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[woman narrating] For centuries, Tibet was an isolated land,

high in the Himalayas,

almost untouched by the outside world--

until 1949--

when the Communist Chinese forcibly entered

and claimed sovereignty over it.

After near annihilation over the next ten years

against an army of supreme strength,

the Tibetan people, high lamas and spiritual leaders

fled to the surrounding countries.

Over the coming decades, 1.2 million Tibetans died

as a result of Communist Chinese policies,

and many more were imprisoned or put into labor camps.

The Tibetan Buddhist religion,

which had been protected in the mountains for almost 1,000 years,

was threatened with extinction.

Some lamas thought that once the Communist Chinese left,

they would be able to return to their country.

Others thought that Buddhism would return to India

where it had started 2,500 years earlier.

Few had considered the possibility

that Buddhism would instead spread throughout the world

or how it would be carried there.

[woman] I used to have a lot of questions in my mind.

I mean, since I was quite young,

I would wonder about--
[laughs]

you know, the existence and many things.

And I never really got any proper answers.

I came from an academic family,

and, there, religion doesn't play a big role.

Humanistic values are a natural thing.

I couldn't believe that either you believed in God

or you would be doomed forever

and that everybody who did not follow God,

wherever they were in the world, that they were lost.

Denmark is a Christian country, but not very religious.

Whatever Christianity was there

was definitely not giving the answers I was looking for.

I was looking for the truth.

Hannah was born in '46,
right after the war.

And at that time, we lived
in-- [indistinct] in Denmark.

[man] She was very intelligent,
indeed, in university,

in the top of the class.

My father was
a very logical person.

You can say
he was a rationalist.

It was not the feelings,

it was the thoughts, for him,
was the most important.

If he has influenced Hannah,
it must have been in this way.

[woman] As Hannah grew elder,

my parents were
much more strict about her.

She would like to go out
with friends

and go to dance club
and so,

and I had to fight
a little for her

so that she was
allowed to go.

When I left for the States,
Hannah had a boyfriend.

I think his name
was Hensing, like--

And when I came home,

she had a new boyfriend,
and that was Ole.

[laughs]

He had this thing about him,
like, not dangerous,

but "don't mess with me"
thing.

He was a good drinker
and a good smoker.

[Thomas] He was a wild guy,
you know,

who liked to pick a fight.

He'd make himself
quite clear, at once--

[laughing]

to those who are not so much
in touch of his personality.

Must have been '65 or '66
while I was studying.

I was sitting there,
checking out the new ladies,

when suddenly she came in.

[woman] That was after
I finished high school.

And I started on university,

and we had a meeting
at university.

And also there, you know,

we both had
very strong reaction.

She was a little disturbed
by my brother and me

because we were quite rough.

[Hannah] His wildness
was more boyish,

but it was pretty violent
at the time, yeah?

So it took a few years
before we decided

to really stay together.

[Ole] You know, Hannah was
a part of '68 generation.

She was 22 in '68.

[acid rock playing]

[Hannah] It was a time when
gurus started to manifest,

even in Denmark,
Hindu gurus.

A lot of our friends,

they became disciples
of these gurus.

We were not so interested.

We didn't go
the religious way,

but we went more into
the psychedelic experiences

because we were interested
in the mind.

I was reading
Aldous Huxley who,
of course, also said

that psychedelics
were useful, and so on,

and we didn't know
about karma at that time.

So we thought that mind would
really be freed by that.

That was our idea.
That's what we wanted to reach.

[man] There was this phase where
you're allowed just to be

and when people
were using drugs.

Because it was approached
with an open mind

and looking for something.

It was not an escape.

It's a big difference
from then till today,

where a lot of people
take drugs as an escape.

Here, it was deliberately
looking for something
that was better.

We wanted
to learn something.

We wanted to seriously
learn about mind.

[Hannah] The first Buddhist--
I think, Buddhist teachings
that I ever read,

Tibetan Yoga and Secret Doctrines,

put everything there.

It just fit, you know,
and it really gave
so many answers

to the things I had really
been wondering about, yeah?

That's where everything--
the connection to Tibet
and everything

just clicked, clicked,
clicked in like that.

[Hannah] When you were
interested in the mind,

that's where you would go,
to Nepal.

[jet engines roaring]

[Ole] We went out together
to the East.

We drove out,

driving all the way down.
[sharp exhale]

Crazy Turkey, you know,
funny Iran.

Cool Afghanistan.

Cool place, cool people.
Really.

And from there to India.

When you come out
of the mountains,

you can see miles
and miles and miles.

And it's one of the most
fantastic scenic views
you can imagine.

[Kate] Kathmandu was a very,
very special atmosphere.

At that time,
there was so few foreigners.

We were looking
for the truth--
[laughs] in Nepal.

Kathmandu itself was not--
at that time--
not so full with Tibetans.

[man] The eastern Tibetans
were in exile

as a consequence of
the disastrous economic policies

of Communist China after '59,

a disastrous upheaval
of the Cultural Revolution.

It was a complete destruction
of their country.

One and a half million Tibetans,
out of six million, died.

Only a hundred thousand
managed to escape.

They lost everything.

Their country was destroyed,

their monasteries,
everything.

They were poor refugees
in a poor country,

sitting all
on top of a hill.

And the only thing, actually,
they had were their lamas.

[monks chanting]

Lopon Tsechu Rinpoche,

the lama they met
for the first time in 1968

when they came to Kathmandu,

the lama actually
who kept Buddhism alive.

Nepal was a kingdom,
was in an Indian dynasty.

They were Hindus.
They were not Buddhists.

And it was due
to the incredible
benevolent

and wise influence
of Lopon Tsechu Rinpoche
with the king of Nepal--

with the old king of Nepal--

that actually this Tibetan
Buddhist activity

was allowed
to take root in Nepal.

[Ole] We came to him
in the middle of the night.

He had half of one
of these long clay houses.

[Hannah] Then we saw
this man sitting there,

and we felt immediately--

We didn't know what it was.

Today we would say
blessing, yeah?

But we didn't know,
and we were put in front of him.

There was some
very interesting wallpaper

while we were sitting there.

Then I noticed something.

I began to see the pattern
on the wallpaper through him.

I thought, "That's funny."
I thought, you know,

"I don't want hypnotism."

I just thought we're not
going to have that.

So I took out
a Danish matchbox.

I thought,
if this is hypnotism,

this will also
be transparent,
just like him.

But the box was solid,
and he was transparent.

Then I was really
impressed, right?

We didn't know
what was happening,
but we just felt--

We just felt
a really unusual,

clear and very wonderful
feeling in the air.

He left such a strong
impression in our mind

that he came to our mind
all the time.

And actually we could feel

that he was kind of
connected to us already,

and even without
knowing who he was.

We really wanted to get
more understanding

of what all this was,
these incredible beings.

[Ole] It was clear
that a lot of the people here

had found some inner truth,
some inner peace,

some inner power that we would
have to work to get.

[Hannah] We had to go
and find this man again.

Every time we went there,
they told us,

"Well, sorry, he's not home.
He's with Karmapa."

And that went on for days,
and finally it's, "Okay.

Where is Karmapa?
Who is Karmapa?

