Jamyang Buddhist Centre Leeds (JBCL) has acquired its first permanent premises in the northern English city of Leeds, which it plans to develop into a new 33,000-square-foot (3,000-square meter) Buddhist community center from which to offer teaching, meditation and mindfulness classes, and to engage in various community outreach projects. 

Founded in 1996 under the spiritual direction of Lama Zopa Rinpoche (b. 1946), Jamyang Buddhist Centre Leeds is an organization devoted to the study and promotion of Buddhist meditation and principles. JBCL, which has been providing meditation and mindfulness classes and residential retreats in Leeds for more than 20 years, states: “We are committed to creating harmony and helping all beings develop their full potential of infinite wisdom and compassion.” (Jamyang Buddhist Centre Leeds)

JBCL plans to spend about two months renovating the property—Clyde Works, originally a textile mill constructed in 1935 in the district of Holbeck—which will house a cafe, bookshop, and charity shop for the general public, a meditation hall and a library with reading areas, as well as accommodation for visiting teachers and volunteers, office space, and a function hall that external community groups and charities will be able to rent. The space is scheduled to open on the weekend of 27–28 April.

“I’m absolutely delighted to hear that Jamyang Leeds has acquired a property in Holbeck,” said David Lascelles, the Earl of Harewood and a patron of the project. “For some years now they have provided an oasis of calm for many busy people in a very busy city and having their own home will enable them to continue doing so for a long time to come. It’s good for Jamyang, good for Holbeck, and good for the people of Leeds, Buddhist and non-Buddhist alike.” (South Leeds Life)

JBCL was founded as part of the lineage of the Tibetan teacher Je Tsongkhapa (1357–1419), whose activities led to the reformation of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism, and is affiliated with the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), an international non-profit organization established in Kathmandu in 1975 by Lama Thubten Yeshe (1935–84) and now headquartered in Portland, in the US state of Oregon. Lama Zopa Rinpoche is currently the spiritual director of both the FPMT and Jamyang Buddhist Centre, which describes itself:

As a non-residential centre run by volunteers and two members staff, our aim is to provide a peaceful place for meditation and a community of support for the study and practice of Buddhism. . . . 

We regularly host highly respected Buddhist teacher—both lay and ordained from the FPMT network. As a registered charity, our aim is to make teachings available to anyone who requests them. . . . 

JBCL also conducts outreach work, including interfaith events in the region, and offers Buddhist chaplaincy services to support to the North East Lincolnshire & Goole NHS Foundation Trust and the Leeds Teaching Hospitals (NHS Trust) Chaplaincy Service.

Among its aspirations for the new community center, JBCL aims to continue to develop and expand the breadth of Buddhist teachings and outreach activities offered, targeting a 20 per cent increase in attendance by offering more retreat services and expanding secular teachings and practices into new areas, including courses on mindfulness for businesses. JCBL also plans to introduce more wellbeing activities, such as yoga, to complement its core philosophy and mission.

See more

New 33,000 sq ft Buddhist mega centre to open in Holbeck (Yorkshire Evening Post)
Jamyang Buddhist Centre to develop new centre in Holbeck (South Leeds Life)
Jamyang Buddhist Centre Leeds
Jamyang Buddhist Centre Leeds (Twitter)
Jamyang Buddhist Centre Leeds (Facebook)
Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition