Discovering Buddhism in Amsterdam

	Ondy	Kaye & Gordon

With Ondy Willson, Kay Cooper and Gordon McDougall

The aim of the Discovering Buddhism Program is to give participants a solid footing in the practice of Mahayana Buddhism. By engaging in this program, participants will gain an experiential taste of Buddha’s teachings, meditation retreat experience and the skills they need to make their lives most meaningful.
The full course program covers fourteen main subjects which provide a solid overview of Tibetan Buddhism. The subjects are taught per module, and each module can be followed individually.

Students of these courses can download the recordings of the teachings via this Download page.

For more details on the full program, see Discovering Buddhism or Ontdek het boeddhisme.
Dharmabeschermers and Djindaks (members of the Maitreya Instituut) receive a 10% discount on this program.

Enjoying your problems like ice cream (module 11)

with Ondy Willson
Is a problem always a problem? Or can you use it to your advantage and really come to like your problems? Find out the Buddhist way of dealing with problems and transform your life.
Mondays, not every week: October 31, November 21  and 28, and December 5
Time: 20.00 – 21.30 hrs
To help cover our costs: € 12,50 per evening. Includes reading material

See Reality as it is (DB 12)

with Ondy Willson
The emptiness of inherent existence, or the way self and phenomena really exist, is the most profound subject in the Buddha’s teachings. Get an overview of what emptiness is and isn’t, and see how this can help you to deal with everyday life.
Mondays, January 9, 16, 30, February 13, 20, March 12, 19, 26
Time: 20.00 – 21.30 hrs
To help cover our costs: € 110,- for the series /€ 16,- per evening. Includes reading material.

Introduction to Tantra (DB 13)

with Kay Cooper and Gordon McDougall
Learn what tantra is, how it works, and why it is a powerful form of practice. Get a broad overview of the four classes of tantra and learn to practice simple Kriya tantric methods. Learn to integrate tantra with Lam.Rim meditation for optimal results. Follow the teachings and join the study group for the Mondays in between. This study group will be guided by a more experienced student.
Teaching:
Mondays, April 2, 16, May 7, 21, June 11
Time: 20.00 – 21.30 hrs
To help cover our costs: € 68,50 for the series /€ 16,- per evening. Includes reading material
Study group:
Mondays, April 23, May 14, June 4, 18
Time: 20.00 – 21.30 hrs
To help cover our costs: € 5,- ( per evening)

Introduction to DB 14: special integration practices

with Kay Cooper and Gordon McDougall
To round off your discovering of Buddhism, the study program advises you to engage in several Buddhist practices to seal the blessings of this study. Find out what they are, and see if you are inspired.
Monday, June 25
Time: 20.00 – 21.30 hrs
To help cover our costs: € 16,-

Click here for contact information to register for the courses.

Ondy Willson was born in Cape Town in 1951, and grew up in the south of England. In 1980 she took refuge with Geshe Jampa Tekchog, then sold up her home and gave up her job to be near him. Since then she has received teachings and initiations from many high lamas including H.H. Dalai Lama, Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche. In 1983 she did her prostrations retreat in Bodhgaya whilst receiving teachings from H.H. Ling Rinpoche and Tara Tulku.
Ondy was Head of Belief, Philosophy and Ethics in a large English high school, and contributed to primary and secondary school educational books on religious & moral issues and spirituality, specialising in Buddhism. She went on to develop 'Inner Management' courses and started her own consultancy. She teaches the dharma for Yeshe Buddhist Group, which she founded in 2001. In 2009 she published her story of the Buddha’s early life, “Ten Thousand Days of Summer”, Book One of a trilogy. She is currently working on the second book. Ondy is also a storyteller and Drama teacher, offering workshops to children of all ages.
Ondy has recently spent 3 months teaching at Tushita Meditation Centre in Dharamsala, N. India, and will spend a significant amount of time touring and teaching in 2012, returning to teach in India at Tushita and Root Institute next Autumn. Her teaching style combines head, heart and humour with the emphasis on making Buddhism relevant for contemporary life. Her partner is Andy Weber, the Tibetan Buddhist Iconographer and Buddhist Art teacher and they have two grown children.

Kay Cooper and Gordon McDougall have been students of Buddhism for 25 years, starting with the FPMT centre in Hong Kong in 1987. Gordon was the first director of the Hong Kong centre and Kay was the Chinese/Western coordinator there for two years. When they moved to London in 1990 they became involved in Jamyang Buddhist Centre as volunteers.
They have both been regular teachers there since 2000 and were instrumental in helping Jamyang London’s teacher, Geshe Tashi, set up the extremely popular Foundation of Buddhist Thought, one of the core study programmes of the FPMT. Kay has been an online tutor for the FBT course for over 10 years. Gordon was the administrator of the course as well as the Spiritual Programme Coordinator for Jamyang from 2000 to 2006.
Gordon now works for Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive editing Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Lam.Rim books. Kay and Gordon are registered Discovering Buddhism and FBT teachers who focus on facilitating discussion and how to put Buddhism in our everyday lives.