Germany and Humanity’s Salvation: Bô Yin Râ; Jakob Böhme; Magische Blätter; The Bô Yin Râ Foundations; Kober Press; Books to Light…Now becoming more accessible in English. PART 2 OF 2

A Three Sages Special

Sounds of Creation by Bô Yin Râ. Reproduced with permission of the German Bô Yin Râ Foundation.

Continued from Part 1 of 2…

Part 1 contained the following sections: Introduction; The Central Figure: Bô Yin Râ the Luminary; Bô Yin Râ’s Work Goes Public: The Jacob Böhme Society and Magischer Blätter; Testimony of a Pupil; Bô Yin Râ on the Cinema; The World Since Bô Yin Râ’s Lifetime. Part 1 may be accessed HERE.

Introduction to Part 2

Even during World War II, and up until Bô Yin Râ’s passing in 1943, German pupils within that war-torn nation continued to follow his teachings. This included Elisabeth von Oldenburg, previously cited in Part 1. In a 78-page pamphlet published in Basle, Switzerland, she quoted Bô Yin Râ as follows:

He says of himself that he belongs to the above-mentioned brotherhood [i.e., Luminaries of Eternal Light] , and that he is chosen by its members “as the only one at this time to oppose the false teachings and excesses in the Occident, and to do so by proclaiming anew, under the strictest control of all members, the pure doctrine, in so far as it can become comprehensible, expedient, and useful to humanity in the present.” His own earthly person must take a back seat, as he himself says in a letter: “I am neither omniscient, nor should I be marvelled at as a phenomenon of clairvoyance, but I should only give my fellow men a teaching which may be called the original religion of mankind, and which leads everyone who adjusts his life to it to the eternal light with absolute certainty.”

Elsewhere he says: “What the agents of the light have to give you is the same truth that lies dormant in the deepest core of religions. They only pull the covers away from your eyes and show you what you no longer know how to interpret as ‘religion’ in new, clear pictures. They can never show you the naked truth; you must reveal it yourselves in silence, within yourselves.”

By the mid-1970s, those accepting responsibility for furthering Bô Yin Râ’s legacy were finally beginning to go public again, both in Europe and now the United States. This was in addition to the continuing publication program of Hortus Conclusus and other books by the Swiss-based Kober Verlag.

The Swiss Bô Yin Râ Foundation

From the Swiss Bô Yin Râ Foundation’s 1974 statutes:

The Swiss Foundation has the mission of ensuring, in a charitable [non-commercial] manner, that the work of the writer and painter Bô Yin Râ (Joseph Anton Schneiderfranken, citizen of Massagno, b. 1876 in Aschaffenburg, d. 1943 in Massagno), who created a comprehensive religious textbook – which also includes some of his paintings – is passed on to future generations, as intact and well-protected as possible, and that the Villa Gladiola in Massagno, where he lived with his family from 1925 to 1943, is preserved as far as possible.

From a Foundation report: …The Bô Yin Râ Foundation, founded by Helene Schneiderfranken, has existed since 1974. After the death of Devadatti Schneiderfranken on February 20, 2015, the time came for the Foundation to consider the renovation of the villa in Massagno. The villa, now 99 years old, required fundamental renovation and has shaped the Foundation’s life over the past ten years.

The ground floor was converted into a separate apartment to accommodate a caretaker service to look after the villa and garden. The first and second floors, intended for the exhibition of Bô Yin Ra’s paintings, had to be carefully renovated to preserve the paintings for posterity as long as possible. Special attention had to be paid to emissions from the heating, lighting, windows, and paint on the walls.

The entire renovation was carried out by architect Kai Kuhlmann with great skill and the necessary respect for the preservation of all essential items. The painting exhibition has been open since the opening of the renovated villa on May 18, 2019, and is open to visitors. The current opening hours can be found on our website www.bo-yin-ra.ch. A brochure published to mark the foundation’s 50th anniversary, featuring illustrations of the paintings on display at Villa Gladiola, is available at www.koberverlag.ch or can be ordered by email at info@koberverlag.ch.

