EC Blog Archive for the ‘About the EC’ Category

Sometimes one week at the Europe Center feels like a whole month. Like the last one. It’s not even over yet, still already it was full of nice little spontaneous events. It started on Sunday with a sangha brunch and easteregg hunt for the kids, followed by at least two BBQs during the week. Some of us worked or meditated outside, others enjoyed the garden with their children under blossoming apple trees.

Tuesday night was packed with presentations. A report about Lama Ole’s recent 4 week tour through Australia and New Zealand gave impressions not only of the breathtaking scenery but also on the different development stages of Buddhism there compared to Europe. Just as an example – a Mahamudra course with Lama Ole teaching about the nature of mind that would probably attract at least 1.000 people in Germany would hardly exceed a number of 250 listeners in Australia at this point in time. Also in Australia and New Zealand there is definitely a growing interest in the Buddha’s teachings and meditation. However due to different conditions historically, culturally and practically, Buddhism is not yet as much the focus of interest as on this side of the globe – but well on its way for sure!

Caty and our resident architect Támas introduced us to the plans for the renovation of the Shri Karma Raja Maha Vihar Monastery at Swayambuh, which is located right next to the world’s oldest stupa in Kathmandu, Nepal. To Diamond Way Buddhism, this is a very special and historical place – not only is it the main residence for H.H. the 17th Karmapa Trinley Thaye Dorje when he is in Nepal, but it is the place where Hannah and Ole Nydahl met the 16th Karmapa Rangjung Rigpe Dorje for the very first time. A few years later, he asked them to bring Buddhism to the West and carry on his activity there…

… and today Buddhism in the West is so big that we need a new building for the Europe Center in order to accomodate more friends from all over the world! On paper, it is already taking on quite precise form. We got a peek at the architects’ updated plans during our center meeting. A blog with frequently updated information about the progress of the plans will be online soon.

On Friday evening we could hardly believe our eyes – a bright double rainbow stretched across the Alpsee lake for 15 minutes, right outside our windows. Afterwards, Pit Weigelt gave an inspiring lecture about the “Actions of Bodhisattvas”. A Bodhisattva is a fully realized being taking on rebirths in order to help others on their way to liberation and enlightenment – or someone with the wish to become enlightened for the benefit of all. A Bodhisattva works tirelessly out of active, respectful and loving compassion for everyone else’s well-being instead of his or her own.

“Doing the right thing in the right place at the right time for the maximum benefit of others – and therefore acting in a way that all people you meet will afterwards always feel it was worth their time that they met with you!”

By meike

Temperatures are already suitable for summer these days – some fearless ones are even considering to jump into the lake in order to cool down already… However, for now we decided to stick to cake and coffee in the garden and lunch on the terrace overviewing the lake.

Spring in Allgäu is short but immensely colourful. The meadows are all green and yellow, the little cherry trees we planted last year around the parking space are in full bloom for the first time, and the kids are very busy making flower garlands.

Talk about the EC kids – our youngest resident Robin was born last week and went for his first walk in the sun with mommy Verena today. Judging from his name, he is determined to follow in his dad’s footsteps in taking good care of our forest! Well, okay… maybe we give him a few years to grow into them first!

Congratulations and best wishes to Verena and Jürgen on their beautiful offspring!

By meike

A couple of days that were supposed to be the Polish Country Weekend at the EC turned out to be a weekend course with Lama Ole – organised by Poles!

Polish friends step by step were taking over the Europe Center many days ahead of the planned weekend. Due to the registration process, we knew that there would be plenty of friends arriving not only from every part of Poland but also from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria, Switzerland, England, Ireland, France and Germany. On Friday evening, after a wonderful welcome at the EC, we had a chance to taste a delicious Polish dinner. Afterwards everybody gathered in the big gompa tent for presentations of some Polish retreat centers, city centers and buddhist projects. To the great astonishment of many, Lama Ole, who was in book retreat at this time, joined us and made memorable comments during the Kuchary retreat center presentation: “It was from here where all the Buddhism in Eastern Europe and Russia started.” After greeting everybody and wishing us a very good evening, the Lama left and Tomek Lehnert started a lecture: “Teacher-Student-Relationship – my 20 years on the road with Lama Ole and Hannah”. Late at night, after the lecture, many friends joined the „Take It Easy” Kick-off party featuring a beatbox concert by Blady Kris and we enjoyed it to great extent.

