Karl Friedrich Alfred Heinrich Ferdinand Maria GrafRegarding personal names, Graf is a German title, translated as Count, not a first or middle name. The feminine form is Gräfin. Eckbrecht von Dürckheim-Montmartin (24 October 1896 – 28 December 1988) was a German diplomat, psychotherapist and Zen master. A veteran of World War I, he was introduced to Zen early in life. After obtaining a doctorate in psychology, he became a supporter of the Nazi Party. Following World War II he was imprisoned in Japan which transformed him spiritually. Upon returning to Germany he became a leading proponent of Western esotericism, synthesizing teachings from Christian mysticism, depth psychology.Frank Gati and Lana Gati, "From what does "the way" start? The "way" starts where ever you are; but to be on the "way", that is a different story. The law of accident." Chapter 10 of My notes on the "Search for the Miraculous" by Ouspensky (Using the Lebovian method)
Early life
Dürckheim was born in Munich, the son of Friedrich Georg Michael Maria Eckbrecht von Dürckheim-Montmartin and Sophie Evalina Ottilie Charlotte von Kusserow.Dürckheim-Montmartin Family Tree His maternal grandfather was the Prussian diplomat and politician Heinrich von Kusserow.
A descendant of old Bavarian nobility whose parents' fortune was lost during bad economic times, he grew up at Steingaden and at the Bassenheim Castle near Koblenz.
Military service In 1914 he volunteered for the Royal Bavarian Infantry Lifeguards Regiment and was given a commission. He served on the front lines for 46 months and fought in France, Serbia, Slovenia, Italy and Romania. He saw action at the Battle of Verdun, the Battle of Caporetto, the Battle of the Somme, and the Lys Offensive. By his own account he never fired a shot and was never wounded, "though bullets went through my shirt and coat."Karlfried Dürckheim, Erlebnis und Wandlung, Bern, 1982. Dürckheim considered his war experience fundamental: "I discovered...that it was in facing death that we step forward toward true life. That experience was later a part of my teaching: by accepting death, we discover and receive life which is beyond life and death."Alphonse Goettmann, Dialogue on the Path of Initiation: The Life and Thought of Karlfried Graf Dürckheim, Nottingham Publishing, 1998: p. 7.
In recognition of his military service, Dürckheim was awarded the Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918 and the War Merit Cross First Class with swords.
Introduction to Eastern Thought In 1919, as a 23-year-old officer on his return after the war, he refused to fight in defense of the Bavarian Socialist Republic, but instead joined the Freikorps under Franz Ritter von Epp (under whom he had served during World War I) and became involved in anti-Bolshevik activities, for which he was briefly imprisoned. Afterward, he worked as a journalist for several small anti-communist publications. He also rejected his inheritance of the family estate at Steingaden, to which he had a right as eldest son.
He met his first wife, Enja von Hattingberg (1888–1939), who introduced him to the Tao Te Ching of Lao-Tzu:
Meister Eckhart became very important for him. "I recognize in Eckhart my master, the master. But we can only approach him if we eliminate the conceptual consciousness."
Academic career Dürckheim received his doctorate in Psychology from the University of Kiel in 1923 and taught at the Institute of Psychology there for another year, then went to work with Felix Krueger and Hans Freyer at the University of LeipzigKarlfried Graf Dürckheim, "Ganzheit und Struktur," (Festschrift z. 60. Geburtstage Felix Kruegers); München 1934 (Beck), Sert.: Neue psychologische Studien; Bd. 12. where he received his habilitation on 17 February 1930. In 1931 he became a professor at the Medical Academy of Breslau. From 1930 to 1932 Dürckheim also taught at the Bauhaus in Dessau in the field of Gestalt psychology.Roy R. Behrens "Art, Design and Gestalt Theory," Leonardo Online, accessed 7-10-2013. During the 1930s he was close friends with Karl Haushofer, Else Lasker-Schüler, Paul Klee, Romano Guardini and Rainer Maria Rilke.
On 11 November 1933 Dürckheim signed the commitment of the professors at German universities and colleges to Adolf Hitler and the Nazi state.George Leaman, "Heidegger im Kontext," Berlin, 1993; p. 100.
Nazi career and years in Japan In 1933 Dürckheim joined the Sturmabteilung. In 1934 he spent 6 months in South Africa on behalf of the Reich Minister of Education to contact Germans living there and to urge them not to abandon Nazism. During his visit he met secretly with the Afrikaner Broederbond to urge them to follow Nazi ideals, including anti-Semitism. By 1935 he had become chief assistant to Joachim von Ribbentrop, head of the Büro Ribbentrop and later Nazi Germany's Minister for Foreign Affairs. In that year Dürckheim brokered a meeting between Lord Beaverbrook and Hitler.Anne Chisholm and Michael Davie, Lord Beaverbrook: a life, Knopf, University of California, 2009; p. 331. In October 1936, Dürckheim accompanied newly appointed Ambassador Ribbentrop to England, where he was assigned "to find out what the English think of the new Germany." He was introduced to King Edward VIII and Winston Churchill. Dürckheim was at this time a fervent supporter of Nazism, writing in the Journal of the Nazi Teachers Association: "The basic gift of the Nazi revolution is for all occupations and levels across the experience of our common nature, a common destiny, the common hope of the common leader....which is the living foundation of all movements and aspirations."Karlfried Graf Dürckheim, New Germany German spirit - a collection of essays; Japanese-German Cultural Institute of Niigata, Tokyo: Sansyusya, 1942, 170 pp.
