All ‘London Buddhist Centre’ posts

Lama Ole Nydahl visits London and the Beaufoy Institute, January 2013

Saturday, February 2nd, 2013
Old electricity switch in the Beaufoy Institute building

Old electricity switch in the Beaufoy Institute building

From 23-27 January 2013, Lama Ole Nydahl visited London for a momentous and action-packed visit. Arriving at Heathrow Airport at lunchtime on Wednesday 23 January, fresh from his winter tour of Russia, Lama Ole with his travelling group including Tomek Lehnert were greeted by members of the London sangha as well as Caty Hartung, who had already arrived one day previously. The main focus of the visit was the London Diamond Way Buddhist Centre‘s new home at the Beaufoy Institute in Lambeth, the sale of which had completed on the auspicious day of 21 January (a Guru Rinpoche day). Caty had already spent quite a lot of time the previous day with friends in London, sharing her decades of experience in building up Diamond Way Buddhist Centres, and helping to answer many important practical questions about the big project ahead to transform the building.

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12-12-12: The Bardo Ends

Wednesday, December 12th, 2012

Lama Ole Nydahl, H.H. Karmapa, Lama Jigme Rinpoche and friends outside the Beaufoy Institute

Today, 12/12/12, marks the end of the three-month statutory waiting period or “intermediate state” (Tib. Bardo), after which final approval for planning permission for the Beaufoy Institute could be confirmed. During this time the opportunity was present for a judicial review to be launched into Lambeth Council’s decision to grant Diamond Way Buddhism UK planning permission to turn the Beaufoy into our new Buddhist centre. However, no such appeal was lodged, reconfirming the satisfaction of all parties with Lambeth’s decision.

We are therefore pleased to share the delightful news that there is now nothing holding us back from completing the sale of the Beaufoy Institute and moving into our new home and headquarters in Lambeth’s future London Diamond Way Buddhist Centre, a big and representative centre for the Karma Kagyu lineage in South London.

We would like to show our recognition of the enormous amount of meticulous planning, hard work, compromise and personal sacrifice made by people too numerous to name individually, both from within the Karma Kagyu Dharma family, and from Lambeth’s community. It was these people whose unrelenting efforts – particularly from March 2012 when the planning consultation opened – led us to this triumphant result.

On the international Diamond Way Buddhism website, there’s a new article where you can read more about our project for a new Diamond Way Buddhist centre in Lambeth.

Celebration! Diamond Way paves the way to London’s largest Buddhist Centre

Monday, July 9th, 2012
Initial design for the New London Diamond Way Buddhist Centre at the Beaufoy Institute, Lambeth

Initial design for the New London Diamond Way Buddhist Centre at the Beaufoy Institute, Lambeth

On 3 July 2012, Diamond Way Buddhism was granted Planning Permission to complete the sale of the Beaufoy Institute, 39 Black Prince Road, Lambeth. We will transform the Beaufoy into the biggest Buddhist meditation centre in central London, and brought back into use for the whole community. Our vision for the Beaufoy is one that will breathe new life into the building, preserving the heritage of the original listed building, whilst ensuring it meets the needs of the Buddhist community in London, local people in Lambeth and London as a whole (click on thumbnails below to see artists impressions of the project).

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Video of Diamond Way Buddhism’s exhibition “Space for Art” in Lambeth

Thursday, June 28th, 2012

This video captures the “Space for Mind, Space for Art” exhibition in Lambeth, London at The Spring from 28th May – 3rd June 2012, the first major exhibition the Diamond Way Foundation has undertaken in the UK. The exhibition linked Tibetan Buddhist treasures with modern art and local artists.

Diamond Way Buddhism’s exhibition “Space for Art” in Lambeth draws acclaim

Monday, June 25th, 2012

The “Space for Mind, Space for Art” exhibition was the first major exhibition the Diamond Way Foundation has undertaken in London or the UK. For the first time the exhibition linked the treasures of Tibetan Buddhism to modern art and local artists.  It was held in Lambeth at The Spring from 28th May – 3rd June 2012, and was made possible by a number of donors and sponsors.

Diamond Way Buddhism exhibition setup at The Spring, Lambeth

The interior of The Spring was transformed into a gallery

The exhibition aimed to build a rich and atmospheric experience for people to enter into the realms of the Buddhas and a contemporary art response. This came from local artists in Lambeth whose works were displayed alongside pieces of national significance kindly loaned by the British Council Collection.

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Lama Ole Nydahl’s forthcoming visit to London, Manchester, Exeter, November 2011

Monday, October 31st, 2011

Lama Ole Nydahl will teach in London, Exeter and Manchester this November.
This will be Lama Ole Nydahl’s 26th visit to London. He will teach about “Buddhism in the Modern World” at the Camden Centre in Euston. He will also have public lectures in Manchester and Exeter.
Click on the images to enlarge, and visit the Diamond Way Buddhism UK website for further details.

Lama Ole Nydahl in London November 2011

Lama Ole Nydahl in London November 2011


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Video advertisement for Lama Ole Nydahl’s forthcoming visit to London, Exeter and Manchester, November 2011

Wednesday, October 12th, 2011

In November, Lama Ole Nydahl will come on a UK tour, starting in Manchester, going on to Exeter in the south of England and finishing up in the capital, London. In each city, Lama Ole Nydahl will give public lectures and visit the local Buddhist centre. Lama Ole Nydahl founded the Diamond Way Buddhist meditation centres in Manchester, Exeter, and London.
 

 
Full details of Lama Ole Nydahl’s UK visit can be found at our website www.buddhism.org.uk

Opening the Buddhas’ eyes in the London Centre

Sunday, November 21st, 2010
Intense concentration is needed to paint the fine details of the Buddha's eyes

Intense concentration is needed to paint the fine details of the Buddha's eyes

When Lama Ole Nydahl visited London in September 2010 and blessed the newly-filled Buddha statues (see this blog entry) he recommended that we “open their eyes”. So earlier in November 2010, our London Buddhist Centre was transformed into a workshop, where a group of friends spent a long weekend working with these centre statues as well as a collection of smaller statues belonging to individuals. This delicate “eye-opening” process involves painting the heads and faces of the statues with gold and specially prepared paint, as well as adding precious stones in places such as the crowns and ornaments of certain forms. Leo Grzyb was invited from Slovakia to London to guide the workshop. Leo has spent several years studying traditional Kagyu Buddhist art under the close tutelage of Denzong Norbu, probably the greatest living master of the Karma Gardri style of thangka painting who received its transmission directly from the 16th Karmapa. We’d like to share some impressions from the workshop, click on the thumbnails below to enlarge.

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