Meditation and Christian Mysticism – Nigredo Monastery – Zen Master – Zen Retreat – Switzerland – Men`s Forge
From Heart to Heart - The Men`s Forge
Grüezi and welcome to the Christian monastery "Nigredo - Garden of Gethsemane" in Switzerland - The Men's Forge
This is a men's forge where boys are shaped into men. A place where raw energy, doubt, and vulnerability are tempered by fire and discipline until true strength and wisdom emerge. Here, wounded men find a hospital - a place of healing for body, mind, and soul - and veterans of life and death receive their place of honor, as witnesses and teachers of the trials that life presents.
At the same time, the Nigredo Monastery is a command center for fighting men and fathers. We prepare for the battles of life, the struggles for responsibility, honor, and integrity. We deliberately choose the language of the battlefield, for every man is called upon again and again in his life to face these trials - good versus evil.
In this martial community, men learn not only to endure, but also to lead, heal, and pass on. Every step in the men's forge is a step on the way back to oneself, to the mother tongue of the soul and to God.
Here you will find a place of deep peace, inner contemplation, and Christian mysticism. Nigredo - the blackness - describes the experience of the dark night of the soul: the confrontation with shadows and the unconscious, which, if we face it courageously, leads to the true self. Just as Christ struggled in the Garden of Gethsemane in mortal anguish and despair, yet surrendered himself completely to the will of the Father, so too do we walk the path through the darkness into the light. It is a path of courage, devotion, and personal responsibility. Those who think correctly are guided safely to God by reason. And those who have found God find prayer second nature.
Our family tradition is to find the "Church in one's own mind and God in one's own self." A traditional teaching of self-cultivation, almost forgotten by many in the East (Zen) and almost lost in the West (Mysticism).
It connects with the mysticism of Brother Klaus, whose inner contemplation teaches us to rest completely at the center of God. Mysticism is not about proofs of God or mental constructs, but about the living experience of God in one's own heart. And for us (in the West), religious experience takes the language of Christianity. This ancient family tradition is revived at the Nigredo Monastery: in silence, in prayer, in meditation, and in the courage to encounter God in one's innermost being.
Dear Son, Dear Daughter;
Many are called a few are chosen! It is not the path of convenience but the path of Sacrifice, Courage and Loyalty. The Father doesn't want words, but actions and evidence. It's about strength of character and not personality. Zen eliminates confusion and is not a way to teach. It's about the breakthrough from the I to the SELF!
The Phoenix must die, so it can rise again!
Monastic-Mystical Striving
In the Middle Ages, the personal mystical experience of God was primarily found in monasteries. Monasteries were thus the backbone of religion and the foundation of a healthy society. The highest goal of monastic-mystical striving remained this experience of God, of mystical union with God, in a broader sense, the search for an "awareness of the immediate presence of God" or the experience of absolute reality.
Between sounds and silence: Typically, the monastic community has respected the eloquence of silence. More than most, the contemplative tradition has insisted that wisdom comes only when people are brought to contemplation, leaving us deaf to the soul without the capacity for stillness.
Monastery & Mysticism - Church in one's own Mind and God in one's Self!
After ten years of intensive monastic training in Japan and Korea, Master Reding founded the Nigredo Order in Switzerland in 2014, supported by the mutual trust of lay people and clergy. In gratitude for this training, he made a 3,000-mile pilgrimage across Japan in the traditional alms round. As founder and abbot, he now leads the rustic, Christian-influenced Nigredo Monastery in Reichenburg. In the Nigredo Order, God is understood as religious experience and mysticism—the living core of every religion. It is not about dogma or mere knowledge, but about practice, realization, and the direct encounter with God.
Because the spirit of the times has diluted church, culture, and religion, and our society is increasingly losing its solid values—even to the point of disregarding femininity and dissolving the family principle—many people feel lost and abandoned. Master Reding therefore founded the Nigredo Monastery and the order—not to dictate to others, but to exemplify a path that leads back to faith, truth, and reason.
With this way of life, he honors his Zen masters in Japan and Korea by implementing and carrying forward the religiosity (Zen) he learned there in his own Christian tradition (mysticism).
Self-knowledge - As long as we don't honestly know ourselves, we project our problems onto others (Scapegoat). Self-knowledge is painful.
Zen Meditation & Christian Mysticism
Zen: Religious experience and mysticism in a fatherless time. It is the living core of every religion, in which the only thing that matters is practice - religious experience, realization. And here in the West, religious experience has the language of Christianity and in the east the language of Buddhism. This way we can find our father again and free him from the belly of the beast. It's not about proof of God but about experiences of God! The Logos - The Word that awakens my soul!
In the East they are called Zen-Masters and in the West they are called Mystics. The saints and sages who seek the living word that heals the soul.
The analytical psychologist Carl Gustav Jung understands mysticism as inner contemplation independent of religion, beyond the division into different denominations and beliefs. A role model for him is the Swiss mystic Niklaus von Flüe (Brother Klaus).
