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See also: Book Review of “Hitler-Buddha-Krishna”
Hitler, Buddha, Krishna.
An
unholy alliance from the Third Reich to the present day
(Ueberreuter Verlag – Vienna – 2002 )
The Nazi "myth makers" were especially fascinated by the Far East. It was there - more so than
in the cultural roots of Europe - that they hoped to find the foundations of a "political
theology", which the gigantic regime which was the Third Reich could
use as its metaphysical basis. In the philosophies, mythologies, visions
and dogmas as well as in the religious practices and texts of the spiritual
traditions Asia had to offer they found the models for glorifying war, for the
deification of the "Führer" and the white race. They discovered
the spiritual remnants of a long-lost indo-Aryan and anti-Semitic primeval
religion which they now wanted to reconstruct in the sign of the swastika. Fascinating portraits of the
"Fathers of the Nazi Church".
Recent years have seen a marked rise in
public interest in National Socialism, with fresh research carried out and
new interpretations arrived at. Hitler’s private life and his relations
with women continue to occupy the media. Noteworthy too is the growing
attention being given to interpretations of Nazism as a “political
religion” and a “cult movement”. It is less widely known, however, that the
content and structure and foundation of a “Nazi Religion” were often
discussed within the SS in general and it’s Ahnenerbe [Forefathers Heritage Society] in particular. The SS,
headed by Heinrich Himmler, considered itself to be the “advance guard of
German research into religion. All the leading figures in this “religion
smithy” based their work on the assumption that a racially pure Aryan faith
had existed in prehistoric times and should therefore be rediscovered and
resurrected.
After sifting through archival material,
secondary literature and Nazi documents the authors have been able to
demonstrate that this restoration of an Aryan religion drew on ideas,
philosophies, mythologies, visions, dogmas and sacred practices pertaining to
traditional Oriental belief systems. A coterie of fascist cultural scholars
sprang up asserting that Buddhism, the Vedas,
the Puranas, the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, yoga and even Tantrism were intellectual
remnants of a vanished, global, indo-Aryan, anti-Semitic religion. There
were also borrowings from Tibetan culture and especially from Japanese Zen
and Samurai traditions. The archaic
cultural legacy of a despotic and warlike Orient provided Nazi ideologues
with their theories for:
the apotheosis of the ‘Führer’
a social caste system based on race
the enshrinement of war and warriors
mastery over ones feelings
the manipulation of consciousness
the political exploitation of symbols and rituals
the significance of archaic sacrificial rites
The book has two sections. The first
focuses on religious and political activity within the SS-Ahnenerbe. The aspects of Eastern
religions that were influencing Nazi thought were discussed and debated
from an esoteric as well as an academic stance since Heinrich Himmler, the
Society’s leader, encouraged both approaches to the subject. The authors
were surprised to uncover here discussions on:
Incarnation
Karma law
Buddhist meditation
Samurai ethics
Bhagavad Gita warrior mysticism
Hitler as sacred ruler of the world (Chakravartin)
Truly astonishing is the extent to which
Himmler’s world view ‘think tank’ applied itself so assiduously and
comprehensively and with such foresight to the subject. This section of the
book also studies the Nazi-Tibet-Connection.
The second section sets out the fateful
legacy left by the SS-Ahnenerbe
and offers an insight into post-war religious neo-Fascism. We are
confronted here with an occult subculture wielding substantial power, a
school of thought in which myths, religious paradigms, dogmas, conspiracy
theories, esoteric doctrines, superstition, visions, illusions and the
stuff of fables and science fiction all merged so seamlessly with Nazi
ideologies and Nazi history that they could no longer be distinguished one
from the other. The Indo-Tibetan element, however, is sufficiently
prominent to justify talk of “Indian teachings with National Socialist
content”. Hitler appears here as an avatar, the incarnation of the Indian
god Krishna, the Bodhisattva, the Chakravartin (sacred ruler of the
world). The second section also considers the interest shown by fascists in
the Tibetan Kalachakra Tantra ritual.
Who are the key exponents of
theories featured in the book?
