Buddhism in the West

Since the beginning of the nineteenth century t Westerners’ interest in Buddhism has been growing rapidly. After the World War 2 people got more interested in the Buddhist methods of working with the mind. 

Gradually, various Buddhists directions ceased to be closely associated with Asian culture and started to develop their own Western style. Nowadays, in some countries, e.g. France, the teachings are still transmitted by monks and nuns, while in Germanic and Slavic countries lay Buddhism is widely practiced. In the USA one can find a variety of mixed styles. Lay Buddhism creates an opportunity to integrate the teachings into one’s everyday life. The view and meditation supported by meaningful action make Buddhist practice more and more a part of one’s everyday life. 

Nowadays Europe is witnessing a dynamic development of Diamond Way Buddhism of the Karma Kagyu Lineage. In 1972 His Holiness the 16th Karmapa Rigpe Dorje, the head of Karma Kagyu school in Tibet, asked his two Western disciples, Lama OleNydahl and Hannah Nydahl, to start teaching Buddhism in Europe. Since then Lama Ole Nydahl has been travelling, teaching and running meditation courses  around the world. Hannah Nydahl supported her husband's work until her death in 2007. As a translator from Tibetan into English, Danish and German she worked with the highest Tibetan teachers of the Karma Kagyu school. She translated texts on Buddhist philosophy as well as all the meditation texts used today. The Buddha's teachings transmitted by Lama Ole Nydahl and Hannah Nydahl have inspired people so deeply that they meet today in order to meditate and study in over 613 centers in 44 countries around the world. These centers are based on friendship and idealism, they function on the basis of voluntary work of people who feel involved. In some countries Diamond Way Buddhism of the Karma Kagyu Lineage has the  status of an association, whereas in others, like Poland, it has the  status of a religion.

Would you like to know more?
Recommended websites in English
icon1 www.diamondway-buddhism.org
(Worldwide Diamond Way Buddhism website)

icon1www.karmapa.org
(HH 17th Karmapa Trinley Thaye Dorje web page)

icon1www.europe-center.org
(The International Diamond Way Buddhist Project)

icon1www.lama-ole-nydahl.org
(Lama Ole Nydahl web page)

icon1 streaming.dwbn.org
(Diamond Way teachings website)

icon1www.youtube.com/user/
BuddhismDiamondWay
(You Tube chanel with Lama Ole Nydahl's lectures)

© Diamond Way Buddhism Karma Kagyu Lineage Association