Ole Nydahl facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Lama
Ole Nydahl
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Nydahl 2010
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| Born | 19 March 1941 Copenhagen, Denmark
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| Nationality | Danish |
| Organization | Diamond Way Buddhism |
| Title | Lama |
| Spouse(s) |
Hannah Nydahl
(m. 1968; died 2007)Alexandra Munoz Barboza
(m. 2014; div. 2017)Anne Behrend
(m. 2019) |
| Children | 1, including Freya |
Ole Nydahl (born 19 March 1941), also known as Lama Ole, is a Buddhist teacher. He shares special teachings called Mahamudra from the Karma Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism. Since the 1970s, Lama Ole has traveled the world. He gives talks and leads meditation classes. With his wife, Hannah Nydahl, he started Diamond Way Buddhism. This is a worldwide Buddhist group with over 600 centers. These centers are for people who practice Buddhism in their daily lives.
Lama Ole has written more than twenty books. These books are about Vajrayana Buddhism, which is also called Diamond Way Buddhism. His books have been translated into many languages. Some of his book titles are The Great Seal, The Way Things Are, Entering the Diamond Way, Buddha and Love, and Fearless Death.
Contents
Early Life and Learning
Ole Nydahl was born in Denmark, north of Copenhagen. His family was involved in academics, meaning they worked in universities and studies. When he was young, during World War II, his parents were part of the Danish resistance movement. They helped Jewish people escape to Sweden, a neutral country.
In the early 1960s, Ole Nydahl served a short time in the Danish Army. After that, he studied philosophy, English, and German at the University of Copenhagen. He did very well in his studies. He also enjoyed boxing, riding motorcycles, and race car driving. He traveled many times from Denmark to Nepal.
Becoming Involved with Buddhism
Buddhist Education
In 1968, Ole Nydahl and his wife Hannah went to Nepal for their honeymoon. There, they met their first Buddhist teacher, Lopon Tsechu Rinpoche. In December 1969, the Nydahls met Rangjung Rigpe Dorje, who was the 16th Karmapa. He was the head of the Karma Kagyu Buddhist tradition. The Nydahls became students of the Karmapa. They studied and meditated in the Himalayas.
They learned special practices called Ngöndro, which are basic Buddhist exercises. They also received teachings and special blessings, known as empowerments. During this time, the Nydahls also learned from other important teachers. From the Karmapa, they learned about Vajrayana Buddhism and mahamudra. These are deep teachings about the mind. They also learned about Bodhisattva vows, which are promises to help all living beings.
Teaching Buddhism
When they returned to Europe in 1972, the 16th Karmapa asked Hannah and Ole Nydahl to start teaching Buddhism. They began in Denmark, then in Germany and other countries. The centers they started belong to the Karma Kagyu tradition. Ole Nydahl guides these centers.
As of 2019, there were 635 Diamond Way centers around the world. Most of them are in Europe, Russia, and the United States. Ole Nydahl travels often to these centers. He gives talks and leads meditation courses. For many years, he taught about conscious dying, called phowa. More recently, he has focused on Mahamudra teachings. These teachings help people understand the true nature of their minds.
Ole Nydahl and his students have created Buddhist centers. These centers make Vajrayana meditation methods easy to access. You don't need to know Tibetan language or culture. In Diamond Way centers, meditations are translated into local languages. Ole Nydahl believes it is important for people to understand meditations in their own language. This helps Buddhism become truly rooted in Western countries. He said that understanding meditations in your own language helps you understand them much deeper.
Diamond Way centers are run by volunteers. No one gets paid to work there. The centers are set up to be democratic. They work based on friendship and shared goals. This means that people in the West prefer a teacher who is not too distant. They also don't want a big organization telling them what to think.
Students in Diamond Way Centers practice the Ngöndro. These are four basic practices that prepare the mind for enlightenment. They also do "guru yoga," which is meditation on the lama or teacher. This includes meditations on the 16th Karmapa. Ole Nydahl has said that he only teaches what the 16th Karmapa asked him to share. He also said that the main practice in their centers is always the Guru Yogas of the Karmapas.
His Impact
Jørn Borup, a professor who studies religion, says that Ole Nydahl has had a lasting impact on Buddhist practice in Denmark. He is seen as a key figure for Buddhism in Denmark. We don't know the exact number of his followers. However, it is estimated that between 15,000 and 70,000 students and supporters are worldwide. In Germany alone, about 20,000 people regularly visit Diamond Way centers.
The 14th Shamar Rinpoche, another important teacher, said that Lama Ole helped make the Karmapa's name well-known. He also helped set up about 600 Buddhist centers. He noted that Lama Ole's work is part of the Karmapa's activity.
Ole Nydahl is a co-founder of Diamond Way with his wife Hannah Nydahl. He is also the chairman of The Diamond Way Buddhism Foundation. This foundation is a non-profit group in Germany. It supports projects around the world. For example, it helps a library in Spain that translates Buddhist texts. It also organizes cultural events, like Tibetan art shows. The foundation also helps build retreat centers and stupas (Buddhist monuments) in Europe and Russia.
Personal Life
Ole Nydahl met his future wife Hannah when he was 10 years old. They met again after he finished his time in the army. Hannah Nydahl passed away in 2007 from lung cancer.
In 2014, Ole Nydahl married Alexandra Munoz Barbosa. They were married at the Copenhagen Diamond Way Buddhist center. They later divorced in 2017.
On 31 August 2019, Ole Nydahl married Anne Behrend. Their wedding took place at the Diamond Way Buddhist center in Těnovice, Czech Republic.
On 18 December 2020, Ole Nydahl and Anne Behrend welcomed their daughter, Freya.
See also
In Spanish: Ole Nydahl para niños
