As University of Wisconsin Oshkosh students pack their cars full of dirty laundry and head home for the Thanksgiving holiday, several hundred Diamond Way Buddhists from around the United States and the world will converge upon the Gruenhagen Conference Center at the University.

Lama Ole Nydahl, the main teacher for the Diamond Way Buddhist Centers worldwide, will teach a course titled, “Mahamudra, or The Great Seal,” Nov. 26-30. An introduction to Buddhism will be provided at 8 p.m. Nov. 26 at Reeve Memorial Union, 748 Algoma Blvd. Admission is $15.

Nydahl is one of the few westerners fully qualified as a Lama in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. According to the wishes of his teacher, the 16th Karmapa, Ranjung Rigpe Dorje, Nydahl has spent more than 30 years providing the teachings of the Buddha to Western students around the globe. An unconventional spiritual guide who loves skydiving and fast motorcycles, Nydahl distills the essence of Buddhism and delivers it free of cultural baggage in a way that is practical for busy modern people.