Eat, sleep, pray, retreat
Our reporter checks in to check out Jampa Ling Buddhist centre for some relaxation..
Ever thought about a Buddhist retreat but wondered what it’s all about? On a quest for peace SIOBHAN O’CONNOR headed to Jampa Ling in the tiny town of Bawnboy in Co Cavan. She discovered an oasis of calm and reflection at the Tibetan Buddhist meditation and retreat centre.
OFF the bus I meet my host Desmond Gough, who oozes calm, his voice melodic. Within a few minutes’ drive we arrive at the 19th Century Owendoon House, surrounded by 13 acres of meadow, woodland and gardens.
The peaceful spot is beautifully situated amongst the hills and lakes of county Cavan, a Unesco protected Geopark.
It is home to Tibetan monk Venerable Panchen Otrul Rinpoche, who has held the space for aspiring monks to take refuge here since 1993.
Jampa Ling means “Place of Loving Kindness” and you can feel it. The Dalai Lama is the patron.
Tipperary native Desmond worked as an entertainer and performer in Galway until a visit to Jampa Ling in 1999, and was compelled to stay.
Desmond, 54, explained: “A lot of people don’t want to become a Buddhist but they’re happy to spend a few nights here as part of their self development.”
After settling in to my cosy single room in the newly furnished Tara Hostel, it’s time to dip my toe in the world of Buddhist Puja practice.
I enter the small room in the main house. Tonight we are doing the White Tara Refuge Prayers for the evening Puja.
PRAYER BOOKS
I notice the precious prayer books are wrapped in flannel.
The bright altar is adorned with flowers and blessed water bowls.
A gold Buddha takes pride of place in the centre with pictures of White Tara to either side.
You can bring an offering – I think to myself that a box of chocolates at the altar looks inviting.
White Tara was a female Buddha of Tibet, representing long life.
The practice is about transforming negative emotions and moving towards the path to enlightenment.
If you fall out with somebody this helps you to understand that person is hurting too.
As a Catholic, I carry a lot of guilt; the opposite is true of Buddhism.
Tibetan monks don’t get the concept of guilt – if they do something wrong, they say sorry and move on. I like the vibe already. Meditation is backed by science, leading to a sense of calm and peace.
After a 10-minute meditation my head feels clearer, but my lotus isn’t exactly yogi and my knees are killing me.
However I daren’t sit in a chair, for fear of failure.
Then it’s time for the chanting. I’m secretly mortified as I make a stab at the singsong like praying.
I’m pleasantly surprised that chanting in Tibetan raises my vibration and a happy buzz ensues.
By chanting in a group, you create positive energy leading to a natural high. I go into a trance like state, and my worries evaporate. I meet a second-time visitor to the centre, Anne from Co Meath, after the ceremony. Anne, 52, tells me: “I’m always on the go, looking after everyone else, and I don’t give myself time to switch off. “In life I feel like I’m walking beside myself, stumbling along but not helping myself. “I like the values at Jampa Ling, no alcohol and no stealing. “Someone had told me, if I was looking for peace and tranquillity this was the place.
“I never knew how to meditate properly.”
She continues: “Last time I committed to a month. I had all these visions of myself going to some kind of monastery with all these monks walking around in brown robes and praying all day, but they are so normal here.
“I found the chanting weird at the beginning but after the second day it was like something shifted in me and I felt at home.
“I think everyone should spend at least two days here, we get so caught up in the rat race and become materialistic.”
Next I meet Richard, a 37-year old trainee monk from Cavan who tells me he has left his life a a psychologist behind to take refuge with Rinpoche. A near death experience left him curious, seeking the elusive answers to the big question: why we are here. He explains: “It’s like the three refuges. “There’s the Buddha who is a human being like ourselves, through his own experiences he developed the wisdom to overcome suffering and unlimited compassion for all sentient beings. “The Dharma is his teachings, it means to hold and protect. It’s all the teachings which is the wisdom that gives the direct realisation of ultimate reality and the path which brings us to pure love and compassion. “The sangha are the beings who have overcome this existence and we can take refuge in them instead of a glass of wine for instance. The Buddha found the path, the Dharma is his teaching.” I head off to bed feeling Zen and uplifted, with my
alarm set for 6am to make the 7am Puja.
Slightly exhausted, I make my way down to the morning practice.
Kicking off with a half hour of meditation in complete silence, my knees are less achey – I’m nailing the lotus position.
I feel as light as a feather after the silence. The chanting and prayers seem easier as I know what to expect, no longer embarrassed being a complete novice.
The foundation of all good qualities leads to the path of liberation, to overcome suffering is the premise for this morning’s Puja.
I meet Venerable Lobsang Tobgyae, a Monaghan man whose privilege was to be ordained a Tibetan Monk by His Holiness the Dalai Lama in India.
I’m intrigued by what enlightenment is. Lobsang, 49, explains: “It’s the true meaning of life.
“It can only be communicated between two enlightened beings.
“The ultimate goal of the faith is enlightenment for all sentient beings, that’s the main motivation for becoming a monk.”
Lobsang says after five years of training he’s not yet ‘enlightened’, but he thinks he’s almost there.
In 2007 the former administrator was at a crossroads in his life.
He explains: “I really wanted to find a deeper meaning, I was searching for something.
“I had a relationship breakup and was drinking so much. I tried going to other help groups. It never really helped me until I came here, when I took the vows to Rinpoche. “I had been doing meditation alone, but there’s only so far you can go without working with a spiritual guide who’s walked the path and who already knows you more than yourself. “I didn’t know what I was searching for, something changed when I met Rinpoche, energetically it was like coming home.
“It was a long process, I thought I wanted to become a monk from the very start, but I had to wait five years.”
The core philosophy of Buddhism is to realise that life is suffering and there are causes for the suffering, but because there are causes, there’s an end to the anguish.
Buddhist practice shows you a way out of this pain. How uplifting is that?
The idea is to find self love and compassion through silence and reflection.
VERDICT
I love the concept of no guilt. Since leaving the centre I’ve meditated daily and have found the practice calms my overthinking mind.
I left feeling a deep sense of gratitude, as light as a feather and more connected to my inner being.