Where is he?" In order
to find Lopon Tsechu.

And then they told us,
"Okay, you go to Swayambhu,

and then
Lopon Tsechu Rinpoche
will be there."

So we went to Swayambhu,
and we were climbing--

We could see there was
a lot of things going on.

[Ole] It was two days
before Christmas,
and it was very low sun.

We looked up,
and we were like blinded.

[Hannah] That was our first
impression of the Karmapa.

We were totally fascinated,
and he was looking to us.

So we went up
and came close to him,

and he blessed us
for the first time.

[Ole] We just said,
"What is this?"
We were totally blown away.

[Hannah] The comparison
would be like LSD.

But we were not
on anything.

I had kind of
a glimpse of the mind.

It just changed something
completely.

[monks chanting]

[narrator] 2,500 years ago,

an Indian prince named Siddhartha

realized the true nature of mind

and became the Buddha,

meaning "the enlightened one."

The teachings spread and, in the eighth century, came to Tibet.

Part philosophy, part religion,

Buddhism is seen as a tool by which practitioners

can experience the innate limitless qualities of the mind.

The Buddha taught that a great lama will be born 1,600 years later

and would live in many successive reincarnations.

He would be called Karmapa.

Karmapa was the first lama to consciously reincarnate,

beginning what became a long Tibetan tradition.

He was the head of one of the four main schools of Tibetan Buddhism--

the Kagyupas.

[Tomek] Oh, Karmapa was
"the man" in the Himalayas.

He was the teacher of kings.

He was a friend
of prime ministers,

of Indira Gandhi--
a personal friend.

He was the sun
for the Tibetans.

[children singing]

[Hannah] He was just amazing.

He was so kind to us.

We went to him, and
Lopon Tsechu Rinpoche was there.

And we were so happy
to meet him again.

Twenty years later,

Lopon Tsechu Rinpoche told us
what happened there.

When we had gone
out of the room,

Karmapa asked him
who we were.

And he'd called us
his disciples already.

And then Karmapa said, "Okay,

but now, like,
they are my disciples."

[audience laughing]

And he invited us
to come to Rumtek.

[horns blowing]

[Tomek] Rumtek was chosen
as Karmapa's seat
by Karmapa himself

outside Tibet
in an autonomous region,

actually independent--

independent entity
at that time, which was Sikkim.

When the Karmapa
came back to Rumtek,

I mean,
just general discussion,

he always says
that there is one couple,

very special,
coming from Denmark.

He mentions several times,

and we all wondering
what kind of person

and when they will come.

[crow cawing]

It was summertime.
Then Ole and Hannah
came with a rucksack.

And they came there by walking,

and they told us that they were
led by a black crow

and that they followed
the black crow,

and then they landed up
to Rumtek up in the mountain.

[woman's voice] "Dear Mom and Dad, the biggest thing has happened.

Karmapa has sent us a written invitation to Rumtek

to come and get his instructions there.

We feel an amazing happiness to be so totally accepted

as students of the greatest man in the world.

At the moment, it's totally impossible to say how long we will stay there.

What we're doing now is only possible

because we're 100% into it, both of us.

Much love, Hannah and Ole."

[Hannah] We had been waiting
for this moment so long, yeah.

Finally, we saw him again.

We really wanted to get
more understanding

of what all this was,
these incredible beings, yeah?

First Lopon Tsechu Rinpoche
and then Karmapa,

and they were so amazing

and we could feel
there was something there.

So we wanted to learn
to know what was behind that.

First, we followed
Karmapa everywhere.

And we were running
up and down the mountains.

He was coming in helicopters,

and we were there
before the helicopter.

And, like, it was-- It became
a kind of joke I think for them

that we were always there.

[Jigme Rinpoche] They are
always following everywhere.

So means more
like kind of a family

or familiar
kind of relationship.

The Karmapa considered them
almost like his own children.

[Hannah] Ole and him
was always joking a lot.

Even at the physical,
they were kind of--

Like squeezing his hand,

and he was clapping
the shoulders,

which normally you don't do
with Karmapa.

But we didn't know that.

And he didn't seem to mind.

He was just laughing a lot.

[Shamar] In the beginning time,
hippies are very strange.

And then later,
people get used to it.

[woman's voice] "Dearest Mom and Dad, the days are passing by,

and the most incredible things are happening,

which are difficult to describe in words.

On the 15th--

on the day of the full moon-- we took refuge,

and we are now fully accepted as Karmapa's disciples."

[Hannah] We had just totally
surrendered to Karmapa there.

[Ole] Something happened there
that had special meaning,

you know, that wouldn't go away.

He gave us names.

I got Ocean of Wisdom,

and Hannah got
Mighty Holy Lotus.

[woman's voice] "If you came here, you would immediately

be struck by the love which radiates from these people,

so modest and so calm in their expression."

In the morning
when they go there,

Karmapa would let them
sit on the floor.

Then he translate
whatever question they had.

His Holiness Karmapa
gave the answer to them
and guided them.

[Hannah] The more we got
into the practice,

the deeper our bond
to Karmapa was.

He all the time--
He would check our confidence.

He would drop us in the water,

and then you would
have to learn to swim.

[narrator] After several months, Karmapa entrusted Hannah and Ole

to the great Tibetan teacher Kalu Rinpoche

to deepen their Buddhist practice.

[woman's voice] "In one part of Kalu Rinpoche's monastery,

he is training 15tulkus and monks intensively.

For three years, three months and three days,

they have to stay there without seeing or talking to anybody else

except their guru.

It's very powerful.

Some die from the diseases which come earlier than normal

because of the strong karmic purification.

Some flip out, as it is called in modern language.

And some come out as Rinpoches."

[Hannah] They were not many
who spoke English.

The only thing we knew was--

I knew the alphabet,
so I could use dictionary.

Together with the dictionary,
we learned the meaning,

and we had it checked
with Kalu Rinpoche.

And so I started then to really
learn the oral language

and to translate.

[woman's voice] "We start our day at half past five.

We're going through the preliminary school,

which is needed to be able to work with the advanced meditation practices.

And it seems to be effective enough, indeed.

We're thinking much about you

and try to have you in everything we do

and hope that you can feel it.

[person breathing deeply,
slowly]

We're now making 1,000 prostrations per day

in three concentrated hours.

And besides that, we are busy learning the Tibetan language

and meditating.

The deeper we go into it,

the more we understand how great the science of mind is."

[man's voice] "Dearest, a couple of words to praise Hannah

before this is sent.

It is completely unbelievable, what she's been managing

and is managing every day.

Simply, completely incredible

what the dharma and her willpower can get out.

Lithe and happy and completely sure of herself

and her love for everything living, she dances along,

radiating in all directions."

[Hannah] For us, it was, like,
okay, now we have met Karmapa.

Now we're in Sikkim.

Now we will stay here forever.

One day,
he called us up and said,
"Okay, now you go home."

Home?

Where's home?
[laughs]

He said, "There will be
some other people there

who also like to hear about what
you have been learning here."

Then Karmapa said,
"I want you to do this work.

Start Buddhism in the West."

[narrator] As Hannah and Ole returned to Denmark,

they were unaware of the enormity of the task that lay before them.