Deutsche Bô Yin Râ-Stiftung (German Bô Yin Râ Foundation)

On the Foundation:

The German Bô Yin Râ Foundation was established by physician Dr. Wilhelm Vaubel with a deed of foundation on September 1, 1973, and approved by the Hessian Minister of the Interior on November 26, 1973. It is a legally independent foundation under civil law…. The purpose of the foundation is to promote art, culture, and religion. This purpose is realized in particular through the purchase of Bô Yin Râ’s paintings (originals, sketches, color woodcuts, copies, and prints) in order to make them accessible to the public. The foundation’s purpose of promoting religion is realized through the dissemination of Bô Yin Râ’s spiritual Textbook. Translations of his books to publicize the Textbook, the free provision of books to libraries, lectures, publications, as well as the maintenance of existing or new contacts with old and new readers and the mediation of dialogue partnerships are to be promoted. A [center] is located in Marburg [with] Bô Yin Râ’s painting collection.

The center in Marburg may be visited by appointment.

The website of the Deutsche Bô Yin Râ-Stiftung (German Bô Yin Râ Foundation) may be found HERE. The website offers complete German and English options. The website contains sections on Bô Yin Râ’s life, his work, photographs, information on purchasing fine art reproductions of his paintings and illustrations, newsletters and reports of foundation activities, along with contact and donation information. Newsletter subscriptions are available at rundbrief@bo-yin-ra-stiftung.de.

The website includes the following section on “The Work”:

Under the name Hortus Conclusus (Enclosed Garden), Bô Yin Râ symbolically compiles his spiritual teaching work. He explains its meaning in the opening chapter of the final volume of this Opus, which also bears the title Hortus conclusus.

The series comprises 32 books and spiritual paintings. Additionally, Bô Yin Râ authored writings that complement the main work and left behind secular artworks, primarily landscapes.

Since 1927, all writings have been published by Kober Verlag AG in Bern, Switzerland. Some art prints of his paintings are also available there.

The Hortus Conclusus series has been translated into Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Dutch, English, Esperanto, Estonian, French, Greek, Hungarian, Portuguese, Spanish and Swedish, with publications in the respective countries.

Although Bô Yin Râ encourages reading his works in German, as noted in the book Codicil to the Hortus Conclusus (page 10), this website provides only a summary of their meaning in English.

The website also contains a section on The Writings that comprises the titles of the 32 books of Hortus Conclusus, titles of 12 other books by Bô Yin Râ, and reproductions of several of the spiritual paintings. A separate section called CATALOGUE RAISONNÉ contains an additional Artwork Archive.

English-Language Translations of Bô Yin Râ’s Books

At present, two publishing houses produce and sell their own exclusive English-language translations of Bô Yin Râ’s books. These are Kober Press of Berkeley, CA, and Books to Light, currently operating out of the Netherlands and beginning to operate in the United States.

Kober Press

From the Kober Press’s website HERE:

The Kober Press was established in 1975 with the objective of making the spiritual legacy of Bô Yin Râ available to the English-speaking world. We are located in Berkeley, California, USA.

Our publications are the only English translations of the books of Bô Yin Râ authorized by the Kober Verlag, Switzerland. The Kober Verlag publishes the books of Bô Yin Râ in the original German and has protected their integrity since the author’s lifetime.

Contact us at koberpress@mindspring.com

On their homepage, the Kober Press editors write:

Dear Reader,

If you are interested in what are known as last or final things—the meaning of this life and how to fulfill its purpose, the way in which your present life affects the fate of your soul—you owe it to yourself to read at least one of this author’s books. Here you may well find the answers that you seek—answers that are not based on either belief or intellectual understanding but, rather, on the author’s spiritual experience and, ultimately, your own.

The Kober Press has been operating for 50 years—half a century. Their earlier translations were produced by Prof. Bodo A. Reichenbach, who passed away on September 11th, 2018, at the age of 88. Born in Breslau, Germany, he taught at Boston University and the Harvard Divinity School. Working with Kober Press, he published English translations of many of Bô Yin Râ’s books. Subsequent books were translated by a team led by Kober Press publisher Eric Strauss.

