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.
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.
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.
Lama Ole Nydahl teaching in Manchester, November 2011
Lama Ole Nydahl visited the UK from 8-10 November 2011 to teach in Manchester, Exeter and London. Here is a report of these exciting three days. Click on any of the thumbnails to enlarge the image.
Lama Ole arrived St Pancras International by Eurostar from Belgium, having already taught in Paris, Rotterdam and Brussels during the previous days on this year’s “Channel Tour”, an annual part of Lama Ole’s teaching schedule in which he is invited by his centres in the countries along the English Channel – France, Belgium, the Netherlands and the UK. Typically this tour is made via coach, with a full travelling group of about 60 students who, as well as attending Lama Ole’s public lectures, use the opportunity to spend more time together with their lama and sangha friends, strengthen connections and use the long coach rides for personal questions and interviews. On this leg of the journey though, Lama Ole took the Eurostar to make enough time to visit the Diamond Way Buddhist Group in St Albans.
Switzerland Diamond Way Blog
Our German-speaking readers will be pleased to hear that the Swiss Diamond Way sangha have just launched their own blog: http://blog.buddhismus.org/. We can’t confirm, but rumour has it they were inspired by the UK Blog… We’ll leave you to judge that for yourself, but please pay them a visit and subscribe to receive regular updates. We wish them much success and fruitful blogging!
Lama Ole Nydahl in London November 2011
Lama Ole Nydahl will teach in Manchester, Exeter and London this November. Click on the images to enlarge, and visit the Diamond Way Buddhism UK website for further details.
This movie was created by filmmakers and animators from seven different countries who interviewed more then 40 people involved in the Europe Center shot dozens of hours of material. It is a documentary supporting the moreEC fundraising campaign, mapping opinions, wishes and ideas behind the Europe Center project.
Copenhagen Diamond Way Buddhist Centre
Set up in 1973 as one of the first Buddhist centres in Western Europe, the Copenhagen Buddhist centre has a well-established place in the cultural landscape of its local community.
Europe Center Blog Meditation Research Blog