Northern Light Vipassana Society is a non-profit organization of Scandinavian Buddhists. It was founded in 2008 in Fredrika in Lapland in Northern Sweden. The society has arranged a number of retreats in Sweden and Denmark. It is the purpose of the society to spread the knowlegde and practice of Vipassana bhavana in the tradition of the oldest existing Buddhism, Theravada.
The place of the origin of the society was determined by the curious existence of a Thai Buddhist Temple here, some 300 km South of the Northern Polar Circle, probably the most Northern Buddhist temple in the world, in beauteous Fredrika by the Viska Lake in Lapland (see photo on top).
Agneta and Ola von Koskull who moved up here in 2006 got inspired to invite kindred spirits to join them for longer periods of practicing meditation at their wonderful home on the top of a hill at a walking distance from the temple. And that’s how the first Vipassana retreat took place at Christmas and New Year 2007, conducted by Marie Ericcson from Vipassanagruppen in Stockholm, followed by Uffe Damborg’s Easter and Summer retreats in 2008, when the Northern Light Vipassana Society formally was founded.
MEMBERS OF THE BOARD
Agneta von Koskull has been meditating for forty years. She is a painter and a writer and a member of the Writers Guild both in Sweden and in Finland. She has received many scholarships and awards for her books and writings. She went to Art School for several years in Hamburg and has worked as a professional painter for almost forty years, with exhibitions in different countries. Among other things she has also been trained as an Art Therapist at Niarte Institute in Sweden and as a macrobiotic cook at the Kushi Institute in Switzerland.. Presently she is living in Lund, Sweden. She is one of the co-founders of NLVS.
Ola von Koskull is an engineer and has been meditating since 1974. He has spent many years in USA and has been engaged in promoting spirituality his whole life. He lives in Lund, Sweden. He is one of the co-founders of NLVS.
Terje Pettersen lives with his beloved Anita and their children, far north in Northern Norway. It’s a small place called Kjøllefjord (located slightly north of Nordkapp). Terje was very active at the beginning of the NLVS in Fredrika, Sweden. But circumstances made him move back to Norway. Terje has still connection to the NLVS and teaches Qi Gong and mindfullness/Vipassana in Kjøllefjord once a week. He is one of the co-founders of NLVS.
Uffe Damborg is a psychologist and a cognitive psychotherapist practicing in Copenhagen, Denmark. He has a second home in Lövestad, Skåne, Southern Sweden. He is trained as a Vipassana teacher by Anagarika Munindra at Bodh Gaya in India. Altogether, he has spent 8 years in meditation monasteries in the East. Since 2007 Uffe has conducted retreats at Fredrika in Lapland, Sweden, in Copenhagen, Kerteminde and at Djursland and Røsnæs in Denmark. He is one of the co-founders of NLVS.
Linda Spalding is a psychologist, with a long history working in the field of children and their families. She began practicing Trancendental Meditation 1974 – 1982 and then through various other meditationtraditions. Since 2009 she practices Vipassana meditation in the lineage of the Mahasi Sayadaw, under the guidance of Uffe Damborg. She lives and works in Copenhagen, where she also teaches mindfulness classes on a regular basis. Since 2011 Linda is a member of the board.
Associated Members
Marie Ericssson has more than 40 years of experience with Vipassana meditation, and has travelled extensively in the East. She has spent many long retreats with renowned Vipassana teachers in Asia and U.S.A. She is a very active and much appreciated Vipassana teacher at the Vipassanagruppen in Stockholm. In 2011 she published the book ‘ Kom och se – om meditation och theravadabuddhism’. This is an excellent and a very personal introduction to theravadabuddhism.
Alina 
Konwinska is an artist and musician from Poland where she attended art school for 5 years. She has worked with a wide range of art projects from exhibitions, illustrating books and working with theater and film. She lives in Copenhagen. Her deep interest in Buddhism, and her devoted practice of insight meditation has made her a choice photographer for the Northern Light Vipassana Society. She did a series of video recordings of the Kerteminde Vipassana Retreat in June 2014, and another series of Djursland Vipassana Retreat in Oct. 2014. Both series are available at YouTube.
Agneta Edström has more than 15 years experience of meditation and yoga. After a burn-out she participated in her first retreat in 2001. Soon she traveled to India and England and met with some of the most experienced teachers in the Theravada tradition.
Agneta has a background as a teacher in the Folk-high school. She also worked in the social and psychiatric field. Her interest is mainly in personal and spiritual growth. For many years she worked with groups in these two areas. She currently has a sitting group in Göteborg in Sweden, where she also lives.
In 2014 her first book “Ett Heligt Liv” was published. In this book she writes about her own experience of the spiritual path. Later this year her second book will be available.
OUR ICON
The icon of Northern Light Vipassana Society is the lovely image of the Future Buddha Metteya, The Loving One.
NORTHERN LIGHT VIPASSANA SOCIETY 
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