[Ole] A lot of my young friends
from the early '60s

started getting into situations
I would not go.

They were not taking care
of their bodies, you know.

They were shifting
from hash and LSD.

Some are getting into opium,
the opiates,

some in amphetamine,
stuff like that.

It wasn't so good.

[Kate] In my eyes,
Hannah, she was different,

but not like with Ole.

He don't smoke, he don't drink,

so he got much more...

He still has his energy,
but it was in another way.

People could see
that there was some stability,

that we'd found something
that gave meaning to everything.

And, actually, the people
on bad trips and so on,

they used to come to us.

We would just
fix them up mentally
and let them go again.

We had a big
mind-fixing industry
going at the same time,

so we helped a lot.

A lot of people
who got hurt on drugs,
we were able to help.

[Lizbet] I could feel,
when I was with Hannah,

that she really
had found something

she wanted to live for.

And she was very determined
to live this way.

[man] They were feeling
their way at that time.

It was more,
"Come and sit down

and let's talk about
different aspects of Buddhism."

[narrator] Hannah and Ole knew it was important for new practitioners

to meet the Tibetan lamas face-to-face.

Two years after their return,

Karmapa sent their first teacher to Europe,

the Great Kalu Rinpoche.

[Flemming] He was
a very special man.

When he was looking at you,
you know,

you felt his gaze
go all the way through.

He was not of this world.

Hannah took me to him,
and I could feel
the power around him.

And I could certainly feel
that Hannah was very happy

around what was
happening to her.

[Hannah] When we invited
the lamas to come to Europe,

I happened
to start to translate.

And then you had to learn more
to be able to translate,

so it was a sort of
natural process.

At that time, you know,
very little was translated,

and very few of the teachers
spoke any English.

So we just had to learn it.

[Ole] We had to get
all the meaning
of the Tibetan practices.

We needed to be precise.

And it took quite a while.

[Hannah] It was '74 when
Karmapa came the first time.

[people chattering]

[Flemming] At that time,
Ole and Hannah
had been going on

at least for a couple
of years in Copenhagen.

And I guess
there must have been

maybe 50, 60 people
already following them
at that time.

And what Karmapa said
was that we needed

to spread Buddhism
much more.

[Ole] It was an explosion
of activity.

All the time,
it was coming out of him.

We started centers in Norway,
Sweden,

down through Germany--
Munich, Hamburg--

and Graz and Vienna
and so on.

Everybody saw that Karmapa was
the power of Tibetan Buddhism.

He was the man. He was...

[narrator] As Karmapa traveled throughout Europe,

he would perform a spiritual ritual called the Black Crown Ceremony.

According to tradition,

the ceremony would further the spiritual development of those who took part.

I've seen him in some
Black Crown Ceremonies

where he did-- not dissolve.

I could see him,
but it was like

the colors of him
and the surrounding
was the same,

flowing in and out
of it.

I don't know what happened,
if they put something
in the air.

But I don't think so.
I think it comes
from somewhere else.

[Ole] With the Black Crown,
he opened up people's minds.

People really changed
when they saw it.

[horns blowing]

[man] At that moment
that the crown actually
sat on his head,

one had a feeling
that time was suspended,

that it was an eternity of now.

You couldn't bend. You had
to sit straight like this.

And you couldn't move this way.
You couldn't move that way.

[Bryan] The mind normally
wanders to somewhere else.

During that moment,
it never would happen.

You would be so there.

[Hannah] Many people were
a little afraid of Karmapa

because he was so powerful.

If he was laughing,
the whole house was laughing.

And if he was frowning,
the world was going down.

It was like so powerful.

[woman] The compassion
of His Holiness was limitless.

He would bless people
till 3:00 and 4:00
in the morning.

He never tired of questions
or of seeing people.

[Hannah] He would melt
everybody's heart, of course.

And people,
if they were Buddhist or not,

everybody would get
their blessing.

[woman] Often after teachings
with the Karmapa,

Hannah would gather up
the new people

and say, "Did you
get the teaching?"

You know? And they'd say,
"Oh, we have a few questions."

And Hannah would
answer the questions,

and then they would have
a little session

where she would teach meditation
to the new students.

Karmapa would just be one big
smile when Hannah was around.

It was an amazing
relationship.

They were so close, yeah.

[Hannah] One time, in England,
Karmapa gave us a note.

A money note.

And he kind of did tell us,

"If you completely
keep the motivation pure

and no self-interest,

then you will never
lack anything.

If you always have
the right motivation,

if you keep your bond,

then you can't go wrong.

Then whatever happens
will have meaning,
will be right."

Around that time, they decided
not to have children,

because they wanted to put
their whole life in Buddhism.

[Hannah] We were quite young
when we started.

So at that time, we didn't think
of we would have children
or not children.

But once the work started--

which means not to really
stay at one place

and had to be available
at any time,

then you have to think how
you want to use your life.

And what we were doing
at that time,

you know, was more important.

And we both agreed to make
the choice of not making family.

[Ole] In '76,
we said to Karmapa,

we're going
to the Communist countries now.

We're going to see
what we can do there.

He wanted to know where it was,
and we first had a small map
of Poland and so on.

And then he said,
"But what's over there?"

Then somebody had a world map,
and we rolled it out
all the way,

up to the Ural Mountains
via the Baikal Lake

on to Vostok, you know,
and Japan.

He said, "All Communist?"
I said, "Yes."

"So you make centers
all the way to there,"
he said, and pointed.

[gunfire]

[people shouting]

[Tomek] In Poland,
people always rebelled
against this Communism,

which was imposed on us from
the East after World War II.

The country became a jail.
All freedom--

No electricity,
no light,

no telephone,
no freedom of travel.

More than three people
on the streets,
you could be arrested.

And all of a sudden,

in that completely hopeless
and helpless situation,

Hannah and Ole arrived.

[woman] Poland was always
a very Christian country.

And in deep Communism time,

church was not only
the spiritual offer

but was also like a sign
of Communist resistance.

[Tomek] They wanted
the young people--

were especially afraid--

to get interested
in Eastern religions
or philosophies

because that would
weaken the power
of the Catholic Church.

It was a strategy,
and that's why
they gave them the visa.

Ole and Hannah brought this very
fresh atmosphere of freedom,

which was, at that time,
probably quite typical
for Western Europe,

but it wasn't very typical
for Poland

or other countries
behind the Iron Curtain.

[Mira] For me, it was
a proof that it's possible

to find ultimate freedom

not dependent on our, let's say,
poor condition at that time.

[Tomek] First time,
my friends went there.
I didn't go for that lecture.

When they came back--
They came back, my sister
and other friends.

They came back so changed.

When he came
for the second time--
[indistinct]

My sister and I,
we organized
his lecture already.

I was already
translating for him.

So these two gentlemen
appeared to Maggie and I
the day before

and said, "If this lama...

says something political,
or something will happen,

both you and your mother
will be arrested immediately

and you will not live."

And so, we are going
that lecture,

surrounded by riot troops--
a Buddhist lecture.

Hundreds of riot troops.
They even brought
water cannons, right?

And there were hundreds
of people,

I was translating
next to him.

