Hugo Makibi Enomiya-Lassalle (11 November 1898 in Gut Externbrock near

Nieheim Nieheim () is a town in Höxter district in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Historical names of Nieheim are: Nihem, Nyem, and Nym. The town covers an area of about 80 km2 and has about 6,250 inhabitants. Geography Nieheim lies roughly 10& ...

Westphalia Westphalia (; german: Westfalen ; nds, Westfalen ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants. The territory of the regio ...

– 7 July 1990 in

Münster Münster (; nds, Mönster) is an independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a state distr ...

) was a German

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

priest and one of the foremost teachers to embrace both Roman Catholic

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

and

Zen Zen ( zh, t=禪, p=Chán; ja, text= 禅, translit=zen; ko, text=선, translit=Seon; vi, text=Thiền) is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty, known as the Chan School (''Chánzong'' 禪宗), and ...

Buddhism 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 gra ...

Biography

Enomiya-Lassalle joined the

Society of Jesus , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

on 25 April 1919. At the end of the usual Jesuit spiritual and academic training he was ordained

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

on 28 August 1927. He travelled to Japan as a

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

in 1929 and became interested in that country's

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 ...

practices. In 1940, he became the vicar of

Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui h ...

, and on 6 August 1945 he was critically wounded by the nuclear blast in that city, which is depicted in

John Hersey John Richard Hersey (June 17, 1914 – March 24, 1993) was an American writer and journalist. He is considered one of the earliest practitioners of the so-called New Journalism, in which storytelling techniques of fiction are adapted to n ...

's book ''

''. Shortly thereafter, he returned to Germany. In September 1946, he had an audience with

Pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

Pius XII Pius ( , ) Latin for "pious", is a masculine given name. Its feminine form is Pia. It may refer to: People Popes * Pope Pius (disambiguation) * Antipope Pius XIII (1918-2009), who led the breakaway True Catholic Church sect Given name * Pius B ...

, in which he revealed his plan to build in Hiroshima a

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...

dedicated to the idea of world peace. Designed by Japanese architect

Togo Murano was a Japanese architect. Although his formative years were between 1910 and 1930, he remained active in design throughout his life and at the time of his death was responsible for over three hundred completed projects. Although his work lacked ...

, construction on the cathedral began in 1950 and on 6 August 1954, the

Memorial Cathedral for World Peace A memorial is an object or place which serves as a focus for the memory or the commemoration of something, usually an influential, deceased person or a historical, tragic event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects or works of a ...

（ ja）was dedicated. In 1956, Enomiya-Lassalle began studying Zen with

Harada Daiun Sogaku was a Sōtō Zen monk who trained under both Sōtō and Rinzai teachers and became known for his teaching combining methods from both schools. Biography Born in an area known today as Obama, Fukui Prefecture, he entered a Sōtō temple as a ...

. In 1958, he published ''Zen: A Way to Enlightenment''. Following Harada's death in 1961, Enomiya-Lassalle became an apprentice of one of Harada's students,

Yamada Kōun , or Koun Yamada, was a Japanese Buddhist who was the leader of the Sanbo Kyodan lineage of Zen Buddhism, the Dharma heir of his teacher Yasutani Haku'un Ryoko. Yamada was appointed the leader of the Sanbo Kyodan in 1967, 1970 or 1973 and conti ...

. Yamada was enthusiastic about the possibilities of Zen as a Christian practice, believing that "''Zen would become an important stream in the Catholic Church one day''".Terebess Asia Online
/ref> With Enomiya-Lassalle's active assistance, he attracted a number of Catholic priests and nuns as students. In the late 1960s, Enomiya-Lasalle was certified as a teacher in Yamada's

Sanbo Kyodan is a lay Zen sect derived from both the Soto (Caodong) and the Rinzai ( Linji) traditions. It was renamed Sanbo-Zen International in 2014. The term ''Sanbo Kyodan'' has often been used to refer to the Harada-Yasutani zen lineage. However, a ...

sect and given the title '' roshi'' (

Zen master Zen master is a somewhat vague English term that arose in the first half of the 20th century, sometimes used to refer to an individual who teaches Zen Buddhist meditation and practices, usually implying longtime study and subsequent authorizat ...

), while professing his continued belief in Christianity. After 1968, Enomiya-Lassalle spent much of his time in Europe leading Zen retreats and encouraging Zen practice among Christians. His books influenced symphony conductor

Herbert von Karajan Herbert von Karajan (; born Heribert Ritter von Karajan; 5 April 1908 – 16 July 1989) was an Austrian conductor. He was principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic for 34 years. During the Nazi era, he debuted at the Salzburg Festival, wit ...

to study Zen and incorporate a Zen mindset into his conducting. Hiroshima World Peace Memorial Cathedral

Bibliography

*''Zen: Way to Enlightenment'' (1964) *''Zen Meditation for Christians'' (1974) *''Living the New Consciousness'' (1984) *''The Practice of Zen Meditation'', (1987,

Thorsons HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News Cor ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Enomiya-Lassalle, Hugo 1898 births 1990 deaths Buddhist and Christian interfaith dialogue 20th-century German Jesuits German Zen Buddhists German Buddhists Hibakusha Japanese Jesuits Naturalized citizens of Japan People from Höxter (district) People from the Province of Westphalia

Biography

Bibliography

See also

References