Kagyu Samye Dzong London, Buddhist temple and Dharma centre in Bermondsey, England
Kagyu Samye Dzong London is a Buddhist temple and Dharma centre in Bermondsey, Southwark, housed in a 19th-century former public library building. The main shrine room contains a large Buddha statue and can seat a sizable number of practitioners during teachings and meditation sessions.
The building was designed in 1892 by architect John Johnson in a Victorian style and served for decades as a public library for the local area. It lost its original function in the 1980s and was converted into a Buddhist centre in 2010.
The center follows the Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism, one of its oldest transmission lines. Visitors can join open meditation sessions where texts are recited in English and sometimes in Tibetan.
The centre runs activities on both weekdays and weekends, with times that vary depending on the teaching and meditation programs on offer. It is worth checking in advance which sessions are open to new visitors, as some are intended for more experienced practitioners.
The centre hosts the London Bardo Group, a group that supports people going through serious illness or the end of life by combining Buddhist practice with direct personal accompaniment. The word bardo comes from Tibetan tradition and refers to the transition between death and rebirth, giving this work a specific doctrinal grounding.
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