Herman Vetterling

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Carl Herman Vetterling (1849-1931), also known by the Tibetan pseudonym of Philangi Dasa,[1] was a Swedenborgian philosopher who converted to Buddhism in 1884 and took the Tibetan name. He was one of the first Americans to officially embrace the Buddhism.[1] He founded The Buddhist Ray in Santa Cruz, California in 1887, which was the first Buddhist journal in the United States.[2]

His most well-known work was Swedenborg the Buddhist, or The Higher Swedenborgianism: Its Secrets and Thibetan Origin, published in 1887. It is a fictional spiritual dialogue between Swedenborg, a Buddhist monk, a Brahmin, a Parsi, an Aztec Indian, an Icelander, an anonymous woman, and Vetterling himself. Six years later this work was translated into Japanese.[3]

Due to his eclectic combination of Swedenborgianism, Theosophy, Buddhism, homeopathy and Spiritualism, many scholars of his lifetime questioned his authenticity as a "real" Buddhist.[1]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b c Dodin, Thierry. Imagining Tibet : Perceptions, Projections, and Fantasies. Wisdom Publications, p. 171-172. ISBN 0861711912. 
  2. ^ Loy, David (1995). The Dharma of Emanuel Swedenborg: A Buddhist Perspective. The Swedenborg Association. Retrieved on 2007-03-31.
  3. ^ 53. From Yoshinaga Shin'ichi (Nov. 24, 1999). Retrieved on 2007-03-31.
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