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

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


Read the rest of this entry »

moreEC movie

October 24th, 2011

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.

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

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

Lama Ole Nydahl – Introduction to Mahamudra

October 8th, 2011
Lama Ole Nydahl teaching in 2010

Lama Ole Nydahl teaching in 2010

This teaching was published in 2001 in edition 9 of the magazine “Buddhism Today”

Buddhism Today Vo.9

Buddhism Today Vol.9

Any observation of the outer and inner worlds refers one to mind. Only mind is constantly and truly present, although not as a “something.” Consciousness is like space, unchanging and timeless, while its objects are conditioned. Both the outer world and beings’ inner states appear, change, and disappear. Only the experiencer is timeless, limitless, and everywhere.

The Great Seal, Mahamudra in Sanskrit and Chag Chen in Tibetan, was taught by Buddha to fully awaken mind’s potential and to seal its enlightened nature. Whoever rests in the radiance of the mirror while enjoying its images, and recognizes the indestructibility of the ocean beneath the play of the waves, has reached this goal.

The path there is a steadily increasing experience of richness and the bliss which enlightenment makes permanent. It already begins to manifest in short and weakened forms during the moments when no habits or expectations distract mind. Also non-meditators may taste some of this power during the free fall before the parachute opens or on a fast motorcycle, and all (hopefully) know it from sexual union. It appears in a flash when sneezing, as the joyful “a-ha” at a new and striking insight, or when one shares in the goodness or joy of others. Meditation, however, is the concise and scientific way to make this state permanent. In particular, the three “old” or “red hat” schools of Tibetan Buddhism, which focus on the Diamond Way practices of view and transformation, can make such moments into a lasting experience. Even a short exchange with a holder of the Great Seal of awareness can set off this maturation process, but a close friendship with him, or one’s co-operation in his groups is always the most effective method. In meditation, as in life, one will then experience a growing and joyful oneness with phenomena until suffering and frustrations are definitely seen as something unnecessary and odd.

Read the rest of this entry »

A blast from the past… Gendun Rinpoche on the 16th Karmapa’s 1977 visit to the West

September 25th, 2011
From the 1977 underground publication "International Times"

From the 1977 underground publication "International Times"

We just stumbled upon an interesting and historic text published in an ameteur ‘underground’ newsletter from 1977. “The International Times,” as it was called, seems to have been produced by and aimed at the UK’s hippy subculture, and ran regularly between the late sixties and mid eighties. There is now an online archive displaying these publications. The text in question concerns the 16th Karmapa, and is written by the great Kagyu master Lama Gendun Rinpoche in France, in anticipation of the 16th Karmapa’s second visit to the West in 1977. As one can see by the design and presentation of the text, in those times the hippy generation had become interested in Tibetan Buddhism. In more recent times, as interest in Tibetan Buddhism became more widespread and mainstream, and particularly with the Diamond Way Buddhist centres established by Hannah and Lama Ole Nydahl, the Kagyu teachings moved from the fringes to the middle of Western society, free of the confusion and mixing of spiritual teachings, which often characterized those earlier days.

The newsletter states: “His Holiness the Gyalwa Karmapa is expected here in June [1977]. He will probably stay here for eight weeks. The precise date of his arrival is uncertain because, due to the success of his tour of the U.S., his stay there keeps getting prolonged. Gendun Rinpoche will be giving a three-week teaching course in Hay for those who can camp. Anyone interested in further details should write to the centre.”

The full text by Gendun Rinpoche is presented below.

Read the rest of this entry »

Hevajra Tantra

September 10th, 2011
Oh Diamond (Skt. Hevajra, Tib. Kye Dorje)

Oh Diamond (Skt. Hevajra, Tib. Kye Dorje)

All beings are buddhas

But this is concealed by adventitious stains.

When their stains are purified, their buddhahood is revealed.

– Hevajra Tantra

Spotlight on the Copenhagen Diamond Way Buddhist Centre

September 5th, 2011
Copenhagen Diamond Way Buddhist Centre

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.

Read the rest of this entry »

Radiant Goddess and Black Coat

August 23rd, 2011
Black Coat in union with Radiant Goddess

Black Coat in union with Radiant Goddess

This 19th Century thangka from Eastern Tibet is in the collection of the Rubin Museum of Art. Today’s update to the Himalayan Art Resource website states:

Read the rest of this entry »