Saturday morning started with a common meditation on the 16th Karmapa. After that everybody enjoyed having breakfast outside, since the weather was unusually sunny and warm. Later on we listened to the inspiring Caty who was telling about the Europe Center and the plans for its development. After a traditionally Polish cuisine lunch everybody gathered in the tent because the most important part of the weekend was about to start: „The History of Diamond Way Buddhism in Poland” Part 1. Polish travelling teachers: Mira Boboli, Maggie Lehnert, Wojtek Lehnert, Wojtek Tracewski, Rafał Olech, Włodek Wiszka and Marcin Barański together with Wojtek Kossowski and special guest Ania Czapnik were describing the very beginning of Buddhism in Poland. Another great surprise happened – our wonderful Lama Ole decided to spend more time with all of us. He joined us not only during the afternoon session but also he gave a lecture in the evening. Wonderful! Spontaneity is one of Polish distinctive features – therefore the whole day schedule was immediately changed. It was not the only time, as we all were to find out later. During the Lama’s evening lecture we had many friends here and Lama Ole’s last sentence that night was: “So what do I have in the program tomorrow? Bodhisattva promise and blessings?”. We couldn’t believe it We finished the day with a great party and an auction where many friends shared their generosity and donated some money to support the EC. The party powered by DJ Romero went on until early Sunday morning

After a late breakfast on Sunday morning there was a presentation of a great exhibition “Buddha Travelling West”, which we prepared especially for the EC. Afterwards all of us gave the Boddhisatva promise. It was very touching experience for all of us. Lama Ole gave a short speech. What made the strongest impression was one of the Lama’s sentences: “The active patience means to travel very far away to meet your teacher”. The blessing afterwards lasted till 6 p.m. Everybody who was visiting the Europe Center for the first time got a great gift – a set of relics from many European initiations – which were given out in 2008 during the first International EC Summer Course.

All of us were totally amazed by everything that happened this weekend and now the EC is a familiar place for all of us. We would like to visit the Europe Center as often as possible. It is much closer then we thought. See you soon!

The Polish Sangha

By hubert

The further and longer the journey, the greater and even more heartfelt the welcome back home!?! Apparently!

Close to 100 friends came to greet the Lama and Caty early last night. The two might have been jet-lagged after long flights home from New Zealand via San Francisco – however, it did not stop them from sharing some news and stories of the exciting past weeks in Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand later on in the Baucafé.

Lama Ole will spend a week in work retreat at the Europe Center before traveling on to the Czech Republic, Denmark, Warsaw and Berlin – mainly working on books, writing articles and answering his students’ letters and requests.

By meike

During Lama Ole’s 4 week tour of Australia and New Zealand, we were deeply impressed how much the Europe Center is in the hearts of the friends there. Many already made the long journey from the other side of the globe at least once, some are planning to come, and over 25 are already supporting the project with regular donations as an I Grow EC member – sometimes even though they have not been here themselves yet!

The interest in what’s been going on at the EC and what the plans for the new building are is so great that we did three presentations to keep everyone in the loop – in Perth, Canberra and Christchurch.

So what motivates the Aussie and Kiwi EC growers to give their support?

“Without question, the No. 1 function for me is that the EC is the hub where connections are made and experiences are exchanged.”

“I loved it, and had a very hard time leaving. I met so many wonderful people, reestablished numerous old, old connections, fell in love, and worked my head off in a whirlwind that tested boundaries and proved conclusively that most of them are purely concepts.”

“Transmission!!!”

“Memories? Taking breaks with Markus, sitting on the table in front of the barn also always brings a smile to my face. And working behind the bar in the Baucafe. And and and…”

“I was blown away by the scenery. For an Australian it was quite amazing – a picture postcard come to life.”

“I understand that the EC will be the center of information, inspiration and coordination for Diamond Way buddhist activity all around the world. And if we want to see buddhism growing – we need to grow the EC!”

Yep, agree! And by the way – you don’t have to live in Australia or New Zealand to grow our Europe Center, of course.

By meike

Following a 100-year-old tradition of the Gut Hochreute (which is now the Europe Center), we had again the chance to process our own freshly cut wood. The team — Jürgen, Holger, Torsten, Michael, Alfons, Bea, Anja, Thies, Lotar & Berndt to name a few — has used a special wood-splitting machine to prepare quality firewood that we can use later for heating or even selling. The firewood is then placed in a newly built storage to dry properly.

