A view on Bön from outside
[for the inside view, scroll down]:
In normal years, practitioners of Yungdrung Bön in Austria
can be counted on the fingers of one hand. In February 2013, however,
there were 7 or eight 8 Bön Lamas in Vienna at the same time,
performing rituals at the ethnology museum in Vienna as part of
the exhibition
Bön - Geister aus Butter (page in German)
(Bön - spirits of butter). The exhibition catalogue (in german)
can be downloaded
here.
Will this put Austria on the Bön map? Probably yes, as far as the outside view on Bön is concerned. The exhibition was part of the activities of a grant project of FWF (Austrian Science Fund) for the investigation of Bön rituals at the Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Documentation of Inner and South Asian Cultural History at the University of Vienna.
An inside view of Bön practitioners in Austria:
What are the options for learning the authentic methods of the
vehicles of Yungdrung Bön in Austria?
The grand old man of Yungdrung Bön, Yongdzin Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche, has actually taught in Austria for a few times between 1991 and 2001. Yongdzin Rinpoche recalls his stays in Austria fondly, but the students of his early teachings in Austria seem to have dispersed.
Yongdzin Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche will come to Austria July 13-15, 2015, together with Khenpo Tenpa Yungdrung Rinpoche for the inaguration of the new Bön center Yeshe Sal Ling founded by Lama Sangye Mönlam.Two Bön Lamas, both disciples of Yongdzin Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche, have been teaching in Austria regularly in the past few years:
Lama Sangye Mönlam gives a course on Bön mother tantra (Ma Gyud) in Graz for one week every year in spring, in Tibetan, interpreted into English. The topic in 2016: dream yoga.
Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche usually teaches in Vienna on a weekend in March and in Maria Alm in Salzburg for a week in October, in English, interpreted into German.
A third eminent scholar of Bön, Geshe Gelek Jinpa, has taught in Austria in the past - Tummo in Graz in 2009 - and may teach in Austria again in the future.