To date, Kober Press has published 26 translations of the 32 books of the Hortus Conclusus cycle. As stated earlier in this article, Kober Press has also published a volume entitled Bô Yin Râ: An Introduction to His Works, made up of separate articles combined in a single book. One other book by Bô Yin Râ outside the cycle was also translated: Enigmas of Nature’s Invisible Realm.

All of Kober Press’s titles are available as print-on-demand editions from Amazon.com and other sources, so are readily available. Their website contains sections on Bô Yin Râ’s biography, along with photos from different stages of his life, a book catalogue, excerpts from his body of artistic work, and a section with links to international sources of the books in other languages. This includes a link for the Kober-Verlag, where books are available in the original German.

As noted in Part 1, the Kober Press website contains a free downloadable link to Bô Yin Râ’s central text, The Book on the Living God.

In 2017, the author of this article, writing under a pseudonym, wrote a review of Bô Yin Râ: An Introduction to His Works. The review is as follows:

5.0 out of 5 stars: Authentic Spiritual Guidance from a Western Master

Reviewed in the United States on September 22, 2017

The man who was perhaps the most important spiritual master in the West during the 20th century is almost unknown to English-speaking readers. He was a German artist and author whose spiritual name was Bô Yin Râ. (Birth name Joseph Anton Schneiderfranken, 1876-1943.) For the last 20 years of his life he resided with his family in Switzerland. During his lifetime he published a 32-volume compendium of spiritual books that he termed Hortus Conclusus, meaning, in his words, a ‘self-protecting enclosed garden.’
In the latter part of the 19th century, starting with the Theosophical Movement, rumors had begun to circulate in the West that somewhere in the heart of Asia was a high spiritual center that was the source and overseer of all planetary spirituality. Bô Yin Râ confirms the existence of such a center and identifies himself as its authorized representative in bringing true information about its teachings to light. In 1976 the Kober Press of Berkeley, CA, began to publish translations in English of books in the Hortus Conclusus cycle. The result is an astonishing unfoldment of deep and authentic spiritual guidance that, in my experience, has no parallel, including the publications in English from other schools and centers that claim to possess hidden knowledge.
What is unique about Bô Yin Râ is the clarity and force of his expositions that not only explain spiritual ideas but also show clearly how they may be put into practice in life-changing ways. The volume “Bô Yin Râ: An Introduction to His Works” is an invaluable companion to the much larger body of work, with the added benefit of containing commentaries on his life and work by the master himself. Among the many topics covered are the awakening of an individual’s spiritual senses, making contact with helpers from the spiritual world, and how he himself acquired his spiritual experience and decided to make his teachings public, despite his natural inclination to remain silent.
Bô Yin Râ also includes in his body of work detailed information about the life and mission of Jesus of Nazareth, whom he describes as an authorized Luminary from the planetary center. While the life and teachings of Jesus (known as Jeshua during his lifetime) were utilized to construct the religion we know as Christianity, deeper meaning on individual spiritual transformation is available. For instance, Volume 11 of Hortus Conclusus, entitled “The Wisdom of St. John,” has chapters on “The Authentic Teaching” and related topics that will prove highly practical for seekers who wish to delve beyond the explanations found in religious creeds.
I am grateful to the Kober Press for their work in opening Bô Yin Râ’s work to English-speaking readers and am looking forward to more volumes appearing in the months and years ahead.

Bô Yin Râ and Eckhart Tolle

Some English-language readers have learned of Bô Yin Râ by reading the following passage from the Wikipedia article on the well-known German-born spiritual teacher Eckhart Tolle:

Early life

Ulrich Leonard Tölle was born in Lünen, a small town north of Dortmund in the Ruhr region of Germany in 1948.

In 1961 he moved to Spain to live with his father, where he “refused all forms of formal education between the ages of 13 and 22, preferring instead to pursue his own creative and philosophical interests.” At 15, he was “heavily influenced’” by a gift of five spiritual books by the German mystic Joseph Anton Schneiderfranken.

Luminium Books and the “Standard Translation”

Following Bô Yin Râ’s teachings during his lifetime were a number of highly-placed individuals within Netherlander culture.

