“One of the greatest contributions we can make to our world is to learn how to live in harmony with each other.”
– Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, Rebel Buddha
Where can we meet?
Weekendretreat: Siddhartha and the Spiritual Path (onsite, September 5-6, 2026, language: Dutch)
Together with my dharma friend Daniel Kapitan, I will facilitate a light weekend retreat in Rotterdam (The Netherlands) on behalf of Nalandabodhi Netherlands. Learn more and register here.
Simply Sitting (online, weekly)
Every Wednesday, from 8 to 8:30 PM (GMT) our community in London joins online for a 30-minute meditation practice – simply sitting together. If you’d like to join, please send an email to karmaosung[at]nalandabodhi.org for the link.
What is My Path? (online, biweekly)
On full moon days (in English) and new moon days (in Dutch), I facilitate online gatherings to slow down, contemplate our path in life, and explore the next steps. You can read more here about these gatherings and register on this page.
Tara Practice (online and onsite, monthly)
Every 8th day of the Lunar Month, starting 6:15 PM (GMT), our community in London gathers online (and sometimes onsite) for Tara practice as taught by Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche. If you are interested to join, please send an email to karmaosung[at]nalandabodhi.org.
Meditation Practice and Dharma Chats (onsite at Poplar Union, monthly)
Poplar Union is a wonderful arts and community space based in Tower Hamlets (London, UK). Starting in September (2026), I will facilitate a monthly meditation practice on a Saturday and conversations about dharma on a Wednesday. Check Poplar Union’s calendar for the upcoming dates and registration.
More opportunities
If you are interested in more opportunities to study the Buddhadharma, practice meditation, explore how to integrate this in your daily life, and perhaps study Tibetan language as part of your path, you may find things to support you on the path on my communities’ website, nalandabodhi.org or the various programs offered by Nitartha Institute and Karmapa Center 16.
On the path
“Moving constantly with no fixed abode was an aspect of Buddhist practice.”
— His Holiness the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje, Mar Ngok Summer Teachings, 2022
Just like the Buddha himself, the early monastics often traveled on foot and rarely spent a long time in one particular place. In the mornings they would go for alms and would sometimes share a meal at the invitation of laypeople. The rains retreat was an exception. During that period, monks and nuns stayed in a single location, which allowed for greater interaction between the monastics and local communities. As His Holiness the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa observed during the same teachings: “[…] the rains retreat was like a bridge that deepened and strengthened the connection between the sangha and lay followers.”1
These days, monastics in some traditions live in ways very similar to the early sangha. In others, monks and nuns are based at a monastery or dharma center most of the time. In both cases, connecting with the local community is considered of great importance. Together they form the sangha — in the broader sense of that word — and mutually support each other on the path, seeking to benefit the wider world they are part of. In this 21st century, this connection also takes place online.
The gatherings listed above are one way to connect. In addition, both when I travel and when I stay somewhere for a shorter or longer period of time, more informal and spontaneous encounters arise — a conversation, a question, a shared meal. Such moments make me feel close to the early monastics and what I imagine would be part of their life as a monk or nun.
I plan to write about some of these encounters and publish them here. They shape my path and I carry them with me with each next step. I am offering them here, with questions to contemplate, as small windows onto the spiritual journey and an invitation to support each other and the communities we live in.
- His Holiness the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje, Life in the Early Monastic Community, Mar Ngok Summer Teachings 2022, Day 2 ↩︎