We're sitting
on a table there.

The secret police was
right in the first row.

They had it painted
on their faces.

And he started,
"You are very lucky
here in Poland."

And I translated and thought,
okay, so far, so good.

And then he said,
"Because obviously
nothing works in this country."

And I knew
we are skating on thin ice.

Because obviously nothing
works in this country.

And there he got immediately
an ovation from the people,
right?

And then the policemen
who were there,

one run out, one to get pen.

And it was clear.
He says one more word,

and it's the end
of Buddhism in Poland
for the next ten years,

and we will-- arrested.

And then he said,

"Because you don't have
the distraction

and the Disneyland
on the outside

that we have in the West,"
meaning West Europe.

"Having nothing on the outside,
you will naturally turn inside.

Turning inside, you'll look
for permanent values.

Looking
for permanent values,

you'll achieve
permanent results.

Congratulations."

And, you know, he said it
so convincingly--

because he talked
from experience as well--
that he melted everybody.

And the secret policemen
even took their pens and--

and nodded
in full agreement.

[crowd jeering]

[Hannah] Once you focus
more on the genuine values

of your mind itself,

instead of trying to get
everything from outside--

instead of trying
to make you happy
through outer circumstances--

then you slowly realize
that everything you have,
it is in your mind.

That is-- It means
in the life, yeah?

[Tomek] What Hannah and Ole
managed was to transform

this incredible desire
for freedom--

the same energy,
that same raw energy--

everything that we felt
against the Communist Party,

against that police that
pushed me the other night,

against the riot police
who beat me up,

who beat my friends up--

into a desire to achieve
enlightenment

for the benefit
of all beings.

[Hannah] No matter
what you are up against

and how people treat you
and how bad everything is,

we need not to get carried away
by negative reactions.

Then that you keep your level,
you don't follow that.

And even if you have
to do some actions
which might look rough,

then you don't get angry.

You never get angry.

Buddhism was like a beginning
of a big journey for us,

and it came, I think,
exactly at the right point.

Because there was this openness.

Several pilgrimages
were organized.

The one I took part
was in 1981 in autumn

together with around
a hundred friends

from different parts
of the world,
with Hannah and Ole.

We started from Copenhagen,
took three months' tour

to India, Nepal,
Sikkim and so on.

And some morning
when we're sitting there,

listening to a talk
of some lama,

suddenly another lama came in,
gave the one a piece of paper.

And he opened it
and closed it again

and jumped from the throne.

And so something serious
must have happened.

And soon after
came the message

that Karmapa had died
in the hospital
in the United States.

[Hannah] We had the last meeting
with him in Boulder.

When we said good-bye to him,
suddenly I started to cry.

I didn't know why.
There was no reason.

After we had gone,
he called us back.

And again he said more,
and it was in a different way.

Looking back, it was so clear
it was last time,

but, all right, you don't really
always want to know that.

But he knew exactly
that it was the last time.

He told us all to come where
he then knew he would die.

[Ole] He died on the fifth,
flown in on the ninth,

and then put
in meditation posture.

Day and night,
you could hear the drums

and the flute and the songs.

And they made all kind of
what they call offerings.

Of course, you could always
see sadness in many faces.

[Hannah] In the middle
of all the sadness,

there was this enormous blessing

where you could
feel his presence

and which was
just beyond everything.

[Ole] Because Hannah and I were
his first Western students,

we were allowed up there
to say good-bye to him.

The only thing
I could think about

was to put the top of my head
against his thigh

and just thank him so much
for all our friends
he had helped,

for everything
he had put into the world,

for just being the way he was.

[narrator] Buddha taught that all living beings reincarnate when they die.

When a Karmapa dies, the belief is that he consciously reincarnates

to retake his position as the head of the lineage.

Immediately,
right after the ceremony,

the issue was, what about
the next incarnation?

So four of his closest
disciples were chosen

as those responsible to find
his next incarnation,

which became the issue for
the Karma Kagyu lineage.

From that day one.

And, you know, already
at the cremation--
at that moment--

a certain split
already manifested.

Nobody wanted to see it,
but this was--

It-- It spelled trouble
for the future.

[Hannah] After the 16th Karmapa
passed away,

we tried not to think too much

of when does
this 17th Karmapa come,

what will it be like.

We actually had
a lot of confidence

that it would be right
whatever would happen

and that our job
was just to continue
to follow his instructions

and to stick to that.

They had their time
with Karmapa,

but there was such a big
activity waiting for them
after his death.

[Erik] They knew
they would have to take
much more responsibility

how to get the work growing.

This was their task.

[woman] It was really
like explosion.

And at that time, we didn't
make public advertising.

It's just the people
that came by themselves.

Friends through friends
through friends,

and they heard
from their friends.

It started to...
expand all over Europe.

We have people
from United States.

We have people from UK,
from France,

from Australia
and New Zealand even.

And it was a happy time.

[Erik] We were all young.
We were not working regularly.

People who got to universities,

or they had a lot of breaks.

And this was the time
for great travelings.

We were all freaks.
[laughs]

We were all hippies, or sort of.
Late hippies.

[Ole] The ones with the energy
to break out of the mold

and create something new,

they're always
the same kind of people--

the artistic types,
rough types,

the dreamers, the poets,

warriors, you know,
all kinds.

[Karola] During the lectures,
Hannah will be the translator.

But many occasions,
Hannah simply couldn't
go on speaking

because she was touched herself
so much that actually--

She had tears in her eyes,
and what she usually did--

Because she had long hair,
that she was just

taking her head down
so the hair was
covering her face.

Sometimes she would
sit like this
for five minutes

because she simply
couldn't talk anymore.

And then, at a certain point,
she came up

like really totally
spaced out, and then--

Okay, the lama said this
and this and this.

To me, hearing the stillness
behind the voice--

I don't know if that's
a bit strange to say,

but-- [chuckles] to me,
Hannah seemed to be

not completely
in the same place as all us.

And I think that you can
hear this in her voice.

[Hannah] The potential
of the mind is limitless.

But as long as you are
attached to your own ego,

you limit it down, so to speak.

Then you only experience
your own subjective words.

We make our own limitations.

[narrator] In the 15 years since they returned to Europe,

Hannah and Ole had set up over 100 centers

all across the Continent.

But far from seeing their work as done,

they decided to spread Buddhism further and further afield.

[woman] They just
were so interested
in meeting with the people

and taking part
in their well being

and taking part in their lives

and giving them the methods
and the information

which would help them
to really get free.

[woman 2] To travel nonstop,
tour, not sleep,

to give everything
to everybody.

Not having a private life.

If you don't have
a special mind,

a developed mind,

you will not be able
to stand that.

And Hannah was definitely
on top of that, yeah?

She was living Buddhism.

[wind howling]

[Ole] We always wanted
to see Tibet.

We had spent nearly four years
in the Himalayas.

I mean, we had done
a lot of things there.

[monks chanting]

Just at the ending of the '80s,

there was this break-up in China

where the old system
didn't hold anymore,

and we managed
to get in at that time.

There was so much to see--

all the destroyed monasteries
everywhere along the way.

We saw that, and you say,
why did they do that?

Tibetans had been--

There had been
quite a lot of trouble.

