Arnaud Berger and Ven. Elisabeth Drukier, Kalachakra Centre, Paris, France, November 2019. Photo by Laura Haughey.

Kalachakra Centre, the FPMT center in Paris, France, celebrated their twentieth anniversary in 2019. Laura Haughey, a student at the center shares the story.

The Twentieth Anniversary Celebration

On November 30, 2019, Centre Kalachakra joyfully celebrated the twentieth anniversary of its founding. Participants enjoyed a slideshow of the center’s history, a video of a teaching by Lama Yeshe, a theatrical performance inspired by the Eight Verses of Mind Training, and a potluck meal. Small group discussions focused on the different ways the center has contributed to community members’ lives. And a very moving meditation on rejoicing concluded the special evening.

Geshe Drakpa Tsundue, the center’s FPMT resident geshe, spoke to the gathering. He remarked that there are many Tibetan Buddhist centers, but few centers provide opportunities for serious study. He said even for Tibetans it is very rare to have access to teachings. Geshe-la said some of the texts Centre Kalachakra students are studying are the same texts studied in the great monasteries. He also shared that teaching two rounds of the Basic Program allowed him to learn even more about these texts. Geshe-la thanked everyone for offering him the opportunity to learn so much by teaching at the center for the past ten years.

Justine Wolski and Raj giving a performance, Kalachakra Centre, Paris, France, November 2019. Photo by Laura Haughey.

Kalachakra Centre’s Founding Story

In 1975, Parisian Elisabeth Drukier followed the hippie trail to Nepal, attending the lamrim course at Kopan Monastery. Elisabeth stayed at Kopan for five years total (three of those years without going back to France) and took ordination. She often translated for French speakers who visited Kopan and through this met Denis Huet. When she returned to Paris, she couldn’t find a Dharma center able to help people continue their studies. Denis offered help and some money, and in 1979 Ven. Elisabeth founded the FPMT center Institut Vajra Yogini in Marzens, France, following Lama Yeshe’s advice. In 1981 she also purchased the property that was to later become Nalanda Monastery, an FPMT affiliate, in nearby Lavaur, France.

The Kalachakra Association was officially created in 1985, following Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s visit to Paris. The fledgling center’s first meetings were held in an apartment in the 17th arrondissement. Lise, the first center director, and Christian invited geshes from Institut Vajra Yogini to come teach. Monthly meetings were held in various rented dining rooms. Marie, the second director moved the center to her place near the Parc Monceau. Afterwards the center rotated around to various locations in Paris.

In 1999 a very generous donor provided the means to buy the center a permanent home. Ven. Elisabeth found three possible properties for a new center. Lama Zopa Rinpoche, using divination, chose the current location on the Passage Delessert. The building, a former printing press, was inaugurated as Centre Kalachakra in 2000 with Lama Zopa Rinpoche in attendance.

Ven. Thubten Kunsang was very involved from the beginning. Ven. Elisabeth said, “In 1999 Lama Zopa Rinpoche asked me to become the center director. When my friend Ven. Thubten Kunsang offered to help me, we were able to buy the current building.” Ven. Thubten Kunsang also assisted with the renovation work and served as a Dharma teacher at the center. One of the first lamas invited to teach at Centre Kalachakra was Mogchok Rinpoche, who taught at Nalanda Monastery.

A seminal event in the center’s history was His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s visit to Paris in 2003. The visit was collectively organized by Centre Kalachakra, five other Buddhist centers from the Ile de France region, and the Paris Bureau of Tibet. Around 12,500 people attended the events organized for the general public. Held at Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy, the large stadium event served as a big boost for Centre Kalachakra.

Centre Kalachakra began offering the Basic Program (Le Programme d’Etudes Bouddhiques Approfondi, or PEBA), taught by the current abbot of Nalanda Monastery, Geshe Lobsang Jamphel in 2007.

Ven. Elisabeth continues to serve as the center director. She shared, “In my nineteen years as director, my work has become my practice. Every morning I reinforce my motivation to help sentient beings by ensuring they have an accessible center and a diverse program where people are happy. I try to maintain this motivation throughout the day.”

Geshe Drakpa Tsundue, Kalachakra Centre, Paris, France, November 2019. Photo by Laura Haughey.

Establishing a Retreat Center

In 2008 Ven. Elisabeth asked Lama Zopa Rinpoche to help choose a location for a retreat center, a place outside of the city where students could deepen their understanding of Buddhism and advance in their Dharma practice. She visited dozens of locations. Rinpoche did a divination and identified an old farm in the Perche region, a little less than two hours southwest of Paris. Despite the need for many repairs and renovations, the center trusted Rinpoche’s guidance and forged ahead with the purchase. The newly acquired property is in an idyllic peaceful spot amidst fields and forests.

In 2009 Lama Zopa Rinpoche visited Centre Kalachakra for a second time. FPMT touring teacher Khensur Jhado Tulku Rinpoche and His Eminence the 7th Kyabje Ling Rinpoche also visited and taught at Centre Kalachakra. In September 2009 the center was blessed with the arrival of its first FPMT resident teacher Geshe Drakpa Tsundue.

The retreat center located outside of the city, Centre de Retrait de Saint Cosme en Varais, was inaugurated in May 2010 by Lama Zopa Rinpoche. A lot of restoration work has been done and the retreat center has become a great success. Around thirty retreats are held each year. The retreat center has comfortable rooms which can accommodate more than forty guests. The retreat center has a beautiful gompa and a modern yoga/classroom space. Construction on a beautiful Kadampa stupa began in 2017 and is slated to be completed this year.

Ven. Elisabeth said, “The decision to buy the retreat center in 2008, to allow people to integrate the teachings given at the Paris center, has both increased our overall number of students and brought them back more often.”

Centre Kalachakra looks forward with great enthusiasm to the next twenty years and beyond. The center is committed to sustaining and growing a diverse, supportive community for those interested in studying and practicing in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition.

For more information about Kalachakra Centre and Centre de Retrait de Saint Cosme en Varais, visit their website:
http://www.centre-kalachakra.com/

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