Materialien zum Neobuddhismus

Wilhelm II.: "Völker Europas, wahrt Eure heiligsten Güter!"

14. Buddhismus im Baltikum

von Alois Payer

mailto: payer@payer.de

Zitierweise / cite as:

Payer, Alois <1944 - >: Materialien zum Neobuddhismus.  --  14. Buddhismus im Baltikum. -- Fassung vom 2012-11-12. -- URL: http://www.payer.de/neobuddhismus/neobud1401.htm . -- [Stichwort].

Erstmals publiziert: 1996-07-18

Überarbeitungen: 2012-11-12 [verbessert und erweitert]; 2005-05-05 [überarbeitet und stark erweitert]; 2003-07-03 [überarbeitet und stark erweitert]; 1998-07-18

Anlass: Lehrveranstaltung Neobuddhismus, Univ. Tübingen, SS 1987, SS 2003

Copyright: Dieser Text steht der Allgemeinheit zur Verfügung. Eine Verwertung in Publikationen, die über übliche Zitate hinausgeht, bedarf der ausdrücklichen Genehmigung des Verfassers.

Dieser Text ist Teil der Abteilung Buddhismus von Tüpfli's Global Village Library

Baltikum (Estland, Lettland, Litauen)

Karlis Alexis Mikhailovich Tennisons (1873-1962)

