Lieutenant-colonel Ernest Reinhold Rost (22 August 1872 – 23 June 1930)

O.B.E. The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

was an English physician and Buddhist writer.

Biography

Rost was born at Ealing on 22 August 1872. He was the son of

Reinhold Rost Reinhold Rost (1822–1896) was a German orientalist, who worked for most of his life at St Augustine's Missionary College, Canterbury in England and as head librarian at the India Office Library, London. Life He was the son of Christian Frie ...

. He was educated at Highgate School and at St. Mary's. He took the M.R.C.S. and L.R.C.P. in 1895 and joined the

Indian Medical Service The Indian Medical Service (IMS) was a military medical service in British India, which also had some civilian functions. It served during the two World Wars, and remained in existence until the independence of India in 1947. Many of its officer ...

(IMS) as surgeon lieutenant on 29 January 1896. He became lieutenant-colonel on 29 July 1915. He retired on 3 September 1922. He was a civil surgeon in

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

and worked at Rangoon Medical School where he was superintendent and a lecturer in surgery. He served in East Africa during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and on the North-West Frontier of India during the

Third Anglo-Afghan War The Third Anglo-Afghan War; fa, جنگ سوم افغان-انگلیس), also known as the Third Afghan War, the British-Afghan War of 1919, or in Afghanistan as the War of Independence, began on 6 May 1919 when the Emirate of Afghanistan inv ...

of 1919. After retirement he practiced in

Putney Putney () is a district of southwest London, England, in the London Borough of Wandsworth, southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. History Putney is an ancient paris ...

and specialized in tropical diseases under the Ministry of Pensions. He conducted important work on

leprosy Leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease (HD), is a long-term infection by the bacteria ''Mycobacterium leprae'' or ''Mycobacterium lepromatosis''. Infection can lead to damage of the nerves, respiratory tract, skin, and eyes. This nerve damag ...

. On 1 January 1913 he received the

Kaisar-i-Hind Medal The Kaisar-i-Hind Medal for Public Service in India was a medal awarded by the Emperor/Empress of India between 1900 and 1947, to "any person without distinction of race, occupation, position, or sex ... who shall have distinguished himself (o ...

and the O.B.E. on 3 June 1918. Rost established the first bacteriological laboratory in Burma and was the first to establish a connection between

beriberi Thiamine deficiency is a medical condition of low levels of thiamine (Vitamin B1). A severe and chronic form is known as beriberi. The two main types in adults are wet beriberi and dry beriberi. Wet beriberi affects the cardiovascular system, ...

and rice consumption. In 1904, Rost cultivated the '' bacillus leprae''. He advocated the use of leprolin to treat leprosy patients. The serum was a liquid substance obtained by dissolving leprosy germs in a bouillon made from beef juice and distilled pumice stone.

Buddhism

Rost converted to Buddhism during his medical service in Burma. In Rangoon, Rost co-founded the International Buddhist Society known as Buddhasāsana Samāgama with Ananda Metteyya."The Myanmar Contribution to the Spread of Theravada Buddhism Throughout the World"
Myanmarnet.net. Retrieved 17 January 2021. He was Honorary Secretary of the Society. The first meeting was held on 15 March 1903. In 1907, Rost and his friend Col. J. R. Pain opened a Buddhist book shop on

Bury Street Bury Street is a one-way street in St James's, London SW1. It runs roughly north-to-south from Jermyn Street to King Street, and crosses Ryder Street. Street history Probably taking its name from Bury St Edmunds, Rushbrooke, the country seat ...

near the British Museum. In November 1907, Rost and others founded the Buddhist Society of Great Britain and Ireland with

Thomas William Rhys Davids Thomas William Rhys Davids (12 May 1843 – 27 December 1922) was an English scholar of the Pāli language and founder of the Pāli Text Society. He took an active part in founding the British Academy and London School for Oriental Studies. ...

as president. It was the first Buddhist society in England and was active until 1926. The society published an early periodical, ''The Buddhist Review'' which reflected a scholarly approach to Buddhism.Williams, Duncan Ryūken; Moriya, Tomoe. (2010). ''Issei Buddhism in the Americas''. University of Illinois Press. p. 99. Rost was an early British writer to discuss

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 ...

. In 1911 in an article for ''The Buddhist Review'', he argued that use of the word is "opposed to its use in ordinary English, where it merely means abstract thinking".Federma, Asaf
''Buddhist Meditation in Britain: 1853 and 1945''
Published in 2015. During the early 20th century there was confusion about meditation from westerners and Rost was asked by people during his lectures to give practical lessons in meditation as they were under the impression that "the trances could be attained by some device which they thought could be taught like a conjuring trick." Rost dispelled such notions and suggested that contemplation and morality are far more important.

Selected publications

''The Nature of Consciousness''
(1930)
''The Spread and Influence of Buddhism in Asia''
(1930)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rost, Ernest Reinhold 1872 births 1930 deaths 19th-century English medical doctors 20th-century British medical doctors Buddhist writers English Buddhists Indian Medical Service officers Leprosy researchers