The River Dart retreatants!
From 1-3 October 2010 the Exeter Diamond Way sangha hosted a weekend retreat in Devon, near the River Dart. Friends from several groups in the South of England gathered together to listen to inspiring Buddhist teachings, meditate and deepen their practice and friendships. Lectures were given by two experienced travelling teachers, Steve James from London, and Peter Gomez from Karma Guen, Spain. (more…)
Lama Ole Nydahl teaching in London, September 2010
On Monday, 20 September 2010, Lama Ole Nydahl arrived in the UK by coach on his annual “channel tour” accompanied by 50 students who were travelling together with him for his teaching programme in the “channel countries” – i.e. those bordering the English Channel – France, the Netherlands, Belgium, England (and Ireland, which in 2008 was incorporated into the English Channel for the purpose of the tour!). After the ferry arrived in Dover, the coach drove to Brighton, where Lama Ole was scheduled to give a lecture entitled “Buddhism in the West” at the extremely popular local venue Komedia, (more…)
Kalachakra Initiation London June 2010
From 14-15 June 2010 Lama Ole Nydahl and several members of the Diamond Way Buddhism sangha attended the initiation of Kalachakra given in London by H.H. Sakya Trizin, the supreme head of the Sakya Lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. This event was organised by Lama Jampa Thaye and the Dechen Community, and Lama Ole Nydahl was invited as a special guest. A full report of H.H. Sakya Trizin’s visit to London, including pictures, can be found on the Dechen blog.
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We’d like to share some impressions from an enormously successful ten-day long series of events held by Diamond Way Buddhism UK from 4-13 June 2010 at the Novas Contemporary Urban Centre on Bankside, London.
The programme included a series of talks, movies, exhibits and guided meditations aimed at introducing Tibetan Buddhism’s profound methods for understanding the mind and discovering lasting happiness. The theme “Space for Mind” was borrowed from the working title of the project to purchase a new London Buddhist Centre. In particular, the programme was geared towards offering Diamond Way Buddhism to the London Borough of Southwark and the people who live and work there.
Throughout the ten days there was an exhibition of Tibetan Buddhist art entitled “Expressions of Enlightenment”. A number of beautifully crafted examples of Tibetan Buddhist statues and scroll paintings (thangkas) were displayed together with explanations of their deep symbolism and use as aids for meditation. Tours of the exhibition were offered each weekday from noon to 7pm, together with the opportunity for visitors to take part in short guided meditations.
In this extensive post we recall the Kalachakra Initiation given by Beru Khyentse Rinpoche at the Karma Guen Diamond Way Buddhist Retreat Center in Spain one year ago, as well as the meaning and significance of the Kalachakra Tantra.
Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche, Beru Khyentse Rinpoche, Lama Ole Nydahl
In May and June 2009 several friends from the Diamond Way Buddhism UK sangha travelled to Spain to participate in a series of important Buddhist events. The Kalachakra initiation took place on May 27-28, and was attended by 1,400 international friends. This was followed by the initiation of Loving Eyes (Tib. Chenrezig) by the Fourth Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche (who is Beru Khyentse Rinpoche’s son). After this Lama Ole Nydahl gave a Phowa course attened by 1,000 friends. This was followed by the programme of H.H. Karmapa Trinley Thaye Dorje from June 2-8. Gyalwa Karmapa gave the initiation of Almighty Ocean (Tib. Gyalwa Gyamtso) and teachings on Shantideva’s Aspiration Prayer from the Bodhicharyavatara “Engaging in Bodhisattva Conduct”. These were attended by several important guests including Gyalwa Karmapa’s parents Mipham Rinpoche and Mayumla, Lama Jigme Rinpoche from Dhagpo Kagyu Ling in France, Nendo Rinpoche, Lama Ole Nydahl, Lama Jampa Thaye, the Gómez family who founded Karma Guen, and around 1,600 international friends. Gyalwa Karmapa also visited the Benalmadena Stupa and gave the initiation of White Tara. Many photographs from all the events can be seen at the White Umbrella website, here, here and here.
Karol Sleczek teaching in Newcastle, March 2010
From 1-21 March 2010 travelling teacher Karol Sleczek made an epic teaching tour of our UK Diamond Way groups and centres. Karol has been practicing Buddhism for over 30 years. He was one of the first students of Lama Ole Nydahl in his home country of Poland and has been instrumental in the establishment of Diamond Way Buddhism there – today Poland has over 60 Diamond Way Buddhist centres including six retreat centres. Karol, who is also trained in classical philosophy, has been travelling internationally for many years giving lectures and courses on Buddhism at Lama Ole Nydahl’s request. He is highly respected for (more…)
Buddhas in the Swiss Alps (yes, the background is real!)
From 22-24 January 2010, 12 friends took the New London Buddhist Centre road show to Zürich and Amden in Switzerland. Each of our road shows is unique, and following the success of Graz last November, we wanted to continue to make good connections and create positive impressions for the success of the New London Buddhist Centre project. The theme for this road show was “James Bond”. The program also featured typical Swiss cuisine, cheese fondue with powerful pear schnaps, a fantastic party, full English breakfast and of course Buddhist teachings – given by travelling (more…)
In our second retrospective post, we would like to share some inspiring impressions of H.H. 17th Karmapa Trinley Thaye Dorje’s second visit to the UK at the invitation of Diamond Way Buddhism UK, in June 2007.
Reports of other visits of the 17th Karmapa to London can be found here (2005) and here (2009).
Poster for 17th Karmapa in London August 2007
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