A new series of English-language translations of Bô Yin Râ’s writings began to appear from the Netherlands as a first edition in 2013-2014. The imprint called itself Luminium Books and referred to the project as the “standard translation.” The sponsor of the project was Dr. Taco A. van Der Plaats, who explained to an American correspondent:

The only thing that can be said in this respect is that Bô Yin Râ’s youngest daughter focussed my general wish to be helpful in furthering the availability of Bô Yin Râ’s work I had had long before, onto the translation into English….Through the German cultural institute in London I found the translator I considered suitable for this task….

Translation of the books took about seven years. Through Luminium books, the series Hortus Conclusus then became available as downloadable on-line editions containing both German and English texts. The website bo-yin-ra-the luminary.com explains the standard translation as follows:

The standard translation encompasses the entire Hortus Conclusus, all 32 books and booklets. All the books in verse are available. The verses are of great beauty and are highly autobiographic, enlightening us on the spiritual ancestry of Bô Yin Râ.

The standard translation offers the German original text alongside the English translation, so that the translation can be compared with and checked against the German original at any moment. In this way the standard translation makes itself constantly accountable for its correctness as well as for its inevitable flaws….

The translation technique has been effectuated by a professional translator, recommended by the German cultural council, the Goethe Institute, in London. This translator is a PhD in the German language and teaches in a private school south of London. Every word of the original has been accounted for in the translation: translating is a professional skill, subject to stringent rules and with its own methodology.

The entire series of the standard translation may be reviewed and purchased HERE.

Books to Light

The copyrights held by Luminium Books, along with links for ordering on-line editions, have been maintained by a company called Books to Light, also working from the Netherlands. The copyrights, along with ongoing and future operations, are now in process of being transferred to Books to Light-USA. Books to Light has also produced special on-line and hard-cover second editions of 11 books. These books are sold as print-on-demand titles from Amazon.com.

Second edition books contain both the German and English texts, with the English texts edited to reflect Bô Yin Râ’s unique formats of punctuation and emphasis not available in earlier editions. The entire body of Books to Light editions are available on Amazon.com HERE.

Books to Light-USA will be preparing additional titles by Bô Yin Râ for publication outside the Hortus Conclusus series, as well as the biography by Rudolph Schott mentioned in Part 1 of this article. Bô Yin Râ’s book Kodizill, containing advice on working with the teachings, will be available in translation in early 2026. Additional programs and activities to be carried out by Books to Light-USA will be announced on a new forthcoming website. Once the new Books to Light website is up and running, making of donations to its publishing program will be available. Three Sages will notify our readers when the new website is available.

Books to Light will also be carrying printed editions of five books by Dr. Taco van Der Plaats, including an 1193-page hard cover edition of the complete 1st edition of Hortus Conclusus in English with selected color prints of the spiritual paintings. Additional titles are: The Enigma of Jakob Böhme - an elucidatory essay; The Enigma of Melchizedek - an elucidatory essay; The Enigma of Megalithic Remains - an elucidatory essay; and Jesus Christ: Discourses on his life and his teaching’, by Bô Yin Râ’ - a compilation by Dr. Taco van der Plaats from various books of the Hortus Conclusus (The Enclosed Garden) encompassing the complete spiritual teachings by Bô Yin Râ.

Magische Blätter Revival—2020-2024

In 2020, a group of German artists, musicians, and filmmakers carried out a revival of Bô Yin Râ’s publication Magische Blätter (“Magic Leaves”). From 2020-2024 the group published four issues per year and are now in process of documenting the series in the form of an Almanac due to be released soon.

A German confidante writes:

In 2024 and 2025, the Jakob Böhme League became visible again. Initially, in an art-oriented exhibition the participating artists – one could say – placed themselves at the service of Jacob Böhme. The Jacob Böhme Association’s audio installation “Listen, O Blind Man” in Görlitz’s St. Nicholas Church from March 17, 2024, to November 17, 2024, combined with the exhibition of Michael Andreae’s title engravings of Jacob Böhme’s works from 1682, kicked off the 2024 commemorative year in honor of Jacob Böhme in Görlitz.

