Care is the solvent
for all problems
World Peace Stupa Retreat Center
Mission
At the World Peace Stupa Center Europe, we provide a unique space for reflection, learning, and connection. Guided by the wisdom and compassion of Tibetan Nyingma teachings and Lama Tarthang Tulku, our programs welcome anyone seeking personal growth and inner peace. Unlike many contemporary retreats, WPSCE offers an authentic lineage-based experience for both beginners and seasoned students, supporting participants in cultivating balance, compassion, awareness, and the ability to contribute positively to the wider world.
Founded on August 7, 2024, in Amsterdam, Stichting World Peace Stupa Center Europe (WPSCE) is an independent organization serving the benefit of all beings. This initiative, led jointly by the Nyingma city centers in Amsterdam and Cologne, aims to foster the flourishing of Nyingma-based wisdom teachings throughout Europe. The foundation is guided spiritually by Lama Tarthang Tulku, a Tibetan Buddhist master whose teachings and peace projects inspire programs worldwide.
Through retreats, courses, and community engagement, WPSCE supports people in living balanced, healthy, and meaningful lives—empowering them to contribute to a society rooted in well-being, respect, and connection.
Tarthang Tulku Rinpoche
Stichting World Peace Stupa Center Europe operates under the spiritual guidance of Tibetan Lama Tarthang Tulku. Born in 1935 in Golok, Tibet, he studied with many esteemed masters, including his root teacher, Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö.
Following China’s invasion of Tibet in 1958, Lama Tarthang Tulku went into exile in India, dedicating his life to preserving sacred Tibetan texts and safeguarding the wisdom of his lineage for future generations. In 1968, he moved to the United States, where he founded the Tibetan Nyingma Meditation Center in Berkeley, California.
Over the subsequent decades, he established more than twenty organizations, making significant contributions to the transmission of Dharma in the West and the revitalization of Buddhist teachings in Asia. Among his many achievements are the books he has written and programs he has created, specifically designed for contemporary, often non-religious Western audiences. One of the goals of the World Peace Stupa Center is to make these valuable teachings and resources more widely available in Europe.
Today, Tarthang Rinpoche lives in retreat at the Odiyan Country Center in northern California. He continues to oversee the selection, editing and printing of sacred texts, as well as the creation of sacred art and symbols for the Dharma. He provides ongoing spiritual guidance to the Nyingma community and its affiliated organizations worldwide.
European Cooperation
The two Nyingma City Centers in Europe grew out of informal study groups formed by the first European students of Tibetan Lama Tarthang Tulku. These early students deepened their practice through frequent retreats and projects in the USA and India.
The new Stupa Center will make it possible to host retreats, projects, and gatherings closer to home. This will not only attract new participants but also help reduce the environmental impact of frequent air travel. The center also aims to serve as a home base for growing groups of Nyingma practitioners across Europe, including in France, the U.K., Belgium, and Austria.
Partner Organizations
In organizing a rich variety of high quality programs, the new WPSCE foundation will work closely together with various TNMC and European partner organizations pursuing similar goals.
Links to some of the partner organizations with whom we will cooperate are listed here:
Nyingma Centrum Nederland, Amsterdam
Nyingma Zentrum Deutschland, Köln
MindingWork, Amsterdam
Hart van Onderwijs, Muiden
Odiyan Retreat Center, California
Sarnath Interational Nyingma Institte, India
Nyingma Institute, California
Center for Creative Inquiry, California
schreinerei-thoma.de, Austria
Kum Nye, France
Bodhiyoga.co.uk, United Kingdom
Our Team
The new World Peace Stupa Center Europe was founded in Amsterdam on August 7, 2024, by representatives from the Dutch and German Nyingma Centers. Discover their backgrounds and the passion that drives their work here:
Guda van der Lee
"Care makes all good things happen."
Guda is trained as a scientific researcher in Physical Geography and was employed at the University of Amsterdam and at Delft Hydraulics. In 2004 she made the transition to Montessori education and then worked as an elementary school teacher until she got the opportunity to work at the Nyingma Center at Uitgeverij Dharma in 2012. Since 2017 Guda also teaches Caring classes and Tibetan language at Nyingma Centrum Nederland. Guda plans to live and work and teach at the new Stupa Center with her husband Hans.
Elske van de Hulst
"We owe it to ourselves and each other to celebrate our potential for love, beauty and joy instead of cultivating our limitations and suffering"
Elske van de Hulst is co-dean and senior instructor at Nyingma Centrum Nederland in Amsterdam.
Elske graduated at Amsterdamse Hogeschool voor de kunsten and worked in the theater as an actress, director, producer and author between 1969 and 1998. In 1998 she started studying the theatre of the mind, guided by Tarthang Tulku’s books and programs, and she never stopped since. Elske is co-dean and trustee at Nyingma Centrum Nederland and has been planning for a retreat center since 2008. She plans to live part-time at the new center and will continue to teach Meditation, Knowledge of Freedom, Revelations of Mind, Dimensions of Mind, Caring and Lotus Trilogy teachings in cooperation with other Nyingma orgs.
Anja Nogaitzig
"…What if you fly?"
Anja studied architecture and has been practicing the Nyingma teachings of Tarthang Tulku since 1997. One of her main focuses is Kum Nye Yoga, which she has been teaching with love and dedication in courses and training sessions since 1999. She is also active in working with Tibetan Buddhist Sacred Art. She loves the communication of and with forms and their symbolic expression. Anja is trustee for the Nyingma Center Germany e.V., and member of the board of Nyingma Centers International. Anja will support the new Stupa Center with all her strength in as many areas as possible.
Henk Toorman
"Serving others is a path that leads to the cultivation of kindness and understanding."
Henk, registered tax advisor and former accountant is involved with the Nyingma organization for over 25 years. He has extensive experience in the financial management of foundations and serves on multiple boards and is eager to assist in establishing a Stupa Center.
Alois Gehrmeyer
"If human beings can not pray, the human spirit has no voice. If there is no quality of virtue or meditative awareness, the human spirit is effectively dead, and only mechanical and technical abilities remain"
Alois trained as a carpenter and theologian and worked in various fields as an entrepreneur. He has been practising and working with the Nyingma teachings since 1999 and is on the board of Nyingmazentrum Deutschland as treasurer . Together with Steve Suma yen Thomas Rogowski Alois is an enthusiastic member of the international World Peace Stupa team, currently working on the building plans.
Volunteer Community
A small practice community will live and work at the new Stupa Center full-time, supported by a larger group of regular part-time practitioners participating on a volunteer basis. We welcome your participation in this meaningful new project. Opportunities to support the center include assisting with the construction and maintenance of the World Peace Stupa, contributing to the permaculture garden and food forest, and helping with cooking, cleaning, and retreat program care. For more information, please visit our Volunteering page.
Financial Transparency
WPSCE is a non-profit organization. Board members, volunteers, residents, and program instructors all serve on a volunteer basis. Any net income is used to support building maintenance, sustainability initiatives, nature and garden projects, peace education, youth education programs, and other community efforts.
ANBI Status
WPSCE has successfully applied for ANBI status. For EU citizens this means that their donations will be tax deductible. Click here for the policy plan, here for the annual report and here for the Dutch financial annual report (Dutch citizens only).