Niklaus Brantschen

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Niklaus Brantschen SJ (July 2009)

Niklaus Brantschen (born October 25, 1937 in Randa ) is a Swiss Jesuit , Zen master of the White Plum Sangha line and co-founder of the Lassalle Institute within the Lassalle House in Bad Schönbrunn , Canton Zug .

education

Niklaus Brantschen grew up with six siblings in a traditional Catholic family; he is a skilled mountaineer.

At the age of 22 he entered the Jesuit order. After the novitiate in Villars-sur-Glâne , he received a licentiate from the Munich School of Philosophy in 1964 . As part of a pedagogical internship, he worked as an educator at the Jesuit college in Feldkirch / Austria from 1964–67 . Then three years of theology studies at the University of Fourvière / Lyon (France) and then a fourth year at the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen a . a. with Professors Eberhard Jüngel , Jürgen Moltmann , Walter Kasper , Hans Küng ; Licensed thesis on Dietrich Bonhoeffer . 1970 Primary ceremony in Randa. From 1973 diploma studies in adult education in Munich, assistant to meditation teacher Klemens Tilmann , meditation courses with Karlfried Graf Dürckheim .

Zen training

From 1976, Brantschen undertook regular teaching stays and Zen studies in Kamakura / Japan with Hugo Makibi Enomiya-Lassalle and Yamada Kôun Roshi. There he met u. a. with Heinrich Dumoulin , Jerry Brown , Willigis Jäger , Johannes Kopp . In 1988 he was given the license to teach Zen from Yamada Roshi , and in 1999 he received confirmation as a Zen master ("inka shōmei") from Glassman Roshi . In Switzerland he was a pioneer in this field from the very beginning.

tasks

From 1973-77 Niklaus Brantschen was assistant director at the Bad Schönbrunn Education Center , then until 1987 its director. From 1988–93 he worked as a student chaplain at the universities in Zurich, and in 1993 he repositioned the educational center as a center for spirituality and social awareness and called it Lassalle-Haus . In 1995 he founded the Lassalle Institute for Zen - Ethics - Leadership together with Pia Gyger , which they directed until 2002. At the institute, the two are particularly committed to the project Jerusalem - Open City for Learning Peace in the World , which regularly takes them to Jerusalem and the UN in New York.

Interreligious Dialogue

According to Niklaus Brantschen, there is no alternative to interreligious dialogue , whereby this term not only describes the conversation, but also the positive, constructive relationships between people and communities of other religions for mutual enrichment. To be religious today means to be interreligious, not just bilateral, but multilateral.

Position on Buddhism

Niklaus Brantschen perceives the dialogue with Buddhism as an enriching, non-straight or closed path between East and West, which arises in the area of ​​tension between real Zen experience and following Christ. He sees a similarity (parallelism of the framework) between Ignatian retreats and Zen practice, which over the years has become a synthesis for him.

In the practice of Zen he sees a way to break down barriers between religions, nations and races - to become one human race.

Partnership between man and woman

For Niklaus Brantschen, cooperation based on partnership is an important contribution to a necessary change in planetary awareness. Really new things only emerge when men and women cultivate a culture of partnership with equal rights . For him, humanity is like a bird with two wings like man and woman. If a wing is not developed right away, we have a weird bird that will not move .

Insights

It is characteristic of Niklaus Brantschen that he summarizes his insights in concise sentences.

  • Only those who are selfless are really happy.
  • Those who cling to their spiritual experiences and want to preserve them destroy them and block the way to new ones.
  • Man is not what he "does"; he is not what he "has"; it is not what it "is"; he is what he loves.
  • Ethics, which we mean, is based on the mindful perception of life in all its forms, on wise judgment and in appropriate, sustainable action for the benefit of all. That is not possible without a comprehensive experience of self and the world, without a deeper view of reality .

Works

  • Fasting-Health-Religious-Social ; Moser, Lausanne 1987, ISBN 3-907027-01-9
  • Mercy from Silence: Zen and Social Engagement ; Ruben Habito (German translation and editing Niklaus Brantschen), Kösel, Munich 1990, ISBN 3-466-20084-9
  • Fasting in everyday life: guidance and encouragement to fast in a group ; (First edition 1988) Paulus, Freiburg 1994, ISBN 3-7228-0180-X
  • The path is within you: suggestions for meditation ; Benziger, Zurich 1996, ISBN 3-545-20116-3
  • You yourself are the world: Spirituality and socio-political engagement ; Benziger, Zurich 1997, ISBN 3-545-20134-1
  • What is important ?: Meditations for everyday life ; (First edition 1979) Benziger, Cologne 1985, ISBN 3-545-20058-2
  • Not from bread alone: ​​on the way for justice and peace ; Benziger, Zurich 1998, ISBN 3-545-20148-1
  • On the path of Zen: As a Christian Buddhist ; Kösel, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-466-36599-6
    • Translated into Spanish: Por el camino del zen: Como cristiano budista ; Mensajero, Bilbao 2006, ISBN 84-271-2650-6
  • Path of Silence: Orientation in a noisy world ; Herder, Freiburg 2004, ISBN 3-451-05480-9
  • Relive fasting: why, how, what for? ; (First edition 2002) Herder, Freiburg BR. 2006, ISBN 978-3-451-05640-6
    • Translated in Italian: Riscoprire il digiuno ; Queriniana, Brecia 2005, ISBN 88-399-1656-3
  • The many and the one: For a cosmopolitan spirituality ; Kösel, Munich 2007, ISBN 3-466-36762-X
  • Fulfilled moment: orientation for everyday life ; (First edition 1991) Patmos, Düsseldorf 2007, ISBN 3-491-71312-9
  • The advantage of being good: Orientation for a fulfilled life ; (First edition 2005) Goldmann, Munich 2009, ISBN 978-3-442-17085-2
  • Via Integralis: Where Zen and Christian Mysticism meet ; Kösel, Munich 2011, ISBN 978-3-466-37008-5 (together with Pia Giger)
  • Fasting for body, mind and soul ; AIRA, Freiburg Br. 2012, ISBN 978-3-95474-000-0
  • More than anything. Food for thought from Zen and Christianity ; Kösel, Munich 2012, ISBN 978-3-4663-7056-6 .
  • It's about love: From the life of a celibate couple ; Kösel, Munich 2013, ISBN 978-3-466-37077-1
  • At home between the worlds: Building bridges between Zen and Christianity , Patmos Verlag, Ostfildern 2017 (autobiography)

Sound and film carriers

  • CD: The advantage of being good: more virtue - less morality ; Kösel audio 2007, ISBN 3-466-45811-0
  • DVD: The culture of silence is the beginning of wisdom ; Auditorium Network, Müllheim 2011

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Meeting the Jesuit Niklaus Brantschen, Zen - The Gift of the East (March 2013). (PDF; 523 kB) Accessed January 2, 2016 .
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h book: On the way of Zen: Als Christ Buddhist (autobiography), Kösel 2002, ISBN 3-466-36599-6 , pp. 14, 174, 25, 140, 195, 88 / 89, 205
personal data
SURNAME Brantschen, Niklaus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss Jesuit and religious philosopher
DATE OF BIRTH October 25, 1937
PLACE OF BIRTH Randa