Lama Ole Nydahl – fantastic unofficial picture gallery

April 25th, 2010

We just stumbled upon this fantastic website by Jes Roger Petersen, a Danish student of Lama Ole Nydahl who is clearly a very talented photographer. There are some wonderful pictures from various teachings and events with Lama Ole Nydahl since 2005. We hope you enjoy them as much as we did!

Follow this link to visit the site: http://lamafoto.dk/

Lama Ole Nydahl Video – Discover Your Potential

April 24th, 2010

Lama Ole Nydahl explains that the goal of Buddhism is very simple: to discover our potential and bring forth all the qualities we have inside, all the possibilities and all the richness. There is no big change or revolution necessary as Buddhism starts from where we are and helps us to unfold our potential step by step.

Lama Ole Nydahl explains how to get happy and how to get inspired day by day: “We do not get happy by outer things, it is our mind, which gets happy.”

Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye on “the mantra approach”

April 21st, 2010

Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye (1813-1899) was one of the most prominent Buddhist masters in the 19th century and holder of the Karma Kagyu lineage.

Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye (1813-1899)

Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye (1813-1899)

“In the Mantra approach, with its many methods and few austerities, a person of sharp faculties and high intelligence may gather the two accumulations during all activities and never do even a trace of anything meaningless.”

– Jamgon Kongtrul Lodrö Thaye, The Outline of Essential Points – Published as “Creation & completion: essential points of tantric meditation” (Wisdom Publications, 2005)

Books in Diamond Way Centres: Recommended reading Pt.2

April 19th, 2010

In the second of a series of entries, we present Buddhist books from the “recommended reading list” for students of Diamond Way Buddhism by various authors, together with links to a reliable UK-based supplier, Wisdom Books. This group of books includes life stories of great Buddhist practitioners.

Entering the Diamond Way – Tibetan Buddhism Meets the West

Lama Ole Nydahl

This is the genuinely compelling story, and spiritual odyssey, of Ole and Hannah Nydahl, who in 1968 became the first Western students of the great Tibetan master, His Holiness the 16th Gyalwa Karmapa. Their exciting travels on the worn path between the green lowlands of Europe to the peaks of the Himalayas, led them to experience the skilful teachings of numerous Tibetan lamas who helped transform their lives into “limitless clarity and joy.” From their first contact with Tibetan Buddhism in Kathmandu in the form of a lama with extraordinary psychic powers, Ole and Hannah encountered the full spectrum of the Buddhist view. Their real aim in writing this book is “to form a bridge between two worlds, and especially to share with all who are looking for their true being… an introduction to a time-proven way to Enlightenment.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Support the victims of the Kham Earthquake

April 15th, 2010

Link for donations: https://secure.groundspring.org/dn/index.php?aid=25331

Earthquake in Kham (Picture: AP)

As you will know from the news, a massive earthquake has destroyed much of Yushu, the regional centre of a remote part of Qinghai province in China. Yushu is the Chinese name for Jyekundo, the biggest town in Kham, Eastern Tibet. The neighboring areas have also been badly affected, though it isn’t easy to access exact information on these remote places. An enormous proportion of the buildings have been destroyed, the current death toll is around 600, and 3000 people are wounded. The number of casualties is still on the rise and rescuers report that Read the rest of this entry »

Lama Ole Nydahl on Happiness

April 15th, 2010

Lama Ole Nydahl gave this talk at a Seminar on Psychology in Basel, Switzerland. It was originally printed in the magazine Buddhism Today in 1998 and can also be read here.

Lama Ole Nydahl

Happiness, by Lama Ole Nydahl

What do Buddhist teachings say concerning happiness?.. Basically, in Buddhism one makes a separation between conditioned and unconditioned happiness, between a relative and an absolute kind. Relative happiness has to do with experiences, absolute happiness has to do with experiencer itself. When one watches the outer world, the factories, streets, houses and cars, it is evident that they were made because beings wanted to experience something pleasant. Hospitals and prisons, on the other hand, were built in order to avoid certain kinds of suffering. Actually, beings constantly try to change outer conditions with the aim of Read the rest of this entry »

Books in Diamond Way Centres: Recommended reading Pt.1

April 12th, 2010

In the first of a series of blog entries, we present Buddhist books from the “recommended reading list” for students of Diamond Way Buddhism by various authors, together with links to a reliable UK-based supplier, Wisdom Books. These books are also available, for example, in the libraries of many of our UK groups and centres. This first group of books cover general topics in Buddhism.

The Way Things Are – A Living Approach to Buddhism for Today’s World

Lama Ole Nydahl

In this new and updated edition, Lama Ole Nydahl asks: What is Buddhism today? How do the Buddha’s teachings utilize the full potential of our being? Through which practices may we experience mind as limitless space and bliss? How can one use the daily joys and difficulties of one’s job, family, or partnerships for spiritual growth? A very good introduction to Buddhism in General and the Diamond Way in particular.

O Books Publishing (2008) ISBN: 978-1-84694-042-2

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The Dharma That Illuminates All Beings Impartially

Kalu Rinpoche

A complete manual of the Buddhist path. This collection of teachings by the late renowned Kagyu master Kalu Rinpoche, one of the main teachers of Hannah and Lama Ole Nydahl, were given in America in 1982 and cover a wide range of topics, including the Four Dharmas of Gampopa, accomplishments, women in Buddhism, the Four Noble Truths, the Bardo, mandala offerings, taking refuge, commitments and the levels of Read the rest of this entry »

Karol Sleczek UK Tour, March 2010

April 8th, 2010
Karol Sleczek

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 Read the rest of this entry »