The Life of the 8th Karmapa - online teachings by HH the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa

His Holiness will be giving teachings on the life of the 8th Karmapa from 15th February to the 14th March, 2021. These will be livestreamed on both Facebook and YouTube.

Full details can be found at https://kagyuoffice.org/schedule/

Long Life Prayer for HH 17th Karmapa

In Lama Yeshe Rinpoche's letter to all the Samye Dzongs he writes:

"February 12th 2021, according to the Tibetan Lunar calendar, is Losar, Tibetan New Year, heralding the beginning of the Year of the Ox. This is a special year for our Supreme Lineage Guru His Holiness the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje. It is his birth year which come around once every 12 years. During this year it is particularly important to pray and accumulate virtue dedicated to His Holiness' long life, good health and ever-increasing Dharam activities..

His Holiness is my own root guru and as Abbot, I am asking all Centres to say prayers dedicated to His Holiness."

In the light of this we will be adding a long life prayer for His Holiness at the end of each morning's meditation, immediately after the 21 Praises to Tara. You can download a PDF copy of the long life prayer to print out. 

Online Death Cafe - Sunday 28th March

 Death Cafe people, often strangers, gather to eat cake, drink tea and discuss death.

The objective is 'to increase awareness of death with a view to helping people make the most of their (finite) lives'.
A Death Cafe is a group directed discussion of death with no agenda, objectives or themes. It is a discussion group rather than a grief support or counselling session.

To find out more and book a place, please visit the Event Page.

Support from the Centre during the pandemic

Dear Friends,

Although the doors of the Centre are shut, there are ways in which we can reach out to maintain the connection with the wider world and support people in these challenging times. 

• Meditation sessions are livestreamed from the Centre every day on our YouTube channel and we invite you all to join us. See the weekly programme for full details and downloads of the relevant prayers.
  
  
• Our email newsletter  is sent out regularly.  If you don't already susbscribe just click on this link and follow the instructions. 

Our hope is that these activities will help maintain our connection with each other and support those who find themselves in isolation.

Who we are

We are a Buddhist community in the heart of London, affiliated to Kagyu Samye Ling Monastery in Scotland. We are under the direct guidance of Choje Akong Tulku Rinpoche's brother the Venerable Lama Yeshe Losal Rinpoche and our resident teacher Lama Gelongma Zangmo.

Our aims are:
• To make the teachings of Buddhism accessible to all.
• To foster the growth of wisdom and compassion.
• To benefit the wider community.
• To promote interfaith dialogue and understanding.

The Samye Dzong approach to course donations, by Lama Zangmo

At the beginning of 2015, in honour of our Founder Choje Akong Tulku Rinpoche, we decided to offer our Dharma courses without a suggested course fee, on a donation basis. We do this with the motivation to make the precious teachings of the Dharma accessible to everyone, and no-one will be excluded due to lack of funds.

Traditionally the Buddhist teachings are given freely because they are considered priceless. In the Buddhist tradition one practices generosity, or Dana, by making monetary offerings for the teachings. This generosity is not payment for goods or services rendered; it is an offering given freely from the heart in appreciation of the Dharma... 

Read the full letter from Lama Zangmo