Karl Tõnisson (* 8. Augustjul./ 20. August 1883greg. auf dem Bauernhof Odratsi im Dorf Umbusi, damals Landgemeinde Vana-Põltsamaa, Livland[1]; † 9. Mai 1962 in Rangun (ရန်ကုန်), Birma) war ein estnischer Buddhist. Er ist vor allem unter seinem geistlichen Namen „Bruder Vahindra“ bekannt geworden. Sein Spitzname war „barfüßiger Tõnisson“. Karl Tõnisson (lettisch Kārlis Tennisons) lebte zunächst in der estnischen Hauptstadt Tallinn und der livländischen Hauptstadt Riga, die damals zum russischen Reich gehörten. 1892 studierte er an der Philosophischen Fakultät der Universität Sankt Petersburg (Са́нкт-Петербу́рг). Dort kam er auch mit buddhistischen Vertretern in Berührung. 1893 fuhr Tõnisson erstmals ins buddhistisch geprägte Burjatien (Буряад Республика). Er erhielt eine buddhistische „Ausbildung“ im Kloster Agaa in Burjatien. 1900 fuhr Tõnisson in die Mongolei und nach China. Von April bis Juni 1903 lebte er in Petropawlowsk-Kamtschatski ( Петропавловск-Камчатский) auf der russischen Halbinsel Kamtschatka (Камчатка). Bis zum Sommer 1905 hielt er sich im Gebiet der Wüste Gobi (Говь / 戈壁), der Inneren Mongolei (內蒙古), der Wüste Taklamakan (塔克拉瑪干沙漠) und in Ich-Chüree (heute Ulaanbaatar - ᠤᠯᠠᠭᠠᠨᠪᠠᠭᠠᠲᠤᠷ) auf. Im selben Jahr stellte der einflussreiche burjatischen Mönch Agvan Doržijev (ངག་དབང་བློ་བཟང, Agvan Lobsan Dorzhiev, aka. Agvan Dorjiev aka. Dorjieff, 1854–1938) Tõnisson dem XIII. Dalai Lama (ཐུབ་བསྟན་རྒྱ་མཚོ་) vor. Die Begegnung hinterließ einen bleibenden Eindruck bei Tõnisson. 1906 wurde Tõnisson als Gläubiger in das Kloster Erdene Dsuu (Эрдэнэ Зуу) in der Mongolei aufgenommen. Dort machte er auch Bekanntschaft mit dem Ja Lama (Дамбийжанцан, 1862–1922). Im Februar 1907 fuhr Tõnisson in die westlichen Teile Russlands zurück, zunächst von Tuwa (Тыва ) nach Orenburg (Оренбург). Dort hielt er buddhistischen Vorlesungen. Von dort reiste Tõnisson weiter nach Samara (Самара) und Saratow (Саратов) sowie nach Astrachan (Астрахань), wo er jeweils Vorträge hielt. 1909 gab Tõnisson in Riga (Rīga) sein erstes Buch mit buddhistischem Gedankengut heraus. 1912 erschien in Tartu ein Sammlung von buddhistischen Sentenzen aus seiner Feder. Er übersetze auch einige buddhistische Schriften ins Estnische. Mit Ausbruch des Ersten Weltkriegs wurde Tõnisson in die zaristische Armee einberufen. Er diente im Kaukasus und kämpfte unter anderem in Ostpreußen. 1915 schied er aus der Armee aus. Er zog über Burjatien in die Mongolei und dann weiter nach Tibet. Er war angeblich der erste Este, der nach Lhasa (ལྷ་ས་) kam. Anschließend kehrte er in die inzwischen in Petrograd (Петроград) umbenannte russische Hauptstadt zurück. Hier war Tõnisson am 1915 fertiggestellten buddhistischen Tempel in Sankt Petersburg aktiv. Bald zog es ihn jedoch wieder nach Burjatien. 1920 kehrte Tõnisson nach Petrograd zurück. In Russland hatten die Bolschewiki (большевики) inzwischen die Macht übernommen. Der buddhistische Tempel war verwüstet. 1922 lehnten die Behörden der neu gegründeten Republik Estland ein Visum für Tõnisson ab. Stattdessen erhielt Tõnisson die lettische Staatsangehörigkeit. Tõnisson lebte in der Zwischenkriegszeit teilweise in Estland, teilweise in Lettland. Dort propagierte er buddhistische Ideen, blieb aber in seiner Zeit ein Paradiesvogel. Der XIII. Dalai Lama ernannte ihn (angeblich) 1923 als „Bruder Vahindra“ zum buddhistischen Erzbischof für Lettland und Sangharaja[2] der Buddhisten in Estland, Lettland und Litauen. Tõnisson glaubte an die Attraktivität buddhistischer Prinzipien auch für seine baltische Heimat. 1928 erschien in Riga sein estnischsprachiges Buch Tulevane Pan-Baltoonia Ilmariik („Das kommende Pan-Baltonische Reich“)[3]. 1930 veröffentlichte er in Tartu die programmatische Schrift Mina ja minu jüngrid usume nõnda („Ich und meine Jünger glauben so“).[4] 1930 hielt er in Narva buddhistische Vorlesungen. Tõnisson scharte einen Kreis von Jüngern um sich. Sein Einfluss auf die Verbreitung des Buddhismus in Estland, Lettland und Litauen blieb allerdings begrenzt. 1931 zog Tõnisson gemeinsam mit seinem Narvaer Freund, dem Deutschbalten Friedrich Voldemar Lustig (1912–1989), der später unter dem buddhistischen Namen „Ashin Ananda“ bekannt wurde, endgültig nach Asien. 1935/36 lebten beide in China. Dann zogen sie zunächst nach Ceylon und später nach Thailand. 1941 kritisierten sie die thailändische Regierung wegen ihrer Japan-freundlichen Politik und der Umbenennung des Landes von Siam in Thailand. 1949 wies die thailändische Regierung beide aus. Sie zogen weiter nach Birma. Dort lebten Tõnisson und Lustig als buddhistische Mönche in der Tradition des Hinayana. Tõnisson starb 1962 in Rangun.[5] Nach seinem Tod wurde er in Birma zum Bodhisattva ernannt. Sein Schüler Friedrich Voldemar Lustig setzte als „Ashin Ananda“ die Arbeit Tõnissons fort. Lustig schrieb 1965 auch Tõnissons Lebensgeschichte unter dem Titel The Mahatma of Baltic: The remarkable life of the Most Rev. Kārlis A. M. Tennisons The Buddhist Archbishop of Latvia nieder. Literatur Mait Talts: „‚Esimene buda preester Baltimere rannikul...:‘ Karl August Tennison ja eestlaste esmatutvus budismiga.“ In: Akadeemia 2003, Nr. 7, S. 1421-1443 und Nr. 8, S. 1618-1645 Gennadi Gerodnik: Vend Vahindra. Satiiriline dokumentaaljutustus. Tallinn 1973" [Quelle: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_T%C3%B5nisson. -- Zugriff am 2012-11-12]

Über Friedrich Voldemar Lustig (Ashin Ananda) (1912 – 1989):