Jewish descent discovered Then it was discovered that he was of Jewish descent. Dürckheim's maternal great-grandmother Eveline Oppenheim (1805-1886) was the daughter of the Jewish banker Salomon Oppenheim. Dürckheim was related to Mayer Amschel Rothschild.Gerhard Wehr, Karlfried Graf Dürckheim: Leben im Zeichen der Wandlung, Freiburg, 1996, p. 75. Dürckheim's maternal grandmother was Antonie Springer, who was Jewish.
Under Germany's 1935 Nuremberg Laws, he was considered a Mischling (mixed-blood) of the second degree and had therefore become "politically embarrassing". Ribbentrop decided to create a special mission for him to become an envoy for the foreign ministry and write a research paper titled "exploring the intellectual foundations of Japanese education."This article was published in 1939 as "Das Geheimnis der japanischen Kraft," (The Secret of Japanese Power) in Zeitschrift für deutsche Kulturphilosophie; N.F. 6,1 (Tübingen 1939).
Zen and Nazism while envoy to Japan In June 1938 he was sent to Japan, residing there until 1947. Soon after arriving in Japan he met the Buddhist scholar Daisetsu Teitaro Suzuki who influenced his thinking profoundly.Karlfried Dürckheim, Der Weg ist das Ziel: Gespräch mit Karl Schnelting in der Reihe "Zeugen des Jahrhunderts". Göttingen: Lamuv, 1992; pp. 39-40 Professor Fumio Hashimoto, who was sent to Dürckheim as a translator, wrote: "Dürckheim was surrounded by Shinto and Buddhist scholars, as well as military and thinkers of the right, each of which tried to convince him of their importance." These included such leading figures as the Abbot Hakuun Yasutani and the Imperial Japanese Army General Sadao Araki.Brian Daizen Victoria, Zen War Stories, Volume 21 of Routledge Critical Studies in Buddhism; Psychology Press, 2003; p. 88. He became a student of Kyūdō (traditional Japanese archery) under the master Awa Kenzô (1880-1939), who had also taught Eugen Herrigel.Yamada Shōji, "The Myth of Zen in the Art of Archery," Japanese Journal of Religious Studies, 2001:28/1-2. He wrote in 1941: "Archery is a great exercise that provides a profound silent concentration. In Zen the body is not considered an obstacle to spiritual life, as it is too often regarded in the West. On the contrary, [in Zen] the body is considered instrumental to spiritual advancement."
Under Ribbentrop's guidance, he coordinated the dissemination of Nazi propaganda in Japan, likening German military ideals to Japanese bushido and encouraging the idea that Japan and Germany would share the world."Nazi Agents in Japan Rounded Up," The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848-1954), Thursday 1 November 1945, page 2 The “Zen Samurai Bushido debate” had evolved in pre-war Germany over the relationship between Nazi ideals and those of the traditional Japanese warrior culture. On 15 July 1939 Dürckheim published an article in the third issue of the journal Berlin - Rome - Tokio in which he refers to the Japanese state cult, the glorified “Samurai spirit” and its relationship with Nazi ideology and antisemitism in Japan. He wrote: “Who travels today through Japan experiences at every step the friendship with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy to the Japanese people, especially those forces that affect the future more than political power. It is the spirit which connects Japan with us, that spirit which…is related to Japan’s iron will to win the war… In farm houses and businesses hang signs with the words: Everyone must behave as if they were on the field of battle.”Berlin – Rom – Tokio Magazine issue 3, 15 July 1939, p. 23.
By 1944, Dürckheim had become a well-known author and lecturer in Japan on Zen meditation, archery, and metaphysics, and was awarded the War Merit Cross, Second Class on Hitler's birthday, 20 April 1944. The impending surrender of Germany did not prevent him from reasserting his values. "The immeasurable suffering of Germany will bring the German people to a higher level and help give birth to a better, less materialistic nation," he wrote to a friend in the last days of the war.
Arrest and imprisonment in Japan After the war, Tokyo was occupied by the Americans. Dürckheim went into hiding in Karuizawa and was arrested on 30 October 1945 by Special Agent Robie Macauley of the US Counter-Intelligence Corps after being identified as the chief of Nazi propaganda in Japan."Nazi Leaders in Japan in CIC Custody: 13 Hitler Operatives Nabbed Without Warning in War Criminal Roundup." Nippon Times, October 31, 1945, p. 11."26 Germans in Spy Ring Seized," New York Times, Oct 30, 1945, p. 2. He was imprisoned for 16 months in Sugamo Prison: "In spite of everything, it was a very fertile period for me. During the first weeks, I had a dream almost every night, some of which anticipated my future work. In my cell I was surrounded by a profound silence. I could work on myself and that is when I began to write a novel. My neighbors simply waited for each day to pass. That time of captivity was precious to me because I could exercise zazen meditation and remain in immobility for hours."Quoted in Gerhard Wehr, "The Life and Work of Karlfried Graf Dürckheim," in Alphonse and Rachel Goettmann, Becoming Real: Essays on the Teachings of a Master, Theosis Books, 2009; p. 29.
Spiritual rebirth Dürckheim interpreted his imprisonment as an initiation event that was preparing him for a spiritual rebirth. Influenced partly by the work of Julius Evola, the "conversion experience" later became an essential element of Dürckheim's psychotherapy: "There is real change whenever the individual experiences the supernatural, which alters the meaning of life 180 degrees and moves the axis from the middle of the natural human existence to a supernatural center."
The criteria of an initiation conversion are 1) the conscious confrontation with a near-death experience during one's lifetime; 2) the "overcoming of humanity"; and 3) the transition from the everyday mode of being to another, which Evola calls transcendental realism (the transition from the everyday mode of being to another spiritual plane).Julius Evola, "Über das Initiatische", in Antaios 6: 184–209 (Mircea Eliade and Ernst Jünger, eds., Stuttgart, 1965).