Now that we’re fundraising for the next phase of our renovation project, it’s natural to ask what we’ve done so far.
2013 was a great year for Diamond Way Buddhism in the UK, when we finally dispelled all obstacles to the growth of Karma Kagyu Buddhism in London and concluded the long process of buying our new centre.
Please enjoy this condensed history of some of the things that happened that year.
The laws of space-time notwithstanding, you can now bring the 2,000 sq m Beaufoy building home with you!
We have created a very limited run of models of our Buddhist centre. Some other Buddhist centres who would like to support us have taken one back to their centre. It can be a physical focal point for raising donations. It’s not only about the large numbers of pounds that we need, but also the chance for as many people as possible to make a karmic connection with the project, so even putting a single coin in the box becomes very meaningful.
If you would like to take the Beaufoy home with you, come and see us at our stand!
Don’t be shy – come and see us
The Beaufoy Box is easy to put together
It’s not all about money! The reason we create, renovate and run Buddhist centres (and so the reason we are here in Germany promoting our renovation project) is to develop our human qualities like friendship, compassion, and fearlessness. And we don’t have to wait until it’s finished. The whole process helps us do this.
Working together on meaningful projects brings us closer together. Combined with meditation, it helps us see the qualities and potential in people.
Without a lot of philosophy we can just say: contributing to something bigger than oneself simply makes you feel good.
Of course good ideas are always welcome as well as good feelings. While we were looking for our new centre we collected best practices from all round the world, and we’re still learning. So if you have suggestions for how we could do any aspect of our project better, don’t hesitate to get in touch.
The Europe Centre is the main Diamond Way centre where practitioners from all over the world come to learn from our lamas and each other.
The Summer Course is the biggest meditation course held in the Europe Centre each year. Thousands of meditators head to southern Germany. Some come weeks before to prepare the enormous infrastructure. Everything possible is done by unpaid volunteers, from creating the massive infrastructure to cooking dinner for thousands of people – and washing up afterwards – every day for two weeks.
We are very grateful that the Summer Course gave us space to promote our project this year. With over 650 centres and groups worldwide, most of which want to move or buy a place or do something else exciting, only three projects are being promoted internationally in this way. It’s a great honour and responsibility to realise that establishing a solid offer of authentic Karma Kagyu Buddhism in the capital of England is a shared wish of so many people.
Our little corner of England
Members of the London Diamond Way Buddhist centre are here at the Europe Center Summer Course in Germany to fundraise for our renovation project. And of course to meditate, and to have fun!
We’re building up our information stand where we will explain to the course visitors what we’re doing: renovating the roof of our century-old centre, creating a civilised space for people to live there, and completing the Great Hall, our magnificent meditation space.
For our fellow Buddhists who are planning on coming to the meditation course – you can find us in the Information part of the dining tent. See you!
The kind of Buddhism practiced in Diamond Way centres across the world has come down through the great hero Marpa Lotsawa (1012–1097). Marpa was a Tibetan Buddhist student who made the incredibly long and dangerous journey over the Himalayas to India and back on foot. He did so no less than three times, in order to receive and pass on the extraordinary insights of the Buddha. He later became a Buddhist teacher and lineage holder of the Karma Kagyu school, and did all this while running a farm and providing for his family.
Sometimes Diamond Way Karma Kagyu Buddhists refer to themselves as “Marpa Kagyus”, thinking of Marpa’s example. Modern practitioners might not have to cross the Himalayas to receive the teachings, but we do stand in the middle of life and strive to apply the timeless and practical wisdom of Buddhism to our everyday experiences. The most inspiring aspect of the Beaufoy project, therefore, is that it is made possible by unpaid volunteers. Balancing career, relationships, family, hectic modern life, meditation and on top of this, contributing to the community and enabling others to meet with the Buddha’s teachings is the outstanding achievement of ordinary people. It certainly wouldn’t be possible without a joyful attitude, friendship and the inspiring example of Lama Ole Nydahl, a fully qualified lay Buddhist master with a wife and a hectic schedule.
As with all challenges and difficulties in life, the great reward is the sense of achievement and contribution to something bigger than ‘me’. And there could be no greater seal of approval and source of encouragement in a refurbishment project, than official acknowledgement by Historic England. Heritage Counts was established by Historic England as an annual survey of England’s historic buildings. Please view the results of our hard work in this article and case study on the Beaufoy Institute project.
Historic England preserves and lists historic buildings and ancient monuments, and advises central and local government
The Beaufoy Institute is the largest Buddhist centre in London, and given that the building was left abandoned for 17 years, there is enough repair and refurbishment work to last a lifetime! However, with the help of capable and engaged friends, mountains can be moved; we have recently received confirmation of our successful application for a £100,000 roof repair grant from ‘The Listed Places of Worship Roof Repair Fund‘. Just applying for the grant alone required a lot of hard work and the level of competition was extremely high. Thanks to everyone who helped us to put it together we can now take yet another leap forward in the important work of keeping safe this historic and wonderful building, which from the very first brick was built in order to serve the community. Built in 1907, the Beaufoy Institute began as a school for the underprivileged. Its purpose and philosophy are clearly demonstrated by a statue and quotation on the front of the building, portraying a teacher and her students.
The Beaufoy was built to serve the community
‘Those that do teach young babes do it with gentle means and easy tasks’
The most recent development of the Beaufoy project has been the renovation of the ceiling of the great hall of the Beaufoy, which has remained untouched for decades. The greatest progress was seen during ‘Power October’ (2015), when many friends came from across Europe to help. As soon as the scaffolding was installed all the way to the top of the 12 metre high ceiling, friends from across Europe started getting to work with their scrapers, sanders, paintbrushes and hearty attitude. The scaffolding was taken down at the beginning of this New Year and the results are magnificent. Please feel free to come by and take a look!
The ceiling of the big meditation hall of the Beaufoy before its refurbishment
The ceiling of the big meditation hall of the Beaufoy after its restoration
We are delighted to announce that our planning application to transform the Beaufoy Institute has been approved. The application from Diamond Way Buddhism went to the Lambeth Planning Application Committee on 3rd July 2012, and was approved by the vote of 6 Lambeth councillors, with 5 in favour and one abstention, and the planning permission has now been granted.
We are very thankful for the overwhelming support of the local people of the Kennington, Oval, and Vauxhall (KOV) area, and the ward councillors during the planning consultation process – and now the project to bring the Beaufoy Institute back to life can go ahead! More details can be found on our Diamond Way Buddhism UK blog.
Members of Diamond Way and friends joyful at the granting of planning permission by Lambeth Council
It is expected that work to transform the Beaufoy Institute will start in early 2013. We hope the Beaufoy will be open, at least in part, for use within a year.
The project itself has now moved into detailed planning and further fundraising phases – so there is lots going on behind the scenes! The architectural plans in particular need to be converted into detailed plans for the renovation and there is a huge effort underway now to secure the benefits of the project for all.
The local community will be interested in how and when they can visit the Beaufoy Institute, as well as any disruption that might be caused by the building works. We very much have this in mind and so will post more updates as soon as we know more.
We are all very excited and looking forward to the move to Lambeth – watch this space for more information!