Issue 51 (Spring/Summer 2023)

As we continue to celebrate fifty years of Diamond Way Buddhism, activity around the world is moving full speed ahead. There is great anticipation for the visit of Thaye Dorje, His Holiness the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa, and the inauguration of the Enlightenment Stupa at the Europe Center this summer.

In this issue, we return again to Karmapa’s commentary on the Way of the Bodhisattvas with a further excerpt, in which he shares his timeless insights and poignant humor with our readers in his own unique way.

Over fifty years ago, Lama Ole Nydahl and Hannah Nydahl started their activity in the West at the behest of the 16th Gyalwa Karmapa. Right from the start, Jigme Rinpoche accompanied this activity like no other Rinpoche. He visited many of the centers, and also taught at many of the courses with Lama Ole. In an in-depth interview, he shares his thoughts and stories from the last fifty years and encourages Diamond Way practitioners to persevere regardless of conditions which may arise.

We have the great fortune to be able to reprint an interview with the 16th Karmapa conducted two years before his death, which appeared in Gerd Bausch’s two-volume biography of the 16th Karmapa, Radiant Compassion. Here Karmapa discusses the Western mindset and possibilities for the Dharma to develop in the West. Complementary to this, we are also able to share an interview with Lama Ole from 1982 following the passing of his great teacher.

Finally, we look further back into history with a commentary by Hannah Nydahl on a Vajra Song, or Doha, of the 2nd Shamarpa Khachö Wangpo (1350-1405). These are teachings in poetic form, which express the realization of the nature of mind. Manfred Seegers, a teacher and professor of Tibetology, then explores the significance of the Shamar Rinpoches, giving an overview of the incarnational lineage of Shamarpas from his lives in India to modern times.

We hope you enjoy this issue!

The Editors

Editorial Board

Editors
Jonathan Bradley, Annik Foreman, Carola Lofton, Alex Rush, Bruce Underhill

Art Director/Production
Anilou Price

Digital Director
Alex Katalkin

Copy Editors
Nancy Beall, Kathleen Dwyer, Annik Foreman, John Lentz, Joe Lyman, Ryan Singer, Catherine Walker

Graphic Designers
Alex Katalkin, Milla Kicilinska Gibson,
Anilou Price

e-Publications Editor
Michal Moskal

Photography
Volker Anders, Lera Anufrieva, Matt Balara, Mike Churanov, Volen Evtimov, Marcin Muchalski, Ginger Neumann, Rafal Radeck, Lukas Richter

Circulation Manager
Benjamin Ritchey

Marketing and Subscriptions
Kathleen Dwyer, Jim Macur, Benjamin Ritchey, Jerome Sala

Finance
Benjamin Ritchey

Tech Support
Alex Katalkin, Jeremy Kunzinger

shamarpa and karmapa thangka

The Significance of the Shamar Rinpoches

The Significance of the Shamar RinpochesBy /

The 14th Shamarpa Chökyi Lodrö, who passed away in 2014, was the second highest lineage lama after the Gyalwa Karmapa. As well as having an extraordinary personality, he was also responsible for identifying, enthroning, and teaching Thaye Dorje, His Holiness the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa. This article begins with a few words about the passing of the 14th Shamar Rinpoche, explores the significance of the Shamarpa in the Kagyu lineage, and gives an overview of the incarnational lineage of Shamarpa from their lives in India to the present day. (An article by Manfred published in issue thirty-nine of Buddhism Today focused on the life of the 14th Shamarpa Chökyi Lodrö, his dharma activity, as well as his support for Diamond Way.)

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the 17th karmapa

Obstacles are Great Friends

Obstacles are Great FriendsBy /

In this article we continue with the commentary of Thaye Dorje, His Holiness the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa, on the Bodhicaryavatara, often translated as “The Way of the Bodhisattvas.” This is one of the most famous texts of the Mahayana, or Great Way. Shantideva composed the text around 700 CE. The author was one of the eighty-four Mahasiddhas and lived at that time as a Buddhist monk in the Nalanda University in India. In 2014, the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa began teaching this text, chapter by chapter, at his public courses at the Karmapa International Buddhist Institute in New Delhi, India. It was Karmapa’s suggestion that we publish these teachings in Buddhism Today, which we began to do in issue 42. While being comprehensive is not possible in the space of a magazine, we wish to share substantive excerpts with our readers. In the previous verses in Chapter Three, which continue here, Karmapa discussed how compassion tries to make the physical body into something useful for others. This theme continues in the following passages.

