Genro Koudela

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Genro Seiun Osho

Genro Seiun , actually Herbert Koudela (born November 22, 1924 in Vienna ; † November 28, 2010 in Brunn am Gebirge ) was an Austrian Zen priest , teacher and director of the Bodhidharma Zendo in Vienna, which he founded. He spent the period from 1948 to 1979 abroad, mostly in the USA. In 1979 he returned to Vienna and, contrary to his original intention, stayed in Austria.

Life

After completing school and training as a graphic artist, Koudela was drafted into the German armed forces from 1943 to 1945 and subsequently became a prisoner of war. In 1948 he went to Holland, then to England and Canada, before finally emigrating to the USA. He settled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1954, where he attended the art academy and trained as a painter. However, his professional and artistic successes did not bring him the peace and satisfaction that he had so desperately sought.

An encounter with David Steindl-Rast, also from Vienna, proved to be decisive for his further path . He practiced Zen meditation , which he had studied with Shunryu Suzuki Roshi in California, even after he had become a Benedictine monk. Herbert Koudela, the now successful portrait painter of the better society, often withdrew to the Benedictine monastery Mount Savior in Elmira, New York, to fast and meditate. This was also the case at Easter 1972, when Kyozan Joshu Sasaki Roshi was visiting with the nun Gesshin, who later became Zen master Prabhasa Dharma Roshi. Koudela decided to start Zen training.

Buddhism

In 1973 Koudela, then a student of Kyozan Joshu Sasaki Roshi, was ordained a Zen monk and was given the name Genro. In Sasaki Roshi's "Mount Baldy" monastery , Genro was ordained a Zen priest ( Oshō ) in 1975 and was given the name Seiun.

Genro Seiun helped set up several Zen centers in the USA and was temporarily abbot of the “Bodhi Manda” Zen Center in New Mexico.

In 1979 Genro Seiun Osho was one of the very few fully ordained Zen monks of European origin. Shortly after his arrival in Vienna, this year, a group of people interested in Zen gathered around him, and in the same year he founded the “Bodhidharma Zendo Vienna” and helped set up the Buddhist center at the meat market in Vienna.

From 1980 Genro invited his teacher Joshu Roshi to a sesshin (longer meditation session) in Austria every year , to which Zen interested people from all over Europe came. Genro himself held a few sesshins a year at the Scheibbs Buddhist Center . Stays at Mount Baldy Monastery and in Japan expanded his education.

After Buddhism was recognized by the state in Austria , the “ Rinzai-Ji ” religious order was founded in Vienna , the head of which was Genro. In 1986 he was elected President of the " Austrian Buddhist Religious Society ", the umbrella organization of Austrian Buddhists. He stayed that way until 2001 and was then Honorary President.

Under his leadership, the Scheibbs Buddhist Center developed into a meditation and training center recognized throughout Europe. Genro's students founded Zen communities and groups in Austria (Innsbruck, Salzburg, Linz), Germany (Augsburg, Kempten, Düsseldorf) and Norway.

It was not until he was 86 years old that Genro Seiun Osho, who was one of the very few Western Buddhists authorized to teach Koan practice, restricted his activities in conducting sesshins.

Until the end of his life he led the Bodhidharmazendo in Vienna, where he also gave lectures. His teacher, Kyozan Joshu Sasaki Roshi, posthumously awarded him the title of Dai Osho (Grand Master).

Genro Seiun Osho and Sesshin participants

literature

Web links

See also

Buddhism in Austria | Kyozan Joshu Sasaki

personal data
SURNAME Koudela, genro
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Koudela, Herbert (maiden name); Genro Seiun Osho
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian Zen monk and Zen teacher
DATE OF BIRTH November 22, 1924
PLACE OF BIRTH Vienna
DATE OF DEATH November 28, 2010
Place of death Brunn am Gebirge