Date: August 18th, 1996 Author: Alexander Press and Patricia Schaffrick Source: KKBN
Such was the general climate when in May we left Athens to visit our destroyed retreat-place. Representing our friends from Germany who last summer helped to build the now burned down houses and in defiance of the hostile atmosphere against our work, we arrived at the desolate scene of what was once a growing, meditation centre. Here, away from the bustle of the more critical capital, we got an unexpected glimpse into the ways and dealings of the orthodox church and its "secret-police" methods. A tip from the neighbours lead us to a priest in Korinthos. We clearly surprised him with our visit and taking advantage of the initial confusion, immediately demanded an end to the defaming rumours and slandering press campaign waged by the church against us. Overcoming a first shock, the outspoken cleric rushed with aplomb into a relentless attack on the foes of the church that he unmistakably saw within the rather thin and certainly far from bellicose ranks of Greek Buddhists. It turned out that he was also well informed about the different Buddhist groups in the country - he even produced a secret list with the names of people he considered sworn enemies of the orthodox hierarchy. Lama Ole Nydahl was prominently on the list. Defiant, he boldly declared that the church had been sending spies to our courses for years and that it was his personal mission to carry on with a crusade against Buddhism in Greece. Yet, in the end he tried to avoid a direct confrontation and „offered" to leave us in peace if we just went on with our work on Berchen Ling, - "The Black Mountain". How much, and if at all, we can trust his words, is of course an open question.
Although our closest neighbours encouraged us to come back and promised their support, this is not possible as long as the juristic situation in Greece is not cleared. Right now we could be easily stopped by legal means if the Metaxa laws were applied. The first step is to put pressure on the government, both from within and from outside Greece, to have the medieval laws, governing the religious freedom in the country, fully abolished.
In the end, despite the obvious obstacles, we decided to keep the beautiful place in the mountains open. Everybody is invited to go there to help and meditate. Still, the main activity will be reduced to summer courses. The original plan of a whole year retreat-centre is, for the time being, cancelled. But by keeping the place alive, we are fully determined to fight for some measure of religious freedom in Greece and bring the country in line with the XXth century laws of the European Union.
At this point we are glad to announce that there will be a Ngondro-course in Berchen Ling with Lama Ole Nydahl in June next year. (13.7-15.7 1997).
Any kind of help is most welcome!
Information: 101761.3504@compuserve.com
Patricia Schaffrick and Alexander Preß
Copyright © 1996 Karma Kagyu Buddhist Network