Nyanaponika
| Nyanaponika Maha Thera | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Religion | Theravada |
| Personal | |
| Born | Siegmund Feniger July 21, 1901 Hanau, German Empire |
| Died | October 19, 1994 (aged 93) Forest Hermitage, Kandy, Sri Lanka |
| Senior posting | |
| Based in | Forest Hermitage |
| Title | Mahathera (Great Elder) |
| Predecessor | U Nārada |
| Successor | Bhikkhu Bodhi (at BPS) |
Nyanaponika Thera or Nyanaponika Mahathera (July 21, 1901 – 19 October 1994) was a German-born Sri-Lanka-ordained Theravada monk, co-founder of the Buddhist Publication Society[1], contemporary author of numerous seminal Theravada books, and teacher of contemporary Western Buddhist leaders such as Bhikkhu Bodhi.
Ven. Nyanaponika Thera (Siegmund Feniger) was born in Hanau, Germany on July 21, 1901 as Siegmund Feniger, the only child of a Jewish family.
In 1922, he moved with his parents to Berlin, where he met with other German Buddhists and also had access to Buddhist literature in German language. He first came across the writings of Ven. Nyanatiloka Thera (1878–1957), the former German violin virtuoso Anton Gueth, which had already been published in Germany. Young Siegmund had learned Ven. Nyanatiloka Thera had established a monastery for Western Monks on an island lagoon (opposite the Railway station) Polgasduwa, Dodanduwa named Island Hermitage. This news stirred his conscience to go to Asia and become a Buddhist Monk.
However this expectation did not concretecize for some time. In 1932, his father died and he did not wish to leave his widowed mother in the lurch. Then Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany.
In November 1935, he left Germany along with his mother to Vienna, where they had relatives. Having arranged his mother to stay in Vienna, in early 1936 he left Europe for Sri Lanka and joined Ven. Nyanatiloka Thera at the Island Hermitage, Polgasduwa, Dodanduwa.
After several months of studies in June 1936 he was ordained as a novice under the name Nyanaponika and in 1937 was conferred Higher Ordination (Upasampada), under the Tutelage of Nyanatiloka Thera.
In 1939, after the Nazis invaded Poland, Ven. Nyanaponika Thera arranged for his mother and other relatives to come over to Sri Lanka. Through the influence of her son and the generous hosts she embraced Buddha Dhamma and became a devoted Buddhist. She died in Colombo in 1956.
When the Second World War broke out in 1939, and the British Government had all German males resident in their colonies consigned for internment suspecting them to be German spies. The internment was first at Diyatalawa Army cantonment in Sri Lanka and later at Dehra Dun in northern India.
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Wikipedia