“Hitler,
Buddha, Krishna” sets out the biographies and ideas of important
Nazi ideologists, highlighting the Asian and in particular the Buddhist
influence on their thought and vision. Pre-1945 personalities covered are:
Heinrich
Himmler, SS Reich Commander, architect of mass
murder and admirer of Asian philosophy. A quotation from Himmler: “I marvel
at the wisdom of the founders of Indian religions.” Himmler was a follower
of the Buddhist doctrine of Karma and incarnation.
Walther
Wüst, SS colonel, curator
of SS-Ahnenerbe, vice chancellor
of Munich University, Orientalist. Wüst has to be viewed as
the driving force behind the SS-Ahnenerbe’s
endeavours to forge a religion. He operated on the assumption that the Nazi
religion under construction should be rooted in the Vedic and Buddhist
writings of India.
Founder of the “German Faith Movement” and
later SS captain Jakob Wilhelm Hauer.
Scholar of Indian culture and Sanskrit expert, he drew on Bhagavad Gita and Buddhist texts in
an attempt to elaborate the typology of an invincible war machine.
SS brigadier Karl Maria Wiligut (“Himmler’s Rasputin”), occultist in the SS-Ahnenerbe. He claimed to be in
spiritual contact with Tibetan Lamaist monasteries.
SS Tibetan researchers Ernst Schäfer and Bruno Beger saw Lamaism as a
treasury in which the core Aryan knowledge was stored. The book also looks
at the relationship of Sven Hedin
to the Nazi regime and Hitler.
Japan
expert, geopolitician and Deutsche
Akademie President Karl
Haushofer. He emphasised the
appropriateness of Shinto state fascism as a model for National Socialism.
The German teachers of Zen Buddhism, Eugen Herrigel and Karlfried Dürckheim, propounded a
link between National Socialism and Zen philosophy.
The fascist philosopher Julius Evola, whose ideas were much
more influential on the SS than first thought and whose traditionalist
system of theories is based largely on Buddhist and Tantric doctrines.
The SS mystic Otto Rahn and the neo-Buddhist circles he frequented in France. Their influence led Rahn to claim that
the “Grail of the Cathars” was a “symbol
of the soul adopted [!] straight from Buddhism”.
The French specialist on the Orient, Jean Marquès-Rivière, head of the
French secret police (S.S.S.) and SS collaborator. One of the leading
western scholars on Tibetan Kalachakra Tantra.
The first part of the book also deals with
the anti-Buddhist movement in the Third Reich. The chapter entitled
“Collaborators, condoners or victims?” considers the role of Buddhists in
the Nazi period.
The protagonists of religious neo-Nazism
are studied too, with particular attention
being paid to the effect on their thinking
of Indo-Tibetan ideas and philosophy.
“Hitler’s High Priestess”, Savitri Devi. Was instrumental in
the consecration of Hitler after the war and the establishment of National Socialism
as a quasi Indian sect.
The inventors of the “Nazi mysteries”,
French occultists Jacques Bergier and
Louis Pauwels, and the
Englishman Trevor Ravenscroft.
All three authors saw National Socialism inextricably linked to the
Indo-Tibetan Shambhala myth.
The “Black Sun” ideologues, Viennese
authors Wilhelm Landig and Rudolf J. Mund, and Jan van Helsing. These writers work
from the premise that Tibetan / Mongolian Lamaism and the esoteric
teachings of National Socialism both have their source in Atlantis.
Miguel
Serrano, Chilean diplomat and
founder of “esoteric Hitlerism”. Serrano is an expert in Tantric doctrines.
The cornerstones of his system of racist theories are Indo-Tibetan in
origin.
Why the title of the book:
“Hitler,
Buddha, Krishna” ?
Even before the
outbreak of war attempts were made by a number of the above-mentioned Nazi
ideologues to identify Hitler as the latest link in an Indo-Aryan chain of
divine kings and philosophers. Indian religion founders such as the
“Buddha” and Indian hero divinities like “Krishna” were
proclaimed pioneers and heralds of the dictator. This apotheosis reached
its climax in the work of the Chilean diplomat Miguel Serrano, who revered
Hitler as the 10th avatar of the god Krishna/Vishnu. For Serrano
the German dictator is immortal and will reappear as “avenger” to bestow
global supremacy on the Aryan race in an apocalyptic war to end all wars.
