“Look for a house in the Puy-de-Dôme.” This was the minimalist instruction that Claude T., seeking to leave the French capital, gave to a Parisian notary. The latter came back to him with a property in Laussedat in the Combrailles region. Coincidence? Claude had studied with Arnaud Desjardins at his study and meditation center nearby, in Le Bost, where the 16th Gyalwa Karmapa had also conferred the Black Crown ceremony. At the end of 1983, Arnaud Desjardins sold his center on favorable terms to the Karma Kagyu tradition, which was gradually establishing itself in France. The first traditional three-year retreat began there on March 17, 1984.
Claude moved into this two-story stone house in Laussedat. It was early 1984. He was forty years old and had been on a spiritual quest for several years.
When I saw that the house was in Laussedat, near Le Bost, which I knew because of Arnaud Desjardins, I said to myself, Maybe there’s something for me to do with him after all.’That wasn’t the case, and Lama Gendun arrived! he recalls.
Ten days after settling in Laussedat, Claude went to see Lama Gendun Rinpoche, whom he had met briefly three years earlier at Dhagpo Kagyu Ling.
I had kept the red blessing cord he had placed around my neck, but I had barely identified him because it was summer, he was tired, it was in a small room, and the shutters were closed. But later, when I went to see him in early 1984, this memory came back to me.
Three months after this meeting in Le Bost, Claude took refuge with Gendun Rinpoche.
Gendun Rinpoche visited Laussedat in September 1985, on September 29 precisely. On this day, I announced that I would donate it to him, Claude recalls as if it were yesterday. What led him to do this? I have unshakeable devotion to Gendun Rinpoche. It was clear that he was the one, especially since I had been searching for six years. It was my heart that decided. After refusing the donation three times, Lama Gendun Rinpoche accepted it and decided to dedicate the place to women. In his great wisdom, he insisted that I be absolutely certain of my decision and that I take the time to think it over.
Claude lived there for three years until he began his first retreat in 1987. He officially signed the donation on April 3, 1990. In the meantime, while he was in retreat, an interim agreement allowed work to begin on the original house: a wing was added and a first retreat center was built at the rear. Practicing trainees stayed in the house. Guided by Thierry C., who coordinated the worksite, enthusiastic residents, inspired by Gendun Rinpoche and the prospect of completing a retreat, got involved in work on the retreat centers. As Kemtcho, who began her first three-year retreat in 1987, explains, Gendun Rinpoche did not start out with the ambition of building a large project to attract people. The women’s monastery, as well as the men’s monastery, were built in response to a request made to Gendun Rinpoche by female practitioners who wished to commit themselves fully to the path of Dharma.
“It was when we came out of retreat on November 9, 1990, that we discovered the construction site, whose progress surprised us: the buildings for the future women’s retreat centers were already ‘out of water,’” recalls Claude, meaning that the concrete structure had been erected and the roof was in place. Then Claude, now called Dordje, began a second three-year retreat in 1991 at Le Bost. Kemtcho began her second retreat on the same date at Samten Ling in Laussedat, while the two groups of women entering their first retreat settled at Teudreul Ling for the French speakers and at Drendreul Ling for the English speakers. Upon leaving this retreat in May 1994, the nuns stayed at the monastery in Le Bost, as the one in Laussedat was not yet finished.
Work continued apace. The stupa at Laussedat was consecrated in 1995. The women’s monastery was completed in 1996 and blessed by Künzig Shamarpa in July of that year. In 1997, the temple at Laussedat was inaugurated. In 1998, two groups of women began their first and second three-year retreats at Laussedat. Then in 2000, during his first visit to Europe, the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa Thaye Dorje visited Laussedat and blessed the site.
For Claude T., the story of Laussedat, starting from the day he acquired the site because of a spiritual connection he had previously established in the region, reflects the spiritual strength of the masters of the lineage.
That’s what’s interesting on a spiritual level. It wasn’t a coincidence. I think this story can be perfectly explained by the blessings of Lama Gendun, the lineage, and the Karmapa. The story is significant of Lama Gendun’s spiritual realization. The blessings have been considerable.
These photos come from our archives or were collected as part of the research for Dhagpo Kagyu Ling’s 50th anniversary. We have not been able to identify all the authors. The use of these photos is solely for informational purposes within the context of Dhagpo Kagyu Ling’s 50th anniversary celebration. Their use is limited to this event and our website and is not for commercial purposes.
These photos come from our archives or were collected as part of the research for Dhagpo Kagyu Ling’s 50th anniversary. We have not been able to identify all the authors. The use of these photos is solely for informational purposes within the context of Dhagpo Kagyu Ling’s 50th anniversary celebration. Their use is limited to this event and our website and is not for commercial purposes.
