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Published: November 17th 2007
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Well no didn't run off to become a Nun (or with a Monk come to that) despite staying 19 days instead of the original 10 days at Kopan Monastery.
Kopan Monastery sits on a hill just North of Bodhnath and was founded by Lam Thubten Yeshe in the 1970’s. The location offers some great views over Bodhnath and Kathmandu with some of the most awesome sunrises and sunsets but it also more importantly is a major centre Tibetan Buddhism and offers 10 day and one month courses covering Meditation and Buddhist Teachings.
After spending 19 days in this tranquil location I am very chilled out and found an inner happiness. The time has been a very enlightening experience - not quite to Buddha standard of enlightenment but small enlightenment in my life at least. I went with the idea to learn meditation and came away with so much more and increased sense of calmness within myself.
During the 10 day course I went through mixed emotions and feelings, sometimes struggling with some of the Buddhist teachings and concepts that accompanied the meditation practices - partly because my own very set view points and maybe certain lack of open
So how many cushions for mediating is required?
After a week my kness became sore so was told to add more cushions not sure this is what Ana Karon meant! mindedness but that changed over the time spent there.
The schedule was quite intense starting at 6:30am and going on until 9:15pm though having said that we did have some very long breaks. Though at times even these long breaks weren’t sufficient time for me to absorb and analyse what I was learning because I usually dozed in my room so my own fault for not using break times more usefully. But the time spent after the course finished gave me time to absorb the lessons whilst enjoying the tranquil surrounding of Kopan grounds which as also home to much wildlife, living safe in the knowledge that they would remain from harm under Buddhist protection of not killing.
So during this time I started to realise hey there is something here and when I opened myself up to it I felt there was real potential for it to improve and change my life for the positive. During this time I also formulated an idea of a future work direction so the time was definitely worthwhile.
Though there were some of my joints that objected to in meditative seated position and during the course of the week or
so it became necessary to add an extra cushion to ease things. Though maybe I took it to extreme with the 10 or so!!!! Even raised a smile from Ana Karon our main teacher for the course.
At Kopan I experienced some of the
beautiful sunrises and sunsets which were inspiring in themselves and each been etched in my memory the most beautiful of which was the mist covered landscape with little glimpse of what lay below poking through. I watched mesmorised for almost an hour as the landscape swirled, changes and warmed before my eyes, changing by the second. I felt lucky to experience its beauty.
But Kopan is also home to the
most beautiful and elaborate Stupa and it is something a will also miss waking to see. My morning and evening clockwise circuits around it were a quiet time of contemplation if you could ignore the monks reciting their mantras and teachings as they also completed their own circuits around it.
Tibetan chants would resonate through the grounds from well before our wake up bell at 5:45am and after many of us retired, often earlier than normal life without the profusion of nightlife options
available in the outside world and added to by the fact we maintained silence from 10pm until noon everyday.
Now life of a Tibetan Monk seems to me not an easy one and with the tradition to still send the second son to the monastery for many it is not a chosen path but did give them an education and food that they would not have normally had but talking to some of the younger monks they obviously wondered what life would be like outside the monastery - I am not sure if this is in reaction to the constant flow of western students coming through the doors for courses.
Anyway having mentioned food - tentative link I know but onto the our provided meals which were better and more diverse than expected with porridge in the morning and a varied selection of rice, veg and curries with breads for lunch and soup in the evening though after some days we craved something more still - typically western in that aspect I guess - therefore many of the group were often found in the cafe of the monastery eating momos or banana pancakes and have a strong dose
Evening Puja
Rare photo opportunity of caffeine in the form of coffee which was not part of our provided meals. I was slightly disappointed with myself to find that I could not last even a week without such treats (chocolate or sweet foods especially). How fortunate I am to be able to have the choice though to buy such things when so much of this country struggles to find the basic essentials to live on.
Pujas were another part of monastery life and during my time I sat through two - one during the course and one in the days after. The first we were offered a unique opportunity to take photos of the Puja itself but also the inside of the main Gompa something not normally permitted. The Puja is a ceremony which often sponsored by a supporter of the monastery with donation but the second one I attended was the very important Guru Puju. Both as well as the very important prayers/chants involve distribution of tea and food whilst the chanting takes place over a period of about 2 hours - but if they chant quickly then it may finish sooner - I felt they do sometimes chant very quickly to this
ends but maybe that is just because I don’t understand Tibetan! And lest the young monks fall asleep during the Pujas which happen on a evening then there was a stern Discipline Master and his Captains walking around to tap them awake but you could sleep through the horns and drums that interrupted the chants at regular intervals then you are a better sleeper than me!!!
It seems evenings is the time for the ceremonies because at the end of the course we performed a
Light Offering at the Stupa - with each of the 30 course members providing 30 candles the Stupa had a warm halo of candles. This is another scene that will always remain etched in my memory because photos couldn’t captured the atmosphere or feel of the ring of candles around the beautiful stupa and the silent contemplation by the group members as Ana Fran read the Light Offering. And my silent meditative vigil from the hilltop above the Stupa, slowing watching the candles flicker and fade over time.
This is a poem from one of the books at Kopan and struck a chord with me and something I will remember and take away
and try to remember every day:
This day is a special day,
It is yours
Yesterday slipped away
It cannot be with more meaning
About tomorrow nothing is known
But this day today, is yours
Make use of it
Today you make someone happy
Today you can help another
This day is a special
It is yours
(Indian Poem)
After the course finished we could go back to the technology and venture out of the grounds. It was with some reluctance that I did both having found my mind so peaceful but needs must and unless I become a nun then my life continues outside the peaceful walls and so I must return.
During the 9 extra days I stayed I slowly acclimitised back to the outside world with all its noise and commotion by taking a trip of two to Kathmandu and Kathmandu Valley. See Kathmandu Valley - Life outside the peaceful retreat! for more on these excursions.
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