Komyoji

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Komyoji ( Japanese 光明 寺 , Kōmyō-ji ) is an institution founded in Vienna in 1994 by Volker Zotz with the participation of Kōshō Ōtani , which is dedicated to cultural exchange and the philosophical encounter between Europe and the cultures and countries of Buddhism and Confucianism . The full name is Komyoji - Eurasian Humanism and Intercultural Spirituality .

Surname

The name “Komyoji” chosen by Volker Zotz and Kōshō Ōtani is intended to paraphrase the task of the institution: “光 - Kō means light, a universal symbol for knowledge and orientation. 明 - Myō is formed from the symbols for the sun and moon. The symbol thus qualifies light as clear and shiny. (...) 寺 - Ji denotes a temple. 'Kōmyōji' thus stands for a place where the clear light of knowledge in the transcultural dialogue, especially between Europe and Asia, should convey insights into the future. ”In his celebratory address on the foundation of Komyoji, Volker Zotz referred to a number of Chinese programmatically and Japanese temples bearing this name, including a temple of the Chinese Buddhist Shandao (613–681).

The founder

The German-Austrian philosopher and religious scholar Volker Zotz (* 1956), who lived a large part of his life in Japan and India, is particularly interested in intercultural dialogue. He has emerged through numerous publications on Buddhism and Confucianism , including the history of Buddhist philosophy and Mastering Life with Buddha . Benedikt Maria Trappen sums up Volker Zotz's intentions as follows: “The intercultural hermeneutics not only owes him the concepts of 'intercultural spirituality' and 'Eurasian humanism'. Questions and insights that emerged from dealing with Buddhism shed new light on the basic problems of hermeneutics , especially in an intercultural context, and set lasting impulses for creative exploration of what is one's own and what is foreign. His research repeatedly points out that trying to understand not only requires mindfulness with regard to possible projections, one's own biographical and cultural background as well as different language worlds, styles and related questions of translation. The fundamental insights gained from dealing with Nāgārjuna about the inappropriateness of occidental logic and questions for the reception of Eastern traditions weigh more heavily . "

Background and story

The impulse for founding Komyoji goes back to Lama Anagarika Govinda , who inspired Volker Zotz in the 1980s to create an institution for studying and practicing the thinking and spirituality of South and East Asia. After Govinda's death in 1985, Kōshō Ōtani from Kyoto supported the 23rd Patriarch of Jōdo-Shinshū Honganji-ha the project. Members of a committee made up of scientists, writers and artists from different countries accompanied the project as content and organizational advisers. These included, among others, the Japanese Buddhologist Hisao Inagaki , the American writer Ruth Tabrah , the Briton Jack Austin , who is active in Francis Younghusband's World Congress of Faiths , the Japanese religious philosopher Takamaro Shigaraki , rector of Ryūkoku University , and the Hungarian Buddhist scholar Ernő Hetényi . The foundation was also supported by several abbots of Japanese temples, including Kanritsu Asuka (飛鳥 寬 栗), abbot of the temple of Zenkōji (善 興 寺) in Takaoka , Doki Keisai (土 岐 慶 哉), abbot of the temple Senpukuji (専 福寺) in Takaoka and Nasu Nobuo, abbot of Enkyū Temple in Inukami, Shiga Prefecture .

The foundation was completed in a ceremony in Vienna on August 7, 1994 with the presence of numerous supporters from Asia, the USA and America. Volker Zotz and Koshō Ohtani gave programmatic speeches. The foundation went on 5./6. August 1994 a symposium "The Philosophy of Salvation in Buddhism" at the Afro-Asian Institute in Vienna, which was organized together with the "International Association of Shin Buddhist Studies" (Kyoto). The activities of Komyoji have been supported by a "Buddhist seminar" association based in Vienna since it was founded. On October 25, 2006, a support and support association was founded with its headquarters in Waidhofen an der Thaya . Since it was founded, Komyoji events have mostly taken place in Vienna and the Waldviertel . Since 2006 Komyoji has been headed by the cultural anthropologist Birgit Zotz as president.

Content orientation and activity

Komyoji offers educational programs on the paths of spirituality and the philosophical traditions of Asia. It is about “Eurasian Humanism” and “Intercultural Spirituality”, two terms that appear again and again in Zotz's philosophical works and with which he describes his ideas on an intercultural philosophy and a dialogue between religions . In this regard, the Komyoji Constitution states:

"In the dialogue between the philosophical and cultural traditions of Asia and Europe, Eurasian humanism aims for an orientation appropriate to the epoch of globalization from a transcultural perspective. Intercultural spirituality arises from the encounter between the religious traditions of Eurasia. Recognizing similarities and differences enables mutual stimulation in terms of content and method with respect for the dignity of each individual tradition. "

Komyoji organizes international congresses, meetings and seminars. One component of the activity are training courses, some of which are possible as correspondence courses, including the "Basic Buddhism Course: Teaching and Practice of Gautama", which is based on the content of the book Mastering Life with Buddha by Volker Zotz.

The trainings carried out by Komyoji are accepted by various institutions as further and advanced training. The Austrian Buddhist Religious Society recognizes Komyoji courses as modules for training Buddhist religion teachers for public schools in Austria. The Arya Maitreya Mandala also recognizes Komyoji's courses as part of its training for members of the Order.

In addition to the educational program, Komyoji publishes publications, including books and Damaru magazine .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Benedikt Maria Trappen : “Freedom. Awareness. Responsibility. Volker Zotz. A life for intercultural dialogue. ”In: Friedhelm Köhler , Friederike Migneco , Benedikt Maria Trappen (eds.): Freedom. Awareness. Responsibility. Festschrift for Volker Zotz for his 60th birthday. Munich: Edition Habermann 2016, ISBN 978-3960250098 , pp. 17–40, quotation p. 30
  2. ↑ Volker Zotz: From crossing the bridge . Ceremonial address for the establishment of Komyoji on August 7, 1994. In: Damaru 26 (1994) ( ISSN  2225-4803 )
  3. ↑ Benedikt Maria Trappen: “Freedom. Awareness. Responsibility. Volker Zotz. A life for intercultural dialogue. ”In: Friedhelm Köhler, Friederike Migneco, Benedikt Maria Trappen (eds.): Freedom. Awareness. Responsibility. Festschrift for Volker Zotz for his 60th birthday. Munich: Edition Habermann 2016, ISBN 978-3960250098 , pp. 17–40, quotation pp. 17–18
  4. ↑ See "The Foundation of Komyoji." In: Damaru 27.1995, pp. 48–52 ( ISSN  2225-4803 )
  5. ↑ Quote from website
  6. ↑ Paul Matusek: "Buddhism in School." In: Buddhismus in Österreich. Magazine of the Austrian Buddhist Religious Society. October to December 2011, pp. 12–13
  7. ↑ For example Kurt Krammer (ed.): The search for a social Buddhism. Friedrich Fenzl and Jodo Shinshu . 2007, ISBN 2-9599829-6-7