Od Himalájí k Dunaj

The exhibition From the Himalayas to the Danube tells the story of the transmission of Tibetan Buddhism to the West and three decades of Diamond Way Buddhism in Slovakia.

Fifty years ago, Ole and Hannah Nydahl, the first Western disciples of the 16th Karmapa, began establishing meditation centres in Europe at his request. Tibetan Buddhism of the Karma Kagyu school thus gradually entered a new cultural environment, and its teachings and meditation methods began to be made accessible to people living a modern Western lifestyle.

This story reached Slovakia in 1996, when Lama Ole Nydahl gave his first talks in Košice and Bratislava. This was followed by the establishment of meditation centres, talks, courses and other activities which, over the next thirty years, shaped Diamond Way Buddhism in Slovakia.

Through photographs, archival materials, texts and symbolic elements, the exhibition captures key moments along this journey – from the Himalayan roots of the Karma Kagyu lineage, through the transmission of Tibetan Buddhism to the West, to its Slovak chapter.

At the same time, it raises a broader question that runs through this story: how can a tradition dating back more than 2,500 years be transferred to a different era and culture whilst retaining its essence?