H.H. the 17th Karmapa

Ole and Hannah Nydahl

In 1969, Ole Nydahl and his wife Hannah met the 16th Karmapa, historically the first incarnate lama of Tibet. Since then the teachings of Diamond Way Buddhism have gradually found their way to the West.

For over thirty years, at the request of the 16th Karmapa, Lama Ole has traveled around the world twice a year visiting, teaching and founding new centers. Thousands of people now meditate and study Buddhism in the Americas, Australia, Russia, and all over Europe. Since the death of the 16th Karmapa in Zion, IL north of Chicago in 1981, Lama Ole has kept the Diamond Way Centers of the Karma Kagyu Lineage around the world together. Today, he continues to work with the centers under the spiritual guidance of the 17th Karmapa, Trinley Thaye Dorje.

In 1997, the initial contact with the Heartland was made. One of the regional founders discovered Entering the Diamond Way, an autobiography of Lama Ole in a used book store. This led him to help start the Diamond Way Buddhist center of La Crosse in 1999. From then on friends became inspired and started groups and centers in Minneapolis, La Crosse, Madison, Whitewater, Milwaukee, Chicago, Yorkville and Steven's Point. All centers are run by lay people, are supported by donations, and all of the work done in the centers is voluntary and unpaid.