25 years ago, on Sangha Day, November 1995, the Amsterdam Buddhist Centre officially opened its doors - the first long-term Triratna centre in the Lowlands.

Dariusz from Amsterdam writes:
“To commemorate this, this small video was produced and distributed, together with the history timeline, as below, to the Triratna centres around the world.

At the moment, due to the Covid-19 combat policy of the Centre’s council, Amsterdam Buddhist Centre is not open for the general public, hopefully not for long and when you do manage to visit Amsterdam do not forget to join one of the morning meditation sessions.

See you soon in Amsterdam!

History of Triratna Amsterdam:
1986: Gunabhadri came over from England to give a weekend course on the Wheel of Life in Amsterdam. Vajragita (died 2014) together with Aryadakini (died 2004) and Vimalabandhu (both still mitras then) supported her. This was the very first activity in Amsterdam.

1993: Gunabhadri moved to Amsterdam and a year later Sadara followed.

1995: ‘Kusalamala’, a community for women (with Khemasiri and Vajragita) in Amsterdam-North, was founded. It existed until 2002.

1994: Regular Triratna activities started in Amsterdam. The first place we gave courses at was in the Valckenierstraat. Later we rented a place in the Tuinstraat.

1995: August - we opened the doors of the Amsterdam Buddhist Centre in the Palmstraat. The official opening was on Sangha Day in November of this year, shortly after Ksantivadin and Varamitra had returned from the UK to the Netherlands. There were six Order members now!

1997: We found ‘Heel en Al’ in Schoorl (North Holland), a venue we would use very often for our retreats. Soon a number of 20 participants on the weekly Wednesday introduction in meditation class in the Palmstraat was no exception and in 2002 even two Winter retreats were held at the same time, one in Schoorl and one at another location.

2012: Years of efforts of the united Dutch and Belgian sanghas culminate in the creation of a high-tech/eco retreat centre Metta Vihara in Hengstdijk (Dutch Flanders).

2017: Amsterdam Buddhist Centre moves to the Marius van Bouwdijk Bastiaansestraat. (The new Centre is the next high-quality product of the Dutch Sangha, the fruit of a couple of weeks of building and decoration work during the summer. It is situated very close to the main attractions of the city, Rijksmuseum, Concertgebouw and Vondelpark.)” 

See also Triratna Nederland, a History 

Read more from the Netherlands