Please join us for a weekend with Buddhist lectures by Piotr Kalachyn, a student of Lama Ole Nydahl.
Friday, April 12th:
8:00 PM – Lecture on “Refuge”
Saturday, April 13th:
8:00 PM – Lecture on “The Meaning of the Sangha”
Sunday, April 14th:
2:00 PM – Public Lecture on “The Three Levels and Three Pillars in Buddhism (Small Way, Great Way, and Diamond Way) – View, Meditation, and Action”
Suggested donation for the lectures: £10
The London Diamond Way Buddhist centre is pleased to invite you to a weekend of lectures by Gergely Puskas, a lay Buddhist teacher from Hungary.
Talks given across the three evenings will address essential topics in Diamond Way Buddhism:
Friday 14th February
8:00 pm What is Diamond Way Buddhism
Saturday 15th February
8:00pm Gergely will be joined by two lay Buddhist teachers from London: Steven James and Dafydd Morris to talk about: The Meaning of the Sangha
Sunday 16th February
14:00 lecture: Buddhism in the West
Suggested donation for the lectures: £7
After a year and a half of renovation, we are pleased to announce that our London Buddhist Centre is now open! With so much happening in the centre, we almost forgot to write and let our loyal blog subscribers know that, finally, we are open for public meditation!
All Diamond Way Buddhist centres offer regular public meditations, free of charge. To offer the Buddha’s highest meditation methods was the motivation for buying the building and investing so much time in the project, and it’s the Buddhist Centre’s very raison d’etre. Although much of the Beaufoy building is still being worked on, we have finished the meditation halls and the public lounge to a standard where we can invite everyone in.
The centre was officially opened as part of the visit of Lama Ole Nydahl and Lama Jigme Rinpoche. On our UK Buddhist blog you can read more about the official opening and the events surrounding it, including an initiation by Lama Jigme Rinpoche, teachings by Lama Ole Nydahl, speeches by special guests, and much more, in the article “The London Diamond Way Buddhist Centre opens its doors to the public at the Beaufoy Institute, Lambeth“.
Since then, many people have already joined our public classes and tried the meditation on the 16th Karmapa for themselves. The guided Buddhist meditations are suitable for beginners, and happen every Thursday at 7pm. If you use the popular social networking service FourSquare, check in to the Beaufoy Institute; or you can follow us on Facebook, and tell your friends!
Our very own Beaufoy Institute has been featured on a blog about Buddhist Buildings in the UK. As part of a project for English Heritage, two researchers from Leeds University are photographing and documenting the stories of sixteen Buddhist buildings around the country over the course of a year, starting in September 2013.
The Building Buddhism blog already contains several reports about different Buddhist centres in London, and will expand to include notable buildings in other areas. Buddhist buildings, they say, are under-researched in the UK although Buddhism itself is a fast-growing religion, according to the last census. Their latest entry is about Diamond Way Buddhism’s restoration of the Beaufoy Institute.
The writeup of the work done so far on our London Buddhist Centre is especially interesting because one can see how someone not directly involved sees the project. For example, as the researchers astutely observe regarding the amount of care and sheer effort that we have put into restoring the Beaufoy Institute:
…what is most interesting, is that this herculean effort is, indeed, the point. Buddhist practice doesn’t start when the building is completed. Building and Buddhist practice are carefully intertwined into the renovation plan and the work being done at the Beaufoy Institute … The Diamond Way community in the UK had spent 10 years fundraising and searching for an appropriate building, and the renovations will take some time to complete in entirety. The idea of all this effort taking place in a building that, throughout its history, also housed great effort with its industrial school seems not so much a change of purpose, than a continuation.
building buddhism – Researching Buddhist Buildings in England
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..
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.
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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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.
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.
When Diamond Way Teachings and Centres bought the Beaufoy Institute, many local people were interested to hear of the benefits a prospering Buddhist centre might bring to their part of Lambeth.
One of the most immediate benefits is that Lambeth Council received £200,000 from the sale of the former Beaufoy Institute and annexe on Black Prince Road (bought by Diamond Way) and the adjoining plot of land bordering Sancroft Street (bought by Bellway Homes). This money was earmarked for local regeneration projects.
Those of us who now live in the area can not only rejoice at the benefit this is bringing to everyone (which is something very Buddhist!), but also take a personal interest in what improvements are being planned literally on our street.
Recently, Lambeth Council announced exactly where the money will be spent. Councillors Lorna Campbell, Mark Harrison and Stephen Morgan wrote on their SE11 blog that five projects will be funded. Money from the sale of the Beaufoy Institute and associated plot will be combined with the proceeds from the sale of the Old Lillian Baylis School for a number of projects.