The Chinese
had been beating them up,
shooting a few and so on.

There were
several demonstrations

at that Tibetan new year
at that time.

You was allowed only to come
by flight to Lhasa

and fly back from Lhasa.

But in the night, Hannah
managed to contact somebody.

So we jump in-- in some truck

who make black market
from India to Tibet.

And this night,
it was so cold, so cold.

We need to go through one pass
6,000 meter high.

It was so cold
I think I will lose my feet.

[Ole] I'm telling you,
this is cold.

-[woman coughing]
-This is evilly, really cold.

We're going over a pass
that's close to 18,000 feet.

It's in the depth of winter,
and it's cold.

[engine rumbling]

Hannah was tough as always.

I put a lot
of my clothes on her,

and the others did the same.

In one of the trucks
in front of us,

four people died
crossing the pass,
just from cold.

But I tell you, Hannah,
not even this night,

not even in the top
of the mountain, say nothing.

She no complain.

And the other big guys,
they start to say good-bye.

[Hannah]
When you are-- [indistinct]

you learn not to be dependent
on outer circumstances.

You have to learn to rest
more in yourself,

so that makes it easier
always to be on the road.

But it is a lifestyle.
You can learn it.

Hannah was the toughest
person I knew.

She was, as Ole said,
all-weather.

The power of her mind
was so strong--

at high passes in Tibet,
on an Indian train,

on buses for two days nonstop
without food in Russia.

She just went on and on.

She was fearless.

[Ole] Well, South America
was quite a story.

Death could hit any moment.

It was really violent.
Very, very dangerous.

[man, in Spanish]

[Tomek] We were in Colombia
in the most dangerous time,

about 1991.

You know, Ole decided
that we'll go overland.

Because why?
We were going to Venezuela.

Because flying was $200,
overland was $20.

In the early morning
near Bucaramanga,

which is right on the border
to Venezuelan side,

we were dozing in the bus.

About 100 yards ahead,
there was a girl

in a white T-shirt
and camouflage trousers,

and a tree fallen
across the road.

And I thought to myself,
well, this is not the army.

[people screaming, sobbing]

There was panic, shouting.

And the kidnappers
were very young--

teenagers-- and shaking.

They were so afraid--
or nervous.
Not afraid, but nervous.

The only difference is that
they had the machine guns.

And the passengers were
crossing themselves
and saying,

[speaking Spanish]

"They will kill
the gringos."

And you start looking
where are the gringos here.

And it turned out it's you.

"Gringos" meaning
"foreigners" there.

They march us to a village.

And there, their leader
started a speech.

And I remember like today
the first sentence
of that speech.

He was saying in Spanish--
[speaking Spanish]

"I'm not
the Prince of Death,

but if I have to kill,
I will kill."

And then Hannah asked,
"What is he saying?"

And somehow I couldn't
deliver the whole news.

I just said to Hannah, "Well,
he says he's not a prince."

[Ole] And then he said,
"If I find anybody
in connection with"--

All the guys we had
in our address book,
right?

"...I will kill."

[speaking Spanish]

Three, four times
there was somebody
who came to the commandant

and said, "We have gringos."
Right?

He looked over,
he looked around,

he looked to the side,
he looked somewhere else.

And he couldn't see us.
Several times, you know.

[Tomek] We are there
for about five hours.

I was sitting on Ole's left.
Hannah was sitting
on Ole's right.

And Hannah, in those
most difficult moments,

she sit down
and started meditating.

It wasn't like a meditation
that I want to close myself

because reality
is so unpleasant.

It was-- She was shining.

She was completely fearless.

Then right at that time,
they called and said,

"We need you somewhere else."
Something like that.

He got a message.
He called the people together.

You know, forgot us again.
and then he said,

"If any of you show
your faces here again"--
You know?

"...then we'll kill you."
Right?

Then they moved away.

We sort of walked
a little bit low

because we're also bigger
than the locals, right?

So a little bit low
so we wouldn't be
so conspicuous.

The next day, we flew.
We didn't take
the bus again.

[Tomek] Why did we end up
in those dangerous places?

We were not doing
adrenaline tourism.

You know, people go
to dangerous places
and get a kick out of it.

No, Hannah and Ole
were going there
simply to, you know--

to bring-- to bring the dharma
for those who were open to it.

Otherwise, they wouldn't--
Maybe that was the only
chance in this life

that they could get it.

There is a little bit
of this macho culture.

I think you have
heard about that.
[chuckling]

In general, a woman has
more value if she has a man.

[chuckles]

But when I saw her,

I mean, I saw
a very shining woman,

a very happy woman,

a very independent woman.

To be honest, I was not
seeing this before.

To see a woman so happy,
so independent,

this I liked very much.

Who has-- Who has what?

[in English]

-Well, I mean--
-[both laughing]

It's quite obvious,
isn't it?

[laughter]

[speaking Spanish,
indistinct]

But we supplement
each other very well.

That's why we can learn
from each other.

[woman] Ole was always
saying to the public,

"Oh, this is my wonderful wife."

He was always showing
how they loved each other.

[Ole, in German]

[Dilia] And to see a woman
so independent

and at the same time
such a well-functioning couple

was very, very impressive.

[Hannah] You know,
in Buddhism,

there is not that distinction
between man and woman

in connection with practice.

As you know, Buddha
taught that all beings

have the potential
of enlightenment.

[woman] She could be sweet,
she could be calm,

but she was not weak
at all.

She was always both-and,
not either-or.

She was hardworking,
she was strong,

and she was totally sweet,
soft, inspiring, feminine.

And people were
so touched by that.

Because in that way, she
was such a great example.

She opened new horizons
for these ladies.

Because she said, "Oh, I don't
have to be like a man.

I can be a woman,
I can be totally feminine,

but I can find
my own inner strength."

[Tomek] We were in Mexico City,
and they were phoning us
from San Francisco.

Ole would stop his lecture,
and they came to the phone.

And they had the receiver
in between their heads,
Hannah and Ole.

And then at one point,
Hannah started saying,

"No, not him, not him.
Please, not him."

And what happened,
Jamgon Rinpoche
died in a car crash.

[Ole] At that time,
they said that Shamarpa
put a bomb in the car,

and that was how it blew up
and stuff like that.

I said, "What?"

[narrator] Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche

was a key figure in the Kagyu lineage,

and one of the four regents entrusted to find the new reincarnated Karmapa.

[Tomek] When the 16th Karmapa
died in November 1981,

you know,
they lost everything.

But in the interim period
when one Karmapa dies,

before the other Karmapa--
the next Karmapa-- manifest,

it becomes
increasingly important

that that transmission
doesn't disappear.

Since the 15th Karmapa
left a letter

with the details
of his next rebirth,

the general belief
was that the 16th
also left such a letter.

After the death of Karmapa,
the lamas got together

in Rumtek, in his seat
outside India,

and they decided
that, actually, four
of his closest disciples

will be in charge of finding
the next incarnation.

And those were,
first and foremost,
Shamar Rinpoche.

The second in that hierarchy
was Situ Rinpoche.

The third one
was Jamgon Rinpoche.

And the fourth--
Gyaltsab Rinpoche.

