Tuesday, July 1st
7pm Love and Partnership
Wednesday, July 2nd
7pm The Life Stories of our Teachers
Maria has been a student of Lama Ole and Hannah Nydahl since 1994, when she took Refuge in her native Gdansk, Poland. For many years, she interpreted Buddhist texts and articles into Polish. Maria also traveled with Lama Ole and went on several pilgrimages in Nepal and India. She holds a PhD in Tibetan Studies and conducted ethnographic research in Eastern Tibet on contemporary retreat practices, which concluded in writing an academic book Buddhist Hermits in Eastern Tibet (Routledge, 2025). Since 2018, she has been living in Toronto with her husband Juraj and 9-year old son Alex. Together, they enjoy nature, art, and good books.
Juraj was born in Slovakia in the late 70s, meaning he got to run around outside unsupervised a lot. Later he developed interest in mathematics, physics, but ultimately studied philosophy and Japanese language. During his studies, he met Lama Ole and became his student. Juraj served as the editor-in-chief of the Slovak, Buddhist magazine, interpreted for Lama Ole, Gyalwa Karmapa and other lamas visiting Slovakia and translated and published several of Lama Ole’s books. Juraj works in IT and lives in Canada together with his wife, Maria and their son.
