About the Diamond Way Buddhist Group
The Diamond Way Buddhist Group in Washington, DC is a part of a network of Buddhist centers of the same name across the Americas and Europe. The Diamond Way centers were founded by Ole and Hannah Nydahl under advisory from the 16th Karmapa of the Kagyu lineage, and the organization is now under the advisory of His Holiness the 17th Karmapa. Ole and Hannah were the first two western students to practice under a Karmapa and become his disciples. After studying under multiple Buddhist masters in Nepal, they were sent home by the Karmapa to spread Buddhism to the west. The two were the first ever to start a Buddhist center in their home country Denmark, and opened more across Europe in Norway, Sweden, Germany, and Austria, and even made their way to then-Communist Poland. Throughout all of this initial spread they gave speeches and answered questions about the Karma Kagyu lineage of Buddhism. They teach Diamond Way practices which according to their website are for those who “have strong confidence in their own and others’ Buddha nature.” This is called Vajrayana, which is a tantric and esoteric form of Buddhism aimed at understanding the emptiness of existence. The aim of Diamond Way meditation is to the complete development of the mind, or in other words the spontaneous effortlessness of the great seal.
About Hannah and Ole Nydhal
The two are originally from Denmark, and when they grew up the closest thing around them to Buddhism were the gurus that popped up during the psychedelic revolution. During the sixties the two were interested in the mind beyond what psychedelics offered. While all of their friends lived in a hippies paradise in Denmark the two went off to Nepal. Ole and Hannah were very well read people, and had a mutual interest in wanting to learn more about the mind. When Ole read a book on meditation practices in Nepal he’d thought he found the missing piece to the puzzle he’d been trying to piece together that was the mind. The two went to Nepal to explore the country and to seek out meditation masters, yogis. Instead, they happened upon Lopon Tsechu Rinpoche, the man responsible for Buddhist activity in Nepal after brokering a deal with the Nepali King allowing Tibetan Buddhists refuge from Communist China. Lopon Tsechu was their first teacher, but after a few visits the couple found it increasingly difficult to find the master. They asked around for where he might be one day, and were told he was with the Karmapa.
The Karmapa’s disciples had been told by their master of a Danish couple coming a few weeks prior to their arrival, and just as he’d prophesied they came and he accepted them as disciples only days after meeting them. This was surprising at the time because no Karmapa before him had taken on western disciples. The sixteenth Karmapa’s disciples followed him everywhere, and became much like his family, so over time Ole and Hannah became a part of his family. Hannah became incredibly close with him, and many observers of their relationship attest to the Karmapa’s attitude becoming more relaxed and joyful when they were together. It’s quite incredible that the Danish couple grew so close to him. When they first met they were bewildered by the immense power that surrounded him, and in an interview Hannah professed that it was meeting him that made her want to understand incredible beings. Needless to say, Ole and Hanna fully surrendered to him and were deep in practice during the entirety of their time under his tutelage. The Karmapa also introduced Ole and Hannah to masters across Nepal, including Kalu Rinpoche who was known for his intensive training of monks. When they met him he was training scores of monks to become Rinpoches at his monastery in Sonada, Darjeeling, India. In his monastery, Ole and Hannah went through intensive meditation and study, practicing up to a thousand prostrations a day and meditating for hours at a time. It was also in his monastery that Hannah learned the oral languages necessary to translate sutras. The two were practicing Karma Kagyu Buddhism under the most influential masters of the time, and then all of a sudden the Karmapa sent them home to continue the Kagyu tradition in Europe. At the time the continuation of Buddhism was under question, and the Karmapa was worried that the tradition would reach its end due to Communist China’s occupation of Tibet. He thought it would be incredibly beneficial for the Kagyu lineage that Ole and Hanna return home and teach others what they’d learned.
When they arrived back home they came to realize that Copenhagen wasn’t like Nepal. They noticed that people didn’t care about or respect their bodies. When they left home, a lot of their friends had become addicted to or heavily dependent on drugs like cannabis and sometimes opioids. It was apparent to everyone the couple saw that they had found something life changing in Nepal. Ole had stopped drinking and smoking, and had become a totally new man. Hannah had an air of peace surrounding her, and would exude power and compassion wherever she went. The couple tried for two years to teach those who wanted to learn the ways of Buddhism, but came to understand that it was important for new practitioners to meet a lama face to face. The Karmapa sent Kalu Rinpiche to Europe, and came himself in 1974. Before the two lamas had made their way to Europe, Ole and Hannah had only amassed a total of 50-60 followers. It wasn’t until they took a tour across Europe with His Holiness the Sixteenth Karmapa that they found thousands of eager Europeans intrigued and impressed by the power of Buddhism. The tour consisted of a black crown ceremony, teachings, and an opportunity for questioning of both the Karmapa and at times Hannah. Hannah and Ole were great at answering questions, and had a great understanding of what the crowd wanted to hear.