And there they formed
a joint committee.

It was a novelty.

It has never
been done so in Tibet,

but, okay, the times
were different.

[Hannah] A lot of people
were pressuring the Rinpoches.

All time, they said,
"Please, you must-- Now.

We cannot wait any longer.
You must find him now."

Nothing came out
of the Rinpoches.

And '82, '83, '84,
'85-- nothing.

We didn't hear anything,

and this speculation
grew more and more.

There was a tremendous pressure
on the four Rinpoches

to come with results very fast.

We're already talking '92.

It's already 11 years
since the Karmapa had died,
and nothing.

All of a sudden,
Situ Rinpoche
called a meeting.

And he noticed--
Sometime in 1990,

he noticed that
he was carrying here,
like, a protector

that the 16th Karmapa
had given him

back in the '70s
in Calcutta.

Then when he opened it,

instead of regular prayer,
what was there?

That prediction letter.

He just noticed that he had
been going, you know--

The future of the Kagyu lineage
dangling around his neck

all these years
without knowing it.

And he waited two years,
for whatever reason,

to inform
his other Rinpoches.

And Gyaltsab Rinpoche
accepted the results.

Shamar Rinpoche
had his doubts.

And they decided
that Jamgon Rinpoche
will travel to Tibet

in order to contact the child
and make the first contact.

[engine revving]

He got a present from
the king of Bhutan--

a brand new white BMW 525,
a rocket on wheels.

Rinpoche, of course,
wanted to be part
of the modern world,

and he was learning
how to drive.

He decided to take
that car to Tibet

when looking
for that child.

Not far away from Rumtek,
he swerved the car

and hit head-on--
collision with a tree.

And Rinpoche and three others
died instantly.

[Hannah] You know,
apart from the shock--

it is not right to accuse...

the head of the lineage

of murdering
the next in the lineage

and all these
totally crazy things
that I was eye-witnessing.

It was a complete
absurd accusation.

I read the letters myself
where they say

that Shamar Rinpoche sneaked
under the cover of the night

and poured sugar
in the tank of the BMW,

and, as a result of which,

the car accelerated
to 160 kilometers per hour

and the engine catapulted itself
from the body of the car.

Here, in those years,
it became clear

that the division was
actually becoming a split...

within the four Rinpoches.

[horns blowing]

[narrator] Despite Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche's death,

accusations of murder

and doubts about the authenticity of the prediction letter,

news came that the 17th Karmapa had been recognized in Tibet.

This 17th Karmapa--
in a convoy--

in an official convoy escorted
by the Chinese authorities

appears in Tsurphu, the seat
of the 16th Karmapa, in Tibet.

A thing that would
have taken weeks,
if not months,

took only a matter of days.

And the Communist Chinese
authorities

were very much part of it--

Communist Chinese
who only 40 years earlier

completely destroyed Tibet

and waged a war
against Buddhism.

[in Chinese]

[Hannah] Karmapa would
emphasize the importance

of not mixing the activity
with politics.

That was one of the things
he told us so much,

so much that we didn't know
what he was talking about.

Because we didn't know
what he meant with "politics."

[Ole] We were a bit
disturbed, both of us.

What we said was,
"Check it out.

Take your time.

Check who is behind it,
who is pulling the strings."

The situation in this region,

in the Himalayas,
is very explosive.

It's not settled.

You have India on the one side
of the Himalaya,

and you have China
on the other side.

And something that the people
don't know very well

is that, in 1962,
there was a war
between India and China.

China took over
a lot of territories
in the west of India--

Northern Pakistan
and Kashmir nowadays.

So, the one
who has the power in Rumtek

to some extent
has the religious power
over a lot of people,

a lot of followers in Sikkim.

And if this very person

is favorable to the Indian
interests, it is one thing.

If this person is favorable
to the Chinese interests,
it is another thing.

[Tomek] The agenda
of the Communist Chinese

is to control Tibet.

And they decided the best way
to control Tibet

is by controlling the lamas.

They couldn't
control Dalai Lama.
He was outside Tibet.

So they shifted their focus
on Karmapa.

It's very important
to say that the system--

the medieval system in Tibet--
it was basically flawed.

Finding a lama here

meaning gaining incredible
not only religious

but also political power.

Very often the spiritual
arguments were left--

put aside in favor
of the political arguments.

Powerful families,
powerful factions,

were constantly fighting
to have the incarnation
of a certain lama

within their family.

Hannah and Ole felt
that they owed the truth
to their students.

They would not make sacrifices,
for the sake of the truth.

[Hannah] If you have
to make a choice--

[chattering]

I don't know,
I'm quite pragmatic

on that scale,
at that level.

You know, just what is there,
what's happening,
who is doing what.

And then conclude from that.
I think that's healthy.

And inform oneself, yeah?

There is absolutely no reason
to be against this boy.

He didn't do anything wrong.

It's not his fault.

You also have to see
the background

of the people who follow that.

Like the whole Tibetan history

which made the Tibetans
follow here and there.

It goes back hundreds of years.

[narrator] The decision that Ogyen Trinley Dorje was the reincarnated Karmapa

left a division between Gyaltsab Rinpoche

and Situ Rinpoche on the one side

and Shamar Rinpoche on the other.

We knew that Gyaltsab Rinpoche
was the best the teacher we had.

You know, he was a bit--
ta-ta-ta-ta.

He could teach on--
Incredibly, right?

But also,
he hadn't really grown up.

Then we had
Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche,
who had now died.

We also knew Situpa,
and he had apparently
made a character change

in a not so pleasant
direction.

Then there was Shamarpa.

And Shamarpa was,
you know, nobility.

But at the same time,
he is honest.

Hannah and I always
said to each other,
"This is a decisive moment.

This is where we have to decide
what we want to do, right?"

[birds screeching]

[in English]

[narrator] In 1993, these tensions erupted into violence

in Rumtek Monastery, Karmapa's seat outside of Tibet.

Monks and lamas were forced to agree to Situ Rinpoche

and Gyaltsab Rinpoche's choice of Karmapa

or face the consequences.

The 16th Karmapa
genuine monks

were chased
out of Rumtek Monastery.

Some were thrown to jail,
some were beaten up.

And they have to--
Some, they had to run
for their lives.

[gunfire]

[in English]

[Tomek] Shamar Rinpoche
was left very much alone,

but he had just a few people
whom, in the new situation,
he could fully trust.

And, first of all, that was
Lopon Tsechu Rinpoche--

Hannah and Ole's
first teacher.

Secondly, Topga Rinpoche.
He trusted him,

the general secretary
of Rumtek.

And finally Hannah.

There was a lot of bad style
in the East and West,

accusing each other

and slinging mud
at different lamas.

It was a very difficult
situation

for most of the Tibetan
Rinpoches,

because a lot of them
had monasteries in Tibet,

because they came from Tibet.

They had relatives there,
they had students there,

so they were really caught.

All of a sudden,
90% of the lamas
went to the Chinese side.

Yeah? I mean, of course,
in some cases,

it was somehow
understandable

because they had
monasteries in Tibet.

Or imagine the ears
of your grandmother
will be cut off

if you are not
signing a paper.

You would do it, right?

