Buddhist Center Athens Acropolis

Diamond Way Buddhism through its Karma Kagyu Lineage first came in Greece in 1975, when Lama Ole Nydahl and his wife Hannah were invited by a group of Greeks interested in Tibetan Buddhism. Since then, a lot of important Tibetan lamas and western teachers have visited Greece to teach the Buddhist philosophy and meditation.

Lama Ole Nydahl accompanied His Holiness 16th Karmapa Rangjung Rigpe Dorje in Athens and founded the first Buddhist Center.

Lama Ole Nydahl together with the members of the Athens Buddhist Center, founded the first short-retreat center in Karma Berchen Ling, in a mountain of Corinth, where the Kalachakra Stupa was built in 2010, with the participation of lots of friends from all over the world.

Buddhism was officially recognized as a religion in Greece through the recognition of the Athens Buddhist Karma Kagyu Diamond Way Center.

The International Committee of Olympic Games “Athens 2004” asked Lama Ole Nydahl to organise the Buddhist Services of the Olympic Village for athletes and their escorts. With the support of the International Diamond Way Foundation, many Greeks and foreign teachers and students of Lama Ole Nydahl, participated as volunteers for the program of meditations throughout the Olympic games.

Hanna Nydahl accompanied His Holiness 17th Karmapa Trinley Thaye Dorje, on his first visit to Athens.

The 40-year presence of Diamond Way Buddhism in Greece was celebrated in Thessaloniki with the collaboration of all three Centers of Greece.