VISITORS INFORMATION
Karma Deleg Chö Phel Ling
Stoepawei 4, 9147 BG Hantum (Friesland), Netherlands
The Buddhist Study and Meditation Centre Karma Deleg Chö Phel Ling was founded in 1975 and belongs to the Karma Kagyu lineage within the Tibetan Mahayana tradition. This lineage is headed by the Gyalwa Karmapa, nowadays the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa, Urgyen Trinley Dorje, who is the owner of the centre and many monasteries around the world. The only official Stupa of northwestern Europe is situated on the land of the Hantum centre, together with a temple with meditation compound in Tibetan style plus various buildings. All this property was offered to the Gyalwa Karmapa.
Apart from an existing old farmhouse, the centre was built under supervision of Chödje Lama Gawang Rinpoche who was sent to the Netherlands by the 16th Gyalwa Karmapa as his sole missionary to Holland with additional responsibilities in Germany, Austria and France. Although Gawang Rinpoche moved mountains of work himself, he was aided by many enthousiastic volunteers and could count on gifts and donations from many good people who supported his aim of spreading the Dharma in Europe. We are extremely grateful to all those who were and are providing support to build, expand and maintain this important Dharma centre. For a more comprehensive description of the centre and its history, please click on the preceding link.
Visiting the Stupa
On Sundays the centre is open for visits of passers-by. Groups wishing to visit the facilities for educational purposes can be accommodated during weekdays on appointment. Also on appointment the resident and visiting Lama(s) and Rinpoche(s) may be consulted.
For Reservations and Appointments
Email to office@karmakagyu.nl or fax to +31(0)84.7150008. If email or fax facilities are not available to you, then call +31(0)519.297714 and leave your message on the answering machine. Please try to use email as much as possible, however, because the fax and answering machine are not checked on a continuous basis.
Costs of Stay
If not mentioned otherwise on the program page, the fees for courses are generally 15 Euro per course session (morning, afternoon or evening) and 17.50 Euro per initiation session. These tuition and initiation fees are exclusive of the following options:
- lodging including meals
- camping fee excluding meals
- warm lunch
- breakfast or evening tea (sandwiches)
- Senseo coffee
- tea or powder coffee
€ 20.00 per day p.p.
€ 7.50 per day p.p.
€ 6.00
€ 2.50 per meal
€ 1.00 per pad
€ free
Bed sheets and blankets are issued by the centre in case of lodging. In autumn and winter, warm clothing and waterproof shoes are advised to take along. Upon arrival please check with Piet for room assignment and payment.
Keeping Posted
Program flyers announcing upcoming events can be delivered by post at an annual fee of € 17.50 or can be sent at no charge if a request for sending the electronic update is sent by clicking here and sending the email mentioning your first name, family name and home town.
Bank Account for Payments and Donations
Please use Postbank number 44.99.995 in the name of Karma Deleg Cho Phel Ling, Hantum for payments and donations mentioning the purpose of your transfer. For international payments the use of IBAN and BIC codes is required, which are, respectively: NL 14 PSTB 0004 4999 95 and PSTBNL21.
Alternative Overnight Facilities and Route Map
Sometimes, because of increased interest for certain sessions, we cannot house everybody in our buildings. If the weather situation is favorable you could bring your own tent or camper for which we have ample space, but please check this in advance with reception in case of large events. As an alternative you could of course also book a hotel room or B&B in the surrounding area. For a regional map with route planner plus indication of available rooms, please click here and come back to this site by hitting the return arrow on your browser after your query.
Travel by Train and Bus
Take the train to Leeuwarden (province capital of Friesland) and then take bus line 54 to Dokkum from the bus terminal in front of Leeuwarden railway station. Exit at the Hantum stop and follow the green signposts to "Stoepa".
Tashi Deleg!