Meet Zen Master, Niklaus Brantschen SJ

"When I started to practice Zen my life changed", as he stated on German TV this morning.

From the website of the Lasalle Institut which he founded with a woman called Pia Gyger.

"Lic. phil. and lic. theol., born 1937, resident in Zurich, Jesuit.

In 1995 Niklaus Brantschen and Pia Gyger founded the Institute for Creation of Spiritual Consciousness in Politics and the Economy (ISPW), which was renamed Lassalle-Institut in the year 2000.

From 1973 to 1987 he was a member of the leadership team at the education center Haus Bad Schönbrunn, and was Director of the center from 1977 to 1987.

From 1987 to 1993 he was a university chaplain in Zurich. During this time he completed his formal training as a Zen teacher in the Sambo-Kyodan tradition under the direction of Yamada Koun Roshi in Kamakura and was given the name Go-Un-Ken (Cloud of Enlightenment). In 1999 he became an authorized Zen Master in the White Plum Sangha and received the additional Dharma name Jinshu (Divine Source).

In 1993 he repositioned Haus Bad Schönbrunn as a Center for Spirituality and Social Consciousness and gave it the name Lassalle-Haus. He was Director of the Lassalle-Haus until autumn 2001.

He is an experienced seminar leader, a much sought-after speaker, and an author whose books include ”Du selbst bist die Welt” (”You are the World”) and ”Auf dem Weg des Zen. Als Christ Buddhist” (”On the Zen Path. A Christian Buddhist”)

The biography of Pia Gyger, who perhaps can be described as a Zen Mistress

"Born 1940, resident in Lucerne, is a special needs educator and psychologist (Dipl. IAP). She is a member of the Katharina-Werk (NOTE - An Ecumenical Community with an interreligious direction - otherwise known as a hotbed for every heresy under the sun). In 1995 Pia Gyger and Niklaus Brantschen founded the Institute for Creation of Spiritual Consciousness in Politics and the Economy (ISPW), which was renamed Lassalle-Institut in the year 2000.

From 1982 to 1994 she was General Director of the Katharina-Werk. In this capacity she carried out a spiritual and structural reorganization of the community and expanded its membership to include celibate men and married couples, which until then had been limited to celibate women.

In conjunction with her work she underwent Zen training from 1984 through 1988 under the direction of Yamada Koun Roshi in Kamakura. She completed her Zen training under Aitken Roshi in Hawaii and received the name ”One Ground” on the occasion of her authorization to teach. In 1999 she became an authorized Zen Master in the White Plum Sangha and received the additional Dharma name Jinji (Divine Compassion).

In 1986 she founded the ”Project for Dialogue between the World’s Religions”. In 1989 she established Sister Pia’s Greenhouse School in the slums of Ibayo, on the edge of metropolitan Manila. In 1992 she initiated LaboRio 21, a training program in spiritual-political consciousness for young people.

She is an experienced seminar leader, a much sought-after speaker, and an author whose books include ”Die Erde ruft” (”The Earth Calls”) and ”Maria, Tochter der Erde, Königin des Alls” (”Mary, Daughter of Earth and Queen of the Universe”)."



Condemned by their own curriculum vitaes. Here is the unhappy pair.