on one of the few groups with Buddhist religious instruction in Vienna and gave the impression of relaxed teaching. In the only upper school group, about 10 of the 25 registered students actually took part.

Bhante Seelawansa Mahathero

Since 2001, religious affiliation is no longer officially recorded in Austria . It is therefore up to the religious communities whether they publish the number of their members. Since then, only estimates have been made about Buddhism. The Buddhist religious community is threatened by tendencies to split up because of the political situation or tensions in the countries of origin. The political problem of double lineage holders in the context of the Tibet issue led to the fact that, for example, the Tibetan Karma Kagyu School is represented by several communities in the ÖBR. There are also Buddhist groups that are not members of the ÖBR.

Today Buddhism does not occupy a particularly prominent position in Austria, solely due to the small number of members and the consistently positive reception of Buddhism in general. Only the religiously connotated conflict over Tibet and China also attracts a certain amount of broader attention in Austria. The Christian-Buddhist interreligious dialogue is - apart from fundamental theological considerations - of little importance; in the dialogue between religions as a whole, Buddhism plays a respected role.

With around 10,000 visitors, the Kalachakra ceremony in Graz in autumn 2002 , led by the 14th Dalai Lama, Tendzin Gyatsho , was certainly the largest and most popular Buddhist event in Austria to date.

Genro Koudela Oshō was followed from 2001 to 2006 by the Viennese doctor Peter Riedl as President of the Austrian Buddhist Religious Society, who is also the publisher of the magazine “ Sorge & Effect” , which is distributed throughout the German-speaking area. Today Gerhard Weißgrab is President.

Today there is a growing number of Austrian men and women who, for the most part, undergo long-term training to become fully ordained nuns and monks in monasteries in the Buddhist countries of origin. Genro Koudela Osho, the head of the Bodhidharma Zendo in Vienna, who was also president of the Austrian Buddhist Religious Society for many years, was a monk and priest of the Japanese Rinzai - Zen tradition. In addition to other fully ordained monks who are native Austrians, such as Jampa Lungtok, who is the head of the Letzehof , there are a number of well-trained Dharma teachers, some of whom had worn the robe in Asian countries for a long time. A number of monks and nuns from Asian countries (China, Japan, Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand) are currently living in Austria in order to guide and support the respective groups and centers of a specific Buddhist school tradition for shorter or longer periods of time. The director of the Dhamma Center Nyanaponika , Bhante Seelawansa Mahathero, who has been working in Vienna since the 1980s and represents Theravada Buddhism with Sri Lankan characteristics, should be mentioned in particular . He is also the director of the Theravada School in Vienna and Salzburg. He was the initiator of a very well-attended four-semester Buddhism course at the University of Vienna from autumn 2003 to early summer 2005. Since 2002, the Thai community with 4,400 residents throughout Austria has been one of the largest Buddhist communities and has since looked after four temples, which are known as Wat (monastery ) are designated. A number of Austrian monks, nuns and committed lay people also live in monasteries and meditation centers in Asia.

In 2004, Rangjung Yeshe Gomde was established in Scharnstein , Upper Austria, as an international center for the practice and study of Tibetan Buddhism. In May 2005, after several years of planning and construction, the Buddhist cemetery at Vienna's central cemetery was inaugurated. In October 2006 the governing bodies of the ÖBR (Austrian Buddhist Religious Society), the Presidium and the Austrian Buddhist Community, were newly elected. The current president of the ÖBR is Gerhard Weißgrab. The creation of a nationwide network of representatives of the ÖBR goes back to his initiative, which gives Austrian Buddhism a face and a voice in the regions as well. The celebration of the thirtieth anniversary of organized Buddhism in Salzburg in May 2007 also attracted great local attention.

Fo-Guang-Shan - Temple Vienna-Rudolfsheim ( 15.), 2010 - an example of modern Buddhist architecture

On February 23, 2008, a celebration of the 25th anniversary of the state recognition of Buddhism in Austria took place at the University of Vienna . Another important event of the year was the opening of the IIHTS - International Institute for Higher Tibetan Studies (Tibet Center Hüttenberg ) in Carinthia, with which Austria also has a scientific institution for Buddhism.