"Born in Narva, Estonia in 1912, Lustig became Tennisons' principal disciple and, after his death, inherited his mentor's grandiose titles of Buddhist Archbishop of Latvia, Sangharaja [Senior Buddhist] of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. His biography of Tennisons is a massive typescript running to nearly a thousand pages; it contains a mass of information, some of it bearing on aspects of Agvan Dorzhiev's career not covered elsewhere. Though much of the biography, including a few fine details, is verifiably correct, parts of it contain small errors, exaggerations and that kind of romantic exuberance that is often impatient of the constraints of accuracy. One hopes one is not doing the late Revd Lustig a grave injustice, but the ineluctable conclusion after reading his text and comparing it with others is that what we have is an attempt to magnify the importance of Karlis Tennisons, and that in this enterprise Lustig was probably faithfully following the example of his preceptor." [Snelling, John <1943 - >: Buddhism in Russia : the story of Agvan Dorzhiev, Lhasa's emissary to the tzar. -- Shaftesbury [u.a.] : Element, ©1993. 320 S. : Ill. -- ISBN 1-85230-332-8. -- S. 129]

"The Refugee Who Fled to Burma As a poet, monk and political exile, Friedrich Lustig—known in Burma as Ashin Ananda—acquired a unique understanding of his adoptive homeland. byThiri /Rangoon "If you go to the Shwedagon and ask anybody about Friedrich Lustig, they will know him"—such is the popularity of this extraordinary foreign monk who spent forty years in Burma, and was allowed to live at the Shwedagon Pagoda by Ne Win. Still thousands of kilometers away from the Shwedagon, when I asked a Catholic priest about Friedrich Lustig, he told me: "Yeah, Lustig… I often met him in Rangoon! His Burmese name is Ashin Ananda." Ashin Ananda, a devout Buddhist, was especially effective in publicizing Burmese poetry and traditional music among English-speaking audiences. He died eleven years ago, and his ashes were kept at Mohnyin Kyaungdaik monastery at the Shwedagon until they were transferred to a cemetery. However, he was not originally, as you might think, an enthusiastic Westerner in search of Enlightenment far away from home. Instead, he was a man to whom Burma—as ironic as it might sound—had granted political asylum. He entered Burma from Thailand on September 8, 1949, and was granted asylum by U Nu. Before that, he had stayed in Thailand for over a decade, during which his native country, Estonia, was annexed by the Soviet Union and his passport became invalid. A strong anti-communist, he preferred to be a man without a country than carry a Russian passport. When Ne Win’s military dictatorship came to power, and foreigners were forced to leave, Ashin Ananda got permission to stay because of this peculiar situation. Ne Win appreciated his anti-communist stance and asked him to write articles denouncing communists in The Working People’s Daily and The Guardian—which Ananda happily did for ten years. This even earned him a military pass allowing travel anywhere in the country, including such off-limits areas as the Naga Hills. "I am not sorry for what I did. I wrote everything with a clear conscience," Ananda said later to a foreign journalist. Considering the fate of his tiny Nordic country, Estonia, which was engulfed by the communists in 1940, resulting in 25 percent of the one million Estonians being persecuted—either killed, sent to Russia’s prison camps or forced to escape abroad—Lustig probably wrote those anti-communist pieces with satisfaction, if not with pleasure. It seems that he did indeed find a sanctuary in Burma, not only because he was allowed to stay, but also because he became sincerely attached to the land and its beauty. Although he followed the teachings of Lord Buddha devoutly, his real passion was Burmese poetry, and he himself expressed his love for Burma best in poetry. He received the title of US Lilac Laureate poet in 1968. "I came to like his poems because he was always expressing great love for Burma and Burmese culture… His poems are written in the classical style, his rhythmic and metric scheme is faultless. His writings were always meant for the betterment of people, to make them more compassionate, gentle and thoughtful," wrote Khin Soe, a former civil servant, in his foreword to Fifty Selected Poems, a collection of Ananda’s poems published over years in The Working People’s Daily, The Guardian Daily and in the Guardian Magazine. Writes Ananda: I love this land, and clouds that drift, And flags that flutter in the wind, And men who gladly give a lift To strangers and are not thin-skinned. (From The Land We Love) Though the many landmarks of Burma, such as the Shwedagon, Pagan and the Irrawaddy River, received special attention, most of Ananda’s poems were daring, personal reflections of his