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

Days of Youth

First you get a decent education and after that you can do whatever you want. Kathrin Reding (mother)

Born and raised in Zurich, Brother Marcel and his older sister enjoyed life on the city limits. Following the maternal requirement, zen monk Brother Marcel completed his apprenticeship as a chemical laboratory assistant at Empa Dübendorf with a professional baccalaureate (BMS). Thanks to the additional acquisition of the 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 with all its consequences and to take the path of Zen. This desire developed slowly and organically during puberty, when he first came into contact with the Logos (Zen dialogues) thanks to a dream by his mother. Since Christianity is the crystallized form of Buddhism, Brother Marcel was intuitively drawn to the origin.

Decision

There is no mountain peak without a valley floor! Even if I should die homeless on the streets in Japan, it's worth it.

 

An accident suddenly took Father Reding out of life and his back was broken. Just lying in bed and breathing to make the pain bearable. All life seemed over and he accepted being a cripple for life. During this difficult and devotional time, he finally made the decision to become a Zen monk and to enter a monastery. Because it couldn't get any worse. It seemed an impossibility to ever physically cope with everyday Japanese monastic life. He couldn't walk for three months, but the decision was made. And so he literally had to learn everything step by step afterwards. Ready to sacrifice his whole life, the preparation began. Pain was now a lifelong master and teacher.

Training / Years of Wandering / Apprenticeship

If you really have to do it, do it. Niklaus Reding (father)

To prepare for the monastic life, he lived for a year with his mentor, Kaspar Reinhart, at the Karate Academy in Zurich and slept on the floor of the training hall. In Japan he was ordained as a Zen monk by Zen monk Noritake Kotoku. After formal training in the Empukuji Zen monastery near Kyoto, he wandered from temple to temple to find a suitable teacher. He earned his living in the traditional alms-giving on the streets of Japan and helped with ceremonies in the temples of his monk brothers and sisters. Following the instructions of his Dharma father, he visited the Zen monks & nuns in South Korea and studied with them. His time as a wandering monk came to an end when the exchange with zen master and korean patriarch Powha Sunim began. Whether in the Hermitage, in the temple, in the mountains or in the monastery, the battlefield of wisdom was omnipresent with the zen master. As a personal assistant and student, the Logos was examined around the clock and life at the teacher's side left no carelessness.

The curse and blessing of the village priest

...then do it yourself!

 

The Reding family was notorious for the village pastor. As a welcome guest he spent many evenings in their home and answered questions about God and the world. Brother Marcel later met this good person and pastor by chance on a street in Zurich. After listening patiently, the pastor ended the conversation annoyed with: "... then do it yourself!" When Brother Marcel held a ceremony for the villagers in the Zen monastery in Japan many years later, he realized that he had become exactly the kind of priest he never wanted to be. Remembering the words of the old priest, he began to understand the meaning of the monk's robes and the temples.

Mendicant Monk

The homeless (mendicant monk) and the homeowner are in harmony!

 

In return for the ten-year training as a Zen monk, Brother Marcel made a pilgrimage with traditional almsround through Japan. From Wakkanai in northern Hokkaido to Ishigaki-Jima in southern Okinawa (3000 kilometers) it took him eight months and he lived from hand to mouth. Heading south every day, without knowing whether there is enough food or where the next place to sleep is, he investigated life and death with the people of Japan. During the time as a mendicant monk, the monastery and the marketplace became one.

Back to the Roots

We have to destroy everything and use the individual parts to build something new! Son Urban (4)

The time away helped Brother Marcel to understand more about his origin and identity (Christianity). Although he did not know how long his training would take, he promised his father on departure that he would stand by him in old age. So he decided to settle in Switzerland and rediscover the culture together with his wife and children.

Rustic Zen

Church in one's mind and God in one's Self!

 

As a simple mendicant he found accommodation in an old, barren and cold attic. The first visitors and guests came unexpectedly and life and death were reexamined together in meditation. With the paternal strictness from Japan and the maternal kindness from Korea, the foundation stone was laid and the Zen Academy was founded in 2014 in the mutual trust of lay people and clergy. Free from East & West, the monks & nuns undertake to share their pursuit of inner emptiness for the benefit of all and reexamine the patriarchal Zen Lineage.

Vita Innocentis

Before enlightenment; chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment; chop wood, carry water.

Adam and Eve play in the Garden of Eden and so the Reding family grows. What can the simple abbot now do but chop wood and carry water? Brother Marcel lives secluded with his family in the small, rustic Honora Zen monastery. The monastery gates remain open for a handful of determined and fearless people to reexamine life and death together again and again.

Mountain Monk

The eye can not see itself.

In the monastery and in the market place (Vita Contemplativa & Vita Activa), brothers and sister, from where do you see all this coming and going? Fast fast! Give me an answer, because life and death are the important things, be careful, everything is fleeting and goes by quickly. Time is not waiting for anyone. God preserve you!

Zen Master Father Reding

Learning to die with the father!

Order: 臨済正宗 (Rinzaishoshu) Master from the true tradition of Zen. Title: 西瑞軒 (Saisuiken) The pure and auspicious house in the west. Monk's name: 磨山 (jap. Mazan) To polish an entire mountain. The mountain of Bodhidharma. 道庵 (kor. Doam) The eaves on the way, which gives some shade and protection.

臨済正宗  西瑞軒  磨山道庵