(born March 1, 1968, as Jens Olaf Christian Nölke) is a German-born

Zen monk 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 ...

who was the abbot of

Antai-ji is a Buddhist temple that belongs to the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism. It is located in the town of Shin'onsen, Mikata District, in northern Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, where it sits on about 50 hectares of land in the mountains, close to a ...

, a

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese

Sōtō Zen Sōtō Zen or is the largest of the three traditional sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism (the others being Rinzai and Ōbaku). It is the Japanese line of the Chinese Cáodòng school, which was founded during the Tang dynasty by Dòngshān L ...

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

in Shin'onsen in the Mikata District of

Hyōgo Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Hyōgo Prefecture has a population of 5,469,762 () and has a geographic area of . Hyōgo Prefecture borders Kyoto Prefecture to the east, Osaka Prefecture to the southeast, an ...

from 2002 until 2020. He has translated works of

Dōgen Dōgen Zenji (道元禅師; 26 January 1200 – 22 September 1253), also known as Dōgen Kigen (道元希玄), Eihei Dōgen (永平道元), Kōso Jōyō Daishi (高祖承陽大師), or Busshō Dentō Kokushi (仏性伝東国師), was a Ja ...

and

Kōdō Sawaki was a prominent Japanese Sōtō Zen teacher of the 20th century. He is considered to be one of the most significant Zen priests of his time for bringing Zen practice into the lives of laypeople and popularizing the ancient tradition of sewing the ...

, and has authored five books in German and sixteen books in Japanese.

Biography

At age 16, Muhō was introduced to ''

zazen ''Zazen'' (literally " seated meditation"; ja, 座禅; , pronounced ) is a meditative discipline that is typically the primary practice of the Zen Buddhist tradition. However, the term is a general one not unique to Zen, and thus technicall ...

'' by one of his

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

s and soon had the wish to become a Zen

monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

. To prepare for his stay in

, he studied

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

at the

Free University of Berlin The Free University of Berlin (, often abbreviated as FU Berlin or simply FU) is a public research university in Berlin, Germany. It is consistently ranked among Germany's best universities, with particular strengths in political science and t ...

, along with

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

and

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

. During his studies, he spent one year at

Kyoto University , mottoeng = Freedom of academic culture , established = , type = National university, Public (National) , endowment = ¥ 316 billion (2.4 1000000000 (number), billion USD) , faculty = 3,480 (Teaching Staff) , administrative_staff ...

and learned for the first time about

. At age 22, he spent six months there as a lay practitioner. Three years later, after graduating from university, Muhō was ordained as a

Sōtō Sōtō Zen or is the largest of the three traditional sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism (the others being Rinzai and Ōbaku). It is the Japanese line of the Chinese Cáodòng school, which was founded during the Tang dynasty by Dòngshān L ...

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 ...

under the

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The fem ...

Miyaura Shinyu Rōshi. Apart from

, he has trained for one year at the

Rinzai The Rinzai school ( ja, , Rinzai-shū, zh, t=臨濟宗, s=临济宗, p=Línjì zōng) is one of three sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism (along with Sōtō and Ōbaku). The Chinese Linji school of Chan was first transmitted to Japan by Myōan E ...

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...

Tōfuku-ji is a Buddhist temple in Higashiyama-ku in Kyoto, Japan. Tōfuku-ji takes its name from two temples in Nara, Tōdai-ji and Kōfuku-ji.Japan ReferenceTōfuku-ji/ref> It is one of the Kyoto ''Gozan'' or "five great Zen temples of Kyoto". Its ...

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...

, and one year at Hosshin-ji in

Obama, Fukui is a city located in Fukui Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 29,435 in 12,057 households and a population density of 240 persons per km2 (327/sq mi). The total area of the city was . Obama gained publicity in the Unit ...

. After obtaining the transmission of

dharma Dharma (; sa, धर्म, dharma, ; pi, dhamma, italic=yes) is a key concept with multiple meanings in Indian religions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and others. Although there is no direct single-word translation for '' ...

(''

shihō refers to a series of ceremonies in Sōtō Zen Buddhism wherein a ''unsui'' receives Dharma transmission, becoming part of the dharma lineage of his or her teacher. Ceremony ''Shiho'' is done "one-to-one in the abbot's quarters (''hojo'')". ...