About Diamond Way Practices and Beliefs
Ole Nydahl describes Buddhism as, opposed to a religion of faith or belief, a religion of experience. He goes on to say, “that means it has to function in life. And also the goal is very simple to bring forth all the qualities we have inside, all the possibilities, the richness… that all these qualities be developed inside us for the benefit of all.” Diamond Way Buddhism is described very similarly to this on their website. The website reads that Diamond Way Buddhism “offers the modern world “effective methods that lead to a direct experience of mind,” as explained by Lopon Tsechu Rinpoche… One learns to experience the world from a rich and self-liberating viewpoint. Diamond Way meditations develop a deep inner richness and lead to a non-artificial and unwavering mind where every enlightened activity can unfold.
Both of these descriptions tie into the core beliefs of the Karma Kagyu tradition, which belongs to the Vajrayana branch of Mahayana Buddhism. Kagyu itself can be broken down into its syllables as oral instructions (ka) tradition (gyu). The Karma Kagyu tradition practices focused, directed, and guided meditation aimed at a better understanding of your mind. The tradition is based upon the emptiness doctrine practiced by Nagarjuna, Yogachara (the study of cognition, perception, and consciousness through meditative practices), and the tantric tradition of Chakrasamvara. At the moment, Diamond Way Buddhist Center DC has a public meditation program which replaced their usual guided meditations and teachings that would take place in the absence of a pandemic. Their website defined meditation as “effortless remaining in what is.” Their belief is that Guru Yoga meditation is “the most direct way to recognize the true nature of one’s mind.” This is achieved, they say, through spontaneous effortlessness of the great seal, or mahamudra. Mahamudra is what Ole Nydahl is speaking about when he spoke of bringing all our qualities out. Mahamudra is translated as the “great seal” because it’s believed that all things are stamped with wisdom and emptiness. Gampopa, a significant Kagyu monk, defines mahamudra as “the realization of the natural state as awareness-emptiness, absolutely clear and transparent, without root.” The Diamond Way aims at unlocking this understanding of emptiness that in turn unlocks the secrets of our mind. It’s no wonder that Ole and Hannah grew so fond of this Buddhist practice, because they originally set out to Nepal looking for a better understanding of the mind.
Nagarjuna, Buddhist Philosopher
Chakrasamvara
Gampopa, Tantric Master
Diamond Way Stance and Relationship with H.H. the 17th Karmapa
H.H. the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa, Trinley Thaye Dorje, is one of two enthroned Karmapas. The other, was Ogyen Trinley Dorje enthroned first but controversially as there was division among the 3 regents still alive searching for the reincarnate Karmapa. The two met in 2018 to begin a personal relationship and bind the division put there by those who enthroned them, and this meeting took place in the hopes that it would benefit the Kagyu lineage. For Hannah Nydhal however, Trinley Thaye Dorje is the reincarnation of the 16th Karmapa. The controversy around the reincarnate Karmapa began 11 years after the death of the previous Karmapa. The 4 regents, Shemar Rinpoche, Situ Rinpoche, Jamgon Rinpoche, and Gyaltsab Rinpoche, were given the task, but unlike the 15th Karmapa the 16th left no letter to aid their search. That was until Shemar Rinpoche took apart the necklace he’d been given by the 16th and found instructions leading them to the boy. The regents sent Jamgon to Tibet to make first contact with the young Karmapa, but en route he died in a car crash. Shemar Rinpoche was accused of murdering him, and the division in the Kagyu school was clear. Chinese authorities help find the 17th Karmapa, but there’s controversy over whether or not they’d chosen the boy with political intent. The remaining regents were split between Shemar Rinpoche, and Situ and Gyaltsab. Shemar refused to accept Situ and Gyaltsab’s choice, and violence occurred at the Rumtek temple when lay people flooded the temple in an attempt to pressure Shemar into accepting their choice. Shemar was then greeted by an old friend of the 16th and given direct instructions as to where the real incarnate lama is, but before he could get to the boy the Chinese government tried to lure him to China. Their efforts failed, and Shemar Rinpoche and Hannah Nydhal brought the boy to India where they enthroned him at the Karmapa International Buddhist Institute in New Delhi. Hannah had been good friends with the 16th Karmapa, and said that meeting this boy felt as natural as hanging out with the 16th. Her and the 17th had a similar relationship, and she couldn’t be persuaded of another Karmapa being out there because she had felt a continued friendship with the child. H.H. the 17th Karmapa is involved with the Diamond Way Buddhist Centers, and offers advice when he can to Ole because it’s oftentimes the other way round. He spoke to Diamond Way students from over 30 countries in Dusseldorf, Germany, and conducted a program in San Francisco in 2003 marking his first appearance in the US. In the program hosted by Diamond Way USA, he gave a series of empowerments and teachings. He currently resides in India, and continues to educate western Buddhists and remains involved in the Diamond Way Buddhist Centers around the world.
By: Colm Dodd
Links for more Info and where I got mine:
https://www.diamondway.org/washington/
https://www.diamondway.org/
Hannah: Buddhism’s Untold Journey. 2014 Historical Documentary
Diamond Way Buddhism Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLTuhLQeJkVvULFkZfmvNyQ
Ole Nydahl’s Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/LamaOleNydahlChannel
Keown, D. (2004). A Dictionary of Buddhism. : Oxford University Press. Retrieved 10 Nov. 2020, from https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198605607.001.0001/acref-9780198605607.