For the first time since its dissolution one hundred years ago, the Görlitz collections in the Kaiser-trutz dedicated themselves in detail to the historic artists’ association with an impressive retrospective entitled “The Seekers - The Art of the Jacob Böhme Association” from May 4 to November 17, 2024.

After the double anniversary of the 400th anniversary of Jacob Böhme’s death in 2024 and the 450th anniversary of his birth in 2025, the year 2026 also marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of Joseph Anton Schneiderfranken [Bô Yin Râ], and we consider this time appropriate to delve deeper into this not always easy-to-grasp founding figure of the Jakob Böhme League.

The German confidante explains further:

As you know, the Hortus Conclusus had a circulation of millions until its ban in 1935. During Bô Yin Râ’s lifetime, a publication (Magische Blätter, Die Säule) accompanied his work until it was shut down. The publisher’s restraint, which has continued to this day since the closure of “Die Säule” in 1941 by the Nationalists, has led to the spaces being left open by this restraint– perhaps in the hope that misunderstandings would clear up on their own. Thus, in an age when rumors, if not denied, become truths, figuratively speaking, like expanding foam, unqualified interpreters who are not familiar with the Hortus Conclusus have filled these open spaces.

I believe we can appreciate the intent of this group as an effort to take steps in restoring Bô Yin Râ’s work to the status it enjoyed prior to the political suppression of independent thought in Germany before World War II. Bô Yin Râ’s linkage to Jacob Böhme and the city of Görlitz would seem to provide historical links toward doing this.

In 2015 the group associated with the Magischer Blätter revival released a documentary about Jacob Böhme entitled Dawn in Ascent: Homage à Jacob Bömne. The film is available on Amazon Prime with English subtitles HERE. The group now hopes to produce a film about Bô Yin Râ.

A prominent member of this group was the artist and producer Ronald Steckel, who wrote of Bô Yin Râ’s commentary on the “plague” of contemporary cinema as follows:

The disaster he foresaw has indeed occurred with brutal force in the last 100 years (considering that the text dates back to the 1920s!): ​​Complete deformation, distortion, and the removal of reality from human imagination by the money-hungry machinations of the film industry ... in other words, the plague has already devoured the “body of the people,” worldwide! And now it is entirely up to the individual whether or not they free themselves from these unreal worlds that assail them daily... In fact, the truly new thing about our situation seems to be that individuals are more dependent on themselves than ever before – no religious community, no ideology controls, directs, or protects the movements of individual souls. That is, the art of film, which could have contributed to the elevation of humanity, has – in the above sense – become humanity’s main enemy... Actually, Bô Yin Râ’s text should be plastered on the advertising pillars!

My confidante further explains the significance of Bô Yin Râ’s views on the link between art and spirituality and their connection with Görlitz:

The cosmic law formulated by Schneiderfranken (Bô Yin Râ) here is that the lasting, valuable effects of literature and music can only fully unfold in the life of a society if the visual arts are cultivated with equal energy. Thus, with the Jakob Böhme League, an association of visual arts and crafts, a literary section, and a musical sphere were established, thus creating a new pillar of the Görlitz cultural area with the visual arts. The completion of the artistic disciplines represents both the key and the secret of the artists’ association in Görlitz’s advancement during this period to become an art metropolis and a city of great intellectual radiance. Thus, from 1920 to 1924 and beyond, Görlitz represents a historical example of how the intervention of art and culture according to spiritual laws can affect the entire urban community.

The website for the 2020-2024 numbers of Magische Blätter may be accessed in German HERE. This website, along with the 16 editions that appeared during this period, have not yet been translated into English. Translation and publication of Magische Blätter are part of the future publishing program of Books to Light—USA.

Meanwhile, anyone trying to utilize existing AI translation tools for comprehensible renditions of material of this level of originality and sensitivity inevitably comes away disappointed. Comments on usable AI tools are welcome.

Future of Bô Yin Râ’s Teachings

Those English-language readers who have “discovered” the works of Bô Yin Râ have often been astounded at the profound and moving depth of this “new country.” One may reasonably ask, “Why did it take me so long?”

