The first Phowa courses

1987

In 1987 Shamar Rinpoche — the second-highest Lama of the Karma Kagyu after the Karmapa — asked Lama Ole to give Phowa courses, the practice of conscious dying, to Western students. He gave the first course in Graz, Austria. To date he has given this meditation to over 75,000 students. (Photo: Shamar Rinpoche and Lama Ole.)