What did
Nazi ideologues
look for
in India,
and what
did they find ?
In their eyes
the classical culture of India was a reserve
in which knowledge of an Aryan stem civilisation was supposed to have
survived.
Indian writings
furnished them with the religious bases for a cruel warrior religion and an
inhuman ethic for the conduct of war.
They saw the
Indian caste system as providing a social orientation model that fitted
their racialist ideology.
They linked the
Indian idea of the “global ruler” to their own “Führer principle” and
applied it to Hitler.
From the Tantric
systems of India and Tibet they developed their
own fascist sexual theory.
What was
the Nazi ideologues’
particular
interest in the Bhagavad Gita ?
Heinrich Himmler
is said to have always carried a copy of the Bhagavad Gita on his person. He compared Hitler with the god Krishna who features in
the poetical work.
The Bhagavad Gita was read like a
catechism for the SS. Consequently many of the above-mentioned Nazi
ideologues referred continually to this Indian war manual.
The Bhagavad Gita’s
philosophy is used by rightwing extremists after the war to legitimise Auschwitz.
What was the Nazi
ideologues’
particular interest in
Buddhism ?
In their eyes Buddha was an “Aryan” and
Buddhism an “Aryan doctrine”.
They emphasised the warlike and virile
elements of Buddhism.
Nazi ideologues hold Buddhism to be a
doctrine pertaining solely to power.
Buddhist meditation and yoga techniques
are recommended for the spiritual discipline of the “warrior”.
What did
Nazi ideologues
look for in Tibet
and what did they find ?
The Nazi ideologues were convinced that
remnants of an original Aryan race had survived in Tibet. They organised an expedition to locate
these vestiges.
They believed the ancient Aryan knowledge
to be preserved in Lamaist texts and in Tibetan monasteries. It was
intended that SS-Ahnenerbe Tibetologists
decipher this knowledge using translation and text analysis.
The Tibet researchers of the SS were in thrall to
the magic, occult nature of the Lamaist culture. The occultist within the Ahnenerbe even believed themselves
to be in spiritual contact with Tibetan lamas.
The two leaders of the SS Tibet
expedition, Ernst Schäfer and Bruno Beger, were both especially drawn to
the morbid, warlike elements of Tibetan Buddhism.
The Himalayas were a key objective for Nazi mountaineers.
What did
Nazi ideologues
look for
in Japan
and what
did they find ?
Japanese Samurai war philosophy (Bushido)
fascinated the SS. Himmler wrote the foreword for a brochure on Samurais,
52,000 copies of which were distributed throughout the SS.
A variety of themes connected to the
Samurai tradition were discussed within the SS.
German Japanologists and Japanese scholars
of German culture made “theological” comparisons between the National
Socialist “Führer principle” and the Shinto belief of “imperial divinity”.
The German protagonists of Zen Buddhism,
Eugen Herrigel and Karlfried Dürckheim, tried to bind together Zen
philosophy and National Socialism.
What do the Kalachakra
Tantra and the Shambhala
have to do with National
Socialism ?
SS-Ahnenerbe
researchers were especially interested in the Kalachakra Tantra.
The Shambala vision recorded in the Kalachakra Tantra has become a
central pillar in the mythology of religious neo-Nazism.
Many of the themes raised in the Kalachakra Tantra (a cyclical view
of the world, global domination, the use of super weapons, magic and ritual
in sexual practices etc) are key themes in religious fascism.
The Kalachakra
Tantra challenges the monotheistic religions, all three of which are
Semitic in origin. For this reason it was harnessed by extreme rightwing,
anti-Semitic circles for their racist propaganda.
Contact between the XIVth Dalai Lama, as
the supreme Kalachakra master, and representatives of religious fanaticism
and former SS men.
Which
philosophical themes are treated in the book ?
National Socialism as “political religion”
The attempt to consecrate the “Führer”,
the “race” and the “war”
The creation of a National Socialist
“divine warrior” and the mythologizing of the SS
The sacrifices represented by the Second
World War and Auschwitz as foundation stones for a Nazi religion
The phantasm of religious neo-Fascism
A comparison of Asian religions with the
Nazi world view
Why is the book topical ?