So they were not
in the position

to politically resist
and stand up.

But we in the West,
we could.

[chattering in English]

[Ole] What Hannah didn't like,
was, right from the beginning,

the people around
Gyaltsab Rinpoche,

tried to turn her
against Shamarpa.

She said,
"I will not hear that."

Hannah is a strong lady,
and she heard enough, right.

We had just to be honest,

and it was clear
that the continuation
of Karmapa's work

and everything
went through Shamarpa.

There was no doubt
about it, you know,

that he was the one to trust
and the one that Karmapa
also trusted.

Towards the end of 1993,

we begin to hear
that Shamar Rinpoche
got some information.

A person of great confidence
of the 16th Karmapa
approached him

with direct instructions
from the 16th Karmapa

concerning
the next incarnation.

And on the basis
of those instructions,

it all pointed to a certain boy
in Tibet, in Lhasa.

The father of that boy
was a very well-known
Nyingma lama.

The house was an open house.

People were coming
for consultations
with that lama.

[man] I was born
in Tibet, in Lhasa,

the capital of Tibet
at the time.

What I remember is that,
the moment when I was
able to talk,

you know, after I was born,

um, I had-- I believe
I had told a few others,

as well as my mother,
who was there
most of the time,

and the Karmapa and so on.

My father being a Rinpoche,

he thought that it was
his responsibility

to make sure that,
if this is it,

then we must be prepared.

Because it's not a simple
life that you live.

For eight years
of living in Lhasa--

the time I mostly spent
indoors, actually--

there would be
daily practice,

daily rituals of reading,
writing, memorizing.

We constantly focused
on the dharma.

So therefore, there wasn't many,
let's say, coloring, painting,

buying toys, ice cream.

This very, very different
environment, yes.

[Tomek] There was
too much commotion,

too much movement
around the house,
around this family.

And the Chinese police,
of course, noticed.

They had informants
everywhere.

And they came,
they approached the family,

and they told them, "You have
a very gifted son here.

We want to take him.
We want to give him
special education in China.

He will go with us."

So the whole family
was about to be shipped
somewhere in China

for educating
this gifted boy.

They of course--
They didn't know exactly

that he was
a candidate for--

another candidate
for the Karmapa.

They had the Karmapa
in Tsurphu.

As far as the Chinese
were concerned,
they had the right one.

They had what they needed.

They definitely
didn't need a contender.

It was incredibly dangerous.
It was matter of--

of highest importance
that he be smuggled

or taken out of Tibet secretly
as soon as possible.

[narrator] Convinced that this boy was the reincarnated Karmapa,

Hannah devised a plan with Shamarpa

to ensure that he could be brought to safety.

[Karmapa Thaye Dorje]
My father was hospitalized,

and my mother had
to take care of him
all the time.

And on top of it,
this news that,
you know,

that their son
has to be taken away.

They asked me,
"Do you want to do this?"

I thought, "Why not?"

"Let's try," I thought.
So we went.

[narrator] In 1993, Hannah and Shamarpa

smuggled the boy and his family out of Tibet

and brought them to India.

[Shamarpa]
The whole airport was
busy, busy, busy, busy.

He was the one-- As if
the time has stopped.

Either like they were
all moving too fast

or he was moving too slow,
I don't know what.

He was coming towards me
very casually.

And when he came to me,
he came with a big smile.

And he touched my forehead.
He said, "How are you?

So good to meet you
finally," he said.

And a tall, white lady came.

She was very gentle
and very sweet in her tone.

[speaking German]

[narrator] On the 17th of March, 1994,

Karmapa Trinley Thaye Dorje was enthroned

at the Karmapa International Buddhist Institute in New Delhi,

the place that was to become his seat outside of Tibet.

When the 17th Karmapa
was announced in 1994,

we all rushed to India.

I remember I was--

It was a call
that whoever could come

should come
to KIBI institute.

[woman] The Karmapa Institute
was a wish of the 16th Karmapa.

He arranged everything.

He wanted that this
should be a meeting point
for the East and the West.

[horns blowing]

[Hannah] In KIBI, where
he was the first time
put on the throne,

and that was very wonderful
experience, you know.

On purpose, they had been
no, like, training before.

And the way
he sat on the throne,

the way he put on his own crown
for the first time,

was very, very impressive.

It felt so right.

The presentation in KIBI,
or ceremony--

But you had the information
that something will happen.

I was just there at a nice
welcome ceremony.

I was very happy.

I was standing in the last row,
standing at the window,
you know.

And then almost
at the end of ceremony,
some buses arrived.

And I was looking out
of the window,

and I felt,
"Oh, poor pity them.

They are late
for the ceremony.

They missed it."
You know?

Then I thought,
"Oh, this is weird."

They start shouting,
holding signs.
Angry faces.

And I thought,
"What's going on here?"

[loud commotion]

[crowd shouting outside]

[Shamar Rinpoche, in English]

[Michaela] Hannah,
you know, she stood up,

and she was
like the general.

The position of her body
very clear, you know.

She said, "Men out."

The men went out,
took broomsticks
but not for hitting.

But taking the broomsticks
with two hands
to push people back.

They were just defending.
Very good style.

For a split second, you know,
I met the eyes of Karmapa.

So we were looking
in each other's eyes
for just a split second.

And I became totally calm,

and I knew everything's
going to be all right.

[Hannah] He was just 11 years,

but, in that moment
and in that situation,

he could have been
a hundred years, you know.

[narrator] The enthroning of Thaye Dorje in Delhi

meant that there was now a Karmapa supported by Shamar Rinpoche and India

and a Karmapa supported by Situ Rinpoche,

Gyaltsab Rinpoche and the Chinese.

[Hannah] Ole and I
saw everything
very, very pure here.

We thought everybody
would be at a high level

among the lamas,
among the Rinpoches.

And, of course, they are not.

And we had helped
in giving that image,

so then, when that cracked,

we felt very responsible

for preserving this trust
in the dharma itself

so that
that would not disappear.

Because there was mistakes
happening at other levels.

[Tomek] Hannah was there
to ensure--

And this was directly
Karmapa's wish, I'm sure--

to ensure that the transmission
that they were bringing
to the West

arrives in its totality.

[Karmapa Thaye Dorje]
It's never an easy task.

You need a lot of energy.
You need a lot of patience.

If you look
at the timetable

and how much sleep
that they get

and how much traveling
that they do,

it's really a record,
one could say,

in terms of what the body
and what the mind can do.

[Shamar Rinpoche] She phoned me
from Bangkok, I think Bangkok.

She told me that
they are going to Australia.

And after Australia,
they will fly to New Delhi

and then go to Kalimpong

and meet His Holiness Karmapa
and quickly come back
to New Delhi

and fly to Mexico.

All the way from New Delhi
to Mexico.

[sighs]

And, then she told me,
in Mexico,

she will spend only one
or two nights, something,

and fly to Moscow.

And in Moscow, again,
only two or something,
two nights only,

fly back to Mexico.

And in Mexico, also about
only one night or two nights

and fly-- going to fly
to Hungary, she said.

Then I told her,
"Quite crazy you are."

[Hannah] I can control my mind
better than my body.

