Nepal & the Karmapa
On their 1968 honeymoon in Kathmandu, Ole and Hannah meet their first teacher, Lopön Tsechu Rinpoche. A year later they become the first Western students of the 16th Karmapa, take refuge, and complete the foundational practices in the Himalayas with the great masters of the lineage.
Part of Lama Ole Nydahl
6 moments in this segment.
- — Honeymoon in Nepal. Ole and Hannah Nydahl meditating in Nepal on the 1968 honeymoon where they first encountered Buddhism — the journey that redirected both their lives.
- — Hannah and Ole. In 1968 Ole married Hannah, and the couple set off on a honeymoon overland to Kathmandu, Nepal. Hannah Nydahl would become his lifelong partner in the work and one of the lineage’s most sought-after translators. (Photo from his site: Hannah and Ole Nydahl.)
- — The young 16th Karmapa. Rangjung Rigpe Dorje, the 16th Gyalwa Karmapa, head of the Karma Kagyu lineage — whose first Western students Ole and Hannah became in 1969.
- — The first Western students of the 16th Karmapa. In 1969 they met and became the first Western students of the 16th Gyalwa Karmapa, Rangjung Rigpe Dorje — the highest Lama of the eleven-century-old Karma Kagyu school, which teaches Diamond Way Buddhism. He would later send them to bring the teachings to the West. (Photo: Hannah and Lama Ole with the 16th Karmapa.)
- — With Lopön Tsechu in the Himalayas. Lopön Tsechu Rinpoche with Hannah and Lama Ole Nydahl — their first teacher, met in Kathmandu, and a lifelong friend of the Nydahls.
- — Ngöndro with Kalu Rinpoche. Studying in the Himalayas, the Nydahls received the Four Foundational Practices (Ngöndro) from Kalu Rinpoche in 1970–71, and the Bodhisattva Promise from Shamar Rinpoche in 1970, completing the preliminary practices in just six months.
