EC Blog Archive for the ‘EC Event’ Category

Omlouváme se, tento článek jek dispozici jen v Deutsch a English.

By meike

Only a week after Lama Ole finished a tour of the Nordic countries, many Danes, Finns, Norwegians, and Swedes made their way down to Bavaria to meet again – this time at the EC for the Nordic Country Weekend.

The weather could not have been more welcoming to the Vikings –  icy temperatures at night and warm sunshine with bright blue autumn skies all day long. The perfect setting for the Finnish „Outside adventure“, which saw brilliant performances in disciplines like wheelbarrow races.

For the sanghas of the North, it was a nice opportunity to come together, get to know each other, and focus on the exchange of experiences. Denmark is going to celebrate 40 years of Buddhism in the West next year – we learned a lot about the roots of Buddhism in Western Europe this weekend.

Following the wishes of their teacher, H.H. the 16th Karmapa, Lama Ole and his wife Hannah started one of the first Buddhist Centers in the West in their hometown of Copenhagen in the beginning of the 1970s, after returning from meditating and studying Buddhism for years in the East. Karmapa visited the North for the first time in 1974. Leif Andersen, a contemporary witness and international traveling teacher today, shared lots of inspiring memories and showed pictures from these times. Diamond Way Buddhism in the West started in Skandinavia and Graz – with over 600 centers around the world today.

Rounding up an evening of questions and answers with traveling teachers from all present Nordic countries, the Baucafé saw a very joyful party at night – viking style, of course! This did not stop anyone from showing very informative presentations and telling about the ongoings in their home sanghas on Sunday. Even the very young Icelandic sangha sent greetings and a portrait of their meditation group in Reykjavik via video.

It was certainly a weekend of many new friendships and connections – with lots of fun and tasty regional specialities in and in between the lectures and meetings. Inspired by this weekend, the next and from now on annual meeting of the Nordic sanghas was already fixed for next year in Sweden.

By meike

Last weekend we had a wonderful experience here at the Europe Center. It was a bit rainy and cold, so we were more than happy to stay inside for a weekend, eager to learn about the masters and mistresses of the Karma Kagyu lineage.

Manfred Seegers kicked off the weekend with the opening lecture. He explained buddhist terminology and told us that at the end of the packed weekend, we should understand what „Kagyu“ means, and if not we would need to start again!

On Saturday morning Kerstin Seifert gave the first of two sessions entitled „Indian and Tibetan origins of our lineage“, and gave us an insight into many of the un-named great female masters of the lineage and of what it might have been like to be Buddhist at that time.

Manfred continued in the afternoon, taking us over the mountains from Indian to Tibet and into the time of the Karmapas. On Saturday evening Kerstin and Manfred were joined by Detlev Goebel from „Buddhism Today“ for a question and answer session – with a brief interruption in proceedings for the EC to be connected to Poland, Latvia and other countries for a MoreEC evening via live streaming.

On Sunday the amazing duo concluded the weekend with explanations on the meaning of Guru Yoga practice on the 16th Karmapa and its use through our foundational practices. The perfect end to a wonderfully inspiring weekend!

By cristina

An apple a day keeps the doctor away, as they say…

Well, it was a few more than just one apple that we shook and picked from the trees in the courtyard today – it was literally raining apples! Turns out there were so many this year that we now have 200 liters of tasty, EC grown apple juice for you to enjoy here. Or take a 5 or 10 l pack home to your friends! Please just ask us before we run out.

By meike

By meike

By meike

Žlutá místnost ve vile v EC nyní svítí ještě daleko více než kdy dříve – díky dvěma novým kresbám od malíře thanek jménem Dawa, který je Urekn Lama v Kathmandu v Nepálu.

Na několik týdnů se překrásná místnost zvaná zimní zahrada, z níž je báječný výhled na jezero a okolí, stala Daweovým ateliérem. Na přání Jeho Svátosti 17th Karmapy Trinley Thaye Dorje, namaloval Dawa dva obrazy s motivy draků a pávů, které jsou teď v oválném rámečku nade dveřmi spojujícími žlutý salón se dvěma sousedními místnostmi.

Dawa je v rámci tibetského umění mistrem stylu zvaném Karma Gadri. Se svou ženou a dcerami žije Rumteku v indickém Sikkimu a je blízským studentem 17th Karmapy. Karmapa ho požádal, aby tento styl kresby učil studenty Diamantové cesty po té, co dokončí malování stěn ve velké meditační hale v Karma Guenu ve Španělsku.

Dawa také “otevřel oči” několika soškám Buddhy, například sošce BuddhayMaitreyi (viz obrázek). Budeme mít tu čest, že s Dawou strávíme ještě pár dní, protože během následujícího týdne bude EC hostit svůj první kurz malování thanek.

By meike

Po tři dny probíhaly iniciace na buddhovské aspekty Dlouhého života, které předával Sherab Gyaltsen Rinpoche. První den jsme obdrželi iniciaci na buddhu Amitayuse (Tsepameho), který ztělesňuje aktivitu všech buddhů, podporuje v nás vznik aktivní energie a prodlužuje život. Další den Rinpoche předal zmocnění na Bílou Osvoboditelku (Táru), což je ženský buddha stavu radosti, taktéž pro dlouhý život a sílnou vůli. A poslední den nám Rinpoche předal zmocnění na Namgyalmu (Vítěze). Sada těchto iniciací nám umožní žít dlouhý a smysluplný život ve prospěch všech bytostí… A tato třešnička na dortu byla koncem Mezinárodního letního kurz 2011.

By klara

Ve středu odpoledne přijel do EC vysoce ceněný Lama linie Kagyu Sherab Gyaltsen Rinpoche. Příští ráno v 9 hodin započal 12ti hodinovou meditaci na Milující oči vysvětlením významu mantry OM MANI PEME HUNG, jež je esencí všech manter. Večer pak následovaly otázky studentů a odpovědi Lamy Oleho a prezentace některých center po celém světě. A každý se už těšil na následující dny, na které byly naplánovány iniciace na aspekt buddhy Dlouhého života.

By klara