Religious neo-Nazism, as an extension and
development of the Indo-Aryan religious construct forged by the SS-Ahnenerbe, is spreading to other
countries at an alarming rate.
The “importing” of Eastern religion systems
is increasing rapidly without prior investigation being carried out into
their inhuman content, atavistic practices, political power aspirations and
warlike history.
Religious fundamentalism and fascist
totalitarianism have many things in common and tend to join forces. Acutely
topical concepts such as “divine warrior”, “theocracy” and “war of
religions” are also present in the neo-Nazi model. The sources of
inspiration for these concepts stem less from the “Semitic” religions
(Judaism, Christianity, Islam) than from Asian faiths.
Who is this book aimed at ?
Anyone who has even a peripheral interest
in the “Hitler issue” and the history of the “Third Reich” is presented
here with a new interpretation of National Socialism based on material
hitherto overlooked or otherwise ignored.
Furthermore, the book targets all those
readers who feel in any way connected to the issues of religion, conflict
between cultures, fundamentalism, religious terror, “divine warriors” and
Eastern spirituality (Lamaism, Buddhism, Tantrism, Zen etc), cultural
philosophy, politics, psychology, esoterics, ideological criticism and
cultural studies in general.
See also:
Book Review of “Hitler-Buddha-Krishna”
Fascist Occultism
and it’s Close Relationship to Buddhist Tantrism
Asia as a topos of Fear and Desire
for Nazis and extreme rightists in the case of Asian Studies in Sweden: http://orient4.orient.su.se/personal/tobias.hubinette/asianists.pdf
Press reviews of "Hitler, Buddha, Krishna"
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 19th May 2003 (Germany)
The combination of Buddhist,
Hindu and neo-Nazi mysticism on the one hand and right-wingers’ blatant
propensity to violence on the other presents a real danger to the free
world, in the opinion of the authors. They see their treatise as
contributing to an open and detailed discussion of the content of imported
Asian religions. The objective of the Trimondis’ work is as simple as it is
all-encompassing: it aims to assist in the salvation of the value system of
Western civilisation.
Der Standard, 31st August
2002 (Austria)
A new book of provocative theses is confronting head-on the success
enjoyed by Eastern religions in the West: in their book Hitler, Buddha, Krishna Victor
and Victoria Trimondi describe what they perceive as an unholy alliance
stretching from the Third Reich to the present day.” – “The Dalai Lama:
many people await his appearances in eager anticipation, yet in the opinion
of Victor and Victoria Trimondi his message of peace is founded on
problematic rituals.
Der Standard, 5th
September 2002 (Austria)
In the occult circles of the extreme right top-level National
Socialists have long been conferring their own interpretations on the
religions of the Far East: Satanist sects and Nazi heavy metal bands think
nothing of reducing the tenets of these religions to war and ‘final
struggle’. Hitler, Buddha, Krishna provides
the material for this thesis – and ample food for discussion.
Rheinischer
Merkur, 5th September 2002 (Germany)
Spirituality and struggle - in their latest book Victor and Victoria
Trimondi have assembled a mass of facts affording new insights into the
intellectual fundaments of Eastern religions. The material extends from the
Kshatriya philosophy and its direct association of war and spirituality to
the Kalachakra Tantra and the idea of a worldwide ‘warrior religion’.
Bild, 19th
September 2002 (Germany)
They were obsessed with the idea of a
party, a people, an empire, a Führer
and – a church! This is the revelation of a new book [Hitler, Buddha, Krishna]. Adolf
Hitler and his SS chief Heinrich Himmler borrowed from many a different
creed in assembling the building blocks for a ‘Nazi religion’. Designed as
a collage faith, mild-mannered Buddhism, of all religions, was to be the
cornerstone of a belief system gathering and swelling into an Indo-Aryan
mania based on race and violence.
Aargauer Zeitung, 25th
September 2002 (Germany)
Is the portrait of Eastern holy men hanging crooked? Dark clouds are
gathering in the firmament above the religions of the East. [Victor and
Victoria Trimondi] warn that Eastern doctrines could be instrumentalised
for religious fanaticism.
