When the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa Thaye Dorje arrived at the airport on January, 2nd, he was warmly welcomed by representatives of the diamondway centers worldwide.Then he was driven into the Wuppertal center, where he was received "tibetan style" by serving him sweet safran rice and tea.

The center had been nicely redecorated for this event and hosted not only Karmapa and his staff, but also Lopön Chechoo Rinpoche, Lama Tönsang, Lama Ole Nydahl and his wife Hannah, Caty, Tomek, Maggi and their friends.

After a short break Thaye Dorje was driven to the Philipshall in Duesseldorf, where the first meeting with his western students was about to happen. As Gyalwa Karmapa entered the hall almost 6.000 visitors from all over the world were deeply impressed, rose spontaneously from their seats and welcomed him with standing ovations.

Thaye Dorje greeted his students in English and gave a first, short introduction in buddhism and its transmission from India to Tibet and from there all over the world. Afterwards he gave the Bodhisattva Promise in a straightforward and joyful way.

The following initiation of the Buddha of Limitless Life was a great celebration in a kind and familiar atmosphere. At midnight the blessing of almost 6.000 people was completed and everyone was looking forward to the next day.

On January, 3rd, the program started at 10 o´clock whith Lama Ole introducing the representatives of more than 30 countries. Than followed the refuge ceremony and the initiation of Karma Pakshi took place.

At the end Karmapa thanked everybody for participating in this event, saying that this was a very important meeting between students and teacher, that this would benefit a lot of sentient beings and that he was very proud of us.

Everyone felt thankful and saw Karmapas visit as a great gift, both, the participants and the organizer, who got all the help they needed from Caty.

Karmapas first visit in Europe was rounded of one day later with an official reception by the town of Wuppertal and a stay on the Petersberg near Bonn.

Stefan Irmer and Sybille Wolf gave an half hour concert with pieces of Bach, Händel, Schubert, Mahler, Mozart, Beethoven. A shared meal by 90 people sitting all around one table with Gyalwa Karmapa, who obviously enjoyed and thanked everybody finished the first days of this century in a wonderful way.