depression and joy, his likes, dislikes and temptations. The titles of some of his poems speak for themselves: "That Inner Urge," "Likes And Dislikes," "Open Mind," "The Ups And Downs." In "I Snap My Fingers At Temptation" he writes: The inner mind may be perverted. Not all who listen truly hear. One’s strength must firmly be exerted, If one desires to stay austere. He saw no reason to be ashamed or embarrassed for possessing these worldly feelings—as long as one stood firmly on the Buddhist path, such experience would only make one stronger, was Ananda’s message. He felt the most important things are meditation, avoidance of attachments in daily life and following the teachings of Lord Buddha. Ananda, then Friedrich Lustig, was born in Estonia in 1912. At a young age he became regarded as a child prodigy because of his talent as a pianist—he could play difficult pieces by famous composers such as Chopin, Liszt and Rachmaninoff. He earned money to pay for his education by playing the piano at the best cinema in his hometown, Narva. These were the days of silent movies, and he had to decide quickly which tune was suitable for each scene on the silver screen. "In later years I realized that period of my life was very useful for me, for it enriched my imagination and encouraged me to compose good poetry," Ananda wrote in his "Brief Sketch of My Life." He discovered Buddhism through a book, and then wrote a letter to the Dalai Lama in Tibet, who advised him to get in touch with a guru in Latvia, the Reverend Karlis Tennisons. The two of them were invited to Thailand as representatives of the Baltic Buddhist community by visiting prince Aditya Dibya-Abbha, who was on an official state visit to Estonia in 1930, prior to the country’s occupation by the Russians. Two years later, Lustig ordained as a monk. Before leaving Europe for Thailand, Ananda studied Sanskrit, Tibetan and Chinese at the University of Paris. Together with his guru, he then sailed on the French liner Desirade to Singapore and continued on to Thailand. "My guru and I were treated extremely well," wrote Ananda in his life sketch. "We stayed in several royal monasteries, including Wat Phra Chetuphon near the Grand Palace." He spent the years 1935-36 in China, visiting famous Buddhist monasteries, and returned to Thailand for the Second World War. What he did not mention in his "Brief Sketch of My Life"—but confided about 40 years later to a foreign journalist—was why he had left Thailand for Burma. In 1987, Ananda recalled: "A man named McDonald had started a newspaper called the Bangkok Post, to which my guru and I would contribute an occasional article." He admitted that one article they had written, called "Six Hours Before Pearl Harbor," accused the Thai government of knowing about the Japanese attack on the US six hours prior to the event. Thailand’s Prime Minister was outraged by the accusation, so the two freelance journalists-cum-monks found themselves being escorted to the Thai-Burmese border by thirty Thai soldiers. Ananda told the foreign journalist: "That was on September 7, 1949. We crossed over into Shan territory where we stayed for four months, because Rangoon was surrounded by insurgents at the time." Ananda never gave up his love for music. He transcribed a lot of classical Burmese music such as Yodayar, Bawle, Patpyo (the Mahagitta Baungyoke) into international music notes, which were published by the government in 1952 under the title "Classical Burmese Music." His greatest service to the land that he loved were the translations into English of classical Burmese poets from the 15th century until his present, many of which even the Burmese find difficult to understand. His translations were quite highly esteemed in Rangoon and abroad. "It is a great delight for me to read your book, and I hope to see more translated works as a valuable means of creating better mutual understanding between the Burmese and other peoples in the world," wrote Dr. Nguyen Luu Vien, the Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Vietnam in a letter to Ananda in 1967 from Saigon. Ashin Ananda, alias Friedrich Lustig, did not get to see his native country free again. He died a year before Estonia regained independence. Possibly, he was the only Estonian who held a genuine Estonian passport for all the fifty years of Russian occupation, and never gave it up for any other passport. Estonian people must be very proud of that. Thiri is writer based in Thailand." [The Irrawaddy. -- Chiangmai, Thailand. -- Vol. 9, No. 5 (2001-07). -- Online: http://www.irrawaddy.org/database/2001/vol9.5/culture.html. -- Zugriff am 2003-06-15]

Bilder zu Lustig und Tennisons:

Zu Lustig und Tennisons siehe vor allem:

http://www.gi.ee/~talts/lustig/. -- Zugriff am 2003-06-15. -- [In Estnisch, aber zahlreiche bisher unzugängliche Quellen]

Zu 15.: Buddhismus in Südosteuropa