Palpung Europe, European seat of the Palpung Congregation

In 2009 Palpung Yeshe Chökhor Ling Europe, Palpung Europe for short, the European seat of the Palpung Congregation Chamgon Dorje Chang Kenting Tai Situ Rinpoches acquired their new domicile in Purkersdorf to serve humanity and all sentient beings and to bring harmony and peace into the world . It was established by Chöje Lama Palmo and is under her direction with blessing HH Dalai Lama and His Holiness Gyalwa Karmapa Orgyen Trinley Dorje, both in 2006. In Palpung Europe , Buddhist philosophy and the entire spiritual range of the Karma Kagyu tradition are combined with the scientific and its spiritual as well as practical application are taught.

From 2010

In May 2012 the 14th Dalai Lama visited Klagenfurt, Salzburg and Vienna on a nine-day trip. The events attracted 30,000 visitors, and another 15,000 people followed them via live stream. More than 330 accredited journalists from 17 nations reported on this visit. On this occasion, a Tibetan prayer room at the Harrermuseum was personally inaugurated by His Holiness. The Bhutanese-Buddhist Druk-Yul-Park was built in Vienna-Liesing .

Despite the longstanding tradition of Buddhism in Austria - as with the minaret disputes - the construction of sacred sites is still often controversial. In February 2012, the construction of a stupa in Gföhl (Lower Austria) was rejected in a referendum with around two thirds of the votes cast. The Lotos-Lindmayer-Privatstiftung, which wanted to build the stupa, accepted the decision, but complained about "fomented hatred" on the part of the stupa opponents. The first Buddhist temple in Innsbruck was opened in May 2013, so there are three Buddhist temples in Tyrol, this opening went off without incident. The construction of a stupa on Freinberg in Linz (inauguration August 2013) was also accompanied by political discussions.

Thai temples (Theravada Buddhism) in Austria

  • Buddhadham Temple in Graz
  • Wat Saengthampathip in Klagenfurt
  • Thai Temple Thamwisutthi Innsbruck in Rum (Tyrol)
  • Thai-Austria Dhammaram Temple in Vienna

