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| View from the roof of the Institute |
In November of 2010 a small ad in an email newsletter caught my attention;
"Louise Hay 'You Can Heal Your Life' First Course in Meditation and Tibetan Buddhism."
"Louise Hay 'You Can Heal Your Life' First Course in Meditation and Tibetan Buddhism."
Having read Louise Hay's book, about how positive affirmations can change your life, and having casually attended a few meditation classes in Dubai, I was curious and clicked through.
The eight day retreat was to take place in the Sherabling Monastery Palpung, Himachal Province, India. I didn't know much about Buddhism or even India, but I felt this was a retreat I had to attend. Without thinking too much, I signed up.
When people asked about my impending trip I focused on the yoga, meditation, feel-good aspects, and kept the Tibetan Buddhism quietly to myself. What did I know about Buddhism? Not a lot.
The retreat did reveal itself as a feel-good, meditation break, but in the very aspect I was unsure about, the retreat became so much more. Through the teaching sessions with the Tibetan master my curiosity about life and the universe strengthened in strides, and I finished the week feeling a seismic shift in my perceptions had transpired. While I hadn't set out to seek a spiritual experience, I feel lucky that in a way, one found me.
Reaching Palpung
When things start to go wrong I often get superstitious, taking everything as a sign of trouble to come or that something just '
not meant to be. In the lead up to the retreat lots of things did go wrong, but they had worked themselves right; the retreat which was initially full, had a place for me; the flight to Delhi that was overbooked, had a standby seat for me; I missed my pick-up at the airport, but made a new friend, Christian.
Proudly of the Christian faith, my taxi driver introduced himself as 'Christian', showed me a photo of his daughter, 'Christina' and told me goes to church every Sunday. I shared my rice crackers with him, he showed me his house and bought me a banana. For two hours, through broken English and bumps in the road, he told me about his country.
Despite the difficulties getting there, when Christian pulled up to the Sherabling Monastery my worries were quelled and I knew that this was exactly where I was meant to be.
At the foothills of the Himalayas, the monastery had the most amazing mountainous view as its backdrop and, set high in up hills, all I could see in the valley below was green, thick green jungle. The terrain here was dense with trees and largely unpopulated; we were warned on the first day to watch out for leopards. Leopards are spotted from time to time in Palpung, but it would be uncommon for the shy cats to venture to so close to humans. How exciting though!The eight day retreat was to take place in the Sherabling Monastery Palpung, Himachal Province, India. I didn't know much about Buddhism or even India, but I felt this was a retreat I had to attend. Without thinking too much, I signed up.
When people asked about my impending trip I focused on the yoga, meditation, feel-good aspects, and kept the Tibetan Buddhism quietly to myself. What did I know about Buddhism? Not a lot.
The retreat did reveal itself as a feel-good, meditation break, but in the very aspect I was unsure about, the retreat became so much more. Through the teaching sessions with the Tibetan master my curiosity about life and the universe strengthened in strides, and I finished the week feeling a seismic shift in my perceptions had transpired. While I hadn't set out to seek a spiritual experience, I feel lucky that in a way, one found me.
Reaching Palpung
When things start to go wrong I often get superstitious, taking everything as a sign of trouble to come or that something just '
not meant to be. In the lead up to the retreat lots of things did go wrong, but they had worked themselves right; the retreat which was initially full, had a place for me; the flight to Delhi that was overbooked, had a standby seat for me; I missed my pick-up at the airport, but made a new friend, Christian.
Proudly of the Christian faith, my taxi driver introduced himself as 'Christian', showed me a photo of his daughter, 'Christina' and told me goes to church every Sunday. I shared my rice crackers with him, he showed me his house and bought me a banana. For two hours, through broken English and bumps in the road, he told me about his country.
Despite the difficulties getting there, when Christian pulled up to the Sherabling Monastery my worries were quelled and I knew that this was exactly where I was meant to be.
Paragliding in Palpung
On that first afternoon, enjoying the sun outdoors and recovering from the two hour bumpy drive, one of the group's members pointed out in the distance colourful para-glides gently gravitating over the neighbouring ranges. It was only a few days later I was there myself, gravitating to earth from a giddy 2400 metres. I had only intended to tag along for the view and said I'd make my mind up about the para-gliding at the top. But after a stomach-churning, hair-raising two hour drive along the mountain's edge, along a winding narrow (apparently two lane!) dirt road, I decided I'd rather jump than risk going back down.
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| Paragliding in Palpung |
This part of my trip was monumental for me, not only because I faced my fear of heights but because I decided then, on that hill to take a literal leap of faith in life, in all that I do, always. And, after that conversation with myself, I jumped. It was terrifying. I was gripping on so tight! We were whisked into the wind and pulled high into the sky. My feet had never felt so electric. But once we had descended a bit, I could really take in the view; the beautiful day, the mountain ranges, I could even see the monastery. It was magical, and since then, still now, I feel a little more alive.
