Cultural, art and education projects

In all cultures where Buddhism has flourished, it has lifted and inspired the existing art, culture, and education of its surroundings. Some of the finest art in the world is Buddhist art, and the Diamond Way Buddhism Foundation is committed to collecting, preserving, and exhibiting high-quality art of Tibetan Buddhism.

Diamond Way Buddhism uses art – both statues and the Tibetan scroll paintings known as thangkas – as supports for meditation. The buddha aspects pictured are understood as representations of different aspects of enlightenment. Through meditating on or even looking at these fascinating forms, observers uncover and strengthen in their own minds the qualities that the statues and thangkas represent. The Diamond Way Buddhism Foundation supports a unique collection of Buddhist art from the cultures of Tibet and Nepal, which has been exhibited in the European Parliament, Innsbruck, London, Munich, Berlin, Hamburg, and other cities.

Buddhism and science is another aspect of culture where the Foundation helps to promote mutual understanding of East and West. Through organizing symposiums such as the Buddhism and Science Symposium in Munich 2008, the insights into the nature of reality that Diamond Way Buddhism has inherited from the Buddha are brought into dialogue with the latest findings of modern science, to the mutual enrichment of everyone's understanding.

Education is an area where the Diamond Way Buddhism Foundation is uniquely placed to make a positive contribution. Buddhism is still in transition to the West, and clarifying what is essential and what is cultural is very important. In Germany, the Foundation works with the government to provide high-quality information that can be used in curricula to teach Buddhism in schools.

 

 


The Projects