A publicist and Buddhist meditation teacher, Sylvia Wetzel, born in 1949, graduated in Politics and Slavic studies (FU Berlin) in 1975). Since 1968, her focus has been on various ways to achieve psychological and political liberation and since 1977 she studied Buddhism. She has been trained in the Tibetan tradition and has had two years of practical experience as a nun. With her critical view of the cultures of the East and West as well as the associated gender roles, she is one of the pioneers of Buddhism in Europe.