Europe’s largest Buddhist centre to be built in Germany

BERLIN - Europe’s largest Buddhist centre has got the go-ahead for a site at a former military complex outside Cologne, it was confirmed Friday.

The complex will house 60-80 monks plus up to 200 guests.

There are already 20 Buddhist monks and nuns living on the site in Waldbroel, 50 km east of Cologne.

The 10-million euro ($14-million) project, by the European Institute of Applied Buddhism, is to provide seminars and courses, teaching strategies to deal with issues such as conflict, anger or grief.

The centre is expected to open in 2015.

The European Institute of Applied Buddhism was set up by a Buddhist monk, Thich Nhat Hanh, who was banished from Vietnam in 1966. Alongside the Dalai Lama, he is one of the most recognized contemporary Buddhists, and has tens of thousands of followers.