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Gammelt Nyt 2010

De gamle nyheder er her stadig

Old News from the year 2010

Latest news of July 2012  and the new comment October 2015: click here

Shamarpa and Ole Nydahl

Their statements in July, august and September 2010

following Shamar Rinpoche's statement of the 6th of July, entitled (click below for the paper):

Answers to questions about Lama Ole Nydahl and Bodhi Path

_______________________________

Ole Nydahl's answer, as it appeared in DWBN
(Newsletter of Diamond Way Centres)
No.39/10 Author: Lama Ole Nydahl
Date: 10 July 2010
Subject: From Lama Ole Nydahl.

------------------------------------

 Dearest Dharma friends everywhere,

 As the purity of the Dharma and the confidence among us is so important in our lives, and Shamarpa Rinpoche seems incapable of posting my replies together with his allegations, conditions force me to publish my recent exchange with him first on DWBN, then on my website, and if he does not by then retract his wrong information, to have it follow his statements everywhere they went. I am doing this in the name of honesty which is necessary for the Buddha-Dharma to live and grow and am most unhappy that this came to be.

Yours Lama Ole Nydahl

________________________________

            08. July 2010 letter to Shamarpa Rinpoche:

    Here my answer to your most astounding statements posted recently on your webpage. I hope it is convincing to you and will bring you to withdraw your allegations. Every moment they spend on the net brings massive harm to our common work world-wide and our Karmapa and what we need least of all at present is a further split in our already diminished lineage. Therefore please withdraw your statement as early as possible. People read it around the world and it is truly important.

 Yours Lama Ole
from a Ngöndro-course in Rødby, Denmark

--------------------------------------------------------

    Most esteemed Shamarpa Rinpoche,

 I thank you for your kind interest in my work posted on your webpage and am most relieved that you apparently think that outer political attacks on our lineage have finished and that we now have the pleasure to publicly clarify our inner approach to our noble teachings and transmissions. May you be right. Otherwise your words will harm decades of idealistic work done by countless good people.
 
 Here to your recent statements concerning our conversations during your youth. Due to your great kindness, you apparently listened to Hannah and me speaking of our happy marriage and blessed us by your presence even when you hardly understood the language we were speaking and – being a monk – also were in no position to evaluate the subject-matter. What pleased Hannah and me so much at that time, was that the teachings we received were truly great and useful to the many non-celibate and highly educated westerners who were at that time discovering a guilt-free spirituality fit for families and couples. Seeing the beautiful and attractive statues and thangkas of Buddhas in union we saw in Tibetan Buddhism a unique path to living together totally, bringing methods of wisdom, space and joy together in a liberating way, while avoiding the unhealthy suppression of the religions we knew. That was why we so joyfully spoke of our deep bonds from many lives, which always gladdened H.H. the 16th Karmapa who was like a father to us.

 Please don’t underestimate the great teachers who taught us during these years. Their eminencies Kanjur Rinpoche, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, Kalu Rinpoche, Tenga Rinpoche and others definitely had real life-experience and always blessed Hannah’s and my relationship. Certainly they were above saying one thing to us and something different when pressed by others or when seeking a quick advantage from them. This is why they are useful today, have lasting friends and are truly respected. They were real men on all levels.

 What I here state – hopefully to your satisfaction – is that I never taught anything I was not asked to pass on by the great sixteenth Karmapa and that its basis was always the Guru Yogas of the Karmapas. Nothing else is practiced in our now 650 Diamond Way centers world-wide where my students meditate side by side and are fully dressed. They follow the classical texts read aloud in their own language and we actually informed you of this many times. It was to preserve the purity of our Kagyü practice that we stopped the Dharmadhatu in Europe and warned against it in America.

 I must therefore admit to asking myself from where you get those fantasies and such wrong information? After 30 years of our close cooperation you should really know better: Your – as my –  western students have normal healthy relationships and though they show their affection more openly than Asians, it is their search for happiness and not extreme practices which bind them together. They make beautiful families and support our free societies.
If in the future you ask me before making such sweeping statements, we can avoid giving those who dislike us such excellent ammunition for attacking our lineage, work and above all our Karmapa. If  there is any spell against our work, we must not feed it such choicy bits. They have dramatic consequences worldwide and harm countless good Buddhists in their practice and social standing.

 Your advertisement for your Bodhipath centers I find logical, understandable and clear. It will surely activate those people you work with and you have my best wishes. May you benefit all who have a connection to you and thus fulfil your noble aspirations.