You can read more about the proposals in the Local investment projects from the Beaufoy sale announced! article on the Princes Ward SE11 blog.
Faiths Together in Lambeth, a local interfaith organisation, stopped by last weekend for a tour and some tea on one of their interfaith walks. They had already been to the North Brixton Islamic Cultural Centre, the Scalabrini Centre, Holy Redeemer Church, our neighbours the Jamyang Buddhist Centre, and St Anselm Church, before visiting the London Diamond Way Buddhist centre. The group was led by Rev. Alan Gadd, and included four Diamond Way interfaith walkers, who, along with their thirty or so colleagues, were happy to get off their feet and enjoy a lovely bit of cake. Whilst in the Diamond Way centre, the interfaith group also enjoyed an exhibition of some traditional Tibetan Buddhist art. And the visit happened at the same time as the Open House and Ragged Schools Tour, part of the thames Festival. Phew – busy weekend!
On our UK blog, you’ll find a description of the whole walk, as well as more pictures, in the article “Faiths Together in Lambeth: Interfaith Walk“.
As we found out during the recent visit of Sherab Gyaltsen Rinpoche, Lambeth has a lot to offer a Diamond Way Buddhist when taking some downtime from renovating the Beaufoy Institute. We’re enjoying getting to know the neighbourhood.
If you go down Black Prince Road and head right along the river, just a stone’s throw from the Houses of Parliament, you’ll find (more…)
Volunteers from Diamond Way Buddhism again manned a cake stall at the Kennington fete this year. They rolled up their sleeves, got their oven gloves out of the cupboard, and baked their socks off. Kennington Fete is one of the brightest spots in the Kennington community calendar, and for good reason.
For one lovely sunny afternoon on Sunday 7th July, dozens of Kennington businesses and organisations came together for an afternoon of fun and fundraising. There were attractions too numerous to mention, including Punch & Judy, a human fruit machine, plenty of food and drink stalls and a pop-up bar from the local Black Prince pub.
All proceeds from the event went to Kennington community “Dragon’s Den” and local charities.
At the London Diamond Way Buddhist centre we are spoiled with excellent cooks, and the fruits of their labour were very well received by the cake-loving public. We also enjoyed taking part and visiting the other attractions, and look forward to the next Kennington Fete.
The Beaufoy Institute has been empty for over a decade, and many Lambeth residents who walk down Black Prince Road often look at the grand facade of number 39 and would very much like to see the inside. That was never possible – until this April. Having taken ownership in January 2013, the charity Diamond Way Buddhism UK, which is renovating the building as a Buddhist centre, opened the doors for the first Open Days on the weekend of 27-28 April.
The Open Days showed the past, present and future of the Beaufoy Institute. Photographs of children attending lessons in the Beaufoy when it was a technical school were exhibited on the wall in the main hall. We were even lucky enough to have a visitor who happened to be a former student of the Beaufoy Institute. He was able to tell us many stories of what life was like for the students in the old days.
We also exhibited architectural drawings of Diamond Way’s plans to renovate the building into a Buddhist centre. And in one room, there was a video touring different Diamond Way Buddhist centres around the world, showing how volunteers have renovated beautiful and historical buildings, transforming them into vibrant meditation centres while carefully conserving the beauty and listed features.
And of course, being British, there was tea and cake.
As there are so many interesting architectural features to the Beaufoy, we gave regular guided tours around the building. The history of the Beaufoy family’s philanthropy, how they built Ragged Schools in Lambeth, and the original features of the Institute such as the Cockrill-Doulton tiles, made for fascinating tours.
Some visitors were themselves very knowledgeable about local history, and told us about the Black Prince, after whom Black Prince Road is made, and the Duchy of Cornwall’s ownership of the area and how it had changed over the years.
Over the two days, more than a hundred Lambeth residents dropped in to visit us, having seen our sign on the pavement, or heard about it through friends. Everyone was impressed with the progress made so far in cleaning up the building, and with the plans that we have for it. One recurring theme was how happy people are that “someone is now taking care of the building”. Many people signed up for more information on the various art, renovation, and history projects run or planned by the Friends of the Beaufoy group. Several people also expressed an interest in learning Buddhist meditation.
Everyone wished us well with our work, and lots of visitors left touching comments in the comment book.
Lovely to see the Beaufoy in use.
Thankyou and good luck! Welcome to Kennington!
Really fabulous space. Good to see the old building being loved.
Very encouraging. Looking forward to the final opening.
Thanks for today’s viewing and tour. As a past student of the school it is good to see the new exciting project the building is to be used for.
What an amazing place! Thank you for opening the doors this weekend, a wonderful insight into this beautiful Lambeth landmark! Your neighbour (Orsett Street)