It is about the experience of a divine reality (Catholic) or absolute reality (Buddhist) and the efforts to achieve such an experience, the Unio Mystica or Mystical Wedding.
Symbolic Language - Living Symbol
The tragedy of our culture is fatherlessness. Because of this, so many people no longer believe in symbolic language. And they try to satisfy a spiritual longing with something physical, which never works. There is no saturation point for a spiritual longing with physical means. Until that symbol is alive as a living symbol, it cannot do its work of bringing us into our wholeness. Only the living symbol unites body and mind and transcends it. Without symbolic language, our soul can no longer express itself, live out its life and communicate. We atrophy and our religious needs cannot be satisfied.
Without the love of the Father we are lost and aimless!
Meditation - Humility & Voluntary Sacrifice - Respect
As soon as one has the courage to the wholeness of the soul (voluntary sacrifice), life and death will take on a meditative and religious character. The center of one's own life becomes more and more conscious and attentive. However, in the search for wholeness we often get off track and pursue the goal of perfection. Perfection is the tyranny of the mind that should be avoided at all costs. In this regard, the feminine (anima, chaos) helps the spirit to constantly practice humility.
Meditation is not a training of thought and consciousness with the aim of making the unconscious conscious. In the realm of the unconscious, neither self-knowledge nor Christ-knowledge is possible. To do this, one must penetrate beyond the unconscious and superconscious to the core of the human being: to the divine self.
Meditation Stay - The Fire Phoenix
MEDITATION is very difficult in a fatherless and respect-less time. We are aimless, divided, not loyal and are feeling lost. Meditating means first penetrating your own shadow and then diving into the deep, chaotic and dark source. Take a deep breath and think the unthinkable. Sit like a mountain and penetrate into the depths of the deep so that your true self awakens. Then the fire phoenix can rise again from the ashes with its thousand-colored plumage.
Whether you're spending a few days, weeks or months at monastery, Nigredo Monastery is a place of emptiness and inner fullness where you can contemplate your true self through meditation. "Practice in motion" and "practice in stillness" are equally valued. Work provides a good opportunity to meditate and discover your true self. Life in a Zen monastery is physically and mentally challenging.
Christian Male Rite of Passage
We must break dependence on the symbolic mother in order to become men and fathers. All major transitions in life were accompanied by "male rites of passage" in all societies, transition rituals designed to help men take the step over the threshold.
They must leave their mothers and their homes, symbolically devoured by a maternal monster (death and chaos), and then be initiated into religious traditions (piety) and sexuality (chastity). Once a "young" man has undergone this rite of passage, he is then a full member; he is a man.
Through death to life! - A week without sleep!
Every man needs his own Parzival story. Seven days count as one! To commemorate the enlightenment of the saints and sages, the christian initiation ritual for men, the Mountain Week, takes place twice a year. During this week, we will not lie down and will devote all activities to meditation. The ritual marks an important stage in life, allowing one to consciously enter into the new responsibility with change.
Welcome to the christian initiation ritual for men of all ages...
Novitiate - Forging Men - Monastic Year
Women are born, men are made! Men socialize and educate men! The novitiate in the Zen monastery lasts one year and is preparation for becoming a man.
Those who take this path seriously become not merely consumers of the world, but knights of the spirit. And in a time when true role models are lacking, young men in particular can raise a new generation of knights through chastity, virtue, and following Christ—not with sword and shield, but with heart, courage, and devotion.
The Gospel of Thomas - Secret Holy Words
The Gospel of Thomas contains instructions for the immediate awareness of spiritual truths and realities that are crucial for the self-realization of man and the fulfillment of his life's meaning. They are presented here as the core ideas of inner Christianity, whereby the explanations given for the 114 verses of the Gospel of Thomas allow the depth of thought of these secret words of the Lord to shine through.
This is about religion at first hand - not about theological speculations, not about confessions, but about knowledge. About the path inward, on which everyone advances in gradual self-initiations to a new, more alert and more conscious life from the spirit of living oneness with the Kingdom of God.
Koan & Logos - Zen
The LOGOS, the unmoved mover, the living word, the sword of wisdom, which brings to life and kills at the same time. The word that awakens my soul to life. Zen meditation with paradoxical questions (Koan, Hwadu) aims at a breakthrough of a consciousness limited by the I-form into the non-I-like self. An experience of religious transformation and a mystical experience, with its preliminary stages consisting of “letting go” and “emptying images and ideas”.
For only the paradox can even come close to grasping the fullness of life, while clarity and the lack of contradiction are one-sided and therefore unsuitable to express the incomprehensible.
