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
editDumoulin 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
editAccording 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.