The Hay House Retreat
On the first evening's 'get together' we watched the Louise Hay Movie, 'You Can Heal Your Life'. Having read the book and being a firm believer in the power of positive thought, I watched the movie with zeal. Hay House Publishing India, who organised the seven day retreat had kindly given all of us 50 delegates, our own copy of Louise Hay's book and a pack of her affirmation cards. Those goodies, came together with some Tibetan incense and our own Tibetan thangka (an embroidery scroll usually, and true in my case, depicting a Buddhist deity.
It was not only the goody-basket left for us that impressed me, I was thrilled when I saw my room. I had a large room with wooden floors, high ceilings, two immaculately prepared single beds, a desk, an en-suite bathroom, a lovely large key to lock my room and it was so clean! Another group member humorously re-named the monastery, 'The Palpung Hilton.'
The itinerary of the week consisted of breakfast, a morning meditation, a teaching session, lunch, an afternoon meditation, an afternoon teaching session, free time, dinner and a Tibetan movie. The food was all vegetarian - although there were eggs at breakfast and this sparked some debate. With traditional Indian and Tibetan dishes meal time was both a time for eating and education, and despite being a typically fussy eater, I thoroughly enjoyed all the food.
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| The Sherabling Monastery Institute |
The monastery's accommodation was run almost entirely by monks. The boys and men in maroon red robes ran the kitchen, the cafe downstairs, the Internet room (yes there was even an Internet room), the gift shop and the reception. The monastery itself was just a short walk through a gully and across a wooden bridge, where on one morning I saw a family of monkeys preening each other near the path.
On the other side of the gully stood the Sherabling Monestary - grand and colourful and housing hundreds of children. We were privileged to be guests to their 'Environmental Day' and were entertained with performances, songs and skits - depicting how to look after our world.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1ixA8-ZUuk
(quality of filming is not good, sorry!)
My impression of Tibetan traditional music is that much of it is soft, slow and simple; backed by low beats of a drum and often accompanied by chanting or gentle singing. Many of the Tibetan performances lulled me into a reflective trance and the few Indian performances, with the feverish dancing and brassy beats brought me right back. Once their presentation was over, with over-sized green rubber gloves and rubber shoes they took to the hall, clearing up the cups of po cha tea and buckets of biscuits.
The Lama Dance
The last couple of days timed in with the Lama Dance. We were allowed to walk over to the monastery and watch the monks practising the dances without masks in the days prior, and on the day of the Lama dance we spent most of the day in the monastic hall watching the Tibetan Buddhist festivities unravel.
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| The Lama Dance day performances |
The monks here were costumed in fine silk dresses and donned ornate, and somewhat frightening masks. Tibetans from all over attended the event. Families with children brought blankets and pillows to sit on and some of the elderly had walked in with little seats tied to their bags. The older Tibetan women wore conservative wrap dresses with colourful striped aprons and all that entered the arena paid their respects with prostrations before finding a seat.
Young monks and nuns, locals, the 50 of us on the retreat, the resident foreigners at the monastery and quite a number who were visiting just for the event filled up the hall.
The day-long dancing gave us all the chance to hear the traditional Tibetan instruments at play, see the decorative costumes and masks, and experience the alternating lively and meditative chants that accompanied the ceremony and offerings to Buddha. For someone like me, who feels so far removed from history, religion and culture in my everyday life, it was both humbling and invigorating to see that there are still pockets on our planet where traditional culture is still going strong.
Meditating with the 12th Kenting Tai Situpa
I had only been to a few guided meditations in Dubai and, after reading 'Eat Pray Love' and the difficulties Elizabeth Gilbert faced, I was apprehensive about the meditation sessions of the retreat. My trepidation was unfounded though as I soon discovered. Our meditation sessions were held in the teaching room of the monastery's institute. At the front of the large room, on a stage and then on a raised platform with steps, was the seat of the 12th Kenting Tai Situpa. Below, cross-legged on the wooden floor sat the 50 of us.
The Tai Situpa told us there were many rituals in Tibetan culture, and our teaching and meditations sessions weren't spared any ceremony. Five minutes before His Holiness was due to arrive each day we stood up and waited. Two young monks stood by the doorway and waited too. When they could spot his procession they sounded their horns continuously until His Holiness had reached his podium and looked at them. There were opening and closing prayers for all our sessions and also items that needed to be blessed by His Holiness before the sessions could start.  |
| Sunset over Himachal Province |
(Trip from Nov 2010)
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