Sylvia Wetzel

Germany

As a young woman at University she studied Russian and Politics. She taught German as a second language, and taught politics to school children.

Then Sylvia Wetzel began her studies in Tibetan Buddhism at Dharamsala, India. She returned to Germany and continued her academic studies in Indology and Comparative Religion. Her spiritual journey alighted. Sylvia Wetzel became: the Director of the Aryatara Institute in Bavaria, Germany, a board member of the German Buddhist Union and a member of the World Fellowship of Buddhists.

She became a Tibetan Buddhist novice nun (Samini) for two years, and began offering Dhamma talks, Dhamma classes, and translating Dhamma books from English into German. She began Zen sesshins and started publishing Buddhist articles in Spiritual Magazines.

Next, Sylvia Wetzel became the President of the German Buddhist Union and a founding member of the Lotusblaetter Buddhist Quarterly, a founding member of Sakyadita International Association of Buddhist Women and she began studying Theravada Buddhism, with Ayya Khema.

Working with other Dharma Teachers she founded the Network of Buddhist Teachers in Dharmasala, India and joined in 3 International Meetings of Buddhist Teachers in Dharmasala, India and in Spirit Rock, California, USA. She organized two Buddhist Teachers’ Meetings in the German-speaking countries of Germany, Switzerland and Austria.

In 1994 Sylvia Wetzel began a Women Dharma Teachers’ Peer Group. Then she organized two Conferences for Translators of Buddhism in German-speaking countries. Since then she has primarily taught meditation and initiated a network of Buddhist Centers in Berlin and Brandenburg.

She authored numerous books on Buddhism. In 2000, she initiated a Conference on Women in Buddhism in Koln, and initiated the Buddhist Academy in Berlin and serves as its President. She has networked local meditation groups and trained women teachers. And in 2001-2002, Sylvia Wetzel contributed to installing a Buddhist curriculum into the schools in Berlin, Germany.

Sylvia Wetzel broadens horizons for others by teaching self-introspection. Sylvia Wetzel is at the forefront of Buddhism in Europe and offers reflections upon gender issues and cultural conditioning.