The Bodhidharma Zendo is an association dedicated to the practice of Rinzai Zen Buddhism. The association was founded in 1979; there are Bodhidharma Zendos in Vienna, Graz and Klagenfurt, as well as the BergZendo Zen seminar centre on the Hohe Wand. The current abbot is Seigaku Kigen Osh\u014d<\/a>, a Rinzai Zen priest who began his monastic training in 1990. <\/p>\n\n It all began with a small Zen group led by Franz Ritter, which had been practising since 1976 at the Buddhist Centre at Dannebergplatz, 1030 Vienna. In the summer of 1979, Seiun Genro Dai Osh\u014d<\/a> returned to Vienna from the USA. Soon after his arrival, membership increased sharply. The newly founded Bodhidharma Zendo\u2014and with it the Buddhist Centre\u2014moved in early 1980 to the building at Fleischmarkt 16, 1010 Vienna. From the very beginning, Zazen was offered regularly on three evenings a week under the guidance of Seiun Genro Dai Osh\u014d. Later, early-morning sitting periods were added twice a week. <\/p>\n\n Since the early 1980s the Bodhidharma Zendo has regularly held Sesshins and Zazenkais (retreats, that is, meditation weekends). Initially at the Buddhist Centre in Scheibbs, which Seiun Genro Dai Osh\u014d helped to build up, and since 2016 at the BergZendo, our present meditation and seminar centre on the Hohe Wand. In addition, Zazen days and night sittings\/Yaza (Zen meditation), Dharma study (Zen teaching) and introductory courses are held regularly at the city Zendo in Vienna. <\/p>\n\n Until 1999, Genro\u2019s teacher\u2014Kyozan Joshu Sasaki R\u014dshi<\/a>\u2014also came to Austria regularly to give Dharma talks, lead Sesshins and practise K\u014dan practice with the Sangha. Many of our members travelled time and again to the Mount Baldy Zen Center (USA) to practise Zen with Kyozan Joshu Sasaki R\u014dshi. Some of them stayed at Mt. Baldy for several years, and some were ordained by R\u014dshi as Zen monks\/nuns and Osh\u014ds (priests). In other Zen lineages, two of Genro\u2019s students were also ordained as R\u014dshis. <\/p>\n\n In 1989 Seiun Genro\nDai Osh\u014d was appointed “Acting R\u014dshi” (Zen master). He was thereby authorised\nto give Sanzen, or Koan practice. This form of practice is an essential\ncharacteristic of the Rinzai school. Numerous members were able to pursue it with him until\nhis death. Seiun Genro Dai Osh\u014d died in November 2010. <\/p>\n\n In March 2012 Seigaku Kigen Osh\u014d took over the spiritual leadership of the Bodhidharma Zendo. Under his guidance, Zen retreats and events are held regularly in Vienna and at the BergZendo Hohe Wand. The association was founded in 1979 by Seiun Genro Dai Osh\u014d<\/a>. It forms the outer, legal framework of the Bodhidharma Zendo. The board consists of the chairperson, the treasurer, a secretary and further members. It handles all administrative tasks of the association. These include managing memberships, running the seminar sites in Vienna and on the Hohe Wand, overall responsibility for financial management and other administrative concerns. The order was founded in 1983 by Seiun Genro Dai Osh\u014d<\/a>. This took place in the course of the recognition of the Austrian Buddhist Religious Society<\/a> (\u00d6BR). It follows the tradition of Rinzai Zen<\/a> and the teaching of Kyozan Joshu Sasaki R\u014dshi<\/a>. The role of abbot was held by Seiun Genro Dai Osh\u014d until November 2010. In March 2012 Seigaku Kigen Osh\u014d<\/a> took over the spiritual leadership of the Bodhidharma Zendo. Since the end of November 2019, Seigaku Kigen Osh\u014d has been abbot of the Rinzai-ji Order of Austria. <\/p>\n\n The members of the order endeavour, on the basis of the Bodhisattva vow they have taken, to practise to the best of their ability and to support the Sangha as they can. The order is a member of the \u00d6BR (Austrian Buddhist Religious Society) and regularly sends a member to the \u00d6BR Sangha Council. The members of the order support the Sangha in its spiritual practice under the guidance of the abbot. In particular, they contribute to maintaining this practice in Vienna\u2019s city centre and at the BergZendo Hohe Wand. <\/p>\n\n Admission to the order is by personal application or by invitation from the abbot. The prerequisites are several years of Zen practice and taking the Bodhisattva vow (Jukai ceremony, through which one professes Buddhism). Press Review:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n Nieder\u00f6sterreichische Nachrichten, 2025-05-08. https:\/\/m.noen.at\/wr-neustadt\/bauliche-erweiterung-spendenaufruf-fuer-zubau-des-meditationszentrums-hohe-wand-472722838<\/a> \u2192 The BergZendo Hohe Wand launched an appeal for donations for a structural expansion of the meditation centre in order to better accommodate the continued strong interest in Buddhist seminars.<\/em><\/p>\n\n Genro Koudela, Wikipedia, https:\/\/de.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Genro_Koudela<\/a> About us The Bodhidharma Zendo is an association dedicated to the practice of Rinzai Zen Buddhism. The association was founded in 1979; there are Bodhidharma Zendos in Vienna, Graz and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3430,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3429","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bodhidharmazendo.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3429","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bodhidharmazendo.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bodhidharmazendo.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bodhidharmazendo.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bodhidharmazendo.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3429"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/bodhidharmazendo.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3429\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4720,"href":"https:\/\/bodhidharmazendo.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3429\/revisions\/4720"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bodhidharmazendo.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3430"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bodhidharmazendo.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3429"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}History of the Bodhidharma Zendo<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n
Zen in Austria<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n
The Verein zur F\u00f6rderung des Zen-Buddhismus <\/strong> <\/h1>\n\n
The Rinzai-ji Order Austria <\/strong> <\/h1>\n\n