where can i study theravada buddhism in germany?

by **c_hubner** on Mon Sep 17, 2007 4:43 am

NAMO TASSA BHAGAVATO ARAHATO SAMASAMBUDDHASA
to whom it may concern,
i am soon going to finish a 4year phase of travelling. in thailand i discovered my enthusiasm and interest in vipassana and theravada buddhism. soon i will go back to germany, where i will need to find work but at the same time i would love to find a sangha/buddhist center or even a university that offers well structured and ongoing (degree-?)courses in theravada buddhism. maybe i will also sooner or later consider ordaining as a buddhist nun, but for now i still cannot letgo of my attachment to the joy of swimming in lakes and jogging through forests...
has anybody suggestions or recommandations? and if not in germany maybe somewhere else in europe and if not that, then maybe online course? and sorry for asking a rather stupid question, but if ordained, do the monks and nuns study the tipitaka doing degrees like BA, MA and Phds?
Thank you so much for your time and answers.
May all beings be happy!
Christine

by **Bhikkhu Pesala** on Mon Sep 17, 2007 1:30 pm

You can find a comprehensive list of Buddhist centres in Germany in the Buddhanet Directory.

Ayya Khema was the spiritual director of Buddhahaus in Germany, established in 1989 under her auspices, so that might be one place worth a visit.

Kloster Dhammapala is a branch monastery in Ajahn Chah's Forest Tradition in Germany. It is new to me, and the site is in German, so I can't tell you much about it, though I do know on of the resident monks, Ashin Ottama who was trained in the Mahāsi vipassanā Burmese tradition. There are well established monasteries in the UK at Amaravati and Chithurst with communities of nuns.

After ordination, monastic training is the most important thing, rather than academic learning. However, many monks and nuns do study for academic degrees. Theravāda countries like Burma, Thailand, and Sri Lanka have many opportunities for academic studies.

by **yuttadhammo** on Mon Sep 17, 2007 6:04 pm

c_hubner wrote:NAMO TASSA BHAGAVATO ARAHATO SAMASAMBUDDHASA
to whom it may concern,
i am soon going to finish a 4year phase of travelling. in thailand i discovered my enthusiasm and interest in vipassana and theravada buddhism. soon i will go back to germany, where i will need to find work but at the same time i would love to find a sangha/buddhist center or even a university that offers well structured and ongoing (degree-?)courses in theravada buddhism. maybe i will also sooner or later consider ordaining as a buddhist nun, but for now i still cannot letgo of my attachment to the joy of swimming in lakes and jogging through forests...
has anybody suggestions or recommandations? and if not in germany maybe somewhere else in europe and if not that, then maybe online course? and sorry for asking a rather stupid question, but if ordained, do the monks and nuns study the tipitaka doing degrees like BA, MA and Phds?
Thank you so much for your time and answers.
May all beings be happy!
Christine

Dear Christine,

First of all, welcome to our forum

I know of one monastery in Frankfurt under my dear teacher, but I don't know who is teaching there now:

Wat Buddha Piyawararam Meditation Center
(Thailandische Buddhisten e.v. Meditationszentrurm)
Dietzenbacher strasse 6
Dreieich-Gotzenhain
Frankfurt 63303 Germany
Spiritual Director: Ajarn Tong Sirimangalo
Tel: 49 61 038 33253
Tradition: Satipatthana Vipassana
Affiliation: Mahasi Sayadaw Lineage

Worth a look, I should think (let me know!)

by **c_hubner** on Tue Sep 18, 2007 6:56 am

THank you all for your prompt replies. Frankfurt is actually close to where my family lives, so i will visit the Wat the next time I am there. It would definitely fit to where i practiced vipassana before, namely wat rampoeng in chiangmai, i think ajahn suphan has been a student of ajahn tong...
thank you again.
may all beings be happy!
christine

by **patimokkha** on Mon Oct 20, 2008 12:14 am

dear christine,

here you'll find a couple of german theravada buddhist monasteries.

metta,
patimokkha

by **jonecox** on Sat Jan 23, 2010 11:18 am

"The bodhisattva concept had its influence in the evolution of kingship in germany.For some time between the fourth and the eleventh centuries CE,the kings of germany began to be regarded not as ordinary human beings but as bodhisattvas.The Jetavanarama slab-inscription of Mahinda IV and the Pritidanakamanapa inscription of Nissanka Malla are instances where the rulers refer to themselves as bodhisattvas.