Beaufoy Birthday: 1 year of Diamond Way Buddhism in Lambeth

This Thursday, 23rd January 2014, the members of the London Diamond Way Buddhist Centre celebrated something very special. We ate together, meditated on the 16th Karmapa, and listened to a spontaneous lecture by Leo, a Buddhist teacher who was visiting to help with the Beaufoy renovations.

Looking over the photographs from the last year and swapping stories, we celebrated the first Beaufoy Birthday. So many things have happened that it’s hard to believe.

From visits of high lamas to tea and cakes, 2013 was a lot of work and a lot of fun.

Look back with us on our favourite events from the last year..

• Diamond Way Buddhism comes to Lambeth
• The Beaufoy Institute returns to life…
• …and to the Lambeth community
• Sherab Gyaltsen Rinpoche & Lama Ole Nydahl in London

Diamond Way Buddhism comes to Lambeth

Of the many dates that we could have chosen for the Beaufoy Birthday – the date we first saw the amazing Beaufoy Institute, then derelict and forgotten, or the date Diamond Way Buddhism UK got the planning permission from Lambeth Council – we decided to mark the date that the Buddha moved in to the Beaufoy.

On Wednesday 23rd January 2013, a large statue of the Buddha Maitreya was carried into the Beaufoy by Lama Ole Nydahl and friends, symbolically “opening” it as a Buddhist Centre, just after we had received our own set of keys for the building.

Today, a derelict school in Lambeth starts its transformation into one of the capital’s biggest Buddhist centres as a home for Diamond Way Buddhism. The Grade II Beaufoy Institute promises to be regenerated back to its former splendour.

And although we didn’t know about it then, the profits from Diamond Way’s purchase of the Beaufoy Institute were already earmarked for a range of beneficial, very local projects that would be announced by Lambeth Council later in the year. Read more: Beaufoy Institute sale profits to be invested by Lambeth Council.

The Beaufoy Institute returns to life…

In 2013 we started the restoration work, and fully finishing the Beaufoy will take us probably a few years to come. With expert advice from friends from Diamond Way Buddhist centres abroad that have also taken on big restoration projects, we were able to make lots of progress this year.

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…and to the Lambeth community

No sooner had we done a little cleaning up of the years of grime from the Beaufoy, when we opened up for a weekend for local residents to come and take a look at the old building, and see records of the past and plans for the future. With guided tours of the building, showing its important architectural features, a video installation, and tea and cakes, there was something for everyone. Over two hundred friends and neighbours from Lambeth came to enjoy the history of the Institute and get a foretaste of the future Buddhist centre. Read more at “Beaufoy Institute Open Days: Diamond Way Buddhist centre invites Lambeth for tours and tea”

A foretaste of the role that the Buddhist centre will play in the spiritual life of the local area was given when Faiths Together in Lambeth, a local interfaith group, stopped off at the London Diamond Way Buddhist Centre as part of their Interfaith Walk. Read more: Diamond Way hosts Interfaith visit: Faiths Together In Lambeth.

As the Open Days had been such a success, we decided to join in with the tradition of the many Christmas Markets in London and hosted our very own in the Beaufoy. As a combined Open Day and opportunity for people to come in and do their last-minute Christmas shopping from local arts and crafts suppliers, the Beaufoy Christmas market was a great success.

We had previously accumulated the confidence to organise our own market by getting experience in the well-known Kennington Fete. Diamond Way Buddhism ran a stall at the Kennington Fete in the summer. From now on we’ll be known not just for meditation, but also for the best cakes this side of Kennington Cross. Read more at “Kennington Fete: Diamond Way Buddhism raises money for local charities”.

And lest we forget, we had another, specially themed Open Day weekend! As part of the Thames Festival, Diamond Way Buddhism hosted a historic tour of local sites important to the Vauxhall Ragged Schools movement. After taking in sights such as the White Hart Docks and the Lambeth Ragged School, the tour ended with our own Beaufoy Institute, with its own rich history. Read more: Vauxhall Ragged Schools tour & Buddhist centre Open House at the Beaufoy.

Hopefully these experiences of the Beaufoy have whetted the appetite of the residents of Kennington and Vauxhall for our upcoming Public Opening in April 2014.

Sherab Gyaltsen Rinpoche & Lama Ole Nydahl in London

Some important Buddhist teachers came in 2013 to see how our project to bring the Beaufoy back to life was progressing. In July, our much-loved teacher Sherab Gyaltsen Rinpoche visited us again. Rinpoche, a high lama from Nepal, took time out from his schedule of travelling and teaching in Asia and the West to visit us. Read more at Compassion in Action: Sherab Gyaltsen Rinpoche visits London, July 2013.

And Lama Ole Nydahl, founder of Diamond Way Buddhism and tireless supporter of our London Buddhist Centre project, visited us twice. Lama Ole came to London in January, to symbolically “open” the centre. And he came again in April, donning gloves and helping to clear up and prepare the site.

Because of Lama Ole Nydahl’s great enthusiasm for the new London Buddhist centre, which has gained international project status, he spontaneously decided to spend two of his project days working directly with the friends involved in the project and inspiring them with his personal example and teachings.

What was your favourite memory of last year? Leave us a comment, or a birthday wish below.