08/07/10 Rødby retreat center.
Always exciting, this life.
Yours Lama Ole Nydahl

 P.S. Any woman worldwide who has received sexual Tantra teachings from me will upon confirmation receive $1000.

_______________________________

9. July 2010 email to Shamarpa Rinpoche:

    Dear Shamar Rinpoche,
 Apparently I didn’t make myself completely clear. Please add the following to your webpage. Otherwise I would have to publicly protect my name and work which probably neither of us wishes. Hopefully the last statement for your webpage:

 "I give no teachings on sex or sexuality. When requested by my students, I provide general private guidance about whichever part of their life they seek assistance for, but it is not and has never been Hannah's or my activity to teach sexual tantra. As my teachers have told me, it is not compatible with modern lifestyle without proper instructions and long and focused retreats, advice that I pass along when asked.
 As you know, we always have worked for and continue to work for H.H. Karmapa and the Kagyü transmission, teaching Buddhadharma."
 
 Please also remove your general allegations against Western students. They are baseless and not a useful way to present each other within our lineage.

 With best wishes from a pleasant Ngöndro course in Denmark,
yours
Lama Ole

_____________________________________

*****

Shamarpa's reply to these letters:

  Thank you for your clarification regarding the reputation you have for teaching sex as a Vajrayana practice. I appreciate that you took the time to respond and I am happy to hear that it is not true, as you explained the particular details of the Diamond Way practice curriculum. My statement was really general, reflections on my own experience as I have watched the spread of Tibetan Buddhism in Europe and America over the past 30 years. I have observed that many teachers who promote a new religious tradition in their country, places where that tradition is not native, use that new religion to simply promote their own interests and views.

  Regarding your own teachings about sexuality, you clarified that you are simply advising people to not feel guilty about sex. That is correct, but unless there is some sexual misconduct to correct - such as splitting couples, molestation, or rape - I feel that sex is not an appropriate issue to teach in a religious center. It is proper that couples enjoy their sexuality, but it is their own private business. It is not a subject that requires explanation, promotion or inquiry. It does not require analysis in religious or political contexts. Except for its important place in health education, it is not a subject that requires discussion. Rather it is an area where maintaining one's dignity is most important.
 
    Thank you again for your response in which you clarify that you are not teaching sex as Dharma.
  
          Shamarpa.

[Posted on www.shamarpa.org in first half of July, while Shamar Rinpoche's first statement was still to be found on his website. All information about Lama Ole Nydahl's above writings and Shamarpa's reaction was found on: (http:/)/forum.rickross.com/read.php?12,59830,page=46 (this web adress is no longer in use by the Rick Ross Forum) - and verified and documented by an independent source within the Diamondway organisation. This source has asked for anonymity, but is known to the editor.]

________________________________

                                                   02.09.10  

In September Shamar Rinpoche published this letter:

Clarification about Tantra and Lama Ole

    Recently, I had received a lot of information about Lama Ole claiming, he has been teaching his students about sex as a Tantric practice. According to this information, I made an announcement on my website about this topic in general, explaining that many Westerners have a misunderstanding of Tantra and its relationship to sex.

 This statement was made for Western audiences on the whole and not about Lama Ole in particular. However, as he is also a Western Tantric teacher, and I was informed that he also taught in this way, I included him in the statement.

 In this announcement I mentioned that, as I remember, when Lama Ole was a young man in the days of hippies he had received teachings about the practice of male and female deities in union. I had made the supposition that, if Lama Ole is teaching sex as a Tantric practice, it most likely must be connected to this time when he was first getting exposed to Buddhist teachings from his teachers in those young and impressionable times of his youth.

 After making this announcement on my website, I received so many clarifications from his students stating that they had never heard Lama Ole in any teaching mentioning that sex is important to Tantra. As a result of these letters, I investigated further into the matter to find out whether what I had heard was true or not. After I had inquired thoroughly through various connections, I came to the conclusion that the information I had received previously was not accurate. I had discovered that he had only given an answer to a lady in Virginia, USA explaining that he himself could not give up the pleasures of sex.

 It is true that a majority of his students have been behaving too openly affectionate, giving the explanation that they believe it is best not to be hypocritical. Regarding this opinion, I feel this is a mistake in view. The idea of sexuality not being suitable for public display is based on civilised behaviour and is not in any way an act of hypocrisy. In any case, it has been confirmed to me that Lama Ole is not teaching sexual practices as a Tantric method or tradition. Therefore, I apologise to the readers, as the information I had received earlier was incorrect.

