Hans-Ulrich Rieker (1 February 1920 – 26 October 1979) was a German actor, author, and leader of the

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

religious order

Arya Maitreya Mandala Arya Maitreya Mandala is a tantric and Buddhist order founded 1933 by Lama Anagarika Govinda. History Lama Anagarika Govinda founded the Arya Maitreya Mandala order on 14 October 1933 and made fourteen Indian scholars members. The order's acti ...

in Europe.

Life

Rieker initially worked as a stage actor in classical theatre roles. Deeply affected by

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religions, Indian religion or Indian philosophy#Buddhist philosophy, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha. ...

, he was ordained a novice monk in the Berlin Buddhist Temple in 1950. As a Buddhist mendicant monk, he then wandered around India on foot, where in 1951 he encountered the German-born Buddhist

Lama Anagarika Govinda Anagarika Govinda (born Ernst Lothar Hoffmann, 17 May 1898 – 14 January 1985) was the founder of the order of the Arya Maitreya Mandala and an expositor of Tibetan Buddhism, Abhidharma, and Buddhist meditation as well as other aspects of B ...

who became his main teacher. Govinda initiated Rieker into the order he founded in 1933,

. In 1952 Rieker founded the European branch of the Arya Maitreya Mandala on behalf of his teacher and accepted and as its first members. He built up the order in Europe and headed this branch for twelve years until progressive deafness caused him to withdraw from public life. His successor as head of the western branch of the order was .

Journalism and public activity

Rieker gave radio lectures on RIAS on topics of Buddhism as well as Indian and Chinese philosophy. He submitted numerous articles and several books on these subjects. Rieker founded the magazine together with Wilhelm A. Rink. After training in India, he worked as a

yoga Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consci ...

teacher. His books on Buddhism, yoga and

meditation Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally calm ...

contributed to the growing interest in these subjects in Germany in the 1950s and 1960s. Rieker's literary merits in conveying the authentic tradition of classical yoga were recognized in India, for example by the

yoga guru Modern yoga gurus are people widely acknowledged to be gurus of modern yoga in any of its forms, whether religious or not. The role implies being well-known and having a large following; in contrast to the old guru-shishya tradition, the modern ...

B. K. S. Iyengar. B. K. S. Iyengar: ''Aṣṭadaḷa Yogamālā''. Vol. 2. Allied Publishers 2000 (ISBN 9788177641783), p. 161

Works

* ''Das Geheimnis der Meditation''. Rascher Verlag, Zürich 1953; new edition 2006 (Wishbohn Verlag): ISBN 978-3-9809647-8-4 ::: ''The Secret of Meditation'', Rider & Co., 1974. * ''Die zwölf Tempel des Geistes. Weisheit und Technik der Yogasysteme''. Rascher Verlag, Zürich 1955. * ''Das klassische Yoga-Lehrbuch Indiens. Hatha Yoga Pradipika''. Rascher Verlag, Zürich 1957. ::: ''The Yoga of Light: Hatha Yoga Pradipika'', trans. Elsy Becherer, George Allen & Unwin, 1972 * ''Bettler unter Toten. Ein buddhistischer Bettelmönch in Indien''. Rascher Verlag, Zürich 1958. ::: ''Beggar Among the Dead: Some Experiences of a Buddhist Monk in India'', Rider & Co., 1960. * ''Ich lerne Yoga''. Fackelverlag, Stuttgart 1959. * ''Meditation. Übungen zur Selbstgestaltung''. Rascher Verlag, Zürich 1962.

Sources

* Christian Fuchs: ''Yoga in Deutschland. Rezeption – Organisation – Typologie''. Kohlhammer Verlag, Stuttgart 1990, ISBN 978-3-17-011016-8. * : ''Lebensbilder deutscher Buddhisten. Ein bio-bibliographisches Handbuch. Volume II: Die Nachfolger''. Universität Konstanz Forschungsberichte, 1992. *

Volker Zotz Volker Helmut Manfred Zotz (born 28 October 1956) is an eminent Austrian philosopher, religious studies scholar, Buddhologist and a prolific author. Early life The Zotz family originated in Tyrol and spread to Germany. Volker Zotz was born in ...

: ''"Bleibt Philosophen, solange ihr es wollt!" Die Anfänge des Ārya Maitreya Maṇḍala in Europa''. In: Derselbe (Hrsg.): ''Schnittstellen. Buddhistische Begegnungen mit Schamanismus und westlicher Kultur. Festschrift für Armin Gottmann zum 70. Geburtstag.'' Luxemburg: Kairos Edition 2013 (ISBN 978-2-919771-04-2), pp. 153–176

External links

Arya Maitreya Mandala

References

{{authority control Mahayana Buddhists German actors 1920 births 1979 deaths