Jigme Rinpoche’s visit at the EC

On Lama Ole’s invitation, Jigme Rinpoche visited the Europe Center from 25th till 29th of October.

Jigme Rinpoche was both a relative and a student of 16th Karmapa Ranjung Rigpe Dorje and was appointed by him to be his representative in Europe. He was sent to Dhagpo Kagyu Ling in Dordogne, France. He is often asked by Lama Ole to teach and share his knowledge in our Diamond Way Buddhist courses.

More than 500 of international friends got together again at the Europe Center to enjoy the timeless teachings, beautiful autumn weather, and each other’s company. The atmosphere was very warm and smooth.

The weekend started on Friday evening with storytelling from Maggie Lehnert. On Lama Ole’s request the title was Tomek: A Hero’s Story. Tomek Lehnert – the right hand of Lama Ole and a tireless coordinator of his work – died this year after many years of his priceless and crucial work. It was the first time many practitioners could come together to listen to Maggie telling stories of her brother Tomek, who was a friend and inspiration for all of us.

Saturday morning started with a meditation session and with Ngöndro explanations by traveling teachers. In the afternoon the program with Jigme Rinpoche started. He gave teachings on compassion. There was also plenty of time for questions and some stories about 16th Karmapa.

Jigme Rinpoche was very generous by giving us a lot of his time to answer our questions in his profound, easy and effortless way. Although this was only three hours, it felt like we would have spent the whole day with Rinpoche and could get a glimpse of his experience.

On Sunday, Jigme Rinpoche gave us the empowerment of Loving Eyes, the Buddha of Compassion and of non-discriminating love. Rinpoche ́s clear explanations and restful pace made it easy to follow the empowerment.

Monday we had the great joy as a sangha, including our local Buddhist community and the many international friends who stayed, to have dinner together with Jigme Rinpoche. Afterward, we had a big gift from Rinpoche: a storytelling evening with him. He told many stories about 16th Karmapa. After a couple of hours of storytelling, we finished this precious time with Rinpoche by a meditation.

(Tiina)