Shamarpa.

     [Posted on Shamar Rinpoche's website, while his second and revised statement had replaced his first in the month of July. The second and revised article was still there, but the above statement was removed after only a few days on the internet. The second and revised article, entitled: Why Bodhi Path is not Vajrayana, was simply the second half of the first article. Now, dated the 10th of october 2010, the first statement has been reinstated. You can read it here. It is not clear, why all of these revisions has happened, but it seems that many misunderstandings have taken place. In January 2011, the article has again been removed.]

 
Read also the column to the right about
the development in 2012.

POSTSCRIPT 2022 - 2023    

 In 2022 it became clear, that Lama Ole Nydahl has been suffering from a steady growth of Alzheimer's dementia during many years. So maybe this is the reason for his rather aggressive tone towards Shamar Rinpoche in this exchange of messages, that all happened in 2010. The same year that allegedly Lama Ole Nydahl started to feel and recognized his disease. This may also be the reason that Shamar Rinpoche in 2012 suddenly gave Lama Ole Nydahl his recommendation [read about it in the column to the right]. Shamar Rinpoche was not pleased at all with the rather public exchange of messages described in this paper. He told Lama Tendar Olaf Hoeyer as much back then, but he may have changed his heart upon realising that Lama Ole Nydahl was in fact suffering the beginning onslaught of Alzheimer's disease.  Read about it here  (eller her på dansk).

 
 Read also:  Biographies of the Shamarpas  (in English)
  or in Danish:  Biografier af Shamarpa'erne  (på dansk)
  And:  Ole Nydahl's biography  (in English)
  or read it in Danish:  Ole Nydahl's biografi  (på dansk).

Shamarpa: Religion & politik, 2010: læs om det her.

Shamarpa og Dalai Lama mødtes i Dharamsala august 2010. Læs om det her.

Shamarpa i Swartswald igen til August 2010
Fredag den 6. August til Søndag den 8.             

Undervisning om -  og Indvielse til
Buddha Amitabha, Buddha Lysudengrænse

den 14. Shamarpa, Mipham Tjødji Lodrø

  Shamar Rinpoche kommer endnu engang i år til Bodhi Path Renchen-Ulm ved Swartswald i Tyskland nær Strasbourg. Han vil forklare om  Buddha Amitabha (Buddha Lysudengrænse) og give indvielsen (sanskrit: Abhisheka, tibetansk: Wang).

  Undervisning:  Fredag kl. 20.00, Lørdag kl. 10.00 og kl. 16.00.
 Indvielse om  Søndagen kl. 10.00.

  Udgifts-bidrag til hele forløbet: € 90 (pensionist: € 65). Udgifts-bidrag til enkelte begivenheder: € 25 (€ 18).

  Sted:  Kronenhalle i Renchen-Erlach, cirka 5 kilometer fra Renchen-Ulm.

    Mere info, klik her:   Bodhi Path Renchen-Ulm

    Kursus  21. - 24. maj 2010,  begge dage inklusive

hos Bodhi Path Center  i  Renchen-Ulm  ved Swartswald

Shamarpa instruerer om buddhistisk træning af ånds-nærvær

        Shamar Tulku kommer til Sydtyskland nær Swartswald og Strassbourg, hvor Bodhi Path er etableret i byen Renchen-Ulm. Her vil han undervise i  Lodjung - ånds-nærvær eller træning i forståelse med hjertet i 7 punkter. Det er Shamarpas tredie kursus om åndsnærvær, sindighed og forståelse i nu’et. Traditionen stammer fra Atisha Dipamkara. Jamgon Kongtrul Lodrø Taye har skrevet den mest benyttede bog om emnet, som mange er bekendte med, nemlig: The Great Path of Awakening (Shambhala Publications ISBN 0-87773-420-8). Shamar Tulku underviser ud fra rodteksten af Chekawa Rinpotje og giver sin egen kommentar. Shamarpa har lige for nylig udgivet denne kommentar i bogform: The Path To Awakening (ISBN (Paperback):  812083450X, 9788120834507).

