14th Shamar Rinpoche, Mipham Chokyi Lodro (1952-2014)
We are saddened by the profound loss of our beloved teacher Shamar Rinpoche, who passed away suddenly and unexpectedly yesterday, only a few short days after visiting us in the UK. Below are some messages of condolence as well as encouragement from many eminent Buddhist masters with whom Rinpoche shared a close bond.
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.
The Wish Fulfilling Jewel
Victorious Banner
The “Victorious Banner” (Tib. Gyaltsen) was originally a military standard of ancient Indian warfare. Early Buddhism adopted the banner as a symbol of Buddha Shakyamuni’s triumph over the armies of Mara, the personification of obstacles on the path to enlightenment, whose demonic warriors bore it as an emblem. Legend says that this banner was placed at the summit of Mount Meru, the mythological centre of the cosmos, as a symbol of the Buddha’s victory over the entire universe. The top of the banner was surmounted by the “Wish Fulfilling Jewel” (Tib. Yidzhin Norbu), which is a famous epithet of the Karmapa…
July 2012 marked some of the most significant events in the history of the Karma Kagyu lineage in the United Kingdom: the Wish Fulfilling Jewel appeared once again in the UK, and a victorious banner was raised above the Beaufoy Institute in Lambeth. In the midst of the celebrations of the enormous success, after a long process of planning consultation, in planning permission being granted for Diamond Way Buddhism’s new London Centre at the Beaufoy Institute, H.H. 17th Karmapa Trinley Thaye Dorje arrived in the UK for a momentous 10 day visit.
At the exhibition of Buddhist art in Kennington entitled “Space for Mind, Space for Art: treasures of Tibetan Buddhism, and contemporary responses“, on 29 May 2012, there was a great programme of events and talks about Buddhist art.
We were honoured to have as keynote speaker at the private view Lama Jampa Thaye, a scholar and meditation master trained in the Sakya and Karma Kagyu traditions of Buddhism, who found time in his busy schedule to visit the exhibition and give this wonderful welcoming speech:
The event, a display of some of the finest Buddhist statues ever exhibited in London, was hosted by Diamond Way Buddhism UK. As part of the exhibition, several striking pieces of contemporary art were shown next to the Tibetan Buddhist statues and thangkas. The exhibition was held at The Spring, on Vauxhall Walk in the Kennington area of SE11.
A full report of the event along with photographs will follow soon!
From May 28 to June 3 this year, Diamond Way Buddhism will be hosting in Lambeth, London an exhibition of Tibetan Buddhist Art. The exhibition is entitled ‘Space for Mind, Space for Art: treasures of Tibetan Buddhism, and contemporary responses’. The website for the event is www.spaceforart.org.uk.
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.
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.”
Latest London Blog Posts Europe Center Blog Meditation Research Blog
Follow