'') from his

Miyaura Rōshi, Muhō decided to live as a

homeless Homelessness or houselessness – also known as a state of being unhoused or unsheltered – is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and adequate housing. People can be categorized as homeless if they are: * living on the streets, also kn ...

in a park in central

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

, where he led a ''zazen'' group in 2001. Six months later, in February 2002, he learned of the sudden death of his teacher and was called back to

. He succeeded his teacher as the ninth

in the spring of that year. In 2020 he retired after 18 years as the abbot and appointed Ekō, a Japanese nun, as his successor. Since he retired as abbot, Muho spends most of his time in Osaka, where he leads a Zen group that meets every Sunday in Osaka castle park (except when it is raining). Muhō has published numerous books and translations in both Japanese and German. He has also featured in several films, including documentaries by director

Takeshi Kitano is a Japanese comedian, television presenter, actor, filmmaker, and author. While he is known primarily as a comedian and TV host in his native Japan, he is better known abroad for his work as a filmmaker and actor as well as TV host. With th ...

and broadcaster

Peter Barakan Peter Barakan (born 20 August 1951, in London, England) is an English-born DJ, freelance broadcaster, and an author of books on music and English language education. He is best known as the presenter of ''Begin Japanology and Japanology Plus'' on ...

's "

Begin Japanology ''Weekend Japanology'', ''Begin Japanology'', and ''Japanology Plus'' are Japanese television programs aired on NHK World, and presented by Peter Barakan. The programs explore aspects of traditional and contemporary Japan and interview experts in ...

", as well as Werner Penzel's

feature film A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

"Zen for Nothing".

Bibliography

German

* ''Zazen oder der Weg zum Glück''. Rowohlt, 2007, . * ''Ein Regentropfen kehrt ins Meer zurück''. Berlin-Verlag, 2016, . * ''Futter für Pferd und Esel: Das Dôgen-Lesebuch''. Angkor-Verlag, 2018, . * ''Das Meer weist keinen Fluss zurück''. Berlin-Verlag, 2018, . * ''Der Mond leuchtet in jeder Pfütze''. Berlin-Verlag, 2020, .

Japanese

* ''Mayoeru mono no Zen shugyou''. Shincho-shinsho, 2011, . * ''Hadaka no Bousama''. Sanga, 2012, . * ''Tada suwaru''. Kobunsha-shinsho, 2012, . * ''Ikiru hint 33''. Asahi-shinsho, 2012, . * ''Otona ni naru tame no yatsu no shugyou''. Shodensha, 2013, * ''Mayoinagara ikiru''. Daiwa-shobo, 2013, * ''Dogen wo gyakuyunyu''. Sanga, 2013, * ''Nihonjin ni shukyo ha iranai''. Best-shinsho, 2014, * ''Yomu dake Zen shugyou''. Asahi-shinbun-shuppan, 2014, * ''Mayoi ha satori no dai-ippo''.　Shincho-shinsho, 2015, * ''Ari no mama demo ii, ari no mama de nakute mo ii''.　Best-shinsho, 2015, * ''Kokoro ni hibiku Bukkyou no kingen 100''.　Takarajima-sha, 2015, * ''Naze nihonjin ha gosenzo-sama ni inoru no ka''.　Gentousha-shinsho, 2015, * ''Bukkyou no tsumetasa, Kirisutokyou no ayausa''.　Best-shinsho, 2016, * ''Magenai Doitsujin, kimenai Nihonjin''.　Sanga, 2016, * ''Kyou wo shinu koto de, ashita wo ikiru''.　Best-shinsho, 2017,

Translations in English

* Kōdō Sawaki: ''To You: Collected Sayings of Kodo Sawaki'' (co-translated by Jesse Reiho Haasch). Hohm Press 2021.

Translations in German

* Kōdō Sawaki: ''Tag für Tag ein guter Tag''. Angkor 2008. * Kōdō Sawaki: ''An dich. Zen-Sprüche''. Angkor 2005. * Kōdō Sawaki: ''Zen ist die größte Lüge aller Zeiten''. Angkor 2005. * Kōshō Uchiyama: ''Die Zen-Lehre des Landstreichers Kodo''. Angkor 2007, übersetzt gemeinsam mit Guido Keller * Hitoshi Nagai: ''Penetre & ich: Philosophie für ein glückliches Leben''. Berlin-Verlag 2021

References

External links

*
no direction
Muho's blog *
Information about Muhō Nölke at Antaiji homepage

* ttp://maymagazine.eu/en/happiness-2/life/zazen-muhos-way-to-happiness/ "Happy and hard" Interview by Maymagazine.eu* Soto Zen Buddhists Zen Buddhist abbots German Zen Buddhists 1968 births Living people German Buddhists {{Germany-reli-bio-stub