In the beginning was the Word, and the living Word was with God, and the Logos was God. If you understand that there is no way to say it, then you should know how to say it, because in the beginning was the Word. (Zen Master Pohwa Sunim)
Meditation in the Cemetery - Living & Dying
Public meditation takes place in the cemetery twice a year (spring and autumn). The cemetery offers a striking contrast between life and death to meditate on the true self. The cemetery is a place where many people feel a meditative or even spiritual atmosphere.
Counseling - From Heart to Heart
Understanding our role in the world means recognizing the attainment of wisdom as our goal and setting out to achieve it. Zen Father Master Reding is available to give you life advice. If I know where I want to go, I can find out where I stand. How can a frog in a well know the vastness of the blue ocean? How can a baby fox understand the lion's roar? If we take refuge in the truth, we will be able to have a righteous life.
Online Meditation - The Battlefield of Wisdom
Welcome to Zen Father Master Reding’s online meditation. Every Monday at 8:00 p.m. (45 minutes). Sometimes we sit, sometimes we listen to the master, either way, it's always together. Give up jealousy and meditate. With an absent mind, not thinking about the approach of death, caught up in such senseless actions, returning empty-handed would now be complete delusion. What is needed is to recognize the truth in meditation. So why not practice the truth right now?
Zen Pilgrimage - Step by Step
The two-day Zen pilgrimage in Switzerland takes place twice a year (spring and autumn). Step by step towards the goal. The four big elements break apart. The eye and its visual object move away from each other. Do you know where they are going? After discovering your destination, you reach the jeweled palace. Do you have any of these gems in your own home? Faced with these six thieves, you'll need the courage of a frontline soldier.
Almsround - Homeless & Homeowner are in Harmony
Almsgiving or begging is an important part of the maintenance of the Nigredo Monastery and exchange with the community. Not everyone has the determination to completely sacrifice their life and death to the search for wisdom and truth, so it is a great opportunity to thank the monks and nuns for their efforts.
Return to God - God literally means "I AM HERE!"
What the saints and wise men in West and East have sought and expressed since time immemorial is this absolute “I AM HERE”. The now, the moment, it's the feeling of being in the right place at the right time. We always want to know where we belong. But in a fatherless time we are aimless, divided and alienated from our own true selves and are lost. The search for the true self without rank and name begins in this I-AM-HERE.
ZEN WARNINGS - Nothing is free!
Following rules and regulations means binding yourself without rope. Acting spontaneously and without restrictions is diabolical and heretical. Paying attention only to the interior to purify it and disappear into silence is the false Zen of silent glow. Anyone who arbitrarily ignores causal connections falls into a deep pitfall. To abide in absolute clarity without darkness is to carry a yoke of chains. To think of good or evil is to be in heaven and hell. To harbor ideas about God and the Way is to sit trapped in two iron mountains.
To immediately become aware of the emerging consciousness is to waste your mental power. Simply practicing concentration while sitting quietly (Zazen) is the work of the devil. Anyone who strives forward misses the core of the matter. Anyone who goes backwards spoils the path. He who neither moves forward nor backward is a breathing corpse. Well, tell me what you want to do? Make every effort to achieve complete enlightenment in this life! And don't stay stuck in your misfortune forever!
Dear Nigredo Monastery,
I wanted to thank you for the meditation week! I had no idea what to expect and that was the whole point. I'm glad that even though I asked what's next, you just answered "step by step". I'm not used to waking up at 4am, but it's incredible how you get used to things. The hike in the snow was challenging, but I'm proud I managed it. I now understand what you said about physical exhaustion helping to meditate better and be more in tune with yourself. Stacking the wood was also a long process, but satisfying after seeing the result. The extraordinary experience of this meditation week also has a lot to do with your overall commitment, from the 1-1 conversation we had on the first evening and all the different conversations on the hikes, plus during the break.
Please keep doing what you're doing; It brings so much to people who are willing to do the work to understand themselves better. Learning to accept the inevitable and be aware of our own death. I remember we talked about the different stages of life, which really resonated with me. The phoenix must die; die properly to be reborn into something new and powerful. The dying process can be agonizing, letting go of the old self, but it is the only path to enlightenment of the new stage of life. So now I am back to “normal” life, but I will not forget this experience.
All the best
Nicolas
Dear Zen Master Reding,
I would like to thank you (family with children) once again for allowing me to experience the educational week of meditation. A lot of things were new to me, and it was all the more important that I had to/was able to leave my comfort zone. Unfortunately, these days, people give up all too often and far too soon, but it is always worth fighting and persevering.
You went through and experienced that yourself in the Nigredo Monastery, but never gave up. I think your attitude towards family is brilliant, although unfortunately today you almost only see the opposite. Thank you very much for everything and for being a role model.
Stefan
Properties for the Monastery
The balancing act between running a monastery and family life is not always easy to master. The Nigredo Monastery is therefore looking for an additional home so that both can be carried out more easily.
Looking for a Good, Loyal and Faithful Soul
We are looking for a good, loyal, trustworthy and faithful soul for the Zen monastery and the family