General Spiritual Director
Enjoying meditations on love and acceptance
Nov 20, 2024
Kadam Dharma in the Nordic Region
Kadam Dharma was introduced into the Nordic Region in the 90's.
Since then Dharma centers have developed in Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland.
The first time Venerable Geshe-la’s precious teachings of Kadam Dharma were given in Norway was when a small group of practitioners requested Gen Kelsang Sangye to visit in 2008. Gen Sangye held a weekend of teachings in Norway’s two largest cities, Oslo and Bergen.
This inspired the local Sangha to hold a number of classes in both these cities. Then, in summer 2009 the Sangha in Oslo requested a full time Teacher. Gen Kelsang Tubchen was appointed Resident Teacher in Oslo on November 10, 2009 and thus Je Tsongkhapa Kadampa Buddhist Centre was born.
The official opening of the City temple in Oslo took place in October 2017 with Gen-la Kelsang Dekyong. Since then the center has flourished in the local area.
In 2005 a small group of practitioners began meeting in each others’ homes, reading from Transform Your Life, discussing this precious text and meditating together. Over the next two years they organised a number of events with a visiting teacher. Then in 2007, a Resident Teacher was appointed and Tara Kadampa Buddhist Center was established. This happened at the same time as the inaugural Nordic Dharma Celebration, which was held in Stockholm.
The center started renting its own premises in 2010 and then moved into a beautiful ground floor commercial space in the heart of Stockholm in 2020.
Kadampa Meditation Centre Copenhagen was originally established by Venerable Geshe-la as Clear Light Kadampa Buddhist Centre in 2005, and has been offering classes in Copenhagen continuously since then. They have been in their present location for over 10 years.
Located in a quiet walkway in the centre of the city, KMC Copenhagen provides a peaceful environment for people to meditate and connect to Buddha’s teachings. Copenhagen is a small but international city and has always attracted many international participants.
Kadampa Buddhist teachings started in Finland in the 90s and have been given in varying numbers at varying locations, by different Kadampa teachers.
Kelsang Lekmo started as the Resident teacher in Helsinki in 2017. Today, Kelsang Lekmo lives and teaches in Tampere, one of Finland's largest cities and an increasingly popular place to live.
Hjärtjuvel KBC was founded in 2005 in Gothenburg, and on the west coast of Sweden. In 2011 the centre moved to a small commercial space right in the city centre.
Future plans include the translation and publication of Venerable Geshe-la’s precious texts in Swedish. The next book to be published is How to Understand the Mind and there is a strong wish to record the prayers in Swedish as well.