Lama Ole Nydahl (born in 1941), Danish by birth, is a meditation master, educated to a degree level, the first European person who was officially recognised by the lamas of Karma Kagyu tradition of Tibetan Buddhism.
In 1969 Ole Nydahl and his wife Hannah became first western students of His Holiness 16th Gyalwa Karmapa. For three years Ole Nydahl had been studying Buddhist philosophy and going through intensive meditation training – including the transmission of the unique practice of Diamond Way called “conscious dying” (Tib. Phowa).
In 1972 Lama Ole Nydahl, following the wishes of his main teacher – 16th Karmapa Randjung Rigpey Dorje, continuously passes on the blessing of the transmission lineage – gives lectures and conducts meditation courses around the world, being almost every day in another city. He established more then 650 centres of Diamond Way Karma Kagyu tradition across the world, where his students encounter this ancient teaching and meditate.
It is primarily due to Lama Ole Nydahl’s activity that Buddha’s teachings came to the West. Unique combination of clear and lively style with two-thousand-year wisdom, which Lama Ole offers to the modern world, opens up a possibility to use Diamond Way methods to a huge number of western people. Currently there is no other Buddhist Lama who has such an amount of students in the western countries as Ole Nydahl does.
Lama Ole Nydahl is the author of ten bestsellers translated into twenty five languages and published in more then 40 countries.