Willi Massa

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Willi Massa (born October 2, 1931 in Ludwigshafen am Rhein ; † February 25, 2001 in Tünsdorf ) was a German Catholic theologian , homileticist and meditation teacher of the Christian Zen movement. He was co-founder and director of the meditation center Exercitium Humanum in Tholey , which existed from 1975 to 1983, and the Neumühle, European center for meditation and encounter in Tünsdorf.

Life

After joining the order of the Steyler missionaries , studying theology, ordination and doctorate, Willi Massa taught at the college of the order in Sankt Augustin . After founding the meditation center , he retired to the lay profession and married the social pedagogue and eutonia teacher Eleonore Gottfried-Massa , who co-founded the center and directed it after his death. Their daughter is the music and dance teacher Marie-Gabriele Massa . Massa came in 1983 from the Roman Catholic Church and was in the celibacy not prescriptive Catholic Orthodox Church of the West by the resident in Paris Primate Germain, bishop of Saint-Denis as a priest added, Massa then celebrated with conference participants and guests of the Center the Holy Mass in the Gallican rite of this church.

Services

Experienced in Christian contemplation theory and practice as well as the meditation forms of Zen Buddhism in the succession of Hugo Makibi Enomiya-Lassalle and Karlfried Graf Dürckheim , Massa began to train meditation leaders for Christian Zen meditation in 1971 . From among his students, the sponsoring association of the meditation center was formed under the name Excercitium Humanum , of which Massa was the leader until his death.

In 1974, Massa published the translations into German of the two mystical textbooks of the 14th century, The Cloud of Unknowing and The Book of Privy Counseling, first created by Georga Willems . Since then, they have appeared in several editions, including in 2011 under the editorship of the Benedictine monk and Zen master Willigis Jäger . "Since these instructions stand in an astonishing parallel to Zen, they have received a special meaning for non-objective meditation in Christianity today, where Zen has inspired many Christians." The Catholic mystic researcher Josef Sudbrack questioned the authenticity of the translation The orientation of meditation on God, taught in the original text, and the "knowledge of one's own weakness before the divine light" are reinterpreted from the monistic world view of Zen Buddhism as a contemplative path to inner self-awareness and self-knowledge without external intention, insofar as the transfer differs from the later published des Anglicist Wolfgang Riehle from.

Works

  • The Eucharist sermon on the eve of the Reformation. A material-kerygmatic study of the belief in the sacrament of the altar and mass at the beginning of the 16th century as a contribution to the history of the sermon. Steyler Verlag, Nettetal 1966.
  • Annunciation. Co-authors: Elmar Bartsch , Franz Kamphaus , Felix Schlösser, Rolf Zerfass . In: Pastorale - handouts for pastoral service, Volume 1. Conference of German-speaking pastoral theologians. Matthias Grünewald Verlag, Mainz 1970.
  • Silence and word. Lectures on meditation in the style of Zen. Verlag Butzon and Bercker, Kevelaer 1974, ISBN 3-7666-8827-8 .
  • Risk of encounter. Zen and living as a Christian. Co-author: William Johnston SJ. Verlag Butzon and Bercker, Kevelaer 1982, ISBN 3-7666-9261-5
as editor
  • At the table of the word. Edited by Klemens Jockwig and Willi Massa. New series 110–156. Verlag Katholisches Bibelwerk, Stuttgart 1971–1975.
  • Confrontation: mass media and church proclamation. With the collaboration of Winfried Blasig, Franz Kamphaus, Rolf Zerfass. Working group of Catholic homiletics. Verlag Katholisches Bibelwerk, Stuttgart 1972, ISBN 3-460-30511-8 .
  • Contemplative meditation: the cloud of ignorance. Matthias Grünewald Verlag, Mainz 1974, ISBN 978-3-7867-0489-8 .
  • The way of silence. Christian zen. A "letter" for guidance. Verlag Butzon and Bercker, Kevelaer 1974, ISBN 978-3-7666-8826-2 .
  • The Cave of the Heart: Mantra Practice and Name Prayer. Verlag Butzon and Bercker, Kevelaer 1982, ISBN 3-7666-9254-2 .

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ " 1971–1973 Massa held meditation leader meetings in St. Augustin ... There meditation teachers (inside) from West Germany, mainly from the Christian area, gathered for joint meditation and lectures by well-known theologians and depth psychologists. The Exercitium Humanum association emerged from this group ... “Michael Alois Schmiedel. Buddhism in Bonn. Empirical study of Buddhist-oriented communities in Bonn. Master's thesis in the religious studies seminar of the Philosophical Faculty of the University of Bonn, 2000. Page 61.
  2. ↑ Cloud of ignorance and letter of personal guidance: The classic of contemplation. Ed. Willigis Jäger. Kreuz Verlag Freiburg 2011. ISBN 978-3-451-61075-2
  3. ↑ Manfred Rompf. Meditation and Contemplation in Christianity Past and Present. ( Memento from May 15, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Lecture. Yoga Congress “Meditation and Yoga - old knowledge creates new science.” Society for Meditation and Meditation Research and Professional Association of Yoga Vidya Teachers eV, 2011. Page 4.
  4. ↑ Josef Sudbrack. Mysticism - Paramysticism - Pseudomysticism: Problem and questions of mystic research. In: Analecta Cartusiana (Ed. James Hogg), Volume 2 Kartäusermystik und -mystiker, 1981. Page 11.
personal data
SURNAME Massa, Willi
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Catholic theologian, homileticist and meditation teacher
DATE OF BIRTH October 2, 1931
PLACE OF BIRTH Ludwigshafen am Rhein
DATE OF DEATH February 25, 2001
Place of death Tünsdorf