Heinrich Dumoulin
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Heinrich Dumoulin, S.J. (31 May 1905 – 21 July 1995) was a Jesuit theologian, a widely published author on Zen, and a professor of philosophy and history at Sophia University in Tokyo, where he was Professor Emeritus.[1] He was the founder of its Institute for Oriental Religions, as well as the first director of the Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture.
Biography and career
[edit]Dumoulin was born in the village of Wevelinghoven, Rhineland, Germany, the son of a notary public. He studied philosophy in Holland and France, receiving his doctoral degree in 1929, and was ordained as a Jesuit priest in 1933.[2] In 1935, he was sent to Japan on missions under the guidance of Fr. Hugo Enomiya-Lassalle, where he became fluent in the Shinto religion and Buddhism.[3]
Dumoulin was a scholar of Zen Buddhism and wrote several books on its history, first urged to do it by the American Buddhist Ruth Fuller Sasaki. His Zen Buddhism: A history was published in 1988, translated from the original German by James Heisig and Paul Knitter.[4]
He died in 1995 at the age of 90, after being hospitalized for three weeks, and was buried at the St. Ignatius Church, Tokyo.[5]
Legacy
[edit]According to John Jorgensen Dumoulin was "the foremost exponent of the history of Zen Buddhism to the West".[6] The 1985 double number of the Japanese Journal of Religious Studies was dedicated to him and his work.
Bibliography
[edit]- The Development of Chinese Zen After the Sixth Patriarch in the Light of the Mumonkan (1953, First Zen Institute of America)
- A History of Zen Buddhism (1963, Pantheon Books)
- Christianity Meets Buddhism (1974, Open Court Publishing)
- Buddhism in the Modern World (1976, Macmillan Publishing)
- Zen Enlightenment: Origins and Meaning (1979, Weatherhill)
- Zen Buddhism in the Twentieth Century (1992)
- Understanding Buddhism: Key Themes (1994), Weatherhill
- Zen Buddhism: A History; Volume 1 India and China, (2005, World Wisdom) ISBN 978-094153289-1
- Zen Buddhism: A History; Volume 2 Japan, (2005, World Wisdom) ISBN 978-094153290-7
References
[edit]- ^ "Heinrich Dumoulin: Life and Work". www.worldwisdom.com. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
- ^ Heisig, James W. (1985). "Editor's Introduction". Japanese Journal of Religious Studies. 12 (2/3): 109–117. ISSN 0304-1042.
- ^ Oldmeadow, Harry. Journeys East: 20th Century Western Encounters with Eastern Religious Traditions. World Wisdom, Inc. pp. 430–431. ISBN 0-941532-57-7.
- ^ Dumoulin, Heinrich (1988). Zen Buddhism: A history. Volume 1: India and China. New York: Macmillan. ISBN 0-02-908230-7.
- ^ Van Bragt, Jan (1995). "In memoriam: Heinrich Dumoulin (1905–1995)". Japanese Journal of Religious Studies. 22 (3–4): 459–461.
- ^ Jorgensen, John (1991). Dumoulin, Heinrich; Heisig, James W.; Knitter, Paul (eds.). "Heinrich Dumoulin's "Zen Buddhism: A History"". Japanese Journal of Religious Studies. 18 (4): 377–400. ISSN 0304-1042.
