Buddha Dordenma in Thimphu, Bhutan (Photo: Michael Foley)
The Diamond Way Buddhism UK Blog would like to wish all our readers a happy and prosperous New Year.
2011 was the second full year of the blog, with the number of subscribers increasing to over 770. During the year the blog was viewed over 31,000 individuals in 137 different countries, with most viewers coming from the UK, the USA, Poland, Germany and Russia.
Dearest Diamond Way students and friends,
Again in 2011, every travel and overview shows real growth in the numbers and activities of our Buddhist centers and their members in spiritually free countries worldwide.
Standing together and guided by the blessing of our unbroken transmission through 900 years of the Karmapas and Shamarpas, as well as today’s lamas and students protecting and representing them, we are bringing ultimate meaning and timeless methods towards realization to ever more karmically gifted minds.
For those of you interested in the latest scientific research into meditation, we recommend the website meditation-research.org.uk, particularly the new research blog section. The website and blog presents current scientific research into meditation and mindfulness practice and the research activities of the Meditation and Mindfulness Research Group at Liverpool John Moores University. We like it so much, we’ve added a live-feed from the blog on the right-hand column of the DWBUK blog.
Dr Peter Malinowski is the founder of the Meditation and Mindfulness Research Group at Liverpool John Moores University, as well as being a highly regarded teacher of Diamond Way Buddhism and co-founder of the Diamond Way Liverpool Buddhist Centre. In the above video, he discusses the practice of mindfulness, it’s benefits and applications. He also explains some of the research projects of the group, exploring the effects of mindfulness practice on cognitive ageing and healthy eating.
Marpa (1012-1097)
The Himalayan Art Resource blog recently posted this very informative article on Marpa, and clarifies the term “lineage”. At the site, one can also view a diagram showing Marpa’s main teachers and students.
This trailer is for a documentary video produced by the Russian Diamond Way Buddhist sangha. It shows the first historical visit of Gyalwa Karmapa Trinley Thaye Dorje to Russia which took place during the summer of 2009. The film includes excerpts from the two-week journey of the 26 year-old Head of the Karma Kagyu Tradition and his students through this vast country, from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok. Karmapa Thaye Dorje was received with full honours by the Head of the Republic of Kalmykia, Kirsan Ilyumzhinovm, as well as and Pandita Hambo Lama Damba Ayusheev. During the tour he worked non-stop for everybody, giving lectures and initiations to thousands of students, answering questions, and giving blessings to students waiting for him at small stations along the Trans-Siberian Railway. Karmapa is known as the “Wish-fulfilling Jewel” In Tibet, but he doesn’t see difference between himself and others “…I’m like everybody else. The truth is, that every of us is a wish-fulfilling Jewel… The question is only if I develop this quality or not”, Karmapa says.
Buddha having descended from the Heaven of Thirty-Three, watercolour feature of a Perfection of Wisdom Sutra manuscript from Nalanda, circa 700-1100 CE
The picture above is a painted detail from an 8th-12th Century palm leaf manuscript of the “Perfection of Wisdom Sutra in 8,000 Lines”, produced by the Nalanda Buddhist University. It survived the sacking and razing to the ground of Nalanda by Muslims, was preserved in Tibet for hundreds of years and now forms part of the collection of the Asia Society Museum. It depicts Buddha Shakyamuni having descended to earth from the the desire god realm known as The Heaven of Thirty-Three (Skt. Trayatrimsha), one of the eight great deeds of the Buddha’s life story.
Europe Center Blog Meditation Research Blog
