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, Read the rest of this entry »
Lama Ole Nydahl’s visit to the UK, September 2010
September 24th, 2010Channel countries weekend at the Europe Center 23-24 October 2010
September 23rd, 2010The Europe Center blog recently announced this event!
Near Death Experiences During Cardiac Arrest – Dr. Sam Parnia
September 17th, 2010A few days ago many read with interest our blog entry concerning the work of British scientist Dr. Sam Parnia (author of “What Happens When We Die“) on the scientific study of death. We’re following this up with the video of a recent lecture by Dr. Parnia on “Near Death Experiences During Cardiac Arrest”, which was given at the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit (APRU), Goldsmiths, University of London, on 23 March 2010. in the lecture, Dr. Parnia makes the case that Western science needs to re-examine its views about the mind and the brain, and that perhaps “the mind is a separate, undiscovered entity to the brain”. We present the lecture here in connection with Lama Ole Nydahl’s forthcoming lecture in London on “Death and Rebirth“, as much of what Dr. Parnia discusses has commonalities with the Tibetan Buddhist teachings about the experience of mind during and after the death process. the lecture lasts over 50 minutes but is well worth watching in full.
Dr Sam Parnia: Near Death Experiences During Cardiac Arrest from APRU on Vimeo.
What Happens When We Die?
September 14th, 2010What Happens When We Die?
By M.J. STEPHEY Thursday, Sep. 18, 2008
A fellow at New York City’s Weill Cornell Medical Center, Dr. Sam Parnia is one of the world’s leading experts on the scientific study of death. Last week Parnia and his colleagues at the Human Consciousness Project announced their first major undertaking: a 3-year exploration of the biology behind “out-of-body” experiences. The study, known as AWARE (AWAreness during REsuscitation), involves the collaboration of 25 major medical centers through Europe, Canada and the U.S. and will examine some 1,500 survivors of cardiac arrest. TIME spoke with Parnia about the project’s origins, its skeptics and the difference between the mind and the brain.
What sort of methods will this project use to try and verify people’s claims of “near-death” experience?
When your heart stops beating, there is no blood getting to your brain. And so what happens is that within about 10 sec., brain activity ceases —as you would imagine. Yet paradoxically, 10% or 20% of people who are then brought back to life from that period, which may be a few minutes or over an hour, will report having consciousness. So the key thing here is, Read the rest of this entry »
Lama Ole Nydahl – Tibetan Buddhist Teachings on Death and Rebirth
September 11th, 2010In connection with Lama Ole Nydahl’s upcoming teachings in London on death and rebirth we reproduce here the following transcript from a lecture given in Australia in the mid 1990’s. It is also held on the Buddhanet website.
The Tibetan Buddhist teachings on death and rebirth are unique and very complete. They usually interest everybody who gets them. In order to understand about death and rebirth, it’s important to begin by observing the nature of our mind. Looking at the mind we often think that there are two things. There is something seeing and there is something being seen. There is a mirror there, the picture is in the mirror. There is that which observes and that which is being observed. But if we look for true duality this cannot be found. Where does every thought and feeling and experience come from? It comes from the open clear space of the mind. Who knows it? The open clear space of the mind. Where does it change? It changes inside that open clear space and it also returns to it again. So, if we look for the mind we see that it’s not two things, the seer and the things seen, the experiencer and the experienced. They are not two, but one totality manifesting in two ways. There is the timeless aspect, which is like the ocean, and there is the changing aspect inside time, which is like the waves coming and going in the ocean. And we cannot say that the things either are or are not the thoughts and feelings, either are or are not the mind. They appear there, they are known by it. They disappear there again. Of course they are felt to be different and they are experienced as different. We see them as something apart.
Lama Ole Nydahl in London 21-22 September 2010
September 1st, 2010This September, Lama Ole Nydahl will visit London as part of his only official public teaching programme in the UK in 2010. His teachings will be preceded by a series of lectures by three of his experienced students who work in the fields of academia and science. Lama Ole Nydahl has visited London many times before and his lectures have drawn hundreds of attendees.
Lama Ole Nydahl in Brighton, 20 September 2010
August 31st, 2010Lama Ole Nydahl will teach in Brighton for the first time on 20 September 2010. This is the advertisement for his lecture (click on image to enlarge).
Lama Ole Nydahl on Death and Rebirth – Video
August 18th, 2010Lama Ole Nydahl is one of the foremost teachers in the West today regarding death and rebirth. In this brief video he explains how our state of our mind in life affects the nature and quality of our experiences in death, and that our true essence is unborn and can never die. Lama Ole Nydahl will give more in-depth teachings on death and rebirth from the perspective of Diamond Way Buddhism in London on 22 September 2010.