Abbot Reding – Zen Master and Father – It is not the path of comfort, but the path of sacrifice!

Adolescence - The Adventure Begins

Born and raised in City of Zurich (Switzerland), zen master Reding enjoyed life on the city limits. Following his mother's instructions, he completed his apprenticeship as a chemical laboratory assistant at Empa Dübendorf with a vocational baccalaureate (BMS). Thanks to additionally obtaining his Matura at the KME (Cantonal Matura School for Adults), the university was also open to him.

After a few semesters of philosophy and mathematics at the University of Zurich, it was time to give in to the pursuit of inner emptiness and fullness with all its consequences and take the path of Zen. This pursuit developed slowly and organically during puberty, when he first came into contact with the Logos (Zen dialogues) thanks to a dream from his mother. So the search for a teacher and master began.

Decision - No mountain top without a valley floor!

An accident suddenly took Father Reding's life away and his back was damaged. All I had to do was lie in bed and breathe so that the pain could be endured. His whole life seemed over and he accepted being a cripple for life. During this difficult and reverent time he made the decision to finally look for a master and enter the monastery.

Because it couldn't get any worse. It seemed impossible to ever physically cope with everyday Japanese monastic life. He couldn't walk for three months but the decision was made. And so he had to learn everything again, literally step by step. Ready to sacrifice his entire life, the preparation began. Pain is now a lifelong master and teacher. To prepare for monk life, he lived with his mentor, Kaspar Reinhart, at the Zurich Karate Academy for a year and slept on the floor of the training hall.

Zen Practice - Looking for the Master

In Japan he was ordained as a Zen monk by Zen master Noritake Kotoku (monk name: Masan Doam). After formal training at the Empukuji Zen monastery near Kyoto, he wandered from temple to temple to find a suitable teacher. He earned his living through traditional alms-giving on the streets of Japan and helped with ceremonies in the temples of his brother monks and sisters.

According to his Dharma father's instructions, the journey went to South Korea. His time as a mendicant monk ended suddenly when the exchange with Zen master and Korean patriarch Powha Sunim began. Whether in the hermitage, in the temple, in the mountains and in the monastery, the battlefield of wisdom was omnipresent with the Zen master. As a personal assistant and student, Logos was examined around the clock and life at the teacher's side did not allow for any carelessness. The guiding star was finally found after many years of hardship and searching and shines timelessly in the student's heart.

Mendicant Monk - You're welcome!

As a thank you for the ten years of training to become a Zen monk, Zen Master Reding made a traditional pilgrimage through Japan to give alms with his straw sandals. From Wakkanai in the north of Hokkaido to Ishigaki-Jima in the south of Okinawa (3000 kilometers) it took him eight months and lived from hand to mouth.

Heading south every day, without knowing whether there would be enough food or where the nearest place to sleep was, he examined life and death among the people of Japan. During his time as a wandering and mendicant monk, the monastery and the marketplace became one.

Rustic Zen - Church in your own mind and God in your own self!

As a simple mendicant monk, he found accommodation in an old, barren and cold attic in Einsiedeln. Visitors & guests arrived unexpectedly and life & death were examined together in meditation. The foundation stone was laid with the fatherly strictness from Japan and the motherly kindness from Korea and the Zen Academy was founded in 2014 with the mutual trust of laypeople and clergy. Free from East & West, the monks are committed to sharing their pursuit of inner emptiness, potential and truth for the benefit of all and to further examine the patriarchal Zen lineage.

Catholic Faith - Searching for the Father

After many years of searching, Master Reding rediscovered the Christian faith and finally found the right form for the content of Zen (mysticism) to unfold here. For the soul has the language (form) of Christianity in the West and so Zen (content) can also express itself appropriately.

Zen in Switzerland is very closely linked to the Catholic Jesuit monks and so our tradition comes full circle. The conversion to Catholicism was strewn with great personal obstacles and trials. Relatives, friends and students turned their backs on him, he was abandoned, divorced, betrayed, sued and deceived. He almost lost his children and all his possessions. Only a handful of believers stood by him. But faith, love and hope were and are stronger.

In the monastery and on the market square (Vita Contemplativa & Vita Activa), you wandering and temple monks, brothers and sisters, where exactly do you see all the comings and goings of things? Fast fast! Give me an answer, because life and death are the important things, be careful, everything is fleeting and passes quickly. Time waits for no one. God, protect yourselves!