      Lodjung er en udviddelse af det almindelige åndsnærvær, kendt af mange som ”mindfullness” (sanskrit: smriti - tibetansk: drenpa), hvor fokus er på opmærksomt tilstedevær i nu’et. Lodjung fokuserer med et sådant nærvær på  Bodhicitta i nu’et. Lodjung er en meget praktisk måde at udvikle kærlighed og medfølelse i alle relationer med andre levende væsner, lige her og nu. Det sker med forståelse for både det fuldstændige fravær af et egentligt Selv og alle fænomeners tomhed, som er den fuldsstændige mangel på enestående selvstændighed og substans. Bodhicitta kaldes vidunderligt, for det er godt for både udøveren af det og alle, som udsættes for det. Shamarpa fortsætter, hvor han slap i foråret 2009, hvor han gennemgik den forberedende praksis til Lodjung og metoder til at berolige sindet og modvirke selvoptagethed.

     Kursus finder sted i Pinsen fra  Fredag den 21. til Mandag den 24. maj  2010. Fredag den 21. maj, kl. 20 -  starter kursus og slutter mandag den  24. maj kl. 12. Arrangørerne beder om tilmelding på forhånd.

       Se nærmere på Bodhipath Renchen-Ulms hjemmeside: 

                 www.bodhipath-renchen-ulm.de

 Kadjy Mønlam 2010
En uge med bønner og ceremonier under Bodhi-træet

 Også i år bliver Kadjy Mønlam afholdt ved det hellige sted Bodh Gaya i delstaten Bihar i Indien. Det vil stå på i en uges tid, som begynder den 27. december 2010 og slutter den 3. januar 2011.

 Som ved de tidligere afholdte Mønlam ceremonier i Bodh Gaya, vil de blive ledt af Gyalwa Karmapa og Kynzig Shamar Rinpotje. Traditionen for mønlam stammer fra Nagardjuna.

  Klik her for det daglige program og mere info.

    Klik her for organisatørernes hjemmeside: kagyumonlam-chenmo.org

  Klik her for Karmapas udtalelse om Kadjy Mønlam

NY DATO

900 året for den første Karmapa Dysum Khyempa

Den  30. december  2010 i Bodhgaya

    Den 30. december afholdes 900 året for den første Karmapa Dysum Khyempa i Bodhgaya, stedet for Buddha Sakyamunis oplysning i delstaten Bihar i Indien. Shamar Rinpotje vil lede festlighederne ledsaget af mange andre rinpotje’er og munke. Mindehøjtideligheden arrangeres af Karmapas Rumtek administration.

    Hoved ceremonien starter klokken 9 om morgenen ved foden af Mahabodhi templet. En særlig pudja for at formidle velsignelsen fra Karmapa Dysum Khyempa og Karma Kadjy mestrenes transmissions-linie vil blive udført.

    Beru Khyentse Rinpotje, som driver et kloster i Bodhgaya, vil afholde en reception om aftenen. Shamarpa vil holde åbningstalen, og som gæst er vicerektor for Bodhgayas Magadha Universitet inviteret til at tale. Professor Sempa Dordje fra KIBI (Karmapa International Buddhist Institute i New Delhi) vil fortælle om den første Karmapa Dysum Khyempas liv og færdigheder.

    Denne meddelelse kommer fra den 17. Karmapa Thinle Taye Dordje’s generalsekretær Lodrø Rabsel Rinpotje. Yderligere info: klik her. Festlighederne er begyndt i New Delhi. Læs om det her.

          Ceremonien afholdes i forbindelse med Kadjy Mønlam (se klummen for oven).

   Ole Nydahl obtains a recommendation

________________________________

Latest news (28/6/2012) - Click on the link below to read the PDF file with Shamar Rinpoche’s letter of recommendation:

 Lama Ole Nydahl obtains a letter of recommendation from Shamar Rinpoche

________________________________

POSTSCRIPT 2012    

 
  Here were previously some comments to the whole affair by Lama Tendar Olaf Hoeyer. They have been removed, because the story present itself sufficiently by the participants own words in the exchange.

POSTSCRIPT 2023    

  Just a few days before Shamar Rinpoche's demise, Rinpoche told Lama Tendar Olaf Hoeyer as they met in Renchen-Ulm in Germany for his last public lecture, that he was satisfied with the report [on this page]; only he thought that Tendar's comments were not necessary. Some people that in discretion is not mentioned here, thought that the report should be removed all together, when Rinpoche was dead and gone. That would be against the wish of the late Shamar Rinpoche, so Lama Tendar Olaf Hoeyer of course declined.

 
  This report is in contrast to the presentation by the Diamondway organisation of the relations between Shamar Rinpoche and Lama Ole Nydahl. They present the relation to have been without any controversy at all, as if the exchange that is described here, did not take place at all. That is a false picture of what happened here. For propaganda reasons, presumably.