Riding the Tiger: Twenty Years on the Road: The Risks and Joys of Bringing Tibetan Buddhism to the West

In 1969, Ole and Hannah Nydahl became the first Western students of H.H. the 16th Karmapa, the head of the Kagyu tradition of yogis in Tibetan Buddhism. After their years of practice in the Himalayas, Karmapa requested them to teach and start centers in his name.They have continued this work ever since. For nearly forty years, until her death in 2007, Hannah translated and organized for the main lamas of the lineage, and Ole, himself a lama, has now started over seven hundred growing centers around the world.The Nydahl's work in the West starts in 1972 with an audience with the Queen of Denmark. A basement in historical Copenhagen becomes the first Tibetan Buddhist center on the European continent, and rusted-through VW buses with racecar qualities get them everywhere. Karmapa's visit to Denmark in 1974 then opens up the world...Riding the Tiger is the inside story of the establishment of Tibetan Buddhism in the West. In his refreshingly unsentimental style, Lama Ole shares all aspects of the work. With breathtaking intensity, he highlights both healthy and unhealthy tendencies from the viewpoint of the Buddha's ultimate aim: to bring forth the fully developed capacity of all beings in such a way that their every activity blesses the world.