[laughing]

Things happen all the time,

and as long as, also,
you know--

both physically and mentally
when you are in the world, yeah?

But through meditation,

you learn to relate
to what happens
in a different way.

You cannot just change
what happens,

but you can change
how to relate to that.

[Tomek] When we came back
to Europe in the summer,

Hannah, she was
constantly coughing.

And then she decided
to take a break in Denmark.

She came to Copenhagen
for some checks.

And, of course,

in her perspective,
that was not serious.

[man] Hannah as a person,

she is normally not telling
much about any symptoms.

She lost six kilos
in three months.

Karmapa came for a visit,

and it was
an unexpected visit.

He drove 2,500 kilometers
from Spain nonstop

to see only Hannah
for a few days.

[Karmapa Thaye Dorje]
I was trying to really
pump her up in a way,

to give a lot of courage
that she--

to offer as much
optimism as possible.

[Tomek] And then,
all of a sudden,
she said with a smile--

completely
without any change.

She told me, "Tomek,
I'm ready for everything."

And I-- In that moment,
I thought,

"Oh, how dramatic."
You know?

She looked so good
and everything.
Why such a drama?

And I completely didn't even
want to hear it.

I immediately threw it
out of my-- of my mind.

[Dr. Thoma]
For the New Year's, of course,
they came to Stuttgart.

We got the results.

I remember exactly
what they said--

that Hannah had been diagnosed
with terminal cancer.

It's the third opinion,
and this is it.

And then they said maybe she
has only two weeks to live.

And in that moment,
everybody had wet eyes,

everybody except Hannah.

She only asked for one thing.
She asked Ole to take a walk.

[Ole] There was nothing--
no fear, no anything--

just really that she found out
she was leaving now.

No, there was no drama.

She was just--
told me that,

and I probably had
the strongest reaction.

[Hannah] In Buddhism,
the whole awareness

about the impermanence
of everything
is extremely helpful.

Death, it's something
either taboo

or something
we're afraid of and--

It's not something
one needs to be afraid of.

But one should just
get used to that.

That is how it is.

Then it's not so painful.

[audience cheering]

[Dr. Thoma] We went
on New Year's Eve,
around midnight,

to the hall.

She went onstage.

She said-- I'm not
have the same words,

but, like, "Sorry.

I have to say good-bye."

I like to thank everybody.

I've been on a cloud
of good wishes
from everybody,

and I could feel that.

And I'm sure
it's already working.

I feel already
much, much better.

-So thank you.
-[audience cheering]

[woman] For her to come home
to Copenhagen,

it was essential, because
everyone would be there.

[no audible dialogue]

[Tomek] People flew
from Australia,

from Argentina,
from Mexico, from Russia.

I was every day making
the trips to the airport.

During that time,
you know,

what was so touching
is to see those two.

And Hannah was holding Ole,
you know, and cradling his head.

You know?
And it was just so sweet.

You could see how deep
a relationship can go

when there is
a beyond personal task
that unites you.

[woman] I've never seen
any woman loving a man

as much as Hannah loved Ole.

It was--
It was something special.

She really loved him so much.

It was a complete team.

Energywise,
it was really complete.

I came in to visit her
as often as I could.

And I felt all the time

how the people around her
just loved her.

That made me good.

She has very good experience
of meditation.

Therefore, I understood that,
while she was dying,

she didn't have
any suffering mentally.

She could implement
all the dharma teachings.

She could hardly speak
in the end.

And, of course, she was speaking
in Danish when she could,

and she was giving teachings.

I remember one thing
she said was, you know,

"What really carries you
through everything,
this is compassion."

[Dr. Thoma] Her breathing
went down to zero.

She was clinically dead,
and she came back 15 times.

If you have a break
of two minutes
of nonbreathing

and not any heartbeat,

maybe you have the chance
to come back once
or two times.

Maybe three times.

But you will not make it
15 times.

It was...

one of the impressive things
I have seen as a doctor.

And then, in the end,
Ole said, "Hannah, now you go.

You cannot
use this body anymore.
Now you have to go."

And then we started
to sing "Emaho,"

and then she left
and she didn't come back.

[Hannah] When your teacher dies,
it's a kind of--

It's a mixture.
At a normal human level,

of course you are sad
and you miss him.

And it's-- You know,
you cannot avoid that.

At the same time,
in the middle
of all the sadness,

then there was
this enormous blessing,

which was just
beyond everything.

And which also confirms
your nature,

which is there are-- no matter
if you have a body or not--

these qualities,
they continue and they go on.

And if you connect with that,

that will always stay with you.

The totality cannot die.

Whatever we've done,
thought and said
will continue.

Whatever we do.
So you can say
we continue.

Nobody really gets lost.

That's probably
the most impressive
feeling of it all,

that she never really left.

She was still there.
She smiled.
It's a good feeling.

It's something meaningful.
And I still think
she's there today.

Smiles at me
through the faces
of many women, right?

Her knowledge comes in
when I hear things,
and suddenly I think,

"Oh, but Hannah
used to say that.

That's what she meant."
And so on.

Nobody really leaves.

She was a really
big example for me,

the way she could
live her life...

and be something for some--
for other people.

Not just talking about it,
but doing things.

[Tomek] In my eyes, she was
definitely beyond the personal.

I've seen it so many times
in situations--

in life-threatening
situations.

In situations where she lost
everything she had.

She had nothing left.

And she didn't change
in those moments.

She was a comfort to others.
She was like helping me.

I was so shocked
and-- and, you know,
destroyed to pieces.

In the end,
she got to put me up.
"Don't worry, don't worry."

After Hannah's death,
when sometimes Ole
started to, uh,

have tears in his eyes
onstage,

or how he said that it is
like an amputation, yeah?

Then, finally,
you could understand

that, actually, they were
not really separate, never.

[Tomek] And today,
the way I see it,

I think, in a way,

Ole acquires
more and more

certain qualities
that Hannah manifested.

[Karmapa Thaye Dorje]
I'm very grateful
to the both of them,

and mostly
to Hannah particularly
for what she has done.

Because of what
they started,

they have connected
thousands of families.

And the most precious
dharma.

They've connected that--
you know, tied the knot.

I think that's amazing.
Yeah.

[Hannah] Since Buddhism
is about the mind,

then the way it helps you--

it helped me, and I guess
it helps other people also--

is how to relate
to your own mind
and to other people.

You get more space.

You're not caught
by what is going on.

You get more understanding
for what is happening
with other people,

and it's very joyful.

It was very clear
we'd been together
in former lives

and we were together
this life again.

It was completely simple.

We saw that when we met
the first time in this life.

I was ten years old.
She was five.

Simply, I began to pull
bushes out of the ground

and I made
like a cabin from.

And then I wanted
to sit in there with her.

And there was all--
The only thing,
just sitting down.

Apparently,
there was some memory
of former meditation together.

Just sitting with her
next to me in there,

and we both felt that was
what had to be done.

It's just very, very old--
very old connection, right?

And from the moment we met,
it started happening.

We went to the East.
We met-- All these things.

Buddhism started, you know.
Everything started, right?

So it was just--
It just clicked,
that connection.

I'm interested in what happens
next life when we meet.