Die Presse, 5th October
2002 (Austria)
Hitler, Buddha, Krishna is a detailed analysis of the influence exerted on National
Socialism by Eastern religions. An exciting read, perhaps also since the
signs are that the authors’ attitude to their subject is far from distanced
and emotionless.
Süddeutsche Zeitung,
14th October 2002 (Germany)
Hitler, Buddha, Krishna “reads like an appeal to an entire generation to foreswear its
allegiance to the East rooted in its rejection of the affronts of modern
Western society. The one-time publisher of Mao’s ‘little red book’ has
returned, via Tibet, to the informative literature of the Judeo-Christian tradition. This
is the wake-up call to those who regard Buddhism as a self-service counter
offering ‘post-modern hedonism’ (Slavo Zizek).
Universum Magazin, October 2002 (Austria)
In writing their exhaustively researched book Victor und Victoria
Trimondi have triggered a debate over the “unholy alliance” between Western
fascism and Eastern warrior religions. Serving as background to this is the
fact that, although the National Socialists were able to justify violence,
murder and war as a ‘struggle in the name of God and Faith’, there is a
long-standing history of misusing faith as a driving force behind radical
ideology.
Factum Magazin,
September 2002 (Switzerland)
Was Hitler’s world view modelled on Buddhism? A comprehensively
researched book reveals that Hitler’s followers, inspired by ancient texts
of the Far East, built him up to be the Chakravartin, the worldly and other-worldly
global ruler within the context of a Nazi religion. […] The bibliography on
which the authors base their work is remarkable and is liable to make any
refutation of its claims a difficult task. […] This book has succeeded in
removing the mask of peace from the religions and rituals of the Far East.
Sandammeer - Die virtuelle
Literaturzeitschrift, October 2002
(Austria)
With their book the Trimondis hereby declare the culture debate
open. We can look forward to a new chapter in the war of cultures as the
begetter of all things. All those who shirk conflict should maintain their
composure and consider that positive cultural developments have always been
the result first and foremost of a clash between competing cultures, where
the relativity of ones own set of beliefs was revealed and showed the way
forward.
Nürnberger Zeitung,
8th November 2002 (Germany)
Victor and Victoria Trimondi provide convincing evidence that the ‘Ahnenerbe’ was the ‘think tank’ of
the SS, an ideas factory not only for esoterics like Wiligut but also for
world class academics, most of them ideologues. […] The SS favoured
Buddhism. This will be unfathomable to the fashionable Buddhists of today
since they regard Buddhism as an international peace movement and the Dalai
Lama as its figurehead. In actual fact Buddhism, seen through the eyes of
the SS, is the perfect candidate.
Evangelische
Informationsstelle Kirchen-Sekten-Religionen, November 2002 (Switzerland)
The questions raised by the Trimondis are topical questions relevant
to our time and as such demand answers. Reappraisal, both individual and
collective, of the Nazi past is necessary and, all things considered, the
Trimondis’ book is calculated to do all aficionados of Eastern mysticism a
bitter but necessary service. All those who carefully peruse the Trimondis’
work will still be able to love the East, but wholehearted enthusiasm for
the East is no longer possible.
Rheinische Post, 27th January
2003 (Germany)
The cross-referencing to the attacks of
September 11th is interesting since the debate over Western
fascism and Eastern warrior religions is echoed in the aggressive warrior
myths and teachings, the very sources of inspiration for religious
fundamentalism.
Weltwoche, 7th March
2003 (Switzerland)
More than this the Trimondis’ achievement is to have brought the
Tibetans back down to the level of all peoples: Tibetans too – a historical
fact – have waged war, murdered, slaughtered each other in internal
struggles, even if the Western media have often portrayed it differently.
Depending on how the political wind is blowing Buddhism, like any other
religion, will be seen either as a pacifist path of enlightenment or as a
militant liberation theology. Even if, in the transfiguring fog of cultural
distance, we choose to see things differently, Buddhism is a religion like
any other.
Connection, March
2003 (Germany)
The authors introduce the
reader, step by step, to the mania of National Socialist domination that
enlisted the services of top India
experts and scholars of Asian religions as a way of bolstering its claim to
leadership. In justifying their policy of destruction and conquest the
Nazis cited directly from the Bhagavad Gita.
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