Lama Jampa and Benie have just returned to London from their four day trip to the Bodhi Path centre in Valencia.
The beautiful Mediterranean city, the third largest in Spain, has been home for a number of years to several Buddhist groups, including sanghas from the Gelug, Nyingma and Zen traditions. The Bodhi Path centre was inaugurated by Shamar Rinpoche in 2011 and is the only one of its kind in Spain.
On Friday evening Lama Jampa gave a lecture entitled 'Mindfulness and Altruism' at the University which was attended by over 120 people drawn by the increasing popularity of mindfulness in Spain. Lama Jampa struck a cautionary note, emphasising the dangers of divorcing the practice of attentiveness from Buddhist ethics and philosophy.
Following this, the Bodhi Path centre itself was the venue for two days of teaching on the topic of Buddha-nature. Drawing on teachings from Gampopa and Jamgon Kongtrul, Lama Jampa stressed that Buddha-nature is the foundation of meditation practice in the Kagyu tradition.
On Sunday Lama Jampa was visited by Lama Rinchen Gyaltsen, the director of Fundacion Sakya, which is located some two hours south of Valencia. Lama Jampa himself last visited Fundacion Sakya in 2014 to teach the Seven Points of Mind-training.