Neville G. Pemchekov Warwick

Neville G. Pemchekov Warwick (* 1932 in the Soviet Union ; † 1993 in San Francisco ) was a modern interpreter of Buddhism and an important figure in the spiritual movement in California during the 1960s and 1970s. He popularized the fire walking ritual outside of the regions where it was traditionally common.

Life

Pemchekov Warwick was born in the Soviet Union and "immigrated to America in the 1960s". According to John Gordon Melton, he received a Buddhist education in the Soviet Union, which was made possible there by the Tibetan Buddhism that was prevalent in Kalmykia . In 1940, at the age of eight, he began training in the Japanese tradition of Shugendo . In this he achieved the degree of Dai Sendatsu (大 先 達), a "Great Sendatsu". A sendatsu is “one who makes great strides and advances in understanding or ability, be it in scholarship, art, or religious practice. His exemplary character makes him a leader and leader for others ”.

Pemchekov Warwick completed both medicine and music studies in Russia. After leaving Russia, he became a student of Lama Anagarika Govinda in India and the USA . This accepted him in 1968 with the initiation name Vajrabodhi in the order of Arya Maitreya Mandala .

activities

By combining the teachings and practices of the Shugendō with the teachings of Lama Anagarika Govinda, Pemchekov Warwick founded an organization in the second half of the 1960s that he called Kailas Shugendō . The Kailas Shugendō were part of the Arya Maitreya Mandala. “Unlike many 'spiritual groups', the people of Kailas Shugendo make no effort to gain followers. In fact, they discourage would-be converts. They are extremely disciplined, yet they have an overflowing sense of humor. ”As the head of the Kailas Shugendo , Pemchekov Warwick had the Japanese title Ajari . For this reason and because he was a doctor of medicine , he was and is often referred to as “Dr. Ajari ”quoted.

In the Kailas Shugendō Department of the Arya Maitreya Mandala, fire rituals including fire walking were maintained in addition to the usual practices of the order . Social work and music also played an important role in the life of the Kailas Shugendō . The composer and avant-garde musician Arthur Russel was a student of Pemchekov Warwick. He joined the Kailas Shugendō in February 1969.

Pemchekov Warwick was introduced to the poet Allen Ginsberg by Samuel L. Lewis . As a musician, Pemchekov Warwick founded the Kailas Shugendō Mantric Sun Band . He and the band performed on Allen Ginsberg's Pacific High Studio mantras as the Reverend Adjari and Buddhist Chorus. Pemchekov Warwick was also friends with Jerry Garcia , the band leader of the rock group Grateful Dead . At a concert of the Grateful Dead on March 24, 1971 in San Francisco, Pemchekov Warwick and the members of the Kailsh Shugendo were on stage with ritual interludes, and they showed, among other things, the fire walk.

Pemchekov Warwick cultivated intense friendships with many exponents of the spiritual awakening in the American West in the 1960s, including Shunryu Suzuki , Alan Watts and the American Sufi mystic Samuel L. Lewis.

literature

• Anthony Hiss: The Talk of the Town, “You Never Know,” The New Yorker , April 11, 1977, p. 29
• Tim Lawrence: Hold On to Your Dreams: Arthur Russell and the Downtown Music Scene, 1973-1992. Duke University Press, 2009 ( ISBN 978-0-8223-4485-8 )
• Catherine Ludvik: In the Service of the Kaihōgyō Practitioners of Mt. Hiei. Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 33/1, pp. 115-142
• John Gordon Melton : The Encyclopedia of American Religions. Tarrytown, NY: Triumph Books 1989, 3rd ed. 1991, Vol III, No. 1467 ( ISBN 978-0-7876-9696-2 )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Jeffrey Mishlove, PhD: The Roots of Consciousness  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as broken. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Pp. 231-232  
2. ^ John Gordon Melton: The Encyclopedia of American Religions. Tarrytown, NY: Triumph Books 1989, 3rd ed. 1991, Vol III, No. 1467 ( ISBN 978-0-7876-9696-2 )
3. ↑ "A Sendatsu one who advances ahead (saki ni tassuru 先 に 達 す る), and hence who precedes in understanding and / or achievement in any field, be it scholarship, art, religious practice, and so on. His precedence, therefore, makes him a leader and a guide for others. "Catherine Ludvik: In the Service of the Kaihōgyō Practitioners of Mt. Hiei. Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 33/1 (pp. 115-142), p. 127
4. ^ Anthony Hiss: The Talk of the Town, "You Never Know," The New Yorker , Apr. 11, 1977, p. 29.
5. ↑ Birgit Zotz : Eighty Years Ārya Maitreya Maṇḍala - A Chronology. In: Der Kreis No. 270, October 2013 ( ISSN  2197-6007 ), pp. 6–21 (p. 15).
6. ↑ Tim Lawrence: Hold On to Your Dreams: Arthur Russell and the Downtown Music Scene, 1973-1992. Duke University Press, 2009, p. 22 ( ISBN 978-0-8223-4485-8 )
7. ↑ Jeffrey Mishlove, PhD: The Roots of Consciousness  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as broken. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Pp. 231-232  
8. ↑ The encyclopedia of American religions. Tarrytown, NY: Triumph Books 1989, 3rd ed. 1991, Vol III, No. 1467 ( ISBN 978-0-7876-9696-2 )
9. ↑ Tim Lawrence: Hold On to Your Dreams: Arthur Russell and the Downtown Music Scene, 1973-1992. Duke University Press, 2009, p. 22 ( ISBN 978-0-8223-4485-8 )
10. ↑ Samuel L. Lewis: Diaries 1966 (PDF; 547 kB): "I did introduce [...] my Lama friend, Dr. Warwick to Allen Ginsberg. In each case a warm bond was established. "
11. ↑ Pacific High Studio Mantras , recorded at Pacific High Studios, San Francisco in July 1971
12. ↑ Philip Elwood: Winterland. Grateful Dead Mix Music and Mysticism. San Francisco Examiner , March 25 1971.