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An Interview with Lama Ole following the Parinirvana of the 16th Karmapa

An Interview with Lama Ole following the Parinirvana of the 16th KarmapaBy /

The following is an interview with Lama Ole Nydahl that took place on the occasion of a visit to Munich in early March, 1982. It was conducted soon after the passing of the 16th Karmapa, and was published in April 1982 in the German magazine Esotera under the title “A Danish Lama in Civilian Clothes.” It has historical significance and can be seen in light of the era of the early 1980s, but also shares a timeless view that is still relevant today.

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jigme rinpoche and lama ole in karma guen 2018

Interview with Lama Jigme Rinpoche on the Fiftieth Anniversary of Diamond Way Buddhism

Interview with Lama Jigme Rinpoche on the Fiftieth Anniversary of Diamond Way BuddhismBy /

In the fall of 1972 and at the behest of the 16th Gyalwa Karmapa, Lama Ole and Hannah Nydahl started their activity in the West, establishing what is known today as the “Diamond Way Buddhist” organization. In 2022, Diamond Way Buddhism celebrated its fiftieth anniversary.

Right from the start, Lama Jigme Rinpoche was the official representative for the 16th Karmapa in Europe. He witnessed, as well as accompanied, this activity like no other Rinpoche. Jigme Rinpoche visited many of the Diamond Way centers and he also taught at many big courses with Lama Ole Nydahl.

This interview is reprinted from the German magazine Buddhismus Heute, and we thank Rinpoche very much for taking the time for this interview!

Questions by Claudia Knoll & Detlev Göbel, editors of Buddhismus Heute magazine, with support from Sabine Teuber, Audrey Desserrieres and Kenn Maly.

This interview was conducted on March 31, 2022, in Germany.

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hh. the 16th gyalwa karmapa

An Interview with His Holiness, the 16th Gyalwa Karmapa

An Interview with His Holiness, the 16th Gyalwa KarmapaBy /

This interview with the 16th Karmapa was conducted by Western visitors in 1979, two years before the Karmapa’s death. It was originally published in the magazine Lotusgarten, and subsequently in 2018 in Gerd Bausch’s book entitled Radiant Compassion: Glimpses of the Life of the 16th Gyalwa Karmapa (It is republished here with the author’s permission. ©Gerd Bausch: Radiant Compassion. The Life of the 16th Gyalwa Karmapa, www.radiant-compassion.karmapabiographie.de). The book was translated from the German version by Gerd Bausch with the help of Judith Amtzis. It is republished here with the author’s permission. The editors are excited to share this rare and special dialogue with an enlightened Master with our readers.

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hannah nydahl

This Luminous Perception of the Present (A Commentary on the Vajra Song of the 2nd Shamarpa)

This Luminous Perception of the Present (A Commentary on the Vajra Song of the 2nd Shamarpa)By /

During a talk in 2005 in Hamburg, Germany, Hannah Nydahl read and commented on a vajra song of the 2nd Shamarpa, Khachö Wangpo, and then on one by the 5th Shamarpa, Könchog Yenlag. In this issue, we present the text and commentary on the 2nd Shamarpa to our readers here in full. In the next issue, we will share the text and commentary on the 5th Shamarpa.

Vajra songs are teachings in poetic form and an expression of realization. However, the term “vajra song” does not mean that these teachings must be chanted. In our lineage, Milarepa is especially famous for this, because there are many teachings from him in this form. These songs by the 2nd and 5th Shamarpas respectively, come from a collection of texts by the main teachers of the Kagyu lineage, published in English under the title The Rain of Wisdom.

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