Discovering Buddhism in Nepal

Travel Day 639 – Kopan Monastery, NEPAL

We went to bed in silence yesterday evening, but when the 5.45am morning bell rang, I noticed how difficult the discovering of Buddhism was going to be, when I accidentally said a forbidden “good morning” to my dorm-mates…

Buddhist Teaching Gompa at Kopan

The morning tea in the cafeteria was then in silence as well while all 60 people from the class were present. Afterwards the morning meditation with a western nun was quite nice since it was a pure breathing meditation and it was quite easy to follow her instructions. The following breakfast was also in silence, while trying to avoid sitting with people you already knew, in order to be less tempted to accidentally talk to them…

Our first Buddhist teachings were then given by another western nun and they seemed to be quite basic. We leaned about Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, as well as happiness, pleasure and the beginning-less mind. It was all quite interesting and when we could finally speak after the quiet but really tasty vegetarian lunch, we had a lot of things to discuss…

Discussing Buddhism in Kopan Garden

In the little down time that we had between classes, we not only found ourselves talking, but also reading quite a bit. We all received the extended Lam-Rim outlines, which was a beginner’s guide to Discovering Buddhism and we were expected to read it parallel to the classes. The afternoon discussion group turned then out to be rather fun as we were 10 people in one group, having to discuss 4 difficult questions about enlightenment. Since none of us knew what enlightenment really was, we at least had a fun time discussing and getting to know each other … : )

The afternoon teachings were then held by a real Tibetan Geshe and it was quite interesting to hear him talk about the Perfect Human Rebirth and how precious it was. Overall he seemed to be quite an interesting person and ultimately his Buddhist teachings became the most enjoyable for me. The following afternoon tea and the guided meditation were quite good, but the questions in the evening were even better. Finally there was a chance to discuss all the things that came up during the day and the whole atmosphere became much more relaxed than it had been during the teachings…

For a first full day of Discovering Buddhism, this had been quite a good and long one. In the end I only managed to walk a few rounds around the main Gompa, enjoying the night views over the city and then simply passed out on top of my bed… : )

Find all Kopan Monastery 2011 Photos here.