literature

Web links

Commons : Buddhism in Austria  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Gerhard Weißgrab, President of the Religious Society, in an interview, "More and more are looking for answers" , Nina Brnada, in Wiener Zeitung (reproduced on ninabrnada.com, February 22, 2013), on the question "How many Buddhists currently live in Austria?"
  2. ↑ 2001 census in Austria , accessed on January 6, 2010
  3. ↑ Werner Schandor: A religion on quiet feet . In: Wiener Zeitung , February 23, 2008.
  4. ↑ a b For the estimate cf. also Gerhard Weißgrab, President of the Religious Society, in an interview, "More and more are looking for answers" , Nina Brnada, in Wiener Zeitung (reproduced on ninabrnada.com, February 22, 2013), on the question "How many Buddhists currently live in Austria?"
  5. ↑ Lit. Hecker: Buddhists in old Austria. 1993, p. 16.
  6. ↑ On Karl Eugen Neumann see Volker Zotz : The Buddha occurs: Karl Eugen Neumann. In: On the blissful islands. Buddhism in German culture. Theseus Verlag, Berlin 2000, pp. 90-101
  7. ↑ cf. Helmut Clemens: From Greater Germany to Tibet. Heinrich Harrer's long march. , info-buddhismus.de.
  8. ↑ Herbert: A Little History of Buddhism ... , Section 7. 1960s and 1970s: Buddhism in Counterculture and Practice. Sales The middle of the 70s turns out to be an important axis for new developments in Austria… .
  9. ↑ Arya Maitreya Mandala in Austria (arya-maitreya-mandala.at)
  10. ↑ One Pizza Buddhista, please! Work on awakening: 30 years ago, under Bruno Kreisky, the doctrine of compassion for all beings in Austria became a denominational religion. Wolfgang Koch in Standard.at, April 5, 2013, sections organization in the decade of suspicion of sects and affidavit from 1000 people
  11. ^ Buddhism in Austria ( memento of January 2, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) , buddhismus-austria.at, accessed on January 6, 2010
  12. ↑ Information on Komyoji
  13. ↑ Paul Matusek: Buddhism in School. In: Buddhism in Austria. Magazine of the Austrian Buddhist Religious Society . October to December 2011, pp. 12–13
  14. ↑ Standard 2009
  15. ↑ cf. One pizza Buddhista, please! Work on awakening: 30 years ago, under Bruno Kreisky, the doctrine of compassion for all beings in Austria became a denominational religion. Wolfgang Koch in Standard.at, April 5, 2013, section 7,000 euros construction costs per dead , 3rd paragraph.
  16. ↑ Other groups ( Memento from July 14, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) , buddhismus-austria.at
  17. ↑ (Question: "Does Buddhism have a better image than Islam?") "Yes, we have a great image [...]" ". Gerhard Weißgrab, President of the Religious Society, in an interview, "Even in Buddhism, not everything that glitters is gold" , Bettina Fernsebner-Kokert, derStandard.at February 17, 2013.
  18. ↑ cf. Reinhart Hummel Problem areas in the Christian - Buddhist dialogue , on religion.orf.at.
  19. ↑ the Ecumenical Council of Churches in Austria (ÖRKÖ, Representation of Christian Ecumenism) has no explicit statement, unlike, for example, on Judaism or Islam, cf. the topics in Ökumene ( Memento from September 2, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) , oekumene.at, accessed in June 2014.
  20. ↑ Gerhard Weißgrab, in an interview, “More and more are looking for answers” , Nina Brnada, in Wiener Zeitung (reproduced on ninabrnada.com, February 22, 2013), on the question “How well does the dialogue between the 14 religious communities that are recognized in Austria work? , among themselves?"; see. also another, in continuation of a constructive dialogue between the Austrian Muslims and Buddhists. Press release, APA OTS0005, Aug 11, 2011.
  21. ↑ Reports about Kalachakra , report overview, religion.orf.at.
  22. ^ The Presidium of the ÖBR ( Memento from May 26, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) , buddhismus-austria.at, accessed on January 9, 2010
  23. ↑ Dhammazentrum Wien (dhammazentrum.com)
  24. ^ Buddhist cemetery opened in Vienna , religion.orf.at, News May 24, 2005, accessed January 9, 2010.
  25. ↑ 30 years of Buddhism in Salzburg . In: Salzburger Nachrichten : Salzburgwiki .
  26. ↑ Happy birthday, ÖBR! ( Memento of May 13, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Red Buddha - Buddhism & Social Democracy, working group of the educational organization of the Vienna SPÖ, www.redbuddha.at, blog, February 17, 2008, accessed January 9, 2010
  27. ↑ Tibet Center Hüttenberg - IIHTS, International Institute for Higher Tibetan Studies (tibetcenter.at)
  28. ↑ "Palpung Europe"
  29. ^ "Palpung Europe in the ÖBR" ( Memento from January 22nd, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
  30. ^ "Founding history" ( Memento from November 29, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
  31. ↑ Portrait of Chöje Lama Palmo on ORF
  32. ↑ His Holiness the Dalai Lama on a 9-day visit to Austria in Carinthia, Salzburg and Vienna , dalailama.at, accessed on August 23, 2012.
  33. ↑ Heinrich Harrer Museum , austria.info - with picture
  34. ↑ Referendum: Two thirds against Buddha Tempel in Gföhl , In: Der Standard online, February 12, 2012;
    Chronicle: After the referendum: No to the stupa building in Gföhl (Lower Austria) ; Letter from the institute to Diocesan Bishop Küng , both stupa.at, accessed June 2, 2014;
    Municipality of Gföhl: Figures for the referendum of February 12, 2012 , accessed on November 26, 2012.
  35. ↑ Buddhist temple opened , tirol.orf.at, May 25, 2013.
  36. ↑ The stupa will be inaugurated at the weekend , kurier.at, August 2, 2013