Karl August Tõnisson (Latvian: Kārlis Tennisons; 20 August (Jc 8 August) 1883 – 5 May 1962) also known as Brother Vahindra (Estonian: Vend Vahindra) and Barefoot Tõnisson (Estonian: Paljasjalgne Tõnisson), was an Estonian writer and religious figure.Talts 2008 67-68 One of the first Estonians to engage with Buddhism, he was generally seen as eccentric but had a significant impact on Estonian views of Buddhism.Talts 2008 68 In 1930 he left Europe for Thailand, later settling in Burma, dying in Rangoon, aged 78.
Early life Tõnisson was born in Umbusi in 1883 into a Lutheran farming family.Talts 2015 384-85 His parents died at an early age (his father in 1891 and his mother in 1895) after which he was raised by his uncle.Talts 2015 385
Life and writings In the 1900s Tõnisson travelled to Riga, where he likely met local Theosophists. Around 1910 he moved to St. Petersburg, where he likely met Agvan Dorzhiev and other Kalmyk and Buryat lamas. He got intrested of Buddhism around this time, and likely helped build the Datsan Gunzechoinei.
At the start of the First World War he was drafted into the Imperial Russian Army, but released soon afterwards.Talts 2015 386.
In 1915 he moved to Tallinn.Talts 2015 386 In 1917 he returned to Russia, where he stayed until 1923.Talts 2015 387 He spent part of this time guarding the Datsan Gunzechoinei building site.Talts 2015 387-88
In 1923 he returned to Latvia after unsuccessfully attempting to return Estonia.Talts 2015 388 Possibly becoming 10 years older around this time.
In 1930 he met Friedrich V. Lustig, who became his disciple and followed him on his travels for the rest of his life.Talts 2015 389
In 1931 the two left Europe for Thailand, wanting to go to Tibet.Talts 2015 391 During and after World War II Tõnisson and Lustig became involved in Thai politics, raising a Red Soviet like flag on their roof and criticizing Thailand's wartime collaboration with Japan.Ford, Eugene.Cold War Monks: Buddhism and America's Secret Strategy in Southeast Asia. Yale University Press, 2017. Pages 19-20 As a result they were expelled from Thailand into Burma in 1949.
They eventually integrated into the Burmese Buddhist community. At one point they lived at Chan Htoon's family shrine.Talts 2015 392 They participated in the third and fourth World Fellowship of Buddhists conferences. The Dalai Lama sent condolences to Lustig when Tõnisson died in 1962.Talts 2015 393
In various writings, elements of his biography are misunderstood, including his date and place of birth.Talts 2015 386-87
See also Buddhism in Estonia
References
Sources Belka, Lubos (1999) Buddhism in Estonia, Religion, State and Society, 27:2, 245-248, DOI: 10.1080/096374999106656. Buddhism in Estonia Talts, Mait (2008). “The First Buddhist Priest on the Baltic Coast”: Karlis Tennison and the Introduction of Buddhism in Estonia. Folklore. Vol. 38. Pages 67–112. doi:10.7592/FEJF2008.38.talts Talts, M. (2015). "Karlis A. M. Tennisons and Friedrich V. Lustig – the first ‘practicing’ Buddhist in Estonia." In When Gods spoke. Researches and Reflections on Religious Phenomena and Artefacts. Studia in honorem Tarmo Kulmar (pp. 379–405). University of Tartu Press. (PDF) Karlis A. M. Tennisons and Friedrich V. Lustig – the first ‘practicing’ Buddhist in Estonia Tõnisson, Karl