The Centre's spiritual guides
THE PROMOTERS OF THE PROJECT have invited Helga e Karl Riedl, lay teachers ordained by Thich Nhat Hanh, to provide the spiritual guidance to the Centre.
After spending several years in Asia and staying at length in large international spiritual communities in England and the USA, Helga and Karl found their spiritual homeland in Buddhist teachings sixteen years ago. Further stays in monasteries in Sri Lanka and Thailand, intensive Zen practice and the study of Tibetan Buddhism prepared them for a meeting with Thich Nhat Hanh in 1992 while they were staying at the Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa in Pomaia, Italy. Shortly after, they followed him to Plum Village, where they have been ordained as teachers in 1994, and spent six years living and practicing under his guidance. In 1999 they participated in the foundation of the Intersein Zentrum (“Interbeing Centre ”) in Germany, a lay Centre based on the model of Plum Village where they live now with a core community of resident practitioners, offering retreats and opportunities for individual and collective practice.
In recent years they have led retreats in different sites in Italy. Their joyous and loving presence and their capacity to develop and translate teachings in a manner more accessible to the Western sensibility, provide continuous inspiration and support to Italian practitioners.
Some of the teachings they have given in Italy in recent years have been published in two books available from the Associazione Essere Pace (pubblicazioni@esserepace.org):
• Helga e Karl Riedl, Non dimenticatevi di sorridere, Associazione Essere Pace 1996 (1st reprint 2005)
• Helga e Karl Riedl, Verso una vita risvegliata, Antonio Nobile Editore 2002 (1st reprint 2005)