A newly constructed Tibetan Buddhist temple will be inaugurated next month to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Karma Tashi Ling Buddhist Centre in Bjørndal, Oslo. The official inauguration is set to take place at 3.00 p.m. on 2 June, and will be attended by several high lamas from the Karma Kagyu tradition. The temple is the first Tibetan Buddhist temple in Norway to be built so far.
Karma Tashi Ling Buddhist Centre's new temple. From tibetansk-buddhisme.no
Karma Tashi Ling Buddhist Centre is one of Norway’s most prominent Tibetan Buddhist groups. It was founded on 3 June 1975 and is affiliated with the Karma Kagyu tradition, specifically the 17th Karmapa. However, the organization’s website stresses that it is non-sectarian and receives teachers from all main lineages of Vajrayana.
“The new temple at Karma Tashi Ling Buddhist Centre in Oslo will be inaugurated on Vesak Day [the festival commemorating the Buddha’s birth, enlightenment, and death] on the 2nd of June 2015,” states the website. “We invite delegates from sanghas in Northern Europe to praticipate [sic] in the official opening, as well as in the other programs which will take place from the 2nd to the 7th of June.” The final roster of delegates is currently unconfirmed.
Several main events on 2 and 3 June are to be led by Mindrolling Jetsün Khandro Rinpoche, the daughter of Mindrolling Trichen and a reincarnation of Khandro Urgyen Tsomo, a great dakini of Tsurphu Monastery (crucible of the Karma Kagyu tradition and seat of the Karmapa). On the evening of 2 June, she will give a teaching based on inspirational examples from the Buddha’s life. From 3–4 June, there will be a conference to discuss the challenge of bringing Dharma to Europe and the tensions between innovation and tradition, with Khandro Rinpoche as the keynote speaker on 3 June. She will also give a teaching the same evening. The keynote speech and evening teaching on 4 June will be given by Ringu Tulku Rinpoche, a Kagyu master and representative of the 17th Karmapa.
On 5, 6, and 7 June, there will be separate events at Karma Tashi Ling in Oslo and the organization’s 75-acre, idyllic Karma Shedrup Ling retreat center (in the village of Siggerud in the municipality of Ski near Oslo). Monks and nuns from across Europe will gather at Karma Shedrup Ling for as-yet-unspecified monastic activities, whilst Geshe Sonam Ngodrup of Maitreya Institute in Holland will be present at Karma Tashi Ling on all three nights, giving enlightening teachings about altruism and the bodhisattva dimension in Buddhism.
Interested participants are encouraged to email temple@ktl.no for further information. Interested delegates (specified to be affiliated with Northern European sanghas) can download the application form at Karma Tashi Ling’s website. Participation fees apply for general participants, whilst delegates can participate free of charge and are exempt from paying for meals and transport between the centers. Flight tickets to Norway, however, are not included.