Joseph Anton Schneiderfranken

From 1892 to 1895, Schneiderfranken studied painting at the Städel Art Institute (Städelschule) in Frankfurt. Between 1895 and 1898, he received one and a half years of free tuition from the painter Hans Thoma while also working as a scene painter at the Frankfurt City Theater. He completed his studies at the Städel master workshop in 1899. From 1900 to 1902, Schneiderfranken continued his artistic training at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, then briefly in Munich, and later at the Académie Julian in Paris. In 1912–1913, he traveled to Greece, where he adopted the spiritual name Bô Yin Râ, under which he later published his spiritual writings beginning in 1913. During World War I, he was drafted into service and in 1917–1918 worked as an interpreter for interned Greek nationals in Görlitz. After the war, he resumed his artistic and literary work. In 1923, he moved permanently to Switzerland, first settling in Horgen on Lake Zurich and then in Massagno near Lugano in 1925. He and his family obtained Swiss citizenship in 1938. Bô Yin Râ claimed that his teachings were based on direct inner experience of spiritual realities rather than on any external doctrine or tradition. His works, notably The Book of the Living God and The Path to God, describe a path of inner illumination, emphasizing personal realization of the divine, ethical self-discipline, and the unity of all true religions. He denied founding a sect or church, presenting his writings instead as guidance for individual spiritual development grounded in intuitive insight and creative responsibility. Schneiderfranken influenced author Gustav Meyrink, composer Felix Weingartner, and Eckhart Tolle.

He also worked under the name Bô Yin Râ. The authorities additionally record the headings J. Schneiderfranken, Bo Yin Ra, Bô Yin Râ and Joseph Schneiderfranken. His recorded language was German. His recorded confession was Catholicism.