Dear Visitor welcome to our website,

We are a Buddhist centre based in Athens founded by our teacher Efstathios Liakopoulos (Khenpo Kunzang Trinley Dorje Tsal). We are operating under his guidance and kind directions as we are privileged to have one of the initiators and early adopters of Buddhism in modern Greece.

Our focus is primarily on meditation practices deriving from the ancient tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, the so-called Nyingma school. However, all practices are adjusted to modern requirements and the contemporary way of living.

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Khenpo Kunzang Trinley Dorje Tsal

Our teacher had a number of instructors and first acquainted Buddhism back in 1967. Since then he visited many times Northern India and he became a Lama under the auspices of the Patriarch of Nyingma Η.Η. Penor Rinpoche.  Moreover, he had many wise instructors among them Sogyal Rinpoche, Shenpen Dawa Rinpoche, Chogyal Namkai Norbu and H.H Dudjom Rinpoche, whom he considers as his main Dharma teacher.

An important point that characterises our school is that outlines the connection between Hellenistic kingdoms of the East and Buddhism, the so-called: Greco-Buddhism. This refers to the cultural syncretism between Hellenistic culture and Buddhism, which developed between the 4th century BC and the 5th century AD in Bactria and the Indian subcontinent, corresponding to the territories of modern-day Afghanistan, India, and Pakistan. A cultural consequence of a long chain of interactions begun by Greek forays into India from the time of Alexander the Great, carried further by the establishment of the Indo-Greek Kingdom and extended during the flourishing of the Kushan Empire.

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Gandharan Buddha

A connection that flourished in the period that followed Alexander the Great and that provided opportunities for interaction, not only on the artistic, cultural or humanistic but also on the religious plane. The length of the Greek presence in Central Asia and northern India provided an artistic shift to Buddhism and the subsequent depiction of Buddha in a human form. Greco-Buddhist art is characterized by the first representations of the Buddha in human form, which have helped define the sculptural canon for Buddhist art throughout the Asian continent up to the present. Without any doubt, a strong example of cultural syncretism between Hellenic and Indian traditions.

Sometime between the 2nd century BC and the 1st century AD, the first anthropomorphic representations of the Buddha were developed and since then the perception of Buddhism changed as well.

Moreover, when ‘Menander I the Saviour’ (king Milinda in the Indian sources), one of the Indo-Greek kings of the area reigned he became a patron of Buddhism and left us an important patrimony via his conversations with the Buddhist sage Nagasena in the important Buddhist work, the Milinda Panha (The Wisdom of Milinda). Our school is named after this important, however, very often neglected wise Hellenic King that trasnformed Buddhism and bridged the gap between the East and the West.

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King Menander debate (Milinda Panha)

Based on the above we teach meditation courses in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition conducted in a spirit of openness and relevant for those of any spiritual tradition. The teachings are held on a weekly basis in Athens, next to the sacred temple of Parthenon within the area of Thission (4th Iraklidon st.). During these meetings, you can learn authentic meditation techniques that can help bring inner development as well as benefit to the others.

Additionally, we organise retreats, lectures and a variety of similar activities. Thematic retreats take place mostly in the summer time in a teaching place that we have at Alepochori, Attica. All of the above help our students to learn about Buddhism in an authentic way that fully meets the needs that people have in modern times.

Meditations are in Greek, not Tibetan. It is important to be cited that an English speaking person may possibly assist a student that is not keen or does not understand the Greek language. Therefore, we will be more than happy to connect with you and reply to questions that you might have.

Please feel free to drop us a line at king.menandros@gmail.com or simply fill the form. We will revert to you the soonest possible.