As my German confidante wrote to me:

Don’t be sad that the “Lehrwerk” [“Textbook”] seemingly reached you so late, but be [glad] that you found it. It actually hits everyone at the right time. It’s not a question of timing, but rather what you do [with] it now, and that’s excellent. Make the most of it!

My own view is that a cultivated prejudice against all things German has been part and parcel of the hostility which allowed Britain and the US to fight Germany in two world wars. I don’t believe for one second that it was “all Germany’s fault.” You can learn more about my views on the role of the US in world affairs throughout our country’s existence in my recent book Our Country, Then and Now, available HERE.

The negative attitude of so many Americans toward Germany are even more surprising in view of the enormous number of German immigrants who peopled our nation in its formative days.

We can hope that it’s not too late for us now to start to catch up. Fortunately, the fine translations of Bô Yin Râ’s writings give us a place to begin. One of the most delightful of discoveries available through his writings is his affirmation of how the spirit of the Eternal has manifested in all ages through humble and simple people in their natural goodness and often rich sense of humor. This should appeal particularly to Americans with our democratic and down-to-earth traditions.

On the larger world stage, Bô Yin Râ himself said that the work of the Luminaries on planet earth is in its early stages, and that the Christian religion in particular, reflecting its origins in the life and teachings of the Luminary Jesus, is also very young. Indeed, Bô Yin Râ wrote things that indicated a long future for his teachings to develop—centuries or more. But he also wrote that a time would come when all the world would know of him. He also wrote that a “successor” would one day appear.

Factors that make the teachings of Bô Yin Râ likely to have a bright future are their tolerance and the fact that they are not the “property” of any organized religion or institution. Readers do not have to worry about climbing the ladder of any externally-organized hierarchy. Also, the fact that every person has his or her own unique spiritual path to discover within is recognized and respected, with each having a period in their life when “their time has come.”

Bô Yin Râ nevertheless wrote that he had mentored many members of the Christian clergy, both Catholic and Protestant, but that he did not write specifically for “believers.” In fact, he writes that many of the people who came to him—or who were “found”—were not at first spiritually-minded at all.

Bô Yin Râ also indicated that it was natural that people starting to work with his books would want to rush out and give others the good news of what they had discovered. While he strongly discouraged proselytizing or applying pressure to anyone, he also expressed appreciation toward those who were able to alert others publicly to his presence and the availability of his publications. This also applied to reviews of his work by journalists.

Such is the sole purpose of this particular article and of the sharing and reproduction of his writings and paintings on the Three Sages Substack.

Reading German

During the 18th-19th centuries, many Americans spoke and read German through their education, as did German and Swiss immigrants and many of their descendants. This facility was largely lost with the conflict with all things German with respect to the tragedies of World Wars I and II, including the ludicrous and harmful caricatures of Germans and German speakers still found in the English-language media.

The German language still may be spoken in America to some extent, largely by a handful of scholars as well as by persons who have lived and worked in Germany via the post-World War II occupation. The study of Bô Yin Râ now gives English-speakers a fresh opportunity to discover the beauty, harmony, and versatility of German by reading his books in his native tongue, as he strongly recommended. After all, English is largely a “Germanic” language. The author of this article can testify that even a moderate study of German can result in real rewards in working with Bô Yin Râ’s texts and mantras.

Acknowledgements

The author wishes to express his sincere gratitude for the assistance offered by several confidantes in Germany and the US in writing this article. Comments and questions are welcome via Substack. Nothing contained herein has been subject to approval by any of the organizations or individuals consulted or mentioned in the text, nor is their approval implied, “official” or otherwise. The author takes full responsibility for every detail of the text and for any and all errors. Fair Use is claimed for all quotations from published sources, including websites.

Das Glöcklein (The Little Bell), Solitary church near Karystos on Euboea by Bô Yin Râ. Reproduced with permission of the German Bô Yin Râ Foundation.

Addendum: The Work from the German Bô Yin Râ Foundation website

Anyone who has once immersed themselves in my manner of depiction
and then allows words and syllables to penetrate their inner self
will receive from their own innermost depths what they need.
– ABOUT MY WRITINGS

For a complete list of the published writings of Bô Yin Râ click HERE.