Volker Zotz
| Volker Zotz | |
|---|---|
| Born |
October 28, 1956 Landau in der Pfalz |
| Occupation | writer, university professor |
| Citizenship | Austria |
| Education | Ph.D. |
| Alma mater | University of Vienna |
| Period | since 1978 (books) |
| Subject | Buddhism, Confucianism, philosophy, religious studies, lyric poetry, fiction, essay |
| Notable works |
Geschichte der buddhistischen Philosophie (1996) Konfuzius für den Westen (2007) |
| Spouse | Birgit Zotz |
| Website | |
| www |
|
Volker Helmut Manfred Zotz (born October 28, 1956) is an eminent Austrian philosopher, religious studies scholar, Buddhologist and a prolific author.
The Zotz family originated in Tyrol and spread to Germany. Volker Zotz was born in Landau in der Pfalz, Germany, where he attended elementary school and high school.
His interest in spirituality led him to an early study of Christianity as well as of Indian and Chinese religions. What impressed him most was Buddhist philosophy and meditation. When Zotz was sixteen he became a major disciple of Lama Anagarika Govinda, with whom he was close until his death in 1985. During his high school days, Zotz also met the author Oscar Kiss Maerth, whose ideas he did not completely agree with, but with whom he had an intense exchange of ideas.
After graduating from Max Slevogt High School in Landau in the 1970s, he published his first poems in two volumes and a novel. As a conscientious objector Zotz had to perform eighteen months of alternative civilian service in a nursing home. From 1978 he studied Buddhism under Ernst Steinkellner and philosophy under Kurt Rudolf Fischer at the University of Vienna. He repeatedly interrupted his studies in Vienna to conduct research and fieldwork in India, Nepal and Afghanistan and to receive spiritual training from Lama Anagarika Govinda.
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Wikipedia