To our great pleasure, the weather has substantially changed in the last days and hopefully left winter definitely behind us. Although, knowing the local proverb: “never trust a spring in Allgäu”, don’t take it as a malfunction if you see snowing on our live webcam soon again . Until then we’ll be enjoying the sunny, beautiful days…

By hubert

Modern communication technology knows no distances. The International Travelling Teachers’ meeting at the EC kicked of on Friday with a 90 minute conference call to Lama Ole, who is currently touring Australia. After this “meeting”, the present travelling teachers as well as the Europe Center team were happy to be the first ones congratulating the Lama on his 70th birthday – from the EC Diamond Room straight to Australia’s Gold Coast.

To follow Lama Ole on his way through Australia and New Zealand and to see more pictures of his birthday, please have a look at his flickr page and at the live tour page!

We would like to thank Lama Ole for his tireless and ever inspiring work for the benefit of all – and wish him many, many happy returns!!!

By meike

Last Tuesday we had the pleasure to listen to a lecture by Steven James. He gave us an inspiring teaching on the topic “Wisdom and Compassion”. We agreed beforehand to have a short talk to allow more time for mediation. In keeping with the wishes of the XVII Karmapa Trinley Thaye Dorje and Lama Olewe did the Loving Eyes (Tib. Chenrezig) meditation, a practice for the development of compassion, and dedicated the merit to the people of Japan.

By hubert

The EC never sleeps, even when the EC team is gone. While our team was gone off to Schwarzenberg, the Brühl sangha took over the EC and continued with their project to turn the rough-looking Diamond Room into a beautiful gompa. Enjoy their report and pictures from the weekend!

On a cold thursday morning our Brühl sangha left their lovely hometown to head to the EC to finish a project that started in October 2010. Regardless of the annual carnival and the charming Rhineland tradition of “bützen” — you are being kissed by strangers in costumes on the street — we decided that building and meditation might possibly be of more benefit.

As soon as we arrived the whole EC team left… we felt a bit like “Kevin being home alone” but after having successfully checked the kitchen storage to make sure we would survive we relaxed… and got started. Over the weekend, we finished the refurbishing of the Diamond room – all walls are snow-white now all the way to the rooftop, emphasizing the original wooden-beam structure holding the roof. Our people did an astonishing job balancing on narrow wooden boards to reach to the very top, with this training they could now easily join any circus .

One of the friends is working with a pro-designer and he used his experience to do a great job on the stairway. The ladies also sowed a white curtain to hide the shelves with meditation cushions and other material at the back of the room. As an add-on, we also finished covering the pipes at the basement of the villa.

Thank you, EC, so very much for having us and giving us the opportunity to be of help! We enjoyed it greatly and already have the next project on our mind: how about a slide from up the hill down to the lake? ;o)

Your Brühlers

By Martin

Over the last weeks we enjoyed lots of spontaneous talks on different Buddhist topics. Only to mention a few friends – our “resident” international traveling teachers Charlotte, Cristina, Maike and Pit, plus Steve from London, Honza from the Czech Republic, Peter from Liverpool, Maxi and Gerhard from Austria, Wojtek from Poland, Egle from Lithuania, Gerd from Northern Germany and Karola from our neighbouring center in Schwarzenberg.

Some of them Lama Ole already asked decades ago to travel and teach Diamond Way Buddhism on an international level – in order to support his efforts of making Buddhist teachings available in the modern Western world. So what exactly makes a traveling teacher a traveling teacher?

Lama Ole Nydahl: “Our traveling teachers are asked to teach because of their life experience, Buddhist understanding, and completely keeping their bonds. They represent Buddha’s three ways in a transparent manner. Outwardly, they harm beings as little as possible. Inwardly, they enjoy working for others. They have compassion, and enough understanding of emptiness to see things as inspiring, dreamlike and in a broad context. This stability must not falter in the face of their own upcoming difficulties. They must always be willing to risk their skin for the benefit of others. Secretly, they should have a firm conviction and some experience that space equals joy, and therefore radiate this confidence into the world.” (taken from Buddhism Today, Vol.4, 1998)

We think they are doing precisely that and would like to thank all of them for sharing their time and knowledge and inspiring us deeply!

By meike